The Virosexuals

by Orion J. Facey

"Here we have something genuinely new in SF. Imagine a cyberpunk that has nothing to do with William Gibson, about the 2010s instead of th 80s; imagine a science fiction about gender and personal identity where the dominant feeling is chemical-drenched emotional gaming instead of anthropology; imagine a fiction which is simultaneously a wildly personal exploration and exorcism of aspects of the author and a wildly psychedelic sex splatterfest. Maybe you were waiting for this? I was. It is finally here in your hands. Read it and be expanded." -Elin McReady

"If William Burroughs took Philip K. Dick to bed, their congenitally abnormal literary offspring would surely read something like this. A frighteningly strong dose of deviant future-shock, the kind of future that gives conservatives nightmares, with sensation, exploration and self-expression given their rightful value." -Pascal Little

224 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2019

Reviews

[bj · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars! freaky ahh book but overall interesting and worth the read. really enjoyed the sentiment and the intersectionality of experiences but sometimes i did feel like the plot was… unimportant. though i’m not really sure this book is meant to have an important plot or just meant to be art, so i tried to put to sleep the cynical and conservative writer in me who craves for something to make sense. being transgender doesn’t ‘make sense’ in the climate we have been taught to operate in, so why should this book? i liked it. i think anyone who wants to understand queerness and transness more should read this book.

“‘Why are you trans?’

‘Because it is the way in which I have chosen to live my life. Living out here, far above the sluggish territories of man and woman, I am the expansive horizon. I am the land and the rain that waters it. Yes, I remember everything now. I am the world, and I see how small a part of her this body is, even those tiny wounds, in mere seconds, will heal. And I can love! I can love my existence and the existence of others around me. I can share in happiness unfettered. That is what transness really means to me. Its my transition from a letter into a word, from a word into a sentence, from a human into
the world…” (289)

[Marie Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

the first part is really good the second was obviously written a lot later on ecstasy in the club and would’ve needed more than one round of editing

[Jak Merriman · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*? idk i just had the feeling when reading that this book needed another round or two of editing. it’s the most difficult book i’ve ever rated because i absolutely adored its ideas—this (trans)cendence is something i always seek out in fiction and rarely find. it’s clearly a book of overwhelming transness, an absolute fireball of transness and self-consciousness and desire, and i loved that, truly. i can’t say i dislike it at all, but there was just this quality about the writing which sometimes came across as unfinished, or unrefined. and i don’t mean it’s not “literary” enough, or it’s not north american realism; i just mean it needs to be refined in its messiness and in its steampunk campiness. it’s sexy, don’t get me wrong. it just needs another look over.

idk! idk what to say! i really liked it!

[Leah CL · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. This is the brown transfemme sci-fi of, not your wildest dreams, but a higher consciousness’s. This is what I mean when I say we should all stop reading and teaching “the classics”. I hope people read this book far into the messy goopy future it describes. I am living and breathing The Virosexuals and would happily die in its mucus membranous embrace. When I say read this book I mean READ THIS BOOK.

[Julek ploski · Rating 4 out of 5]

sometimes undercooked, sometimes overflown with edgy ideas but mostly so tender so special so healing

[Steely Dean]

really really enjoyed

[Lori LL · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love it but maybe needed an editing ? I was a bit fatigued by the end