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Ah, Depressus.
Quite the bitch, but it sure does thin the herd.
I remember fondly the first time I watched a Mamoru Oshii movie. The Steven Spieldberg of otakus introduced my young and malleable mind to a kind of science-fiction that wasn't dystopia or space opera, but something in-between, happening on Earth in a distant future where society is holding together for all the wrong reasons. I was reminded of Mamoru Oshii's movie GHOST IN THE SHELL when reading KOKO TAKES A HOLIDAY, but also of video games such as the MASS EFFECT series and KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC and even table top cyberpunk role playing game SHADOWRUN. In the busy and difficult landscape of science-fiction, KOKO TAKES A HOLIDAY found its sweet spot somewhere in-between everything I like about it. It's a novel that will remind you of several other works, but not of one in particular as it created somewhat of an original universe.
Koko Martstellar is living the mercenary's happily ever after running a brothel in the Sixty Islands, a restort where the patron come to quench their thirst for simulated sex and violence. Koko's quiet existence comes to a screeching halt one morning when Portia Delacompte's goons knock on her door to announce her she was terminated. The same Portia Delacompte who she fought alongside with all these years, the same woman who gave her that lofty gig. So Koko does what Koko usually does. She terminates THEM (losing her amazing boy toy Archimedes in the process) and takes the backdoor exit. She reaches the Second Free Zone where she meets Flynn, a cop suffering with depressus, a disease that is gnawing away at SFZ residents and culminate in a mass-suicide ceremony called The Embrace. Koko and Flynn pair up, trying to outrun their respective monsters.
KOKO TAKES A HOLIDAY isn't even trying to break the realm of entertainment, but that's what makes it so good. It stays within itself and banks on its accuracy, rather than on its capacity to inspire awe and life-altering thoughts. Kieran Shea nails the graphic novel/cartoon tone, which is just crazy enough to make you smile and serious enough to stand on its own legs. Great science-fiction sets itself ahead of the pack by the similarities it offers to our era and Koko and Delacompte's very womanly relationship as well as Flynn's battle against his own mind he lost dominion over pulled enough weight to make the story universally compelling and make the space opera/cyberpunk setting come alive.
Kieran Shea's downplayed prose lends itself very well to a science-fiction novel. Shea's economic, accurate choice of words draws clear images and strong settings. He never loses himself in useless details and wraps up chapters who could be short stories in themselves. The idea of banking on narrative accuracy above inspiring awe was terribly refreshing to me and made KOKO TAKES A HOLIDAY come alive. Kieran Shea owns every detail of what he's trying to say, has the accurate word to describe everything. It became such a visual experience to me, potential cast members started appearing to me as I turned pages. I could almost see the comic strip boxes.
I loved KOKO TAKES A HOLIDAY. It's a novel that has its own ego in check and that owns every single thing it's trying to say or mean. It's a highly visual experience fueled by cyberpunk and space opera inspiration and Kieran Shea's lean, yet accurate style. I'm sure science-fiction fans will be all over KOKO TAKES A HOLIDAY when it'll hit the stores on June 10th, 2014, yet it's a story that should attract more than a niche of readers due to its downplayed emotional side, it's precise and powerful settings and the sharpness of its dialogue. Great science-fiction speaks to the everyday man and Kieran Shea's KOKO TAKES A HOLIDAY has that working class edge, that proficiency that makes it special. Sometimes you don't need to aim high, aiming right between the eyes will do.
Kieran Shea's downplayed prose lends itself very well to a science-fiction novel. Shea's economic, accurate choice of words draws clear images and strong settings. He never loses himself in useless details and wraps up chapters who could be short stories in themselves. The idea of banking on narrative accuracy above inspiring awe was terribly refreshing to me and made KOKO TAKES A HOLIDAY come alive. Kieran Shea owns every detail of what he's trying to say, has the accurate word to describe everything. It became such a visual experience to me, potential cast members started appearing to me as I turned pages. I could almost see the comic strip boxes.
I loved KOKO TAKES A HOLIDAY. It's a novel that has its own ego in check and that owns every single thing it's trying to say or mean. It's a highly visual experience fueled by cyberpunk and space opera inspiration and Kieran Shea's lean, yet accurate style. I'm sure science-fiction fans will be all over KOKO TAKES A HOLIDAY when it'll hit the stores on June 10th, 2014, yet it's a story that should attract more than a niche of readers due to its downplayed emotional side, it's precise and powerful settings and the sharpness of its dialogue. Great science-fiction speaks to the everyday man and Kieran Shea's KOKO TAKES A HOLIDAY has that working class edge, that proficiency that makes it special. Sometimes you don't need to aim high, aiming right between the eyes will do.
