Chana PorterReseñas

Mid-singularity sci-fi a la The End of Evangelion that went to WILD places and was (for me) unputdownable. Readers of This is How You End the Time War will love this one. A new classic of queer speculative fiction.

I liked this. Felt like a unique variation on the "Alien Invasion" trope.

Imagine a utopia. Aliens have arrived and almost everyone partakes in their mind-altering substance, The Seep. On The Seep, we realize we are all one, and we could be anything. The environment is fixed and capitalism is over. People decide to sprout wings, grow antlers, stop aging. Become babies again.

What does it mean to grieve and feel broken in a world where all of your basic needs are met, where everyone wants to help you? My favorite line in the whole thing: "Everything is unfolding as it should, and that doesn't mean I can't be mad about it." Said as a chorus. In a church service.

Listen, I am going to be thinking about this for a while. But I loved this! I am going to have to get a copy of my own to keep when I return this to the library!

I think this book is going to have a much more profound impact on me than I realise and I’m so grateful for having read it

The sort of alternate world in this novel wasn't quite different enough from ours to be that intriguing. I was under the impression that it would swap some concepts, but really, although the world's history and peoples are entirely different, it just greatly increased both the body shaming and demand that women act as sexual objects that we've got, and took our existing capitalism to some terrible and logical conclusions. Gave the impression that women really just can't win, and is notable for making lots of foods sound absolutely incredible, and lots of sex sound absolutely awful.½

Review of eGalley

In a future world, in Seagate, a religious town created to be the flagship town of the Stecopo Corporation, the people believe abstaining from food brings them closer to God. Despite the Corporation’s efforts to control everything that the Seagate citizens eat [and the religious community providing the support they need to do this], there are those who resist.

Beatrice Bolano, hungry and fascinated with forbidden foods [such as butter], is captivated by the smells, textures, and tastes of cooking and wishes to become a chef. But the citizens of Seagate consider restaurants, now driven underground, taboo. Can Beatrice find a way to fulfill her desire to cook?

Recipient of a technology scholarship, Reiko Rimando leaves home for college. But then, in the midst of her studies . . . and despite her flawless academic performance . . . the college pulls her scholarship. Should she switch her focus from her tech studies to art? Could she even contemplate staying at school without the scholarship funds?

In what might be a bit of irony, both Beatrice and Reiko come across a book, Ijo’s “The Kitchen Girl” and find within its pages both inspiration and strength to pursue what makes them happiest.

In a world where corporate greed dominates, can Beatrice and Reiko find their way to a life of freedom? And what of Ijo’s book?

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In this futuristic world where rising tides have washed away much of the land, food is not to be enjoyed [or eaten in public] and the less one eats, the better. On the other hand, pleasure is everything so sex, anywhere and everywhere, with anyone, at any time, is perfectly permissible.

While Beatrice struggles with her family’s unshakable faith, Reiko struggles with her low class. With class divisions and marginalization still part of the culture, readers may wonder if this society has simply traded one set of taboos for another. The distribution of wealth remains unequal; climate disasters remain [presumably putting foodstuffs in short supply], and women are still subservient. Sadly, it seems as if one set of prejudices has simply taken the place of previous biases.

Both Beatrice and Reiko want to fit in, but in their own way, on their own terms. Readers may root for them to find their way, but this is probably not a world in which many would wish to exist.

I received a free copy of this eBook from Gallery Books, Gallery / Saga Press and NetGalley
#TheThickandtheLean #NetGalley

I really enjoyed this book. I loved the writing style, and the surreal vibes. Overall, I would recommend to anyone who likes fabulist or surrealist literature.

Mentioned in a blog post at https://booksbeyondbinaries.blog/2019/12/23/2019-in-review/
Featured in a blog post at https://booksbeyondbinaries.blog/2020/01/20/feature-interview-with-author-chana-...

An odd little novel about a "soft" invasion of mysterious aliens that gradually become symbiotic with humans and relieve us of our suffering, our scarcity thinking, our violence, our mortality, possibly our purpose. Of course there are philosophical questions of free will and if we need to suffer to be fully human. I thought it started out fairly strong, and the aliens intrigued me, but for me it got all mushy toward the end and lost its thread.½

This started out with so much promise. An alien invasion with alien/human symbiosis? An alien species that allows humans to heal, live forever, and modify their appearance? I was here for it. Even the main premise with Deeba wanting to be reborn as a baby- so much potential for a longer deeply rich sci-fi novel. I was fully engrossed through the first half of the book, but the plot took a turn and the story wasn’t holding together for me anymore. It started to get a bit silly when we started hearing more from the aliens and shifted focus to the aliens not understanding what humans wanted or needed and the “vengeance quest” of Trina. I was a bit disappointed overall.

I overall really enjoyed this story. The premise is interesting and unique, and despite this the story doesn't waste time on too detailed world building and lets you jump right into the plot.
I think as it is the story is kind of an awkward length. I probably would have enjoyed it more as either a short story, focusing on Trinas grief in her situation, or a longer novel. The ending feels very sudden and out of nowhere and a lot of elements just get dropped ( the compound for example) that I think could have been interesting to explore.
My favourite part of the story was definetly the main character. I could easily relate to her and was interested in following her journey. The other characters were interesting as well, even though we don't learn much about them.

I was never bored while reading this and the book explores philosophical and political questions in a very casual way that never seems "preachy".

An alien intelligence takes over the Earth, offering humans immortality and the ability to heal and transform bodies. But at what cost to what makes them human?

It's an interesting premise but the author didn't make a good job of integrating world-building, characterisation, and a story in the novella that was the core of this book, and I found it rather a slog to get through. The accompanying short story re-telling some of the events from another character's viewpoint, where the world-building had already been done, was much more readable.

This a book of a woman mourning the death of her partner in a utopian society. Its also about identity - who are you when an important part of your life isn't there. Its incredibly well written.

I totally get Trina - she just wants to be left alone. But everyone keeps bothering her with their words of kindness, and platitudes that don't help. I like the way identity is handled - from changing to become MORE yourself, compared to changing to BECOME somebody else. Its an interesting topic, and the author handles it well.

I also liked that the story is exactly the length it needs to be. Highly recommended.

Weird, but in a really good way. It’s nice to see such an interesting utopia story, too, instead of yet another dystopia. Definitely recommend this.

Boring New World

This novella-length book's premise has become rather cliched in science fiction since Brave New World: an alien presence wants humans to be happy, which for the aliens means being part of a larger whole. The main character resists, insisting on free will and the value of suffering. There is some cute New Age whimsy, such as talking animals, but the writing is too often overly simple and awkward.

I came to this story for the weird and stayed for the catharsis, as one follows the trail of self-understanding trod by a woman who has discovered that she might not be cut out for utopia. What lifts this story above the generally throwaway, goof-ball, utopias of the last golden age of the monthly digest magazines (think 1960s-1970s), is that the climax definitely felt chilling, as there is some doubt as to whether our protagonist is going to escape being an extra in a wannabe shaman's personal ceremony of transcendence.

Super fast, fun read. Dark, but good

This book wasn't what I expected at all, but I liked it immensely. It's billed as alien invasion sci-fi but it's really more allegorical—an exploration of grief and loss, using the alien invasion as a vehicle. The story unexpectedly takes the form of an adventure/quest, and is beautiful and engaging. The introductory chapters are really evocative of the current, mid-2020 mid-pandemic moment—if the author had spent a little more time in that part of the story rather than skipping ahead she might have been accused of prescience. Though secondary, the nature of the aliens is also fascinating, and I wouldn't say no to sequels further exploring the new state of humanity, the effects of the symbiosis established here further into the future, the barely touched on human separatists—there's really a ton of material I'd love to see the author use to further explore the human condition.½

I would give this five stars except I thought this book had a fascinating premise but one not fully realized. I enjoyed the book and even liked some of the characterizations, but was left feeling as though something was missing - not sure what that is...At any rate, it's a quick read and definitely deals with some important issues that are not normally dealt with in sci-fi. Also enjoyed the amorphousness of the sexuality exhibited by some of the characters. Something about the book reminded me of the moodiness in the excellent independent film _Another Earth_. Overall excellent and recommended.

This novella is stretched artificially to 202 pages by using a small-book format and near-double spacing, and the story itself feels artificially stretched, as well, like an outline of something that might have been good, with a little more of literally -anything- added to the pages: more event, more dialogue, more passion, more differentiation between characters, more of an idea of who these people are and why I should care about them.

It needed more editing, too. There is a lovely soft rhythm to the narrative, but the register never changes. The dialog, when it comes, is in a strange author-speak. People say things like "perhaps" and "a bit." Is their way of speaking being affected by "The Seep?" Or just evidence of a writer still looking for her voice? The characters feel somnambulant, which maybe in part can be explained by the premise of the novel, I suppose, of an alien invasion where the aliens seep into human minds and thoughts via the water and via "bodily fluids" (a phrase that reminded me of Dr. Strangelove, of course, but I don't think the author meant it that way). The characters came across as if they're stoned, and maybe this is also meant to be part of "The Seep" effect but it was hard to say for sure.

There is a very good premise here, which made me excited to read the novel, but the actual experience of reading felt more like reading a synopsis of a novel that is still waiting to be written. This is a pretty harsh review because I was really looking forward to a novel where trans-ness becomes effortless, not just along a gender spectrum but in many other ways, and where people are able to express themselves outwardly with any physical shape that makes them feel most themselves. I love that idea and I'm still looking for that novel.

Originally posted on Tales to Tide You Over

This is not an easy book to review. What makes it fascinating is both simple and so integrated that I struggle not to reveal what should come out as you read. Not every reader will appreciate the novel as, though it has action sequences, it’s more a personal and philosophical exploration than most science fiction despite the genre element being crucial.

The Seep explores the concept of utopia, self-identity, and immortality among other questions, but it isn’t a treatise or analytical. Instead, the novel begins with a lesbian couple having friends over to commiserate the beginning of an alien invasion. These hive-mind aliens have contaminated the water supply, already taking root in their human, and other, hosts. It’s the gentlest invasion ever, and no one is sure what this means.

The timeline advances rapidly from that point to another dinner party where Trina, the main character, learns one of her friends has made an ethically questionable decision using the aliens’ ability to manipulate matter into whatever the host desires. Learning this changes how she sees her friend, but it also makes her question what came before The Seep as now reinterpreted through the alien mind.

Then her wife makes an irrevocable decision, and Trina’s life falls apart.

It’s this point where the story changes from mundane (if alien-introduced horns and wings can be characterized as such) into an alcohol-induced vision quest Trina doesn’t even know she’s on. It can be hard to tell what is metaphor and what is reality, especially with the hive mind capable of transforming anything, but that matters little as Trina’s reactions hold the narrative focus.

The reader is invited to contemplate the theme questions alongside the main character, and I enjoyed that journey. I don’t have any more answers than I had before, but I have a better understanding of the framework behind my answers, and new questions to consider. The book stays near to the troubles of modern day from political and social to economic and environmental.

True to the themes, the cast draws from many races, sexual orientations, and gender identities. Despite this, until Trina revisits the Detroit of her past, the feel is rather middle class to me, odd when at least two of the original group are artists, though hardly starving. It reminds me of a comic I used to read about a lesbian couple living a rather ordinary life in the lesbian community, something as hard to attain as a profitable art career. It’s more the tone of sardonic humor than anything else. The book’s omniscient narrator stays with Trina but speaks from a knowledge greater than Trina can claim.

Though it is not tied to a specific religion or even preachy, the novel serves as a sermon of sorts. The story speaks to the importance of the past as it crafts us into the person we are today. Of how we need to treasure each moment because once it’s gone, we can never return. Either it or we will be different, changing the interaction. The book reads like a drug-addled stream of conscious at times, but one from which we rise a little wiser having asked questions about what is truly important and who we really are.

Besides, on the less philosophical side, the conceptualization of The Seep is fascinating. I enjoyed the personal relationships that revealed Trina as part of a complex community even when she believes herself abandoned. She also breaks into the traditional format with The Seep, revealing more of herself and the hive mind than before.

P.S. I received this Advanced Reader Copy from the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

The Seep are aliens who come to Earth in the near future. They are seemingly omnipotent beings who are pure sentience. They are joined, united, and have no physical form which makes Earth and its humans fascinating. Humans “partake” of The Seep, absorbing them and with The Seep are able to self-heal, to transform their appearance, to be immortal, even.

The Seep permeates the earth, healing it of toxins and pollution, growing enough food to end all scarcity. Now that The Seep has arrived, there is no scarcity, no war, no poverty, no illness. The world is a Utopia, but not everyone is completely happy.

Take Trina Goldberg-Oneka, she misses the struggle. She has used The Seep for years but is using less and less. When she is exposed, she even drinks some charcoal water to get it out of her system. Her wife Deeba, though, wants to go deeper with The Seep, to be reborn as a child. She would love for Trina to be her mother, to experience Trina’s love another way, but Trina can’t process that and perhaps because she could not do what Deeba wanted, she can’t process her grief at losing her.

The second and third parts of the book follow Trina down to the depths of despair and her journey to save a young boy who grew up in a compound of people who have never accepted The Seep. It is also a long conversation with The Seep through her pamphlet, a self-help pamphlet that alters to the circumstances. She calls it Pam and while it seems hilarious at first, it gets a bit eerie and the conversations become much more existential. The Seep wants to learn from Trina and wants so much to make her happy, but really Trina and The Seep are learning from each other.

The Seep is wonderfully inventive. I love the idea of noncorporeal aliens who are as excited as can be about being embodied. I love the idea of ending scarcity and war, though I hope it is something we can figure out without alien intervention.

The surreal inventiveness of The Seep modifications, the humans with animal ears or tails like a Neko or the animals who gain consciousness and talk all reminded me of Second Life where people create avatars to embody their aspirational selves. If you imagine an avatar in the virtual world as humans, then the player behind the screen is The Seep and the avatars embody our sentience.

I loved how Trina and The Seep came to understand each other and the meaning of humanity. What makes us human? The Seep does not understand something that is fundamental to Trina and that mutual understanding is something it wants desperately.

The Seep will be released on January 21st. I received an e-galley from the publisher through Edelweiss.

The Seep at Soho Press
Chana Porter author site
https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2020/01/23/9781641290869/