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The Bounceback #1
Gamechanger
Neuromancer meets Star Trek in Gamechanger, a fantastic new book from award-winning author L. X. Beckett.
First there was the Setback. Then came the Clawback. Now humanity thrives.
Rubi Whiting is a member of the Bounceback Generation. The first to be raised free of the troubles of the late twenty-first century. Now she works as a public defender to help troubled individuals with anti-social behavior. That’s how she met Luciano Pox.
Luce is a firebrand and has made a name for himself as a naysayer. But there’s more to him than being a lightning rod for controversy. Rubi has to find out why the governments of the world want to bring Luce into custody, and why Luce is hell bent on stopping the recovery of the planet.
First there was the Setback. Then came the Clawback. Now humanity thrives.
Rubi Whiting is a member of the Bounceback Generation. The first to be raised free of the troubles of the late twenty-first century. Now she works as a public defender to help troubled individuals with anti-social behavior. That’s how she met Luciano Pox.
Luce is a firebrand and has made a name for himself as a naysayer. But there’s more to him than being a lightning rod for controversy. Rubi has to find out why the governments of the world want to bring Luce into custody, and why Luce is hell bent on stopping the recovery of the planet.
567 pages, Hardcover
First published September 17, 2019
157 people are currently reading
2296 people want to read
About the author
L.X. Beckett
13 books45 followersL.X. Beckett is a queer science fiction author and editor who lives in Toronto, Ontario. They are the author of “Freezing Rain, a Chance of Falling” a new novella coming soon to the pages of Fantasy and Science Fiction, as well as the upcoming novel Goldilocks Conditions from Tor Books.
L.X. Beckett used to kick trolls out of a Star Trek chat room for the TV channel now known as SyFy. These days they write novels by day, while roaming the Internet at night in search of wayward manuscripts to thump into submission. Weapons include surprise, fear, profanity and the martyrfucking Oxford comma.
Quick, to the Editmobile!
L.X. Beckett is a pseudonym of author A.M. Dellamonica.
L.X. Beckett used to kick trolls out of a Star Trek chat room for the TV channel now known as SyFy. These days they write novels by day, while roaming the Internet at night in search of wayward manuscripts to thump into submission. Weapons include surprise, fear, profanity and the martyrfucking Oxford comma.
Quick, to the Editmobile!
L.X. Beckett is a pseudonym of author A.M. Dellamonica.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 148 reviews
April 27, 2020
I knew, when I first heard about this book last year, that it would probably tick a lot of my boxes. What I didn't expect was just HOW MANY that would end up being.
Gamechanger is a fairly near-future story, but one that I think could have only been written in the post-2016 US election world. It's a story that sharpens the impact of our current trajectory, politically, economically, ecologically, but one that ultimately feels believable.
Social media becomes omnipresent, but as an almost too simple way of measuring and valuing social capital. Technology is deeply powerful, but almost exclusively used for benevolent purposes. Environmentalism is no longer fringe, but necessary and key to species (OUR species) survival. Society is queer-normed, and it's not a big deal. In many ways, this book represents "the future liberals want", but I'd really rather not have to go through the Setback and the Clawback before we get the positive future of the Bounceback.
Our main character Rubi is a lawyer (and a celebrity virtual reality gamer) of the Bounceback generation who begins the book by taking on an unusually difficult client. Rubi's dad, who was around during the Setback, has a basketful of trauma in his past and serves as a peer counselor, and also ends up helping Rubi's client. Luce Pox, the client, is far more than he seems, and is poised to turn the Bounceback on its heels.
I'd recommend this for folks who are looking for: a less bleak Ready Player One, climate fiction that isn't all dire and depressing, uplifting stories about the future of technology, and anyone who needs hope that even though our world is a mess right now, we can get through it.
Gamechanger is a fairly near-future story, but one that I think could have only been written in the post-2016 US election world. It's a story that sharpens the impact of our current trajectory, politically, economically, ecologically, but one that ultimately feels believable.
Social media becomes omnipresent, but as an almost too simple way of measuring and valuing social capital. Technology is deeply powerful, but almost exclusively used for benevolent purposes. Environmentalism is no longer fringe, but necessary and key to species (OUR species) survival. Society is queer-normed, and it's not a big deal. In many ways, this book represents "the future liberals want", but I'd really rather not have to go through the Setback and the Clawback before we get the positive future of the Bounceback.
Our main character Rubi is a lawyer (and a celebrity virtual reality gamer) of the Bounceback generation who begins the book by taking on an unusually difficult client. Rubi's dad, who was around during the Setback, has a basketful of trauma in his past and serves as a peer counselor, and also ends up helping Rubi's client. Luce Pox, the client, is far more than he seems, and is poised to turn the Bounceback on its heels.
I'd recommend this for folks who are looking for: a less bleak Ready Player One, climate fiction that isn't all dire and depressing, uplifting stories about the future of technology, and anyone who needs hope that even though our world is a mess right now, we can get through it.
November 3, 2019
After the first few pages (following the long prologue) I imagined the author to be a boomer (a person in his late 40s to early 60s) trying to write a book that would appeal to millenials. The more I kept reading, excruciatingly I might add, the more that image became cemented in my mind. It's as if the author doesn't understand this culture and has written a completely detached and deeply flawed analysis of it.
First of all, a writer that adds sound effects (boom, bang, crunch, screeeeeeeech [I shit you not]) phonetically should be publicly flogged, as a warning to other writers to never do this. Secondly, the plot is set in the future and yet there's a disturbing insistence on using outdated social media terms or current ones that are just as vaporous. The at sign (@) and hashtag (#) are featured far too prominently, to the point of being distracting, and the dialogues are often broken and make little sense. There's a very high initial pain threshold to go through until things start moving. With such a broken style I feel it's important to first ease the reader in before starting to lay on the oddities too thick.
I didn't mind the heavy-handed and preachy gender politics per se, that's the inescapable trend now, but it would've gone down much smoother if the characters were compelling and relatable. They were not. I'm sorry but I completely disagree with labeling them as "quirky". Obnoxious is not quirky, self-entitled and condescending is not quirky. You have to be likable to be labeled as quirky and I didn't like any of them.
Thoroughly disliked this one.
First of all, a writer that adds sound effects (boom, bang, crunch, screeeeeeeech [I shit you not]) phonetically should be publicly flogged, as a warning to other writers to never do this. Secondly, the plot is set in the future and yet there's a disturbing insistence on using outdated social media terms or current ones that are just as vaporous. The at sign (@) and hashtag (#) are featured far too prominently, to the point of being distracting, and the dialogues are often broken and make little sense. There's a very high initial pain threshold to go through until things start moving. With such a broken style I feel it's important to first ease the reader in before starting to lay on the oddities too thick.
I didn't mind the heavy-handed and preachy gender politics per se, that's the inescapable trend now, but it would've gone down much smoother if the characters were compelling and relatable. They were not. I'm sorry but I completely disagree with labeling them as "quirky". Obnoxious is not quirky, self-entitled and condescending is not quirky. You have to be likable to be labeled as quirky and I didn't like any of them.
Thoroughly disliked this one.
November 23, 2019
2.5 stars rounded up?
This is not the worst book I’ve read this year- but I have to say, it’s probably the most unsatisfying.
We’re given all these awesome ideas- immediate and public social justice, a world that seems relatively free of judgement concerning race and gender, cool tech, small jobs and volunteer work on the fly, virtual assistant AI, gaming.. the list goes on.
I mean really- the world building in Gamechanger is almost as impressive as a personal favorite of mine: Too Like the Lightning.
But none of it ever adds up into anything that makes any sense. None of it ever seems to get to a point. Pull yourself up by your bootstraps I guess? The message is hopeful but the plot and pacing are a train wreck. It’s an everything but the kitchen sink book.
Plot 1: Rogue AI suspected of sentience on the loose
Plot 2: Who is Luce Pox and why does everyone care so much?
Plot 3:
Plot 4: Run away to Neverland
Plot 5: Delusional man hunts conspiracies
Plot 6: Rubi and Gimlet game
Plot 7: Romance!
Plot 8: Wannabe detective reeks of desperation
Plot 9: Rebuild humanity
It’s messy and chaotic and does not ever tie together. The conclusion is rushed and just really one of the most unsatisfying endings I’ve ever encountered. I kept waiting for that Aha! Moment to make it cohesive - but I guess I’m supposed to believe these four or five people are just always in the right place at the right time to smash bang the plot into “coming together”. I guess as I write this, what I’m frustrated about is that there was no reason to have all these separate plot points.
I absolutely loved the world building- and that’s where this book gets all the stars I gave it. I would love to see it featured in another novel with a tighter story.
This is not the worst book I’ve read this year- but I have to say, it’s probably the most unsatisfying.
We’re given all these awesome ideas- immediate and public social justice, a world that seems relatively free of judgement concerning race and gender, cool tech, small jobs and volunteer work on the fly, virtual assistant AI, gaming.. the list goes on.
I mean really- the world building in Gamechanger is almost as impressive as a personal favorite of mine: Too Like the Lightning.
But none of it ever adds up into anything that makes any sense. None of it ever seems to get to a point. Pull yourself up by your bootstraps I guess? The message is hopeful but the plot and pacing are a train wreck. It’s an everything but the kitchen sink book.
Plot 1: Rogue AI suspected of sentience on the loose
Plot 2: Who is Luce Pox and why does everyone care so much?
Plot 3:
Plot 4: Run away to Neverland
Plot 5: Delusional man hunts conspiracies
Plot 6: Rubi and Gimlet game
Plot 7: Romance!
Plot 8: Wannabe detective reeks of desperation
Plot 9: Rebuild humanity
It’s messy and chaotic and does not ever tie together. The conclusion is rushed and just really one of the most unsatisfying endings I’ve ever encountered. I kept waiting for that Aha! Moment to make it cohesive - but I guess I’m supposed to believe these four or five people are just always in the right place at the right time to smash bang the plot into “coming together”. I guess as I write this, what I’m frustrated about is that there was no reason to have all these separate plot points.
I absolutely loved the world building- and that’s where this book gets all the stars I gave it. I would love to see it featured in another novel with a tighter story.
December 4, 2020
Let's start with the good stuff: I really do like that authors are trying to imagine new ways we might live, ways to be human without destroying the planet or ourselves. And this is one such book.
Okay, that said, let's move on to what didn't work, which is: the entire rest of the novel!
So, first, while I do love to see a good "how we can live differently" book, ideally the answer wouldn't be "by creating a panopticon dystopia." Now, I don't know for sure that Beckett knew they were creating one, but that is sure what they did. First and foremost, that panopticon thing: in this future world, every single word you say and move you make and thing you see goes on your transcript, which can be accessed by anyone at any time. That alone made my flesh crawl. And then the rest of this world is essentially "the internet, but with stricter moderation, but that's the entire world," which -- okay, we'll get to the worldbuilding problems in a second. In the meantime: oh god what an absolute fucking nightmare. This is indeed a dystopia, and the fact that everyone is cheerful doesn't change that.
So now let's talk about the worldbuilding. In this universe, we've been through the Setback (what we're doing right now, when everything tips over into apocalypse) and the Clawback (when people are forcibly moved into camps, plagues run rampant, the climate collapses). The book is written during the Bounceback, which is an attempted recovery from the apocalypse. And. After all of that, and despite the panopticon dystopia thing, nothing is actually different. This world is basically "memes and 2020 internet lingo and old fandom references as a culture" and I don't understand how it could be. Also, the author makes a ton of unwarranted assumptions about how humans work. A single example: according to this book, having your every move watched all the time and instant sentencing for any infraction will basically end violent crime. Do they ... not understand why humans commit violent crime? Do they think logic comes into it? (Are they aware that that has been tried before?) And everything is like that. D-, please try to meet some humans before you attempt worldbuilding again. Also, let's just say the political structure of this world is -- vague. There are countries? And a world government? And local authorities? And there is NO explanation of how any of this works together at ALL, or (despite the fact that our main character is a lawyer) how the law actually functions. Again: no.
And I'd like to highlight an especially terrible aspect of the worldbuilding. This is the whitest diverse future I've ever read, and boy, I've read some dillies. People are various shades of brown! That's it, that's the diversity. Oh, sure, we get a mention that Asian countries are the superpowers now, but is there any reckoning with racism? Is there even an acknowledgement that racism existed? Is there any explanation of where it went? No. Does the author acknowledge that their Reddit-inspired social currency (you get strokes for doing well and strikes for doing poorly, and anyone can give them at any time) would be unjustly rigged against specific groups of people? No. Also, Indigenous people -- stewards of the land in many places and EXACTLY who you would want leading your effort to repair the world -- just. Do not exist, apparently. And there's a lot of discussion of Catholicism and its special privileges, and one mention of the Amish, but zero mention of other religions, or how they fit into this weird new world order and what privileges they are accorded. (Also, and this will not surprise you: this book is ableist as all hell. There's a fun note that the father of the main character is no longer entitled to medical care because, uh, he has PTSD, had an episode, and self-harmed. Remember when I said this was a dystopia? YUP.) You get the feeling the author can really only see in shades of WASP.
Beyond that, this book is simultaneously trying to do WAY too much -- there's a plot twist, predictably, about every four chapters, and there are a LOT of chapters in this book, so eventually I was just laughing at the new ones -- and boring as hell. It just. Drags. On. Forever. And then, just when you think it cannot be any duller, you are forced to read a lengthy, play-by-play description of someone playing a video game, which is somehow even less entertaining than you would think it is. And yet it happens SEVERAL TIMES.
I'm going to sum up this review in a way both the author and the characters, despite their immense differences, would find #relatable. TL;DR:
Okay, that said, let's move on to what didn't work, which is: the entire rest of the novel!
So, first, while I do love to see a good "how we can live differently" book, ideally the answer wouldn't be "by creating a panopticon dystopia." Now, I don't know for sure that Beckett knew they were creating one, but that is sure what they did. First and foremost, that panopticon thing: in this future world, every single word you say and move you make and thing you see goes on your transcript, which can be accessed by anyone at any time. That alone made my flesh crawl. And then the rest of this world is essentially "the internet, but with stricter moderation, but that's the entire world," which -- okay, we'll get to the worldbuilding problems in a second. In the meantime: oh god what an absolute fucking nightmare. This is indeed a dystopia, and the fact that everyone is cheerful doesn't change that.
So now let's talk about the worldbuilding. In this universe, we've been through the Setback (what we're doing right now, when everything tips over into apocalypse) and the Clawback (when people are forcibly moved into camps, plagues run rampant, the climate collapses). The book is written during the Bounceback, which is an attempted recovery from the apocalypse. And. After all of that, and despite the panopticon dystopia thing, nothing is actually different. This world is basically "memes and 2020 internet lingo and old fandom references as a culture" and I don't understand how it could be. Also, the author makes a ton of unwarranted assumptions about how humans work. A single example: according to this book, having your every move watched all the time and instant sentencing for any infraction will basically end violent crime. Do they ... not understand why humans commit violent crime? Do they think logic comes into it? (Are they aware that that has been tried before?) And everything is like that. D-, please try to meet some humans before you attempt worldbuilding again. Also, let's just say the political structure of this world is -- vague. There are countries? And a world government? And local authorities? And there is NO explanation of how any of this works together at ALL, or (despite the fact that our main character is a lawyer) how the law actually functions. Again: no.
And I'd like to highlight an especially terrible aspect of the worldbuilding. This is the whitest diverse future I've ever read, and boy, I've read some dillies. People are various shades of brown! That's it, that's the diversity. Oh, sure, we get a mention that Asian countries are the superpowers now, but is there any reckoning with racism? Is there even an acknowledgement that racism existed? Is there any explanation of where it went? No. Does the author acknowledge that their Reddit-inspired social currency (you get strokes for doing well and strikes for doing poorly, and anyone can give them at any time) would be unjustly rigged against specific groups of people? No. Also, Indigenous people -- stewards of the land in many places and EXACTLY who you would want leading your effort to repair the world -- just. Do not exist, apparently. And there's a lot of discussion of Catholicism and its special privileges, and one mention of the Amish, but zero mention of other religions, or how they fit into this weird new world order and what privileges they are accorded. (Also, and this will not surprise you: this book is ableist as all hell. There's a fun note that the father of the main character is no longer entitled to medical care because, uh, he has PTSD, had an episode, and self-harmed. Remember when I said this was a dystopia? YUP.) You get the feeling the author can really only see in shades of WASP.
Beyond that, this book is simultaneously trying to do WAY too much -- there's a plot twist, predictably, about every four chapters, and there are a LOT of chapters in this book, so eventually I was just laughing at the new ones -- and boring as hell. It just. Drags. On. Forever. And then, just when you think it cannot be any duller, you are forced to read a lengthy, play-by-play description of someone playing a video game, which is somehow even less entertaining than you would think it is. And yet it happens SEVERAL TIMES.
I'm going to sum up this review in a way both the author and the characters, despite their immense differences, would find #relatable. TL;DR:
September 12, 2019
Gamechanger at its heart is a mystery of one entity that has cracked the code and become a thorn in the side of society’s new regs. The novel is an exploration of the relative near-future. It is scary, exciting, and a look through your fingers as you cover your eyes.
The worldbuilding is tremendous. Immersive and mindbending, but somehow totally realistic. To be honest though, it took me awhile to read this one. It was hard at times to get back into the future speak. It’s not a world that is easy to slip in and out of just because there is so many vocab words to pick up. That is not saying it’s not worth the effort, because it is.
In reading, I kept thinking, is this the world that my great grandchildren will be living in? Life-extension technology enables people to live 120 years+ and a brand of labor that is so different from the one that I am used to… this is great science fiction: a vision that strikes a cord, that pushed me intellectually.
4 out of 5 stars
For my full review: https://paulspicks.blog/2019/09/12/ga...
For all my reviews: https://paulspicks.blog
The worldbuilding is tremendous. Immersive and mindbending, but somehow totally realistic. To be honest though, it took me awhile to read this one. It was hard at times to get back into the future speak. It’s not a world that is easy to slip in and out of just because there is so many vocab words to pick up. That is not saying it’s not worth the effort, because it is.
In reading, I kept thinking, is this the world that my great grandchildren will be living in? Life-extension technology enables people to live 120 years+ and a brand of labor that is so different from the one that I am used to… this is great science fiction: a vision that strikes a cord, that pushed me intellectually.
4 out of 5 stars
For my full review: https://paulspicks.blog/2019/09/12/ga...
For all my reviews: https://paulspicks.blog
January 8, 2023
I had marked this one as "probably won't read," based on a LOT of neggies here. But I just came across Liz Bourke's review. She liked it, and has been a pretty reliable guide for me in the past:
https://www.tor.com/2019/11/19/sleeps...
"Beckett has written a science fiction novel that’s immensely hopeful about human potential while also realistic about human flaws—and they have, as well, avoided portraying their future as utopian. The innovative features of society are treated as quotidian, with matter-of-fact brevity, and Gamechanger‘s viewpoint characters share the same irritated appreciation of the benefits and flaws (and general lack of consensus as to which is greater on any given day) as we do about the things that are quotidian parts of our daily lives. And Beckett has populated this society with compelling, believable characters, whose distinct voices and personal stories carry the narrative even when the pacing of the larger thriller lags."
The gamer stuff is a turnoff for me. I'll see if the library has it.
Well. I did read it, and it is compulsively readable. But the plot and execution is pretty much of a train-wreck, and the gamer stuff just goes on and on and ON. There's an alien-invasion sub-plot that never goes anywhere, and a very-unappealing hook for the sequel. 567 pages to end this way! I most certainly won't be reading on. Even with skimming, hours and hours gone forever! Bah.
Incidentally, the book is copyright to AM Dellamonica. Per Locus, this is one of their pen-names. And there are a lot of folks who liked the book. Sadly, not me.
https://www.tor.com/2019/11/19/sleeps...
"Beckett has written a science fiction novel that’s immensely hopeful about human potential while also realistic about human flaws—and they have, as well, avoided portraying their future as utopian. The innovative features of society are treated as quotidian, with matter-of-fact brevity, and Gamechanger‘s viewpoint characters share the same irritated appreciation of the benefits and flaws (and general lack of consensus as to which is greater on any given day) as we do about the things that are quotidian parts of our daily lives. And Beckett has populated this society with compelling, believable characters, whose distinct voices and personal stories carry the narrative even when the pacing of the larger thriller lags."
The gamer stuff is a turnoff for me. I'll see if the library has it.
Well. I did read it, and it is compulsively readable. But the plot and execution is pretty much of a train-wreck, and the gamer stuff just goes on and on and ON. There's an alien-invasion sub-plot that never goes anywhere, and a very-unappealing hook for the sequel. 567 pages to end this way! I most certainly won't be reading on. Even with skimming, hours and hours gone forever! Bah.
Incidentally, the book is copyright to AM Dellamonica. Per Locus, this is one of their pen-names. And there are a lot of folks who liked the book. Sadly, not me.
October 16, 2019
One of those books I give up on after a while.
I liked -bits- of it, but... Well, usually I'm 'ok' with character names and whatnot, but this one just kept throwing names at me and introducing people (or non-people) once and then just assuming I knew immediately who was who and which was which. It got frustrating quickly and since the story was interesting but didn't fully grab and drag me along by the collar, I let this one go.
To go with the style in the book: #shrugemoji?
I liked -bits- of it, but... Well, usually I'm 'ok' with character names and whatnot, but this one just kept throwing names at me and introducing people (or non-people) once and then just assuming I knew immediately who was who and which was which. It got frustrating quickly and since the story was interesting but didn't fully grab and drag me along by the collar, I let this one go.
To go with the style in the book: #shrugemoji?
July 29, 2020
Oof. Where to start.
I really wanted to like this book. It purported itself as a post climate crisis "bounceback" society trying to fix itself. Instead, I got nearly 600 pages of Mary Sue Extraordinaire Rubi Whiting, the lawyer/pro gamer/world renowned climate activist/street fighter/friend of world leaders/AI expert/anything else she needs to be tromping through multiple realms of meatspace and the internet...I mean "Sensorium." Gamechanger suffers from the classic high school writing assignment method of sci-fi by adding "nano", "auto", or similar prefixes to words, elevating them to peak Star Trek level technobabble...but then we also get 2019 pop culture references galore.
There are certainly some interesting ideas that I won't spoil here, but the author seemingly wanted to put every single novel idea they ever had all into one text, so we got a huge mishmash of plot lines that don't really connect at all. The whiplash between each of Mary Sue's fantastic careers is painful after the first few times but gets super tiring a few chapters in. She goes from meeting with law clients to parkouring across Paris to competing in a pro gaming tournament within the first few chapters. Gamechanger sincerely needed a better editor to bring some conciseness and flow to the plot. Maybe it would have been better off as a collection of short stories or novellas or something.
I really wanted to like this book. It purported itself as a post climate crisis "bounceback" society trying to fix itself. Instead, I got nearly 600 pages of Mary Sue Extraordinaire Rubi Whiting, the lawyer/pro gamer/world renowned climate activist/street fighter/friend of world leaders/AI expert/anything else she needs to be tromping through multiple realms of meatspace and the internet...I mean "Sensorium." Gamechanger suffers from the classic high school writing assignment method of sci-fi by adding "nano", "auto", or similar prefixes to words, elevating them to peak Star Trek level technobabble...but then we also get 2019 pop culture references galore.
There are certainly some interesting ideas that I won't spoil here, but the author seemingly wanted to put every single novel idea they ever had all into one text, so we got a huge mishmash of plot lines that don't really connect at all. The whiplash between each of Mary Sue's fantastic careers is painful after the first few times but gets super tiring a few chapters in. She goes from meeting with law clients to parkouring across Paris to competing in a pro gaming tournament within the first few chapters. Gamechanger sincerely needed a better editor to bring some conciseness and flow to the plot. Maybe it would have been better off as a collection of short stories or novellas or something.
November 1, 2019
I stopped about a third through, no really compelling characters & the kind of tech fetishism that annoys me when reading copies of Wired.
May 11, 2020
For whatever reason I’d decided this would be a breezy sci-fi romp that I could fly through in a few days despite being a solid NOV at 567 pages, but I should have heeded the Neal Stephenson comparison in the blurbs and realized I was in for a book dense with world building, tech details, and a whole lot of plot. None of which is a criticism! I thoroughly loved this book, it’s just definitely got the most complex world building I’ve read in a sci-fi novel in a minute, and I spent a lot of time digesting details and drawing together connections.
Set in the near future where humankind is fighting their way back from the brink of environmental collapse, Gamechanger is pumped to bursting with details of our imagined future, with deeply integrated virtual reality and artificial intelligence taking center stage. The novel follows a sizable cast of characters, helmed by environmental activist, legal advocate, and semi-pro video gamer Rubi Whiting, her famous musical genius with a troubled past father Drow, and her genderqueer gamer rival/love interest Gimlet (naming your kids after retro alcoholic beverages is a hot trend in the future). Tbh Gimlet’s storyline, surrounding taking care of their nine year old daughter Frankie as their polyamorous marriage dissolves, with one partner receiving cancer treatment and another bailing under the pressure, kinda stole the show for me.
Come for the complex and richly imagined world building, stay for the lovable cast of characters and the white-knuckled struggle for the fate of humanity played out in a giant VR video game, which somehow manages to not feel contrived once it’s fit into the context of this brilliant and delightful novel. The whole thing ends beautifully, but I’m clamoring for a sequel. Will settle for more Beckett novels.
Set in the near future where humankind is fighting their way back from the brink of environmental collapse, Gamechanger is pumped to bursting with details of our imagined future, with deeply integrated virtual reality and artificial intelligence taking center stage. The novel follows a sizable cast of characters, helmed by environmental activist, legal advocate, and semi-pro video gamer Rubi Whiting, her famous musical genius with a troubled past father Drow, and her genderqueer gamer rival/love interest Gimlet (naming your kids after retro alcoholic beverages is a hot trend in the future). Tbh Gimlet’s storyline, surrounding taking care of their nine year old daughter Frankie as their polyamorous marriage dissolves, with one partner receiving cancer treatment and another bailing under the pressure, kinda stole the show for me.
Come for the complex and richly imagined world building, stay for the lovable cast of characters and the white-knuckled struggle for the fate of humanity played out in a giant VR video game, which somehow manages to not feel contrived once it’s fit into the context of this brilliant and delightful novel. The whole thing ends beautifully, but I’m clamoring for a sequel. Will settle for more Beckett novels.
May 3, 2022
C/W:
Gamechanger was an immersive book that grabbed me from the very first chapter. Beckett crafted a wonderfully intricate world that was both reminiscent of ours and yet very different. I really enjoyed seeing the world-building unspool over the course of Gamechanger. Beckett nailed one of my favorite feats of world-building -- I finished the booking feeling like I knew more about how the setting works but left with enough fascinating questions that I can't wait to return to this setting in book 2.
Gamechanger is a largely character-driven story with a host of compelling, three-dimensional characters. I loved Crane and Happ along with the many, varied examples of A.I. Rubi's "archnemesis" Gimlet and their child, Frankie, were two of my favorite characters of the bunch. Both are trying to care for their family in their own ways, which was a plot arc I really liked.
If character-driven science fiction is your cup of tea, I'd definitely recommend picking up Gamechanger.
Gamechanger was an immersive book that grabbed me from the very first chapter. Beckett crafted a wonderfully intricate world that was both reminiscent of ours and yet very different. I really enjoyed seeing the world-building unspool over the course of Gamechanger. Beckett nailed one of my favorite feats of world-building -- I finished the booking feeling like I knew more about how the setting works but left with enough fascinating questions that I can't wait to return to this setting in book 2.
Gamechanger is a largely character-driven story with a host of compelling, three-dimensional characters. I loved Crane and Happ along with the many, varied examples of A.I. Rubi's "archnemesis" Gimlet and their child, Frankie, were two of my favorite characters of the bunch. Both are trying to care for their family in their own ways, which was a plot arc I really liked.
If character-driven science fiction is your cup of tea, I'd definitely recommend picking up Gamechanger.
November 5, 2020
2 stars, a bit of a noble failure
Noble failure is my way of saying that this book has many admirable qualities, one that I still kind of want to like even though it failed to win me over. I guess I'll start by saying what I liked because I do think this is a book worth checking out and others might enjoy it more than I did. The worldbuilding is wide-reaching and pretty good at projecting to what a near future world dominated by social media might look like. I also really like this book's optimism at how the future will turn out. The world has suffered from climate change but it's been largely salvaged and people are getting along rather well. It's nice to see new angles on classic stories like this. I imagine the uses of things like hashtags and @s everywhere may infuriate some people but I found myself thinking they worked and helped to organically make this world feel like a realistic outgrowth from our own.
So what lost me then? Well, it was the basics. The story failed to grip me and I wasn't all that interested in the characters. There were many characters (including a main character at one point) who I just completely forgot about every time they briefly left the narrative. Not every character can be memorable, of course, but when barely any characters are, it becomes a real problem in getting invested. It's also weird to think "world renowned hacker turns out to be an alien spy and a gaming lawyer and Interpol have to team up to uncover his plan" could be dull but sadly it all felt a bit distant. I can't fault the author for coming up with some high stakes and figuring out an interesting story angle to approach them from but I simply wasn't enjoying it.
Noble failure is my way of saying that this book has many admirable qualities, one that I still kind of want to like even though it failed to win me over. I guess I'll start by saying what I liked because I do think this is a book worth checking out and others might enjoy it more than I did. The worldbuilding is wide-reaching and pretty good at projecting to what a near future world dominated by social media might look like. I also really like this book's optimism at how the future will turn out. The world has suffered from climate change but it's been largely salvaged and people are getting along rather well. It's nice to see new angles on classic stories like this. I imagine the uses of things like hashtags and @s everywhere may infuriate some people but I found myself thinking they worked and helped to organically make this world feel like a realistic outgrowth from our own.
So what lost me then? Well, it was the basics. The story failed to grip me and I wasn't all that interested in the characters. There were many characters (including a main character at one point) who I just completely forgot about every time they briefly left the narrative. Not every character can be memorable, of course, but when barely any characters are, it becomes a real problem in getting invested. It's also weird to think "world renowned hacker turns out to be an alien spy and a gaming lawyer and Interpol have to team up to uncover his plan" could be dull but sadly it all felt a bit distant. I can't fault the author for coming up with some high stakes and figuring out an interesting story angle to approach them from but I simply wasn't enjoying it.
September 29, 2019
This book takes you on a wild emotional ride while challenging your views on what humanity actually is.
May 13, 2020
I love me some future earth world-building! And lots of queerness. So obviously I’m the right demographic here... plus I do enjoy authors who can imagine a future that manages to skirt both dystopian atmosphere and...utopian vibes (somehow?). That feels really true to my own experience of the world. It is so awful and shitty and at the same time full of hope of you know where to look for it. The book definitely takes on way more than is advisable in one story (it seriously almost jumps the shark about halfway through), but I was pleasantly surprised by how much of the STUFF the author decided to throw in there did get a satisfying ending.
November 12, 2019
Made it through chapter 23, but gave up. There are just too many words that don't really add to the story. #, @, TM, all avatars from the "future" (not really sure that's true), but just clutter in the story. Too much flash, not enough actual.
May 8, 2021
3.5 rounded up
The communication of worldbuilding feels a bit expository sometimes but that’s science fiction, especially when it’s so radically different than today, as this is. The setting is absolutely the star of the show for me with this. Queer normalization, cli-fi /solarpunk underpinnings - it’s feels very innovative and fresh/ different.
I liked the characters and the plot, though the pacing felt a bit uneven, because the author really knows how to paint a scene. I didn’t really pay attention to the pacing much, which is when you know the things the author decides to be specific about were interesting to you.
The only thing consistently annoying is weird to talk about because it’s also fascinating. Social media becomes sort-of social capital, so how people communicate and how the slang/jargon isn’t serious, like in most SF with those elements. It feels childish and weird, yet is clearly present for a reason. There’s So many hashtag whatevers that I rolled my eyes, but yet currency is social capital and evolved from social media, so it IS how people would actually talk, I just don’t like it, and I’m not sure how fair that is? It bugged me a fair amount though, can’t disregard it. It’s a part of the prose and it’s prevalent, so keep that in mind. Maybe it’s your thing, maybe it’s not.
Otherwise I found this to be smart, interesting, inclusive, and fun. Plenty of subversions and, as I said, feels like it’s helping to pioneer a different kind of cli-fi, which I’m all for. I do not like the term Hopepunk, because it doesn’t mean anything substantial in the mission statement imo, but cli-fi should be more than one-note dystopias, and this feels like a direct response to that.
The communication of worldbuilding feels a bit expository sometimes but that’s science fiction, especially when it’s so radically different than today, as this is. The setting is absolutely the star of the show for me with this. Queer normalization, cli-fi /solarpunk underpinnings - it’s feels very innovative and fresh/ different.
I liked the characters and the plot, though the pacing felt a bit uneven, because the author really knows how to paint a scene. I didn’t really pay attention to the pacing much, which is when you know the things the author decides to be specific about were interesting to you.
The only thing consistently annoying is weird to talk about because it’s also fascinating. Social media becomes sort-of social capital, so how people communicate and how the slang/jargon isn’t serious, like in most SF with those elements. It feels childish and weird, yet is clearly present for a reason. There’s So many hashtag whatevers that I rolled my eyes, but yet currency is social capital and evolved from social media, so it IS how people would actually talk, I just don’t like it, and I’m not sure how fair that is? It bugged me a fair amount though, can’t disregard it. It’s a part of the prose and it’s prevalent, so keep that in mind. Maybe it’s your thing, maybe it’s not.
Otherwise I found this to be smart, interesting, inclusive, and fun. Plenty of subversions and, as I said, feels like it’s helping to pioneer a different kind of cli-fi, which I’m all for. I do not like the term Hopepunk, because it doesn’t mean anything substantial in the mission statement imo, but cli-fi should be more than one-note dystopias, and this feels like a direct response to that.
October 22, 2022
Good near-future world-building, set in a post-collapse world. It felt coherent and plausible. I was invested in the characters, although I'm starting to feel like the dual game avatar / real-life dichotomy is feeling a little hoary ... hat tip in the blurb to Neuromancer notwithstanding.
So in the end it felt wildly incomplete, although without the cliffhanger-ish feel of a lot of trilogy / series titles.
3.5-4 star territory. Better than average ... not one of my future touchstones of speculative fiction.
So in the end it felt wildly incomplete, although without the cliffhanger-ish feel of a lot of trilogy / series titles.
3.5-4 star territory. Better than average ... not one of my future touchstones of speculative fiction.
June 14, 2023
wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy
November 28, 2019
I received an ARC of this novel in exchange for a review.
This book really is a gamechanger. It redefines cyberpunk and offers a sustainable alternative to the grim, dark, corporate-owned settings while it never sugarcoats its failings. A clever, complex story set in a fast-paced yet humane world, it was a delight to read.
This book really is a gamechanger. It redefines cyberpunk and offers a sustainable alternative to the grim, dark, corporate-owned settings while it never sugarcoats its failings. A clever, complex story set in a fast-paced yet humane world, it was a delight to read.
December 1, 2019
Very solid hope/solarpunk set in 2101. It's about: generational change from the Setback generations (that's us), who destroyed the world, to the Clawback, and now to the Bounceback generation, people born c. 2070+ who are still working on saving the world, but want to have *fun* doing it.
It reminds me of Snow Crash and of Stand on Zanzibar, in presenting a near-future that is very much an extension of the current world -- which may mean it will date pretty badly. But it's got social media and social credits/debits, guaranteed basic income, virtual reality, possible emergent AIs, gamification of all the boring tasks, gender fluidity, and climate change.
It's not quite 5 stars because I don't believe social credit would work like that, and also people w/GBI would do things differently--they'd spend more time doing creative/artistic tasks, in particular. But it's definitely a book worth reading, thinking about, and discussing.
It reminds me of Snow Crash and of Stand on Zanzibar, in presenting a near-future that is very much an extension of the current world -- which may mean it will date pretty badly. But it's got social media and social credits/debits, guaranteed basic income, virtual reality, possible emergent AIs, gamification of all the boring tasks, gender fluidity, and climate change.
It's not quite 5 stars because I don't believe social credit would work like that, and also people w/GBI would do things differently--they'd spend more time doing creative/artistic tasks, in particular. But it's definitely a book worth reading, thinking about, and discussing.
September 11, 2019
I really wanted to enjoy this book, but in the end it just didn't grab me. The setting had all the right ingredients: a post #climatefail future where mankind is still squabbling and unable to pool their resources enough to #bounceback - our main character, Rubi, is having trouble getting face to face with a legal client. The reason might be an emerging AI, or is it?
Climate fiction, a setting where humans seem to have merged their "surface" (real world) and "VR/sensory" (online) worlds, the race for an entity of unknown origin... But the whole thing just never manages to take off and become exciting.
Climate fiction, a setting where humans seem to have merged their "surface" (real world) and "VR/sensory" (online) worlds, the race for an entity of unknown origin... But the whole thing just never manages to take off and become exciting.
January 14, 2021
I tried, I really tried. I loved the weird, future world proposed by the author, centred on Canadian characters and locations, but I found myself equally confused by this chaotic world and multiple narratives (I’m assuming they’re meant to eventually connect together) but I just couldn’t manage to get more than 30% into this long book. I wanted to get further, and maybe I’ll return to this book in the future when my mind is better able to absorb this narrative.
May 20, 2019
Love the world L.X. Beckett has created! Hope for the future of humanity through the tech that is currently thought to be destroying society. Thumbs up for this take!
July 31, 2021
This book is exactly what the title suggests. Every chapter makes abundantly clear that Beckett has no shortage of imagination and cultural insight.
Taking place many decades in the future, Gamechanger nonetheless confronts countless essential issues of today: colonization, addiction, trauma, and environmentalism to name a very small few.
I should also mention that there is a lot of invented language and concepts used throughout: it is really quite clever and helps to communicate the nature of the world, but also meant the first half of the novel took me a long time to work through.
Beckett's vision of the future gives me great hope, despite being quite dystopian. I look forward to the sequel!
Taking place many decades in the future, Gamechanger nonetheless confronts countless essential issues of today: colonization, addiction, trauma, and environmentalism to name a very small few.
I should also mention that there is a lot of invented language and concepts used throughout: it is really quite clever and helps to communicate the nature of the world, but also meant the first half of the novel took me a long time to work through.
Beckett's vision of the future gives me great hope, despite being quite dystopian. I look forward to the sequel!
Read
April 23, 2021DNF - I put this one aside unfinished after 55 pages. I found the mingling of virtual and physical characters and settings almost incomprehensible. Without a relatable protagonist or an interesting plot emerging, I opted to put it down in favor of the next book in by TBR stack.
August 10, 2020
This is my favorite book now. I want to live in Sensorium and be best friends with all the characters. I adore every aspect of the worldbuilding, especially the linguistic conventions.
August 27, 2019
I was lucky enough to acquire an ARC of this wonderful book, and I feel blessed at my fortune at getting to read it before everyone else. :) "Gamechanger" is a wonderfully thoughtful novel, deep with both concern for our future and with optimism that we might overcome the challenges before us and make a more acceptable, equitable society. Beckett draws a series of complex characters who realistically engage with an equally well-constructed post-soft apocalyptic world, that feels so very real and disquietingly possible. "Gamechanger" is one of those novels that make you feel intelligent just reading it, and after you've finished it you feel enlightened. You feel smarter. And most of all, you feel hopeful.
November 5, 2019
Decades after the climate crisis reached a head and killed far too many people, things are finally starting to get better again... thanks to universal rationing and reputation-based economy where those who aren't civic-minded get punished. You may not physically travel much but you can still interact with people all over the world, sometimes as though you are in the same room. Reproduction might be limited, but children are cherished and large families form to support them. But there are still risks to the planet, and some people trying to sabotage the recovery, including a mysterious malcontent named Lux, who at first seems to be a social work case but turns out to be a much more complicated problem.
Disclaimer: I won a free advanced reader's copy of this book through a contest on Twitter. I don't think it affected my review.
So this is a near-future tale with a lot of worldbuilding behind it, which might make it hard to get into immediately. What with augmented reality games (far more immersive than our own), ubiquitous telepresence, and the lack of traditional jobs (most people having several that they do whenever one they're qualified for is available), is can be hard to get a handle on what's happening. And there are some elements that are the kind that might mildly inspire eyerolling as being 'too topical', like people occasionally communicating in hashtags. It's not enough to be annoying (at least for me), but early on I was worried it might. But once I got into it, I really enjoyed the worldbuilding... even things that I'd seen done before (such as the ability for everyone to give everyone else 'strikes' or 'strokes' for bad or good behavior, respectively, with consequences for getting too low or high), was more thought out than I've usually seen it, not presented as a bad or good but just a new part of life that has elements of both and you can see both the flaws and benefits. The use of augmented reality games also was handled very well done, with a regular sense of what was actually happening in the 'surface' in addition to the game, so I could visualize both as required... that's something that often I find lacks in other stories using fantasy games as an element (unless it's the type where the body's in a pod while they're in an immersive virtual reality).
The main plot took a while to get going, but once it did I really liked it, my only complaint being that towards the end when the villains were revealed and acting openly it lacked some of the nuance. Also, a problem throughout, but particularly towards the end, is that I often had trouble telling exactly what was happening where, and where everyone was in relation to each other. I freely admit that part (maybe even most) was my own fault, being a bit too distracted as a reader to really pay attention to the cues I needed and remember the details to keep careful track, though the mere fact that characters can interact as though they're beside each other when they're half a world away certainly didn't help matters.
The book's got a largely optimistic tone, which is nice, and some of the solutions, although some might seem grim and spartan compared to our own society of excess, still remain hopeful in that they present a future where people can live fulfilling, even fun lives having to make those sacrifices.
So I didn't really know what to expect going in (I believe a description was going around calling it Neuromancer meets Star Trek which is such an odd pairing that the combination could mean almost anything), but I wound up really enjoying it and would love to read more in this universe or from this author.
Four stars, maybe a little rounding up involved in that, but only a little. Even if Goodreads allowed half stars (and seriously why not by now) it'd need quarter stars to not round up to a four.
Disclaimer: I won a free advanced reader's copy of this book through a contest on Twitter. I don't think it affected my review.
So this is a near-future tale with a lot of worldbuilding behind it, which might make it hard to get into immediately. What with augmented reality games (far more immersive than our own), ubiquitous telepresence, and the lack of traditional jobs (most people having several that they do whenever one they're qualified for is available), is can be hard to get a handle on what's happening. And there are some elements that are the kind that might mildly inspire eyerolling as being 'too topical', like people occasionally communicating in hashtags. It's not enough to be annoying (at least for me), but early on I was worried it might. But once I got into it, I really enjoyed the worldbuilding... even things that I'd seen done before (such as the ability for everyone to give everyone else 'strikes' or 'strokes' for bad or good behavior, respectively, with consequences for getting too low or high), was more thought out than I've usually seen it, not presented as a bad or good but just a new part of life that has elements of both and you can see both the flaws and benefits. The use of augmented reality games also was handled very well done, with a regular sense of what was actually happening in the 'surface' in addition to the game, so I could visualize both as required... that's something that often I find lacks in other stories using fantasy games as an element (unless it's the type where the body's in a pod while they're in an immersive virtual reality).
The main plot took a while to get going, but once it did I really liked it, my only complaint being that towards the end when the villains were revealed and acting openly it lacked some of the nuance. Also, a problem throughout, but particularly towards the end, is that I often had trouble telling exactly what was happening where, and where everyone was in relation to each other. I freely admit that part (maybe even most) was my own fault, being a bit too distracted as a reader to really pay attention to the cues I needed and remember the details to keep careful track, though the mere fact that characters can interact as though they're beside each other when they're half a world away certainly didn't help matters.
The book's got a largely optimistic tone, which is nice, and some of the solutions, although some might seem grim and spartan compared to our own society of excess, still remain hopeful in that they present a future where people can live fulfilling, even fun lives having to make those sacrifices.
So I didn't really know what to expect going in (I believe a description was going around calling it Neuromancer meets Star Trek which is such an odd pairing that the combination could mean almost anything), but I wound up really enjoying it and would love to read more in this universe or from this author.
Four stars, maybe a little rounding up involved in that, but only a little. Even if Goodreads allowed half stars (and seriously why not by now) it'd need quarter stars to not round up to a four.
December 13, 2019
In the Bounceback generation, humanity is recovering from the environmental and social damage done by prior generations. Everyone is networked, every move and conversation recorded for the sake of transparency, and the currency of the day is social capital – strokes and strikes for good and bad behavior. Instead of single jobs, there is a gig economy, where individuals can sign up as needed to pilot drones, work clean-up crews, provide security, and more. Family units consist of multiple spouses, elders, and there’s a strict one-child policy in place; the right to have children must be earned. AI and VR are ubiquitous, with the majority of human interactions taking place in personal e-states, public gaming gyms, and other virtual spaces.
Rubi Whiting is one of the top gamers in the world. She’s also a legal advocate, currently balancing work for her client, the mysterious Luciano Pox, her rivalry with Gimlet Barnes, her in-game arch nemesis, and protecting her father, Drow Whiting, the so-called Mad Maestro, a musical genius, with extreme PTSD and a history of trauma and attempted suicide. Rubi’s pet cause is SeaJuve, a project to rejuvenate the oceans and put an end to oxygen scarcity. In the course of trying to secure funding for the project, unravel the mystery of her client’s true identity, and care for her father, Rubi becomes embroiled in a much larger plot than she ever imagined – one that may involve a secret immortality cult and the emergence of sentient AI. And the key to unravelling it all is winning a match against Gimlet Barnes in a Revolutionary France-inspired sim, a proposition complicated by Rubi’s growing attraction to her best frenemy.
Beckett weaves together multiple threads and storylines in Gamechanger to create a story that feels truly sprawling and epic. Their characters and world feel deep and lived-in, and the future they offer up a highly-plausible, extrapolating forward the way society currently engages with social media. The novel’s scope can almost be dizzying at times, but the story is always engaging and at over 550 pages, it still manages to be a fast-paced, page-turning read. The characters are fantastic, and each gets their own journey and arc to complete. Beckett writes them all with compassion, allowing them to be simultaneously strong and capable, but also vulnerable and capable of leaning on each other. Gamechanger is a wonderful read, and I’m already looking forward to Beckett’s next work!
Rubi Whiting is one of the top gamers in the world. She’s also a legal advocate, currently balancing work for her client, the mysterious Luciano Pox, her rivalry with Gimlet Barnes, her in-game arch nemesis, and protecting her father, Drow Whiting, the so-called Mad Maestro, a musical genius, with extreme PTSD and a history of trauma and attempted suicide. Rubi’s pet cause is SeaJuve, a project to rejuvenate the oceans and put an end to oxygen scarcity. In the course of trying to secure funding for the project, unravel the mystery of her client’s true identity, and care for her father, Rubi becomes embroiled in a much larger plot than she ever imagined – one that may involve a secret immortality cult and the emergence of sentient AI. And the key to unravelling it all is winning a match against Gimlet Barnes in a Revolutionary France-inspired sim, a proposition complicated by Rubi’s growing attraction to her best frenemy.
Beckett weaves together multiple threads and storylines in Gamechanger to create a story that feels truly sprawling and epic. Their characters and world feel deep and lived-in, and the future they offer up a highly-plausible, extrapolating forward the way society currently engages with social media. The novel’s scope can almost be dizzying at times, but the story is always engaging and at over 550 pages, it still manages to be a fast-paced, page-turning read. The characters are fantastic, and each gets their own journey and arc to complete. Beckett writes them all with compassion, allowing them to be simultaneously strong and capable, but also vulnerable and capable of leaning on each other. Gamechanger is a wonderful read, and I’m already looking forward to Beckett’s next work!
Want to read
June 8, 2019PW Starred: As this exuberant, exciting near-future yarn keeps reinventing itself, the action gets wilder and the scope wider, until the future of humankind is at stake. Though the Clawback project is beginning to rejuvenate an ecologically ruined Earth, public responsibilities are still unsettled and fluid. Cherub “Rubi” Whiting, a popular star of elaborate multiplayer virtual reality games, is excited to become a lawyer, but her first client, Luciano Pox, turns out to be difficult—and dangerous. Besides being an anti-restoration terrorist, Luciano could be a renegade AI, the dread superhuman Singularity, or an advance scout for an invasion fleet from Proxima Centauri. Meanwhile, Rubi’s father is on an obsessive hunt for the ancient oligarchs who survived Earth’s devastation and are plotting to grab power again, and Gimlet Barnes, Rubi’s rival and potential lover, is coping with her nine-year-old daughter going on a mission for the Department of Preadolescent Affairs. Each new chapter adds a different viewpoint and further information that upends reader expectations, stirring the plot in startling and wonderful ways. This delightful pinball machine of a book recalls the whiz-bang joy and gleeful innovation of Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash. Agent: Caitlin Blasdell, Liza Dawson Associates. (Sept.)
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