Great write-up of a fairly interesting book mate. I felt the exact same as you back when I read it - carried along by the force of the speculative invention and the comfortable blanket of technobabble. (Shades of OG Star Trek, The Prisoner, NGE etc).
I must also sadly agree that the human element of the novel fell flat, however. The overall plot-shape wasn't deeply unpleasant or anything, but neither the characters nor their interactions ever grabbed me. Felt too declarative and (ironically) bloodless. The human drama component is sort of non-negotiable in a work like this: you want to first buy into the interpersonal dynamics and individual characterisations when a work is dipping its gnarled, too-many toed foot into the body horror pool. You have to care about the baseline humanity which is about to be reshaped and perverted. Blood Music sadly falls into that overcrowded company of science fiction novels which are more impactful as memories at some remove than as in-the-moment reading experiences.
"This would make an excellent limited series. Even better as a TV miniseries from the late 90’s where the aesthetic would have been shiny, slimed-up latex and plastics, food coloring and smoke machines. "
Beautifully observed. I've long wished this had been produced as a miniseries by either Chris Carter circa S4/5 of The X-Files or by the team behind the 1993 Stand miniseries.
Great write-up of a fairly interesting book mate. I felt the exact same as you back when I read it - carried along by the force of the speculative invention and the comfortable blanket of technobabble. (Shades of OG Star Trek, The Prisoner, NGE etc).
I must also sadly agree that the human element of the novel fell flat, however. The overall plot-shape wasn't deeply unpleasant or anything, but neither the characters nor their interactions ever grabbed me. Felt too declarative and (ironically) bloodless. The human drama component is sort of non-negotiable in a work like this: you want to first buy into the interpersonal dynamics and individual characterisations when a work is dipping its gnarled, too-many toed foot into the body horror pool. You have to care about the baseline humanity which is about to be reshaped and perverted. Blood Music sadly falls into that overcrowded company of science fiction novels which are more impactful as memories at some remove than as in-the-moment reading experiences.
"This would make an excellent limited series. Even better as a TV miniseries from the late 90’s where the aesthetic would have been shiny, slimed-up latex and plastics, food coloring and smoke machines. "
Beautifully observed. I've long wished this had been produced as a miniseries by either Chris Carter circa S4/5 of The X-Files or by the team behind the 1993 Stand miniseries.
Man even though I have only seen bits and pieces of The Stand, that’s exactly what I was thinking of.