Scorpianne

by Emily Devenport

A high-stakes game of interstellar technology and warfare from the award-winning author of Shade. Set against a backdrop of an interplanetary battle between Earth and Mars, this is the engrossing story of one woman's determination to unravel deadly secrets of illegal biotech research.

Genres: Science Fiction

256 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 1, 1994

About the author

Look for MEDUSA UPLOADED, published by Tor, available in paper, ebook, and audio. MEDUSA IN THE GRAVEYARD is due out from Tor in July 2019.

I've been published under three pen names: as Emily Devenport, I wrote SHADE, LARISSA, SCORPIANNE, EGGHEADS, THE KRONOS CONDITION, and GODHEADS. As Maggy Thomas, I wrote BROKEN TIME, which was nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award. As Lee Hogan I wrote BELARUS and ENEMIES. My books have been published in the U.S., the U.K., Italy, and Israel. I'm writing as Emily Devenport again, and I have two titles available exclusively in ebook: THE NIGHT SHIFTERS and SPIRITS OF GLORY. (Okay -- almost exclusively. TNS is also available in audio.)

I'm an undergraduate studying Geology, a volunteer at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, and a buyer for the Heard Museum book store.

Reviews

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great random find at a small bookstore in Milwaukee. It has moments of real speculative prescience--Lucy, our outrageous protagonist, begins the novel as a cam girl who makes use of what we would now call a teledildonic fuck rig--and it kept me riveted for (almost) its entirety by making good use of gratuitous sex, graphic violence, and scenes of surrealistic strangeness. The plot stumbles quite a bit as the narrative hops from Earth to Mars and back again, and the ending might leave something to be desired for readers who haven't fully given in to the novel's pulpy ridiculousness. It's difficult for me to hold these shortfalls against something so bold and memorable, however, and in a just world Lucy in particular would be better known. She's a sexy sexagenarian hard-boiled ex-prostitute and face-sculpting entrepreneur with double-E breasts and a mind to match. If that doesn't sell you on this book, then stay well away.

[Scotoma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Talking about the first two novels by Emily Devenport I remarked how I wasn’t sure I liked them though I found them very compelling to read. This isn’t very different for her third novel Scorpianne though what has changed is how the story is now much closer to home, not some faraway alien planet. Instead, it is Earth and Mars and the asteroid belt, a grimy, dystopian future where new technologies have only widened the gap between the haves and the have-nots.

What makes Emily Devenport not an easy sell is that her early novels tell stories on the margin of big stories with a focus on side characters who are entangled with these big stories but aren’t central to them. The big story remains in the background, fragmentary and often with no clear outcome which can be frustrating if that’s what you are interested in. They also have a naturalism about them that can be very in-your-face and easily misinterpreted.

For example, sex was present in the first two novels but not a strong focus, just something that happened and informed the character but nothing more. Since the main character of Scorpianne is a 50-ish-year-old telepresence prostitute (basically a sci-fi version of a cam girl) and has lots of body issues with real human contact and then gets rejuvenated with a much younger body, sex remains very central to the character and thus the narrative. It’s almost pornographic in detail and presentation but it lacks the titillating factor, at least to me, and as much as I can infer from the author that wasn’t her intention either. There’s nothing arousing about the sex, it just is, not judgemental in any way except what the reader brings into it.

Halfway into the novel, I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it but as usual, the compelling writing kept me moving forward. Though once I reached the end my opinion had turned around quite a bit. I felt like I had read one of those diamonds in the rough, a mostly forgotten sci-fi novel with great setting detail about the start of a transhuman future where the questions of longevity, body mods and fully remodeling humanity would lead us. And what it would mean when the super-rich can easily create the kind of people they want to serve them and how their relationship with the rest of humanity would change.

There are some very creepy moments, lots of thoughtful stuff, and a bit of action. Its main flaw is that it doesn’t really follow the usual trajectory of many stories in that a threat is slowly increasing over time until a big climactic moment. One of the main villains is dispatched rather haphazardly and suddenly and at the end you don’t even have the satisfaction of knowing whether the death had really taken, given the technology around. The ending also is rather ambiguous with the protagonist having survived her ordeals but the political landscape remains dangerous and most issues unresolved.

For a book that sports a generic sword fantasy lady on the cover, I didn’t quite expect such excellent world-building interwoven with a compelling story. Due to some of the stuff that is front and center here, this won’t be a book for everyone but for me, definitely a great find.

[Alexander Páez · Rating 2 out of 5]

Anecdótico, erótico, un tanto olvidótico.

[Lesley]

Re-read. I didn't remember much about this, and suspect that it is not so much hasn't held up well but didn't much grab me first time round.