Written by Linda Temple
Sometimes, a book’s blurb doesn’t tell you exactly what to expect. Not in the sense that it’s vague, or even misleading (although, these both occur often enough; just not here), but that it doesn’t paint the entire picture of what lies between the book’s covers (or beneath the eBook’s cover image). Linda Temple’s SIMBiotic is one such book. The blurb introduces the reader to the characters and plot, and if you missed the front cover, it lets you know that it’s a cyberpunk story and technothriller. SIMBiotic is certainly both these things. What the blurb doesn’t tell its potential readers is that it brings a sense of peppy energy, brought to life with an air of freewheeling fun while imbued with humour. Discovering the novel’s tone was a wonderful surprise (that I realise I may have spoiled for you, but it would be difficult to review the book while neglecting to mention its tone).
As strong as its cyberpunk and technothriller aspects are, it’s this tone that elevates the book. While cyberpunk has a reputation for telling dour, noir-esque tales and thrillers are built around those tense moments, SIMBiotic’s levity shines. Whether it’s through its characters, the prose, the references or the banter, it feels like Temple had a great time writing the book. And this great time is infectious; I constantly had a smile on my face while reading it.
The great time SIMBiotic offers readers is anchored by its characters, in particular, protagonist Trino, genius Neb, and foil Luca. While every character in the novel entertains, these three—having the most space dedicated to them—shine the brightest. They come to the book fully formed, and play against the book’s story and world, as well as the other characters, marvellously. While the book certainly prizes its sense of humour, the characters don’t suffer as a result. They often play to the book’s tone, but never to the point they feel like they’re included for their humorous asides. Likewise, these characters are never reduced in service of the book’s tone. For all their witticisms, these characters feel like real people, and the story’s emotional stakes resonate.
For all the fun SIMBiotic brings, the book remains a technothriller (italics used for emphasis). As any thriller should, SIMBiotic ratchets up the tension with plenty of twists and turns, and moments of peril. The story’s scope is bigger than its characters, which Temple uses to drag them out of their depth, increasing the stakes. As the book continues, the characters are drawn into a web of intrigue and mystery, leading them deeper and deeper into a conspiracy. Just as the characters are drawn into the book’s events, so too is the reader. The book is paced with precision, ensuring the reader is invested in its well-crafted plot. The result is as thrilling as you would want this thriller to be.
The cyberpunk aspects are less traditional than readers may expect. SIMBiotic includes many of the themes the genre’s readers enjoy, including humanity’s relationship with technology (as the beautifully punny title suggests), and a world that isn’t the utopia this technology promised. It also features many of the cyberpunk tropes that fans are accustomed to, while also presenting a speculative vision of what our future could look like. While it hits these hallmarks, they’re dressed in a way that some purists may take issue with. SIMBiotic doesn’t present a seedy dystopia, and the world’s ambiance itself isn’t displayed in great depth. The technology itself is, but the darker elements give way to the book’s sense of fun.
At 354 pages in paperback (or an estimated 350 pages for those embracing our cyberpunk future and reading electronically), SIMBiotic is a moderately long book. However, it reads as though it’s a shorter book. This is due in part to it being broken into short, easily digestible chapters, but further, because of the breezy style of its prose. In not delving deeply into the world’s look and feel, it allows Temple’s writing style to lure the reader in. The novel’s genuinely inviting tone serves its sense of fun while also clearly guiding readers through the plot. At points, the prose doesn’t quite click into place, whether it’s dialogue tags adding more information than necessary, successive questions, and similar sentences or paragraphs in succession. These instances are the exception and not the rule, but this also calls attention to those exceptions.
Another component to the book being a faster read than its page count suggests is that it’s heavy on dialogue. At points, the book features conversations that move back and forth over long stretches, which some readers will take issue with. But if—like me—you enjoy characters bouncing back and forth, you’ll be entertained. The dialogue all feels natural, with the characters all sounding realistic.
SIMBiotic presents a cyberpunk story and technothriller that constantly entertains, finding a balance between levity and the seriousness the plot requires. While some purists may prefer something with harder edges, the overall balance works in this book’s favour. While this novel stands alone, I would love to see it expanded into a series with a number of sequels. Having read this, I find myself eagerly looking forward to reading the author’s The Medusa Legacy trilogy—I’ll have those reviews for you next week.
Favourite Passage
Trino sat in the examination room for over fifteen minutes, freezing her nuts off. Was this how they ran things back then? This was a VR world. There was absolutely no reason for this degradation, especially if she’d actually been jacked into this old geezer avatar.
SIMBiotic, Chapter 46
SIMBiotic was provided by the author for the purpose of an honest review.
SIMBiotic is available in both paperback, exclusive to Amazon, and eBook from retailers, including—but not limited to—Amazon.
Note: I do not post scores for reviews on this website, but do post them on my Amazon and Goodreads reviews:
- Amazon
- Goodreads
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Interested in purchasing SIMBiotic?
Please find a link below; please note I do not collect any proceeds from the sale.
SIMBiotic: A Cyberpunk Thriller
wastanley.com 