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 RIM: A Novel of Virtual Reality by Alexander Besher
reviewed by John Kenny
Original appearance: Albedo one issue 9, 1995
The first thing I noticed about RIM was the nice packaging job done by orbit. It doesn't fit any of the normal formats (a bane for some collectors, no doubt) and it's got a terrific cover. So I approached this first novel by Alexander Besher with considerable enthusiasm and to a large extent was not disappointed.
Professor Frank Gobi must enter the virtual reality world of Satori City to save the life of his ten year old son whose mind is trapped there after the whole system crashes. But Gobi finds himself more and more embroiled in the machinations of a corporate war that threaten to engulf not only him and his son but thousands of other people trapped in the virtual world.
This is a thriller very much along the lines of Eric Van Lustbader's work, depicting a Japan (New Nippon) thirty years in the future where all the implications of a virtual reality industry are evident. And that's the best part of the book. Besher really knows his stuff; he performs the job of the SF author to the hilt. He has taken the basic premise of a working VR entertainment, communications and industrial network and extrapolated to the fullest degree possible given the state of current technology and the thirty year constraint.
However, I found Gobi's exchanges with members of the opposite sex a little naive and his luck with them hard to believe. And the payoff at the end seemed rushed and a tad obtuse. Having said that, this is the best piece of SF I've come across in quite a while.
Strange Fruit: Alchemy and Religion, The Hidden Truth by Clark Heinrich
reviewed by John Kenny
Original appearance: Albedo one issue ??, date?
A strong element of RIM is the important part kharma and the chi play in Japanese society and the whole subject of the chi and the chakra are dwelt on at length in Strange Fruit: Alchemy and Religion, The Hidden Truth (Bloomsbury, Hardback, UKŁ20.00, 212pp) by Clark Heinrich. I'm not sure why this book landed on our doorstep; it's not SF, fantasy or horror but it is speculative in nature and highly unusual so it's certainly worth a look.
What the author has done is look at various religions and their history, mythology and symbology and try to come up with evidence to support his claim that various groups throughout history were users of a particular type of magic mushroom called the fly agaric.
Yes, it does sound crazy, but after going through the ancient Hindu religion, the old Testament, early Christianity, the Holy Grail myths and the rise of alchemy the evidence stacks up and becomes very compelling. By the end of this book I was seriously questioning the origin of so many traditions and myths that it was frightening and I guess that's all any writer can ask for.
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