State of Flux

by Rachael Stephen

Thirty years ago, trailblazing graffiti-legend Flux vanished.

Trinai isn’t Flux. She’s not a legend. But she’s doing her best impression. On the thirtieth anniversary of Flux’s disappearance, a citywide blackout interrupts her memorial painting and an anonymous squad takes her captive.

She doesn’t know it, but elsewhere in the darkness a washed-up railgrinder determines to learn Trinai’s secret; a journalist trapped in a lift faces her own icy demons; the leadership of the Fighter’s Pride hangs on a single match, and an old member of Flux’s Pride tries to dull the screaming of a ghost.

Caught in a new war on graffiti, Trinai must connect these threads to unravel Flux’s unwritten past and finish what her hero began.

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State of Flux is a high-energy, dystopian adventure recommended for readers age 15 & up.

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“Among the best indie novels I’ve read…Themes of loss - risking it, recovering from it - abound, and feel achingly real… [State of Flux] has a kind of quiet power” - Raya Wolfsun, Amazon US

“Feels like it changes the world one word at a time… I wanted to run out and buy some spray paint.” Amanda Mitchell, Amazon UK

“[Offers] a fascinating look at graffiti… loved every page” - Sam Ferguson, Amazon UK

“This dystopian and yet beautiful novel stays with you for days after you've read the final page…a delicious suspense and anxiety moved me through the pages like a word junkie.” - Wendy, Goodreads

“I read this book in the booths of coffee shops, in my tent, in my car, on the edge of a precipice, everywhere…challenges us to pick up all the pieces and discover the secret behind the mysterious Flux.” - Gianluca Forcolin, Goodreads

NOT SURE IF IT'S FOR YOU? READ THE FIRST THREE CHAPTERS AT RACHAELSTEPHEN.COM

Genres: Fiction

Unknown Binding

First published March 7, 2014

About the author

Novelist | Youtuber | Woodland Hellbitch

Rachael Stephen is a Glasgow-based writer who knows more about coffee than is healthy or advisable. She curates obsessions with gold and copper things, will climb over asbestos warning signs to explore abandoned buildings, somehow has a degree in Philosophy, and competes with her dog Elfie on who has a bigger mouth.

She has been writing books since she was 11, and intends to keep doing so even after the written word is obsolete and we all wifi our thoughts directly into each other’s brains. She is also 100%, a bona-fide creep.

Reviews

[Simon Wood · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm trying to read more indie publications to support people who are in the same boat as me. Problem with that is it's hard to know what you're getting into. Basically, if you dedicated yourself to only reading indie authors, at best you're probably gonna be reading a shit-ton of mediocre books.

But luckily that wasn't the case here. Although it kinda disheartens me that this book is as good as it is. For one because reading good work done in the same 'field' as me always makes me self-conscious about my own writing - and two, because as good as this book is, it doesn't look like it's found an audience/success. Which kinda means the quality of the work don't mean shit.

Of course that's no true - but it does illustrate just how much of an uphill battle we all face in this particular avenue.

Anyway ...

The last indie work I read suffered greatly from not having a 'voice', as well as there being nothing visceral about the writing. State of Flux truly shines on both these fronts. The author has great command of her scenes and narrative - which is especially notable in the first third of the book, where she plays around with time-lines in order to plunge us head first into this world she's created. It's tricksy stuff, but it works and never comes off as obnoxious. It feels right.
She has a great knack for bursting characters to life in quick, short scenes - with the world around them (a near future City in the grips of subtle, but pervasive fascist rule) immediately following as all its rules and idiosyncrasies are revealed.
Reminded me a lot of MOXYLAND by Lauren Beukes (Which I fucking Love).

SPOILERS

I will say there were elements that disappointed me come the last third. Basically the AVE (elite security force) never really reached the heights that were promised when they were first introduced. Everybody kept just escaping them, so they kinda stopped being scary after awhile.
Also, the headquarters of SERAMAL, (giant OCP style super-corporation) was too easy to both escape from and break into. Kept happening, which again diminished the impact.
My biggest gripe though, is what the fuck was going on with Helena's disease? That I did not get. Throughout the book I thought it was just some way that the character was confusedly animating it in her mind - but then she'd muse about how others would note it or react to it. However, without any kind of explanation as to this totally supernatural element being in this world, I just put it all down to her own special brand of psychosis. A broken mind, basically.

Then that ending happens and suddenly Flux is fire (literally) to her ice and everybody just goes with it.

I don't know. I feel like I'm missing something big time here. Like the author is stepping outside the bounds of her own story to insert a metaphor about it all (David Lynch style) and it's meant to be accepted on two different plains, or something ... I don't know, but it left me cold.

Anyway, not enough to derail the book because it is full of beautifully written musings/questions on the nature of life, existence, etc - though I would have liked a clearer through-line into whatever was happening there.

All told, I really liked it and will definitely be picking up whatever Rachael Stephen writes next.

[Vanessa Glau · Rating 4 out of 5]

After watching the author’s writing advice videos on Youtube, I was looking forward to reading a novel that incorporated everything she talks about. State of Flux might be hard to categorize, but it did not disappoint.

The setting feels colorful and fresh, a bit like science fiction with magical elements. The descriptions of graffiti and youth culture were vivid and extremely well-done. As someone who appreciates graffiti and what they stand for, I was thrilled to see how much the novel revolved around them. The only part of the setting that felt slightly misplaced was the x-men-like powers that are hinted at throughout the novel and clearly revealed towards the end. As they didn’t fit well with the overall setting, I kept waiting for some sort of rational explanation that was never provided. Despite that, they were described beautifully and worked well as character development device.

The characters were unique and diverse – different ages, genders and (some) ethnicities are represented without being thrown into the reader’s face. I could empathize with Trinai, she felt like a true heroine – strong with occasional doubts. With Helena, I especially enjoyed seeing how her obsessive need to be clean connects to her superpower (or curse). During the latter half, I found myself rooting for Flux and Scritch, their relationship was truly heartbreaking and also testament to how unfair life can be. The frequent changes in perspective were hard to follow at times, but all in all, the characters felt interesting and real.

The main theme is something I care about, but have never read about in a novel. It was fascinating to see the author work with the problem and offer a solution, although the enemy did feel flat and mostly faceless. The plot flows nicely and the climax was thrilling, making the book a real page-turner for me. However, it was hard to get into the story and connect with all characters at times, mostly due to extremely short scenes thrown in between longer, more important ones. Those felt somewhat isolated from the rest, although it didn’t change my overall impression much.

In conclusion, I thoroughly enjoyed this well-written novel about graffiti culture and peaceful protest against a reality we all (should) care about – it is unlike anything I’ve read before. Needless to say, I will be looking forward to the author’s next novel.

[John Forcolin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly recommended to helplessly introvert yet action-demanding young adults (like me).

By focusing on many different characters in different moments of their lives, Rachael challenges us to pick up all the pieces and discover the secret behind the mysterious Flux. To me, it was like having access to various recordings from a control room, a sensation that resonated with the mood of the story. And I loved it.
However, against my expectations, the second book’s rhythm changes to a more linear pace. Although this leaves space to the characters’ development, it kind of disappointed me: for how good the story might be, that lack of flash-backs and flash-forwards irritated me almost to the point of losing the focus on the story. I was like, “Where’s my thrill? Where’s my challenge? Where’s my bloody control room?”

Despite all that, I finished this book in three days. Maybe it’s because I’m currently on a ─ahem─ prolonged vacation, but It didn’t matter what I had to do in those three days: I read the book in the booths of coffee shops, in my tent, in my car, on the edge of a precipice, everywhere. And all this because the empathy with the protagonists (especially Trinai) grew to the point that I had eventually become friends with them. I’ve watched them making sacrifices, fighting their fears, dealing with their past… and that’s how the constant change of point of view is well exploited: to bond them all in their communal struggle.
I loved the setting: it was near to our present, not pretentious, with a particular attention on small details of everyday life rather than on a blockbuster-like bigger picture. It made me feel that even in a world seized by big corporations, humanity still survives. For example, background characters like Jaq and Levi's grandma will always be in my heart, even if hardly a couple pages has been dedicated to each one of them.

Rachael might be, as we Italians say, a writer ‘at her first guns‘… but these guns can hurt really badly.

[J.S. · Rating 1 out of 5]

State of Flux reads like a first draft. It's missing words, it has ortografic errors, and it's not interesting enough to call polished.
There is a story here, hidden behind vegan/animal rights propaganda, and a jerky pace that goes all over the place, but I confess I didn't bother looking for it.
The idea of a story, revolving around graffiti, in a dystopian-like future, is appealing but this is not quite what we're given, and I was left wanting. A lot.
I gave it a chance, I really did. I received this copy in exchange for an honest review, and I didn't want that review to be negative but, unfortunately, it has to be.
I believe, with a serious rewrite, this could easily be a 3 out of 5 in my book.
As of now, I'm 47% in, and I'm struggling to finish it.
I don't empathise with any of the characters other than Trinai herself (and it's not even a sufficient amount to care), and I don't care about the plot- heck, I still don't know what the plot is.
If someone tells me the book gets better after the 50% mark, I'll try and finish it but, otherwise, I really cannot muster the strength. Time is precious, and I have none to waste.

[Geneva Clawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This strays rather far from the genres that I normally read, and I went into it with skepticism, more out of curiosity than anything. To my pleasure I was quickly intrigued by the titular character, and drawn in even more so as the rest of the cast of characters was introduced. Told in short sections of varied viewpoints, it sets an urgent pace to tell a story of ordinary (and some less ordinary) people using art and passion to stand against corruption, though the heroism doesn't come easily. I found each character interesting and well-developed enough to feel for and root for. At times moving, others suspenseful, it was very much enjoyed, and I will be looking forward to the author's next book.

[Debra Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

State of Flux is a sharply written dystopian novel set in the futuristic city of New Arcis. Ms. Stephens descriptive details render an intriguing portrait of a future place—a mix of Expressionistic gloss and industrial dust. Details like pulling up the sides of a shower floor to form a bath, city-wide blackouts, the Industrial District where the characters live—all give a sense of place that is both futuristic and recognizable. We are presented with enough of the world, as we know it plus a portrait of what it might become—an urban dystopia of the complacent and the disenfranchised like the characters that strive to see beneath the commercial gloss and the mercantile brainwashing of the capitalist objective to make money in every endeavor.

Thirty years ago, the titular character, Flux, a rebel graffiti artist-activist, vanished. Thirty years later, those who knew her or know her legend struggle to carry on in her name. Graffiti is the art and “voice” of rebellion, an instrument to open the eyes and minds of the sleeping public. I was reminded of The Matrix’s “Wake up!” call.

State of Flux is written in multiple points of view that move backwards and forwards in time, from a few minutes or hours in the characters’ day to years earlier or later. Distinctly drawn characters and a compelling story of loss and passionate struggle energize this novel.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book more. The beginning was told in a clever way going back and forth in time to introduce all the characters and the plot. It took some getting used to but I liked it. But once the premise was established, the time jumps and backs stopped and the story became predictable.

I think if the author had gone back over her draft a few more times, and had fleshed out more of her characters and motives -- especially the Bad Guys-- the story would have been greatly benefited. There were also quite a few typos throughout.

Still, it was a different (in a good way), interesting way to tell the story of a group of people "fighting the power", with graffiti. And that beginning. I really did like the time technique she used in the beginning. I will be looking forward to her next book.

[Ellison · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like some other reviewers, I found this book through Rachel Stephen's videos on writing. I was looking forward to seeing how Stephen applied her own advice to her work, but unfortunately it doesn't seem like it all carried over. While the bones of a story were there, they moved too quickly in the wrong places, and didn't have enough substance in the places that would've made reading these 400 pages satisfying.

The genre teeters on sci-fi, dystopian, and oddly some bits of fantasy that never get explained, and feel more like very overt metaphors than things that belonged in the setting we were given. A character who gets stuck in an elevator and then has ice literally coming from her body?

I agree with others that this book reads like a first draft that could be something pretty good if it were polished.

Also, just a personal gripe: why no paragraph indents?

[Maylan Murray · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a little hard for me to get into this novel at first. The introduction of so many characters at the very beginning was okay but when they started switching back and forth from person to person AND through time, I started to lose interest. But I stuck with it because I admire Rachael a lot as a person and as a writer and I’m glad I finished it.

I think the action scenes are really well written and I enjoyed the twists and turns of the main characters and felt for their plight. Also it was really interesting to see graffiti as the voice of a revolution. Graffiti isn’t something I thought much about until this book (and Into the Spider-verse).

[Sarah Paige · Rating 4 out of 5]

Art & Interpretation

I chose a four star rating for this story because it felt like I was reading a work of art. Like a painting, everyone will have their own reactions and feelings about it. At first, you're not quite sure what you're seeing, or you think you know what you're seeing but it morphs and changes right before you. The story is compelling and Stephen's vocabulary is like golden thread weaving through a majestic tapestry. I am hesitant to give a five star rating because of the time it took to understand the timeline and I felt like there were a few promises made to the reader that never got fulfilled... again, though, it could just be that my eyes are still adjusting to a work of art and my attempts to comprehend it will only make it more difficult.

[NormaCenva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book!

[JJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed it
Is a larger book than I thought initially. More complex than I expected. But well worth it. The complexity is well-engineered, and the macro story plot is so important (for me at least). Taking nothing away from the characters, who were all fleshed out and relateable, I was drawn into the book for the overall story. The blatant attack on the merciless behavior of secretive corporations. (I believe) it is a story that speaks volumes about the role art has to play in society becoming self-aware

Lost a star because I did not know what to make of the ice

Recommendation: tighter sentences and scenes. I sometimes felt like there was too much explanation in terms of descriptions and feelings. But it may be nice for others. I get the impression that Ms Stephen would make a decent director !!! which is not a joke because SoF should def be a movie. The world is built, is interesting, and futuristic without going overboard

Looking forward to North of the End