Gamechanger

by L. X. Beckett

Overview

Neuromancer meets Star Trek in Gamechanger, a fantastic new book from award-winning author L. X. Beckett.

First there was the Setback.

Then came the Clawback.

Now we thrive.

Rubi Whiting is a member of the Bounceback Generation. The first to be raised free of the troubles of the late twenty-first century. Now she works as a public defender to help troubled individuals with anti-social behavior. That’s how she met Luciano Pox.

Luce is a firebrand and has made a name for himself as a naysayer. But there’s more to him than being a lightning rod for controversy. Rubi has to find out why the governments of the world want to bring Luce into custody, and why Luce is hell bent on stopping the recovery of the planet.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250165251
Publisher:	Tor Publishing Group
Publication date:	10/27/2020
Series:	The Bounceback , #1
Pages:	576
Sales rank:	1,093,931
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.10(h) x 1.60(d)

About the Author

L. X. BECKETT frittered their misbegotten youth working as an actor and theater technician in Southern Alberta, before deciding to make a shift into writing science fiction. Their novella “Freezing Rain, a Chance of Falling” takes place in the same universe as Gamechanger. Lex identifies as feminist, lesbian, genderqueer, married, and Slytherin, and can be found on Twitter or at a writing advice blog, the Lexicon.

Editorial Reviews

Packed with cool ideas, psychological intrigue, political conspiracy, and hard-won hope.” —Annalee Newitz

"This delightful pinball machine of a book recalls the whiz-bang joy and gleeful innovation of Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

"A visionary glimpse into the future" —Kirkus Reviews

"A thought-provoking and, at times, frightening peek into possibilities of the future." —Booklist

"Readers will delight in the nonbinary characters, LBGTQ relationships and identities, and the land acknowledgment statement at the end of the book. Highly recommended.” —Library Journal, starred review

From the Publisher

★ 06/24/2019

As this exuberant, exciting near-future yarn keeps reinventing itself, the action gets wilder and the scope wider, until the future of humankind is at stake. Though the Clawback project is beginning to rejuvenate an ecologically ruined Earth, public responsibilities are still unsettled and fluid. Cherub “Rubi” Whiting, a popular star of elaborate multiplayer virtual reality games, is excited to become a lawyer, but her first client, Luciano Pox, turns out to be difficult—and dangerous. Besides being an anti-restoration terrorist, Luciano could be a renegade AI, the dread superhuman Singularity, or an advance scout for an invasion fleet from Proxima Centauri. Meanwhile, Rubi’s father is on an obsessive hunt for the ancient oligarchs who survived Earth’s devastation and are plotting to grab power again, and Gimlet Barnes, Rubi’s rival and potential lover, is coping with her nine-year-old daughter going on a mission for the Department of Preadolescent Affairs. Each new chapter adds a different viewpoint and further information that upends reader expectations, stirring the plot in startling and wonderful ways. This delightful pinball machine of a book recalls the whiz-bang joy and gleeful innovation of Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash. Agent: Caitlin Blasdell, Liza Dawson Associates. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

Natalie Naudus creates personas for a quirky cast of characters, most of whom have attitude. In the postapocalyptic world of the 22nd century, climate change has had a wide effect, and cultural change has been widespread. Enter Rubi, a star of multiplayer virtual reality games who has become a lawyer. In her role as public defender, she is defending a bad actor who is rude and insufferable and whose identity and guilt are unclear. This is not intended to be a subtle story, but it is intended to be fun. Naudus accentuates Rubi’s Valley Girl qualities, which have the typical effect: People don’t take her as seriously as they should. The plot is complex, and Naudus keeps the pace fast. Beckett is a pseudonym of Canadian fantasy writer A.M. Dellamonica. J.E.M. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine

DECEMBER 2019 - AudioFile

Natalie Naudus creates personas for a quirky cast of characters, most of whom have attitude. In the postapocalyptic world of the 22nd century, climate change has had a wide effect, and cultural change has been widespread. Enter Rubi, a star of multiplayer virtual reality games who has become a lawyer. In her role as public defender, she is defending a bad actor who is rude and insufferable and whose identity and guilt are unclear. This is not intended to be a subtle story, but it is intended to be fun. Naudus accentuates Rubi’s Valley Girl qualities, which have the typical effect: People don’t take her as seriously as they should. The plot is complex, and Naudus keeps the pace fast. Beckett is a pseudonym of Canadian fantasy writer A.M. Dellamonica. J.E.M. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine

DECEMBER 2019 - AudioFile

2019-07-01
A cerebral fusion of science fiction, mystery, and apocalyptic thriller—masterfully seasoned throughout with provocative social commentary—this intricately plotted, if sometimes cumbersome, novel from Beckett (a pseudonym for the critically acclaimed Canadian writer A.M. Dellamonica) offers up a disturbingly believable glimpse into humankind's near future.

Set in the year 2101, in a world devastated by economic and ecological collapse (thanks in part to an American president known as He Who Could Not Be Named), the story largely revolves around Cherub "Rubi" Whiting, an internationally famous virtual reality gamer and fledgling lawyer. Her current client is Luciano Pox, an accused online terrorist who could be a mastermind hacker, a malware-infested AI, an elderly human who has somehow uploaded their consciousness, or an alien scout trying to destabilize humankind before the coming of a massive invasion fleet. Meeting with the elusive Pox proves dangerous for Whiting, who must also deal with an ongoing VR feud with archenemy (and possible love interest) Gimlet Barnes as well as an infamous father who has embarked on a quest to find the mythical sanctuary of a group of billionaires who disappeared decades earlier as the world's economy was collapsing. The mystery behind Pox's identity is the obvious narrative accelerant, but the story's real fuel comes from the author's placement of backstory breadcrumbs throughout the novel. There is a lot to digest here, from humankind's obsession with social media and their almost full immersion in cyber-reality to the brutal consequences of global warming to life extension advances to the mass consumption of printed protein as one of the only viable food sources left. A thought-provoking cautionary tale that will, hopefully, compel readers to see the condition of our civilization and our planet with more clarity and understanding.

A visionary glimpse into the future—the narrative equivalent of a baseball bat to the skull.

Kirkus Reviews