Gilman, Felix -- The Half-Made World
This is the book I wished The Twist had been: the American West as a
vast stretch of psychogeography, fragmenting into unformed potential
at its limits (thus "half-made"). Unlike The Twist, this was never
our world. The land is contested by two psychopolitical polarities,
the Gun (individuality and chaos) and the Line (eusociality and
order), as represented by sentient revolvers and steam engines.
Neither is healthy to be around -- they don't want humans, they want
heroes or drones, respectively. Correctly, the author doesn't pretend
to explain any of this; it's the foundation for the story, not the
story itself. More pragmatically, the foundation of the story is the
fall of the Red Valley Republic (they wanted no part of either Gun or
Line) ten years ago. It left unresolved wreckage. And yes, a hidden
axis shadowing the native peoples turns up, although its import is not
explained in this volume.
Books I have acquired recently
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