Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits

Yay, I had time to plow through the last 3 hours of this today! My interest level varied throughout the first 40% of the book or so, ranging from “this is freaking amazing” to “hmm, is this going somewhere I care about?” But once the key conflict was established, I was hooked.

A lot of the “drag” came from something I think is actually pretty admirable - Zoey is a fish out of water who remains totally out of her depth for a believable amount of time. Her utter failure to grasp her situation results in some painfully bad decisions, but on reflection this is thoughtful character-building. Zoey isn't a Strong Female Character or Chosen One who miraculously rises to crafty politicking and ninja skills in an improbable span. She's a barista who grew up in a trailer park and that point of view credibly drives her actions.

The other characters grow more interesting around the halfway point as well. Zoey's interactions with Will are compelling, and Andre has some great lines. I got to a point where I'd love to see Echo developed more if there's a sequel. And what I wouldn't pay to see a movie adaptation with Stephen Fry as Carlton!

On occasion an attempted witticism lands with a thud, but there's ample compensation in the bits that do work, and in some golden life advice Will delivers.

Take one of those cyberpunk books of the '80s and '90s and make it faster, funnier, broader and a lot more shallow and that's the recipe for FV&FS. Be sure to update it with social media/Black Mirror kind of satiric commentary with the Blink channel substituting for TikTok, YT, whatever. (“In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.”)

There is tons of action, a few laughs, and an underdog character—one of my personal favorite character types.

After a few exciting opening chapters FV&FS became intermittently boring and annoying. There were still a few good moments here and there.

First of all, the satire is warmed-over. Rich people spend their money on ostentatious displays while people are starving blocks away. Social media/constant phone cameras create a lack of privacy, lack of humility, and narcissism. Toxic masculinity is bad. Pargin isn't stunning me with his insight and he certainly isn't making the criticisms in an innovative or subtle way.

Zoey comes off the best; I love a good underdog character and she had potential. In the beginning, she seemed resourceful, shrewd even, and rightly reluctant to trust. Soon after, she gets run over by the plot, starts trusting people immediately (like the bodyguard who shows up at the exact right time), and passively acquiesces to schemes created by her father's business associates. Worst of all, Zoey becomes a sort of offbeat fairy tale princess. I'm guessing this was also part of the satire. We all secretly hope we have rich daddys/godfathers/fairy godmothers somewhere who will transform our existence, even if we hate them and what they “stand for.” Still, she did get a few good moments of humor and insight and gets to own climatic moments. Not a complete waste.

More frustrating are the supporting characters. Will's role is “the stiff,'' and the Pargin tries to squeeze some sympathy by giving him a tragic past, mostly through awkward dialogue. There's no way a control freak would reveal such things about himself to someone like Zoey. We know even less about the others. Andre is a sharp dresser and gets the funniest lines. Echo is the token (hot!) femme and the joke about her is the assumption she's Chinese but she's actually Filipino. Hilarious. Budd is...an aging cowboy?

Then there's Molech, the antagonist. He's a cliche insecure sadist. I was mildly impressed with the relentlessness, but ultimately, he's one-note.

The book is just for fun but the bubble bursts when I can't maintain an interest in the characters.