Amazon.co.uk Review
Cyberpunk glitz and biotechnology blend with warped Eastern mysticism in Alexander Besher's loosely linked "Rim" sf series. This began with
Rim, set in 2027, and continued with
Mir--one of whose bizarre inventions was sentient tattoos. By the time of
Chi it's 2038 and the world is even weirder. Vast bootlegging operations deal in
chi, a life-force energy that can be technomagically sucked from unwilling victims and used to give rich addicts enhanced intelligence, great sex and even "short-time immortality". Meanwhile hackers break into Nature's equivalent of the Internet, whose central node is a tree in Indonesia that channels telepathic e-mail to apes and others--including, of course, "win a million bananas" spams. Orang-utans are surgically and genetically remodelled into surrogate children for an increasingly infertile world: the human/ape species barrier is crumbling. A mysterious and decidedly offbeat variety of global spiritual transformation is threatened. Besher mixes surreal comedy, a spice of gruesomeness, and enough weird sf ideas for half a dozen books. (Under-shell deodorant for snails? Good grief.) The plot is a wild roller-coaster ride that ends with several loose threads and a shaggy- dog punchline. Great fun, but
Chi promises slightly more than it delivers. --
David Langford
Review
Conclusion, so we're told, to Besher's cult quasi-trilogy: each book has a slightly different backdrop and a few characters in common. The Chinese energy flow, chi - here correlated with similar concepts ranging from outright mysticism to particle physics - boosts creativity, sexual prowess, and vitality. In Bangkok, the 650-lb. transsexual Wing Fat, already rich from his chi slave farms, stumbles upon a new, more powerful source of the energy. It's associated with the mysterious Dr. Chi, possibly the first of a new, superior race. Things get started here when British writer Paul Sykes intercepts a microchip that gives access to an organic interspecies VR network, and, wanting to learn more, he heads for Southeast Asia. Meanwhile, a VR butterfly appears across large parts of China: Under its influence, people grow less violent and anxious. VR gumshoe Frank Gobi (Hero of Rim, 1994) and his wife Tara suspect the involvement of elusive pheromone chemist Terry Jordan. When Sykes arrives, he finds he can see a black sun VR icon; more, he now has green eyes and can perceive people invisible to everyone else! He's befriended by Trevor, son of Frank (Mir, 1998), who has the same perceptions and green eyes. After various complications, including a prospective battle between the human/orangutan White Saga and the fearsome water buffalo Stone Age Steak, more butterfly appearances, and a mutinous talking elevator, Trevor reveals all. Plenty of jokes and many fine fragments, but baggy, shapeless, and meandering overall: for ardent admirers only. (Kirkus Reviews)
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