Caren Gussoff

This novel of religion, sexuality, and 'bots is set in a future Seattle where ubiquitous nanotechnology slows aging and prevents disease. That is, until the nanobots, renamed "fuckyballs," cause a pandemic of mental illness: schizophrenia, depression, and a fourfold increase in suicide.

As in Gussoff's story collection The Wave, the characters feel real. And the writing is beautiful; in one favorite passage, the nanobots are described as hanging like barnacles on the brain stem.

The novel is chock full of interesting bits of science and history. My favorite character, the King of Seattle, is based on a real historical figure. In the madness of Gussoff's techno-dystopia, he takes the Space Needle as his headquarters. I was also fascinated by the titular Birthday Problem, which refers to humans' tendency to underestimate probability -- in particular, we are surprised that it needs a group of only 23 people to get a 50% probability that two people in the group share a birthday. I had fun seeing how this blind spot leads to the end of the world.

A sociopathic serial killer provides tension in the story, but a lot of my pleasure came from Gussoff's focus on the aspects of dystopia that most writers would overlook. For instance, in the midst of the pandemic, face masks become the normal fashion, despite being ineffective against the nano-plague, and Gussoff plays with the difficulty of deciphering the emotions of a masked person.

I like that the cast includes non-heteronormative characters. The structure of the novel is interesting, perhaps reflecting the structure of the fullerenes/fuckyballs. Overall it's a fun read, and it makes me look forward to Gussoff's next book.… (mehr)