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A review by a_bailey
The Invisible by Seb Doubinsky
5.0
This novel is the 8th book in his City-State cycle and the second book within the Vita cycle within the City-State cycle. Coming into this I did not know that this was the second book of a cycle within a larger cycle. So if you know me, then you know I’ll be going back to read the others. That being said, I didn’t feel like I was missing anything. Seb Doubinsky himself says they can be read in any order. So that makes my completionist heart feel a little better, anyway. So, let’s talk about the story a bit. The City-State universe takes place in an alternate history where countries are broken up into City-States as the name suggests. The world uses contemporary technology, for example the characters use Skype in one scene, but world events and politics are different. Doubinsky says that he writes dystopias but, for this novel at least, the world is no more dystopian than our own and there aren’t any technological advances that are important to the plot. It is pretty easy to follow what’s happening from the get-go.
Speaking of that, the book is really a mystery hung on a frame of SF and romance. The story focuses on Georg Ratner a police commissioner recently appointed to his position. Political pressure forces him to start cracking down on a drug called Synth. Synth seems to create shared hallucinations, but it remains unclear throughout the novel. Then Ratner’s friend and fellow policeman is murdered and he has to figure out how the murder ties in.
I really enjoyed this book. It was written in a very straight-forward style, without much embellishment. However, embellishment does come in the form of the tarot card drawings that name each chapter and the way Doubinsky also manages to keep the theme of each tarot card throughout the chapter. It’s done with subtlety and style.
The characters were also well done. You really get a feel for the characters. One of the things I really appreciated was the relationship between Ratner and his wife. There was no macho nonsense about how marriage is terrible. Ratner, is in fact a remarried widower and not one tied down by bitterness or anger. It was truly a refreshing take after the nonsense Hollywood and many novels shove down your throat. As you can see, there is a lot packed into the 233 short pages. If I had to sum the book up, I’d say it was like PKD wrote an Umberto Eco novel. Or maybe the other way around. Anyway, pick this one up if you like questioning the nature of reality, conspiracies, and straightforward prose.
If you like what I'm doing, come and check out my podcast about SFF: https://itgodp.libsyn.com/
Speaking of that, the book is really a mystery hung on a frame of SF and romance. The story focuses on Georg Ratner a police commissioner recently appointed to his position. Political pressure forces him to start cracking down on a drug called Synth. Synth seems to create shared hallucinations, but it remains unclear throughout the novel. Then Ratner’s friend and fellow policeman is murdered and he has to figure out how the murder ties in.
I really enjoyed this book. It was written in a very straight-forward style, without much embellishment. However, embellishment does come in the form of the tarot card drawings that name each chapter and the way Doubinsky also manages to keep the theme of each tarot card throughout the chapter. It’s done with subtlety and style.
The characters were also well done. You really get a feel for the characters. One of the things I really appreciated was the relationship between Ratner and his wife. There was no macho nonsense about how marriage is terrible. Ratner, is in fact a remarried widower and not one tied down by bitterness or anger. It was truly a refreshing take after the nonsense Hollywood and many novels shove down your throat. As you can see, there is a lot packed into the 233 short pages. If I had to sum the book up, I’d say it was like PKD wrote an Umberto Eco novel. Or maybe the other way around. Anyway, pick this one up if you like questioning the nature of reality, conspiracies, and straightforward prose.
If you like what I'm doing, come and check out my podcast about SFF: https://itgodp.libsyn.com/