DESTINATION JANE

Two traders get more than they bargained for on a trip into the wasteland in Cooke’s dystopian SF novel.

Jane lives in the city of Chiru on a planet orbiting two suns—one real and dying, the other artificial and on the fritz. Like everyone else in Chiru, her body is regulated by her chonin, the government-provided AI microchip embedded in her wrist that’s supposed to make life easier (though really, like the artificial sun, it is prone to malfunction). Chonins are Jane’s business at the moment: She and her partner, Parker West, have been hired to transport a load of them to the remote Outer Territories—a dangerous but potentially lucrative job. “Jane’s considerable debt had grown over the years and this was one of the few ways to earn some additional credits during the long and nasty recessionary period,” the narrator states matter-of-factly. “Parker would follow Jane anywhere but he was growing worried about the whole venture.” With a robot named TennTenn, the couple sets out onto the rugged terrain hoping for a big score. Deep in the wastes they meet Arum Bell, an inventor with a complicated past, and Jane begins to learn things about her world—and herself—that she never could have imagined. Cooke’s vivid prose renders the novel’s otherworldly landscapes in glittering detail: “The surface of the true sun cast a projection of highly energized particles outward. The sand around them darkened. Electrifying blues, greens and violets dressed up the naked sky in a different type of light seldom seen within the decontaminated area.” The characters are all fairly stock, but the author manages to make the world of Chiru and the Outer Territories feel fresh. The book’s greatest pleasure is the way the SF flourishes blend with its western plot to form a wonderfully melancholic bit of climate fiction. This is one apocalypse the reader won’t want to see end.

A visionary SF novel that captures the emotional toll of our imperfect, tech-reliant world.