Behemoth: B-Wax (book 1) by Peter Watts
01/04/2006 . Source: Shaun Green 
pub: TOR. 300 page hardback. Price: $24.95 (US), $34.95 (CAN). ISBN: 0-765-30721-9. Buy from Amazon US - Buy from Amazon UK
nb: US titles may only be available from Amazon US, and UK titles from Amazon UK. check out website: www.tor.com and www.rifters.com
Before proceeding, it needs to be established that 'B-Max' is only one half of a complete novel, 'Behemoth'. Although Peter Watts has made great efforts to ensure that they function as separate books and has done well in this, you will only be reading one half of the story without 'Seppuku'. My review of 'Behemoth: Seppuku' can also be found here on SFCrowsnest this month.
As a whole 'Behemoth' is the conclusion of 'The Rifters Trilogy' begun in 'Starfish' and 'Maelstrom'. As 'B-Max' opens, planet Earth is in a dire state. The spread of the deadly Behemoth virus has devastated the American continent and the rest of the world is determined to keep it isolated and prevent further contamination. The architect of the end of the world, Lenie Clarke - also known as the Meltdown Madonna - is now in hiding at the bottom of the ocean. She lives among a polarised community of genetically modified Rifters and ex-corporate heads ('corpses'). An uneasy truce between these two groups is crumbling as the novel begins, with the confined corpses growing increasingly resentful of the threat the Rifters present. Despite efforts by Lenie and others to keep the peace, firebrands and conspirators in each faction are plotting to wipe the other out.
This process is accelerated when a deadly variant of the Behemoth virus reaches the Rifter community. Some Rifters blame the presence of this virus, dubbed B-Max, on the corpses. Other eyes, including those of Lenie Clarke and the psychotic assassin Ken Lubin, look upwards to the surface. They suspect that something is tracking them down, searching for the onetime corporate rulers of North America and perhaps for Lenie as well. It seems inevitable that she must face the consequences of her crimes head-on.
This is a bleak novel and readers should be forewarned that they may not find these books easy. Personally, I like bleak and it doesn't get much bleaker than this web of betrayals and malevolence set against the backdrop of apocalypse aftermath. The leading characters are a tough bunch to like. Lenie Clarke is the most pleasant despite being responsible for the end of the world. Ken Lubin is an emotionally stunted psychotic and his tight control of his violent tendencies often threatens to reduce him to a flat character. Achilles Desjardin is an utterly repugnant individual, but like Lubin it is clear how and why he is what he is. Unlike Lubin, his defects are more visible. These three are more interesting than they are appealing, but they're such odd creatures that it is still possible to care what happens to them.
The environment that the Rifters and the corpses share is beautiful. Watts' credentials shine through here and the ocean floor setting gleams with authenticity. As an amateur scuba diver, I've often thought that once the surface is no longer visible, being beneath the sea is as close to an utterly alien environment as it is possible to get. The very deep sea that these communities exist in goes one step further, being so deep that life is scarce and strange. This aspect of the novel is very well done.
If you've not read the preceding books (which, incidentally, are available to download free from the author's website: www.rifters.com you may initially be a little lost as you attempt to get to grips with a world which has changed so greatly. Fortunately, this does not last long as the confined and claustrophobic environment that Lenie lives in forces a more introspective reading until the more global elements of the novel have been gradually disseminated. This is a nice touch. It doesn't work quite so well with the parts of the novel featuring Achilles Desjardin, but this is an unfortunate result of the book being split into two.
Overall, this is a great read - hard SF that is gritty, cool and accessible with a sharp cyberpunk aesthetic - but it really is necessary to read it in conjunction with the second volume, 'Seppuku', to gain the most from the experience.
Shaun Green |
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