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Beyond #1
Beyond Rejection
Ismael Forth wakes up to find that his mind is now implanted in the body of a beautiful woman, his own body has been stolen, and he is reported to have died on a distant planet he has never visited.
- GenresScience FictionFiction
179 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published August 12, 1980
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 24, 2013
In the future, viable bodies are recycled to house the personalities of individuals who have died in more physically destructive manners. Unfortunately, sometimes they have to take whatever random body happens to be available...
A man who wakes up with missing memories and the body of a woman with a prehensile tail is convinced that there is some mystery about his death and is determined to investigate.
December 16, 2016
Odd little book from 1980. A hard sci-fi take on gender dysphoria.
May 29, 2021
The initial premise of “Beyond Rejection” by Justin Leiber is pretty good. But then, maybe the use of the wrong homophone in the front cover, below-the-title blurb should’ve been a hint that no one put their A game into this novel.
I like the idea of the team of eccentrics who work at restoring or “implanting” a person’s “backup tape” into a fresh body after they die. There were good characters there. It’s a difficult, delicate job, and only people who are a bit weird have the knack for getting it right.
And the idea that in this case, the person being restored is being restored into a body that is far from a match of the original one they were born and raised in, so they really have to come to terms with the change if they’re going to go “beyond rejection” and live.
There’s some good material there.
Most of the second half of the novel, after the operation is done, turns into more of a clumsy, juvenile attempt at James Bond, with the main character and a side kick going on an adventurous investigation. Nothing about this was even remotely believable, and the silly puns on “Moby Dick” just made me groan some more.
The final twist at the end, goes some way towards redeeming the awfully poor adventure portion of the book.
Overall, it was a decent read for a few hours. Leiber could’ve done a better job of the second portion to keep it interesting, and still kept the ending twist.
I like the idea of the team of eccentrics who work at restoring or “implanting” a person’s “backup tape” into a fresh body after they die. There were good characters there. It’s a difficult, delicate job, and only people who are a bit weird have the knack for getting it right.
And the idea that in this case, the person being restored is being restored into a body that is far from a match of the original one they were born and raised in, so they really have to come to terms with the change if they’re going to go “beyond rejection” and live.
There’s some good material there.
Most of the second half of the novel, after the operation is done, turns into more of a clumsy, juvenile attempt at James Bond, with the main character and a side kick going on an adventurous investigation. Nothing about this was even remotely believable, and the silly puns on “Moby Dick” just made me groan some more.
The final twist at the end, goes some way towards redeeming the awfully poor adventure portion of the book.
Overall, it was a decent read for a few hours. Leiber could’ve done a better job of the second portion to keep it interesting, and still kept the ending twist.
August 2, 2020
I picked this one up about the time it came out--1980--and have re-read it occasionally over the years. It's a fast, breezy read, but it asks intriguing questions about identity, sexuality, and even reality, all while playfully dropping tropes and punning language from a host of other stories, including Moby Dick, The Wizard of Oz, and the myth of Cadmus.
The basic story is fairly simple: thanks to mind-recording technology, Ismael Forth awakes in a new body, one that is inconveniently a) female and b) equipped with a bioengineered prehensile tail. He also learns that his old body disappeared under highly suspicious circumstances, and now you know the plot. There's intrigue, deception, disguises, spyware, and a reasonable attempt to negotiate the gender issues raised without too much obvious fanservice. (Okay, the cover is pretty directly fanservice.) The thorniest issue for current readers is probably the presence of Candy Darling, an eighty-year-old agent in the body of an eleven-year-old, but it doesn't derail the story.
Also, there are cats, if you like that kind of thing.
All in all, it's an energetic adventure with lively prose, and it's a dandy way to recover your balance after a long slog through a dense novel.
The basic story is fairly simple: thanks to mind-recording technology, Ismael Forth awakes in a new body, one that is inconveniently a) female and b) equipped with a bioengineered prehensile tail. He also learns that his old body disappeared under highly suspicious circumstances, and now you know the plot. There's intrigue, deception, disguises, spyware, and a reasonable attempt to negotiate the gender issues raised without too much obvious fanservice. (Okay, the cover is pretty directly fanservice.) The thorniest issue for current readers is probably the presence of Candy Darling, an eighty-year-old agent in the body of an eleven-year-old, but it doesn't derail the story.
Also, there are cats, if you like that kind of thing.
All in all, it's an energetic adventure with lively prose, and it's a dandy way to recover your balance after a long slog through a dense novel.
September 14, 2015
I stumbled across this book quite by accident after reading the second book first.
But still the mystery of the story kept me captivated even as Justin Leiber was stretching my mind. We, the readers, are taken on quite a hero's journey as Ismael voyages from hating the new body that houses his mind to final acceptance of not only a new gender but new body parts.
But still the mystery of the story kept me captivated even as Justin Leiber was stretching my mind. We, the readers, are taken on quite a hero's journey as Ismael voyages from hating the new body that houses his mind to final acceptance of not only a new gender but new body parts.
September 15, 2023
I wish I knew more about functionalism (philosophy), as that was Justin Leiber’s bread and butter. He taught it at university, and that accolade along with being the son of THE grandmaster of speculative fiction, Fritz Leiber, makes for quite a story teller. In my opinion. His books don’t seem the best received. This was my third book by this younger Leiber, second fictional work. This is my favorite.
It invokes Ismael Forth waking up in the body of Sally Cadmus. What will his/her/they identity become? It’s really fascinating, and a sci-fi look at gender dysphoria that I think is well executed. They philosophical parts are a bit more fun than the adventure itself, but they really mesh well.
The idea of Rejection refers to the mind accepting or rejecting the body. Similar to how a body kind reject a heart transplant. In this way it’s about rebirth and even killing the old you. I’m very much looking forward to reading book 2.
It invokes Ismael Forth waking up in the body of Sally Cadmus. What will his/her/they identity become? It’s really fascinating, and a sci-fi look at gender dysphoria that I think is well executed. They philosophical parts are a bit more fun than the adventure itself, but they really mesh well.
The idea of Rejection refers to the mind accepting or rejecting the body. Similar to how a body kind reject a heart transplant. In this way it’s about rebirth and even killing the old you. I’m very much looking forward to reading book 2.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews