Subject: Review: SILICON SUNSET by Scott T. Grusky

From: Russell Cole <[email-masked]>
Date: 20 Jul 1998 16:56:38 -0400

SILICON SUNSET by Scott T. Grusky
	Review Copyright 1998 Russell Cole

Silicon Sunset is, um, disturbing, in that it shouldn't be so easy for the
reader to slide into such a finely-crafted madhouse world -- and language
-- as that depicted here without any hand-holding from the author, but
(t)here you are, and if you take that as the point of the novel you could
lose some sleep...

The timing of this story is exquisite, and accidental. Grusky's been
birthing the damn thing through a decade-long series of oblivious
midwives, and has finally had to perform the delivery himself. I'm here to
report that the baby is very healthy indeed, even if it does have two
navels and an eye in the back of its head. Strange creatures such as this
are, I think, youbetcha welcome now as we stumble around trying to craft
our self-fulfulling prophecies for these highly charged Last and First
days; something, ANYTHING, to counteract the ennui of, say, yet another
rock-in-the-sky fx-moneysuck placebo with the audacity to call itself
Armaggeddon.

For orientation (not description), Silicon Sunset is more Millennium than
X-Files, more 'This is who we are' than 'The Truth is Out There.'  Nah,
that truth is In Here, in the mirror, and boy howdy, what a funhouse
mirror you stand before when you enter Silicon Sunset!  Most importantly,
this bambino's FUN to interact with. Being one who dives out the window at
the mere mention of an economic report on TV, I was surprised to find
myself so caught up in all the bizarre intricacies of that aspect of the
plot. Ditto for this particular take on cybernetic evolution. Grusky has
an odd talent for immersing himself in the most unpalatable topics --
he'll spend YEARS if necessary -- then emerging with a wickedly delicious
angle on it, to which a big old belly laugh, half on-site spontaneous,
half oh mama appreciative, is the only possible response. For me the
appreciative part had to do with how surprisingly familiar are the strange
events, and their context, in Silicon Sunset.  Again, 'this is who we
are.' Or may become. Wow.

   %T      SILICON SUNSET
   %A      Scott T. Grusky
   %C      Malibu
   %D      September 1998
   %I        InfoNet Press, http://www.siliconsunset.com
   %O      trade paperback, US$15.95
   %G      ISBN 0-9651190-0-9
   %P      304pp

Russ Cole, Zimmerman Library
[email-masked]