Long time readers of the Moving Pixels blog will know well the pseudonym of former PopMatters columnist and blogger Kirk Battle. So all you fans of the writer formerly known as L.B. Jeffries may want to check out his new science fiction novel, Space Lawyer.
Space Lawyer is about a civilization that uses data to govern every aspect of itself. It is set in a world where no one has to go hungry or without shelter, but that ideal society comes with a complicated price. While women have risen to prominence, men struggle to find a new identity and purpose when everything is handled by everyone else. The things that create reality and identity for people have become calculated figures, easily tracked and removed when they become inconvenient. The novel deals with the larger economic problem of what to do when a technological invention disrupts every last aspect of this society.
There’s a lot of other complicated stuff in there, kept entertaining with the inclusion of a mystery story, a media war, and dry humor. It’s a science fiction story set in Charleston, South Carolina that engages with the classic themes of Southern Gothic in radical ways. The writing has a light touch but isn’t afraid to be complicated without ruining the pace.
You can find Space Lawyer on Amazon.