Page 20 of Chris Panatier’s “Stringers” contains this
sentence - “She’d added muscle like a rutting brymlack on a torpgrub diet”. If
that sentence appears perfectly normal to you, then you need to read this book.
I fear I may run out of adjectives to describe this
extravagantly bonkers yet deeply profound book by the end of this review. The
crazy plot involves Ben, an unwilling fount of amazing/pointless facts about
natural science (and watches) which have appeared unbidden in his brain from an
early age. Seeking out other sufferers on the Dark Web, he agrees to meet one
of them who turns out to be an alien bounty hunter tasked with capturing Ben
and others with the same gift, known as “stringers”. A galactic search for a
devastating concept known only as The Chime ensues. Also, a stubborn jar of
pickles plays a large part…
The supporting characters, especially the alien Naecia who
has her own, more traditionally sci-fi narrative thread, are fully fleshed-out
and individually interesting. Panatier juggles varied, exciting story strands
which cleverly intersect whilst never dropping any of the narrative balls in
what is quite an intricate and serious story, despite its humorous overtones.
He takes a complex idea (people who can access the minds of dead people on the
same “string” and their obscure and sometimes valuable knowledge) and creates a
fun and accessible novel. “Stringers” is written very much in the same vein as
Douglas Adams (there’s even a Babel Fish reference) or Jasper Fforde, the
latter especially present in Panatier’s use of footnotes, which offer
fascinating tidbits of Ben’s labyrinthine knowledge of the sex lives of bugs.
The footnotes are actually highly relevant to the plot and shouldn’t be
ignored.
This is not hard sci-fi, just a ridiculously fun romp with
believable characters and a surprising amount of depth amidst the jokes.
“Stringers” is incredibly easy to read and the plot moves at a satisfying pace
that never becomes boring, with moments of great poignancy on the theme of
friendship. Fresh and inventive, “Stringers” is naughty, sweary, heartbreaking
and brilliant - with great big dollops of nerdiness, pop culture references and
sexy alien tech. If you’ve ever argued about an episode of Blake’s 7 in a comic
shop, “Stringers” is the book you need right now.
BUY IT FROM ANGRY ROBOT BOOKS!
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