Cleland Smith’s Sequela reviewed by fellow author David Mark Brown.
Dripping with science and sex, Sequela is a thought provoking excursion into an extremely sexualized future built from the foundation of raunchy possibilities already present in our society.
Life has evolved within the urban core of London, protected from the countryside by a wall, into a matter of sexual posturing. The key means of upward mobility is “wearing” the latest and most desirable sexually transmitted disease. Yep. Human engineered viruses with visible side effects. The more visible the side effects the better.
Such a reversal on the common attitude toward viruses has been made possible through a series of scientific discoveries (built in bio-screens, etc.) along with a healthy dose of hedonism and a sturdy superiority complex the people of the city have over those in the country who can’t afford the good life. Overall, I found the premise to be quite believable and internally consistent.
This futuristic setting (and the commentary embedded in it) is the genius of Sequela. Every aspect of the debauched society comes across in wonderfully disgusting detail: The Real Church–determined to strong-arm its way back inside the city; The working girl tasked with the extra job of contracting the newest and most desirable diseases in order to boost business for her madam; The marginalized scientific community stewing in their own juices as private industry steals away talent in order to create designer viruses for the sex-crazed.
The society is detailed and vivid. The characters are multi-dimensional, flawed and memorable. These are the things I loved about the book.
My problem with Sequela stems from these same characters. By the end, I simply wanted all of them to lose. Selfish, misdirected, egocentric, self-righteous, vindictive–they are a nasty lot. I actually started enjoying the book much more toward the latter half when everything goes awry. This can be a great accomplishment on the writer’s part IF, (and here is the catch) if there is a cost or lesson or moral for all these nasty characters (or if the reader hates them so much the reader can really cheer on their destruction).
But none of that happened for me. Instead I was stuck with mixed emotions. I didn’t want the characters to succeed. At the same time, I didn’t want their total destruction. I wanted them to learn and change for the better. This gets into choppy waters (my definition of “better” may not be yours).
Let me be clear, this is more of a personal taste issue than one reflecting on Cleland’s skills as an novelist. The one thing I felt Cleland failed to do well was establish the motives of the main character, Kester. I never could be sure really why he was doing what he was doing. Often he simply ended up being passively swept along. This certainly contributed to my annoyance with him. Other than that, I simply didn’t like the moral conclusion of the story.
And while the ending of Sequela is brilliant in its own nihilistic or cyclical sort of way, it certainly fails to hit the uplifting or redeeming note I had personally hoped for. All said and done, Sequela is written cunningly enough to make the reader care how the story ends. It pokes and prods one throughout. For that, I give Cleland full kudos. Alas, as many of us readers know, it’s these cunning books that can be most disappointing when they deviate from our aspirations for them.
Reviewed by David Mark Brown, author of De Novo Syndrome.
