THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY

This fast-moving SF thriller—a follow-up to Last Tango in Cyberspace (2019)—pops with weirdness and imagination.

In the near future, society sees a clash between two camps: Humans First and Empathy for All. A human named Lion is an em-tracker, meaning he can empathize with the entire animal kingdom and emit pheromones that permit all species of animals to do the same. Because of a project called the Devil’s Dictionary, “em-trackers feel for all people, of course, but they also feel for plants, animals, and ecosystems.” The em-trackers compare those believing in human dominance to the White supremacists who spout “Redneck cracker Nazi bullshit.” Those benighted folk are influenced by an evil project called Pandora II. Not surprisingly, drugs play a big role in em-tracking. For example, there is Evo, which makes you trip evolution, allowing you to groove with every species that has ever existed. The Devil’s Dictionary is “an AI-version of the DNA typewriter,” meaning humans can change animals’ nature. Thus lions and tigers and bears snarf up their veggies and cuddle with bunnies. Tigers eat grass. Snakes fly, and so do Ubers. A woman is fluent in seven bird languages. Humans can satisfy their carnivorous cravings by eating cultured beef grown from stem cells. There are robo-catfish and psychotic polar bear robots that wouldn’t hurt a fly. But not everything goes as expected; for example, imperfectly engineered snakes grow old, die, and rot after they've barely hatched. The descriptions rival what you’ll find in Coleridge’s Xanadu or Herbert’s Dune. A dude nicknamed Five Spikes has spiked hair dyed Chernobyl yellow. And try to picture hair that looks like nuclear waste. Special bacteria grow snowflakes the size of quarters. Aside from being funny, the book raises interesting questions. How far should we take genetic engineering? What will we humans be able to do someday, and should we do it? Should we tinker with life itself just because we can? It’s an engrossing story that will make you both laugh and think.

A richly lunatic tale of the future.