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Sam's
going to another planet to teach English, where
he hopes to earn enough creds to pay off his student
loan and maybe buy a jetpack. He's not entirely comfortable
with spreading the English virus but it beats working
for the power brokers on Earth, and Octavia is a dreamy
underwater planet populated by eight-armed beings.
He
ends up learning more than teaching. From Mr. Zik, a
singer of melancholy songs. From a boxy robot named
9/3. And from Jinya, whose undulating tentacles make
Sam forget all about human legs.
Against
the colourful backdrop of kitsch science fiction, this
novel entwines UFOs with STDs, androids with androgyny,
and youth culture with culture shock. Leave your millenial
angst behind - blast off to 2959!
"It's
a wonderful book. Unquestionably SF, it isn't written
in the usual science fiction voice, and that's part
of its charm. His prose is conversational, his characters
and settings of the future Earth and Octavia are fascinating,
and the story remains engaging from start to finish."
- Charles de Lint, Fantasy & Science Fiction
"This
is marvelous stuff, hopeful, fresh, alive, and funny.
Munroe is writing the chronicle of his generation."
- Georgia Straight
"The
book reads like a cross between Frederik Pohl and C.M.
Kornbluth's The Space Merchants and Douglas Coupland's
Generation X, livened with Munroe's own DIY zinester
sensibility."
- Wired
"The
language is unflowery and unpretentious... the plot
is tight, the tone throughout is amusing, the main character
is likeable and the science fiction setting is both
campy and pointed."
- Vancouver Sun
"But
beyond the comical elements that are dispersed throughout
this clever little book, it becomes evident to the reader
that the author is a seasoned social critic..."
- Upath.com
"His
writing is lively and uncluttered... when Munroe takes
aim at the management and co-opting of subcultures,
the satire is dead on..."
- Quill & Quire
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