Spoiler analysis of Flex by Ferrett Steinmetz
I'm going to hide the spoiler stuff behind the cut but before that let me explain my reading process. I tend to be a chewer of books. What I mean is that the first time I read a book I tend to read it over a time period of a week or longer. It took me about a week and a half to read through Flex by theferrett the first time. The second time I waited until I had a five hour window to gobble it up in one sitting (reading a book when you know what happens takes less time).
What makes a book re-readable? A book becomes re-readable when the reader can identify with the characters and understand the characters' struggles. A strong plot and good pacing goes a long way as well. Good dialogue adds to the enjoyment of another readthrough ("Oh yeah, that line was totally funny"). The Ferrett successfully places all of these elements into Flex.
*SPOILER ALERT* *SPOILER ALERT* *SPOILER ALERT* *SPOILER ALERT*
So, the first thing you see when you read a book is the book cover. While there are numerous times when the book cover has nothing to do with the story itself, Flex's cover is actually a bit of spoiler. We'll get to that later.
Officially, Flex is split into two parts. Part I, Burning Down the House, and Part II, Gonna Burst Into Flame. Lots of fire imagery here. But I've been trained to think in classic three-act structures, which I explained in my non-spoiler analysis. Exposition where Ferrett sets up the world and main character, complication where our main character gets into trouble, and resolution where our main character solves his problems.
Flex uses third person storytelling, with the main viewpoint coming from the protagonist Paul Tsabo. But the opposing side gets its story told through the prologue and interludes interspersed throughout the novel. The interludes are both flashback and flashforward, a way of hinting at what has happened and what is to come.
The prologue has a young coke dealer Julian meeting up with the villain Anathema. On the first readthrough, I was more caught up in Julian's story than the villain. But on the second readthrough hints abound. Ferrett describes Anathema unpeeling a "vulpine smile", a wild yet haunted middle aged beauty queen. She even has tiny rat bones sewn throughout her dreadlocked hair. We're made to think of Anathema as having a savage and primal beauty.
Julian's eye catches a bombshell of brunette. He immediately lusts after her. And then we find out Flex can make it so that Julian can hook up with her. His object of lust is wearing an opal which can signal the use of 'mancy, the magic of the Flex world. It breaks but she doesn't notice, and Anathema gives Julian more Flex to make his dreams happen. Then we find out that the downside of Flex is Flux, which is the world reacting to being changed. For all the lucky things that happen, it must be balanced out by unlucky things.
A gas main explodes.
The very first sentence of Chapter One establishes that our main character Paul Tsabo has a daughter and that he has lost his foot. Astute readers will know that anytime a main character loses a foot, it's because Something Important Happened. Daddy has a new apartment because Daddy isn't with Mommy anymore. Aliyah is a clever six year old girl. He's talking with Aliyah as he's internally recalling his 'mancy of papers. Paul used to be a cop, but now he works for an insurance company. The Something Important was that Paul killed a 'mancer when he was a cop, losing a his right foot in the process. He became a hero, but he was ashamed because he was haunted by the beauty of the illustromancer's magic. He quit the force and worked insurance as a punishment. His wife left and divorced him when he buried himself in the Beast of paperwork. He realizes out loud that he is a bureaucromancer.
A gas main explodes.
The explosion from the prologue burns Paul's apartment. Paul uses his 'mancy to save his daughter, but the blowback from the flux burns Aliyah. At the hospital, Paul again uses his 'mancy to help his daughter but this time the flux releases chlorine gas into the children's wing, hurting but not killing any children. He realizes he needs to learn to control his magic.
I loved the setup. We learn a lot about the world of Flex and the main character without bogging down in exposition speak (i.e. Dune).
Now, I want to highlight some characters.
Paul still cares for his ex-wife Imami, and she's definitely the stricter one with Aliyah. Throughout the novel we learn that they may still even love each other, but they don't like each other. That is to say they care about each other but their interests don't line up, or perhaps they're personalities are incompatible. It's hard to say, human relationships are messy things after all.
Kit, Paul's boss at Samaritan Mutual, is a good friend. He has Paul's coworkers cover for him so he can spend time with Aliyah at the hospital. Kit divines people's personalities from the type of donut they choose. Paul starts out liking crullers, a flavorless donut that is the sign of a character defect. Kit, though Jewish, is Aliyah's godfather. He loathes 'mancers, but by the end of novel grudgingly accepts the fact that fighting fire with fire may be the only way to survive.
Valentine is Paul's partner in 'mancy. Paul drops in on her lair thinking she is Anathema, but slowly comes to realize she cannot be the terrorist. She also believes Kit's philosophy on donuts, telling Paul never to trust a man who doesn't like donuts. She ends up taking a chocolate donut, which Kit takes as evidence of her excess. Paul finds anal lube in her apartment and comes to find out she has a tremendous libido. I've played all the games that were referenced and I laughed heartily at the Psycho Mantis scene.
Oscar is a man with criminal business interests. But he's a gentleman, and accepts Paul's limits on Flex because Oscar knows lucky breaks are better than no lucky breaks. And Paul needs him to access supplies and medical care he could otherwise not obtain.
As Paul's daughter, Aliyah holds his affections. Her scenes contain the love and exasperation and frustration and tenderness that comes with raising a daughter. I don't have any children but her interaction with all of the other characters comes through as genuine. Paul is anchored by her, and his interactions with her glue the novel together. A lot of the action scenes are followed by Paul explaining to his daughter what's happened.
Alrighty, there was one negative for me in Flex. It's probably just a personal thing but I greatly dislike when the solution is to go back in time to fix the problem. Back to the Future works because it's done well. Paul's ability to go back in time to stop Anathema poisoning the city seemed a tad too convenient. On the other hand, I loved the idea that flux isn't actually a drawback but rather a way of justifying a change.
Finishing up, the book cover comes up at the climax of the novel. Anathema has snuck in and has Paul at her mercy. Then she starts monologuing about how Paul is the result of her plan to fill the world with 'mancers. By creating so many tragedies, people are bound to awaken their 'mancies. Paul had no regrets in informing her that she was severely mistaken, that his 'mancy manifested weeks before the gas main explosion. When Aliyah sees her dad in trouble, her 'mancy wakens and she becomes a Fire Mario and burns Anathema to a crisp.
Paul realizes he has to teach his daughter the ways of 'mancy. So much knowledge was lost in World War II and the chaos that is Europe. And so we can look forward to future novels set in the world of Flex.
I'm looking forward to The Flux.
What makes a book re-readable? A book becomes re-readable when the reader can identify with the characters and understand the characters' struggles. A strong plot and good pacing goes a long way as well. Good dialogue adds to the enjoyment of another readthrough ("Oh yeah, that line was totally funny"). The Ferrett successfully places all of these elements into Flex.
*SPOILER ALERT* *SPOILER ALERT* *SPOILER ALERT* *SPOILER ALERT*
So, the first thing you see when you read a book is the book cover. While there are numerous times when the book cover has nothing to do with the story itself, Flex's cover is actually a bit of spoiler. We'll get to that later.
Officially, Flex is split into two parts. Part I, Burning Down the House, and Part II, Gonna Burst Into Flame. Lots of fire imagery here. But I've been trained to think in classic three-act structures, which I explained in my non-spoiler analysis. Exposition where Ferrett sets up the world and main character, complication where our main character gets into trouble, and resolution where our main character solves his problems.
Flex uses third person storytelling, with the main viewpoint coming from the protagonist Paul Tsabo. But the opposing side gets its story told through the prologue and interludes interspersed throughout the novel. The interludes are both flashback and flashforward, a way of hinting at what has happened and what is to come.
The prologue has a young coke dealer Julian meeting up with the villain Anathema. On the first readthrough, I was more caught up in Julian's story than the villain. But on the second readthrough hints abound. Ferrett describes Anathema unpeeling a "vulpine smile", a wild yet haunted middle aged beauty queen. She even has tiny rat bones sewn throughout her dreadlocked hair. We're made to think of Anathema as having a savage and primal beauty.
Julian's eye catches a bombshell of brunette. He immediately lusts after her. And then we find out Flex can make it so that Julian can hook up with her. His object of lust is wearing an opal which can signal the use of 'mancy, the magic of the Flex world. It breaks but she doesn't notice, and Anathema gives Julian more Flex to make his dreams happen. Then we find out that the downside of Flex is Flux, which is the world reacting to being changed. For all the lucky things that happen, it must be balanced out by unlucky things.
A gas main explodes.
The very first sentence of Chapter One establishes that our main character Paul Tsabo has a daughter and that he has lost his foot. Astute readers will know that anytime a main character loses a foot, it's because Something Important Happened. Daddy has a new apartment because Daddy isn't with Mommy anymore. Aliyah is a clever six year old girl. He's talking with Aliyah as he's internally recalling his 'mancy of papers. Paul used to be a cop, but now he works for an insurance company. The Something Important was that Paul killed a 'mancer when he was a cop, losing a his right foot in the process. He became a hero, but he was ashamed because he was haunted by the beauty of the illustromancer's magic. He quit the force and worked insurance as a punishment. His wife left and divorced him when he buried himself in the Beast of paperwork. He realizes out loud that he is a bureaucromancer.
A gas main explodes.
The explosion from the prologue burns Paul's apartment. Paul uses his 'mancy to save his daughter, but the blowback from the flux burns Aliyah. At the hospital, Paul again uses his 'mancy to help his daughter but this time the flux releases chlorine gas into the children's wing, hurting but not killing any children. He realizes he needs to learn to control his magic.
I loved the setup. We learn a lot about the world of Flex and the main character without bogging down in exposition speak (i.e. Dune).
Now, I want to highlight some characters.
Paul still cares for his ex-wife Imami, and she's definitely the stricter one with Aliyah. Throughout the novel we learn that they may still even love each other, but they don't like each other. That is to say they care about each other but their interests don't line up, or perhaps they're personalities are incompatible. It's hard to say, human relationships are messy things after all.
Kit, Paul's boss at Samaritan Mutual, is a good friend. He has Paul's coworkers cover for him so he can spend time with Aliyah at the hospital. Kit divines people's personalities from the type of donut they choose. Paul starts out liking crullers, a flavorless donut that is the sign of a character defect. Kit, though Jewish, is Aliyah's godfather. He loathes 'mancers, but by the end of novel grudgingly accepts the fact that fighting fire with fire may be the only way to survive.
Valentine is Paul's partner in 'mancy. Paul drops in on her lair thinking she is Anathema, but slowly comes to realize she cannot be the terrorist. She also believes Kit's philosophy on donuts, telling Paul never to trust a man who doesn't like donuts. She ends up taking a chocolate donut, which Kit takes as evidence of her excess. Paul finds anal lube in her apartment and comes to find out she has a tremendous libido. I've played all the games that were referenced and I laughed heartily at the Psycho Mantis scene.
Oscar is a man with criminal business interests. But he's a gentleman, and accepts Paul's limits on Flex because Oscar knows lucky breaks are better than no lucky breaks. And Paul needs him to access supplies and medical care he could otherwise not obtain.
As Paul's daughter, Aliyah holds his affections. Her scenes contain the love and exasperation and frustration and tenderness that comes with raising a daughter. I don't have any children but her interaction with all of the other characters comes through as genuine. Paul is anchored by her, and his interactions with her glue the novel together. A lot of the action scenes are followed by Paul explaining to his daughter what's happened.
Alrighty, there was one negative for me in Flex. It's probably just a personal thing but I greatly dislike when the solution is to go back in time to fix the problem. Back to the Future works because it's done well. Paul's ability to go back in time to stop Anathema poisoning the city seemed a tad too convenient. On the other hand, I loved the idea that flux isn't actually a drawback but rather a way of justifying a change.
Finishing up, the book cover comes up at the climax of the novel. Anathema has snuck in and has Paul at her mercy. Then she starts monologuing about how Paul is the result of her plan to fill the world with 'mancers. By creating so many tragedies, people are bound to awaken their 'mancies. Paul had no regrets in informing her that she was severely mistaken, that his 'mancy manifested weeks before the gas main explosion. When Aliyah sees her dad in trouble, her 'mancy wakens and she becomes a Fire Mario and burns Anathema to a crisp.
Paul realizes he has to teach his daughter the ways of 'mancy. So much knowledge was lost in World War II and the chaos that is Europe. And so we can look forward to future novels set in the world of Flex.
I'm looking forward to The Flux.