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cape from the Farm, Jack also has demons from his military
and police pasts to deal with. As the book progresses
it becomes apparent the three issues are linked in some
fashion, but the reasons are well-concealed and tension
is maintained right to the bitter end. Just when you think
you’ve been given the key to unlock the whole book,
Smith reminds you of something else that still doesn’t fit
and you find yourself back on the edge of your seat.
Smith’s style owes a debt, I feel, to Jeff Noon, and
I freely admit this is one of the reasons I enjoyed this
book so much. It is of course possible the two have
never met or even read one another, their styles simply
developing independently along similar lines. But judging
by the tone of Smith’s first novel Only Forward
(an altogether more upbeat and ‘trad’ novel) my guess
is that he picked up some Noon and realised what his
style was missing – some Modern British Edge (no, I
can’t believe I just said that either).
Despite Spares’ unstated geographical location, it has
a very American feel – told with a very British tone of
voice. I suspect Smith was trying (and perhaps a little
too hard) to make sure the book would be received well
on both sides of the Atlantic. Brits are used to plots set
in America anyway, and the American sense of hubris
remains intact. This doesn’t do any harm, but it would
have been nice to see another young British author
actually setting the scene here in the UK.
The only part of this book that disappoints is the end-
ing. It’s just too damn happy, and not a little forced. A
tragic ending – which the rest of the book certainly leads
one to expect – would not only have made more sense,
but also would have read better. The epilogue is short,
and doesn’t completely ruin the book, but it is extremely
hard to swallow given all that has gone before. To me
it smacked a little of either editorial draconianism or
authorly cowardice. Still, only a small niggle.
So – $64,000 question – is it Cyberpunk? As always,
that depends on your definition of the genre, and is
another reason I compare Smith with Noon. There’s
no actual common-or-garden ‘cyber’ as such, although
there is plenty of NuTech, especially of a biomedical
nature. There’s also a fair amount of horror, both
body and psychological. Although there was only one
passage which actually made me wince, it was such a
blinding combination of these two ‘horror-types’ that
I really don’t care if I never read it again. It’s etched
firmly enough in my brain to not have to.
But it’s the attitude that comes across most here, and
Smith has a good handle on both the street-level, amoral
survivalism of Cyberpunk and the art of telling a damn
good story that makes the genre so inherently indefinable.
So for what it’s worth, yes, it’s Cyberpunk. But
that’s not important here. What is important is that this
topical, headlong outburst is only Smith’s second novel.
If by that we can assume he’s just getting started, I truly
believe we have a great author in the clone vats. �
BUY Michael Marshall Smith books online from and
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