Just Finished Reading: Metropolitan by Walter Jon Williams.

Aiah is a minor bureaucrat in the Plasm Authority living a life of quiet desperation. Her dead end job, mounting debts and an absent lover are slowly grinding her down. All that changes after a chance discovery during a routine search of an underground chamber. Aiah stumbles across an as yet untapped and unmetered source of plasm that she can use to transform her life. Risking everything she contacts the only person she can think of to sell her secret for untold wealth – the Metropolitan Constantine.

This was not the book I was expecting when I started it. From a cursory glance at the blurb on the back cover I was expecting a familiar tale of cyberpunks in the style of William Gibson. How wrong I was! For a starter this book isn’t science-fiction its science-fantasy. Yes, that’s right science-fantasy. Plasm is probably what present day magic users (especially those who play fantasy games on-line) would call mana. Mana, or in this case plasm, is the power behind magical acts. With it you can transform matter, create or destroy just about anything, drive an entire society’s economy. This is exactly what Williams does in this fascinating novel. Magic, in this case Geomancy (literally Earth Magic), is a science and its use a technological solution to the problems of a far future world spanning city. Those with access to plasm are not only wealthy but extremely powerful. The whole idea is very intriguing and what makes it wholly believable is the quality of Williams’ writing.

Aiah is a wonderful character and a truly inspired creation. She has a dysfunctional family, both a believable personal and cultural history; ambitions limited by her upbringing and so much else that makes her ‘real’. Likewise the super rich Constantine is a well rounded and understandable person with drives and faults that are also totally believable. Whilst reading this book you are inhabiting a fully formed and functioning world with petty politics, crime, incompetence and (my personal favourite) weather. The subtle attention to detail, with a line here and there pointing out little things like broken chairs or cheap jewellery, give the book a sense of place and a firm sense of realism – despite the underlying fantasy aspects. Williams has gone to the effort of making the reader totally suspend disbelief thereby making this novel a sheer joy to read. I cannot recommend this book too highly. This was such a difference from the lazy work of my recent Michael Moorcock novel that the contrast was all the more powerful.

I’ve just learnt that there is a sequel to Metropolitan but it appears to be out of print (as is Metropolitan itself). Looks like I’ll be searching for it on the Web. I’m confident that it will be worth the hunt. Find them if you can.