A Song for a New Day, by Sarah Pinsker
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A Song for a New Day by Sarah Pinsker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Yes, another dystopian near future American tale, but Song stands out. Pinsker is also a singer/songwriter who has toured “behind three albums on various independent labels” (back cover) and she uses this rich knowledge to maximum effect here.
In The Before, Luce Cannon "was on her way to becoming a star." Then, it happened: a series of terrorist attacks, and deadly viruses, and the government has passed, and is now enforcing with a vengeance, laws prohibiting large public gatherings. The country become quiet and fearful, and many retreat in various virtual spaces, such as Hoodspace (entered when wearing a high-tech hoodie). Restaurants provide single-cell settings, as do buses and trains. Music isn’t lost completely: companies like StageHoloLive (SHL) appear and artists perform in virtual pace. But the interplay between audience and performer is lost and the SHL performers are cleaned up. Luce finds herself performing in “illegal concerts to a small but passionate community, always evading the law.” Performance becomes resistance.
Enter Rosemary Laws, working for SuperWally World, and spending her days in Hoodspace helping customers get everything online. Then, a new job, “discovering amazing musicians and bringing their concerts to everyone to everyone via [SHL]’s virtual reality.” This proves to be not enough for her, too.
Luce is queer, so is Rosemary. But this is not that kind of love story, but is about queer found family. One of her bands is all-queer and queer artists, all outlaws, seem to find her. Her birth family, Orthodox Jews in Brooklyn, have rejected her.
Rosemary finds herself attracted to another performer she meets, Joni, and she begins her awakening—heart, body and conscience. Working for SHL just might be compromising her soul.
Well written, richly detailed world-building, a cri de coeur about the value and necessity of music, the arts, and gay—and a warning about the recurring tension between security and freedom.
View all my reviews
A Song for a New Day by Sarah PinskerMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Yes, another dystopian near future American tale, but Song stands out. Pinsker is also a singer/songwriter who has toured “behind three albums on various independent labels” (back cover) and she uses this rich knowledge to maximum effect here.
In The Before, Luce Cannon "was on her way to becoming a star." Then, it happened: a series of terrorist attacks, and deadly viruses, and the government has passed, and is now enforcing with a vengeance, laws prohibiting large public gatherings. The country become quiet and fearful, and many retreat in various virtual spaces, such as Hoodspace (entered when wearing a high-tech hoodie). Restaurants provide single-cell settings, as do buses and trains. Music isn’t lost completely: companies like StageHoloLive (SHL) appear and artists perform in virtual pace. But the interplay between audience and performer is lost and the SHL performers are cleaned up. Luce finds herself performing in “illegal concerts to a small but passionate community, always evading the law.” Performance becomes resistance.
Enter Rosemary Laws, working for SuperWally World, and spending her days in Hoodspace helping customers get everything online. Then, a new job, “discovering amazing musicians and bringing their concerts to everyone to everyone via [SHL]’s virtual reality.” This proves to be not enough for her, too.
Luce is queer, so is Rosemary. But this is not that kind of love story, but is about queer found family. One of her bands is all-queer and queer artists, all outlaws, seem to find her. Her birth family, Orthodox Jews in Brooklyn, have rejected her.
Rosemary finds herself attracted to another performer she meets, Joni, and she begins her awakening—heart, body and conscience. Working for SHL just might be compromising her soul.
Well written, richly detailed world-building, a cri de coeur about the value and necessity of music, the arts, and gay—and a warning about the recurring tension between security and freedom.
View all my reviews
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