Hi, everyone! Today I'm a stop on the Random Things Tour for Michael Grothaus's Beautiful Shining People.
After creating a quantum code that tech companies are vying for, John has accepted an offer from Sony. Which is why he finds himself in Japan in an apartment paid for by the company. But until things are finalized, he has a lot of time on his hands.
Jet lagged and lonely, he wanders into a cafe offering ear cleaning, relaxing him to the point that he gets his first good sleep since arriving.
Returning to the cafe the following day, he befriends the waitress, Neotnia, eventually winning over the owner and the odd little dog that resides there as well. But as John's friendship with Neotnia blossoms into the potential of something more, AI attacks around the globe begin to hit, taking down major cities in moments. As they watch the happenings, unsure where the next target will be, John learns something about Neotnia that changes everything he believed possible.
Ok, so this is a hard one to sum up easily. It's also a bit difficult for me to say if you like x you'll like this book because the most obvious comp my brain is fixated on GIVES TOO MUCH AWAY!
This is a very character-driven tale. In fact, it's not until about halfway through the book that the first attack happens and that John begins to learn more about Neotnia. Fortunately, Grothaus has built a small but strong cast of characters you want to follow to the end.
John is just seventeen, living in our world a few decades from now. He's awkward and doesn't make friends easily. He's also in a country that's foreign to him where he doesn't speak the language. So meeting Neotnia is not only a welcome distraction on that first evening (she admits they were supposed to be closed when he arrived) but the fact that she speaks English is more than he can even hope for.
The owner of the cafe, and as it turns out one of Neotnia's only real friends, is a former sumo with his own sort of tragic past and reason for disliking people in general.
They make a motley crew to be sure, but this little found family comes together easily and eventually what seems like a fated purpose becomes clear.
I've always been drawn to cross-genre stories that are hard to categorize. Because I have broad interests! And this one hits a lot of those for me. First, as I mentioned above, wonderfully drawn and complex characters. Second, the near future setting that closely resembles our own until the smaller details start to reveal themselves (also, the waiters at the burger place make me thing of the Big Hero 6 series!)
The underlying and ominous politics of this world are another draw for me. For John's entire life, there's been a war brewing and though it's not hit the midwestern town he hails from, it's affected him directly in a way that is revealed as he tells Neotnia about himself.
Of course all of this makes mostly for great world building in the background of the tale. At least until the big reveals start to happen.
This is, I think, the perfect kind of book. One that has elements that appeal to a very wide range of readers! At heart, it's quite book clubby with LOTS to talk about. It's a bit sci fi, it's a bit coming of age...It's just flat out fabulous!
Beautiful Shining People is out now in the UK and is available for preorder in the US.
