Reads of 2016 - Tigerman
With the start of the new Day Job and its funky Day Job hours, I haven't gotten as much reading and writing done as I would normally like, but I did manage to finish Nick Harkaway's Tigerman. It's a superhero novel set on the fictional island of Mancreu, a setting which really reminded me of Al Amarja from the old Over The Edge RPG. Not that it was a Burroughs acid trip of a setting or anything, more the fact that it is a strange mix of African and Asian cultures dropped in the Inidan Ocean and existing in a legal limbo. There is a danger that the island will be spewing deadly toxic chemicals in the ocean so the Powers-That-Be have decided that a scortched earth/nuke from orbit policy is the best way to deal with it. As the islanders slowly and reluctantly begin to leave, a cluster odf ships called the Black Fleet cluster around the island to take advantage of the complete lack of jurisdiction in the wake of impending doom to create the kind of niche marketplace that would otherwise be hampered by things like laws and human rights.
The sole British presence left on the island is the Sergeant, stationed at this doomed little island of anarchy for pissing off the wrong people. He is not really suppossed to do anything as the UK doesn't want to claim responsibility for the place anymore than any other nation (hence the lawlessness and the Black Fleet), just bid his time until the last boats leave and then get out before the whole place is destroyed. He manages to make friends with the Boy, a native of the island whose English comes by way of comic books and action miovies. The Boy is a big fan of things that are full of win.
The Sergeant is a big fan of the Boy and hates the idea of the kid ending up in a refugee camp somewhere. He is pretty sure the Boy has no family, and if that turns out to be true, he is thinking about adopting him and taking him back to England where there will be more opportunity for him. Before he really has a chance to actual discuss this with the Boy, their mutual friend is murdered before their eyes, gunned down in a cafe.
The Boy wants revenge for their murdered friend. The Sergeant is hampred by what he can officially do as the diplomatic representative of one of many countries that want as little to do with Mancreu as possible. After the Sergeant has a chance encounter with a tiger in the jungle, he tells the Boy about it and a crazy plan is hatched that the Sergeant should create a new identity- the superhero Tigerman.
And that's when things really get weird.
The novel is quite the ripping yarn with quite a few twists and turns, with an interesting take on why anyone would actually want to become a costumed crimefighter and how they would actually go about doing it in this age of sattilite surveillance and instant Youtube videos. It was a hell of a ride and the end caught me comepletely by surprise.
Most excellent summer read, full of win.