M a r k E v e r g l a d e

**Review - Defrag by Rachel Beck**

tokyo ghost cyberpunk comic review cover showing motorcycle rider with arrows in his back

Intro:
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‍Women have made vast contributions to cyberpunk literature, from Misha Nogha Chocholak, to Pat Cadigan, Dr. Melissa Scott, and Dr. Ren Warom. Rachel Beck has all the makings of a great cyberpunk author. She is one of the masterminds behind World Cyberpunk Day, has spent most of her life living around Los Angeles, which is one of the top ten cities with the highest inequality in the U.S., and is a role-play gamer at heart. Defrag is a cyberpunk thriller that is the first of a three-part series that takes this one-time fantasy author home into the beating cybernetic heart of dystopia. Joins us as we explore this world.
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Plot:
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The book follows Glitch’s perspective throughout, a woman who has survived eleven runs on corporations in a world where most people die by their fourth run. The book covers one such run, which begins with one of her crew stating they need to deliver some data on an implant in their head a la Johnny Mnemonic. As for the world outside of the mission, we don’t get to see much of it or understand the true value behind the risks that Glitch takes, and the book largely feels like a climax of an intended, longer work. Granted, this is a trilogy, and the promo promises that her fight will be for the survival of all Neosaka.

Characterization:

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We learn little of Glitch’s background or character, given that the focus of a thriller is on the action, but we know that Glitch cares about her crew and shuns violence, though she is told both are a liability in her line of work. Indeed, her crew changes throughout the book in a survival of the fittest. The reference to wage slaves gives some indication as to Glitch’s political leanings, though they’re left implicit.
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Glitch is not sexualized and abhors implications that she would be. This helps her be a stronger figure than the way that many men write female protagonists in the genre.
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Glitch is a hacker, leading to the book's most interesting line,
Computers might run the world, but a shocking few cared how they worked.

‍Imagery:

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The imagery is good, and from the start we have a Gibsonesque dead sky that sets the mood. As one cyberpunk author put it, Beck's perfect opening line is the line that every cyberpunk author has tried to write since first setting pen to paper, but couldn't get it out right.
The chopper blades thrummed like an overclocked harddrive through the void of the dead sky over Neosaka.

The woman’s bodysuit lit up like a rave. Little neon-blue lines traced the exact shape of Syntechie’s breasts, thighs, and most of her long legs. Little synth wires woven into her hair shimmered with changing neon colors. The outfit was sleeveless, but some sort of moving, glowing, henna tattoos embedded into what Glitch could only imagine was artificial skin wove and twisted in a slow, mesmerizing dance. There were two dead spots in the light-show: one shaped like a diamond at the base of her neck, and the other was a heart shape centered a good three inches south of Syntechie’s midriff.

Writing Style:

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The style is standard cyberpunk, curt, matter-of-fact, coldly objective. Beck understands the genre inside-out, from references to ICE (Intrusion Countermeasures Electronics, a phrase from Dr. Tom Maddox), cyberdecks, and meatspace, to the weaponry employed by street samurais and the likes. Those unfamiliar with cyberpunk’s conventions may be a bit confused at points, but if you’re reading this site, chances are you’ll follow the interplay of actual and virtual reality without issue.
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Using environmental metaphors for cyberspace draws out the best from authors like Melissa Scott, and allows Beck to use cyberspace to express her former fantastical leanings.
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Cisterns of impossibly blue water, branching grapevines with golden leaves, and chrome aqueducts that represented the building’s climate control spread out before her. If she peered closely enough at the surface of any of them, she could see tiny lines of code running across the surface. The garden’s protector—a piece of ICE displaying as a white leopard with neon-green spots—ignored her, convinced that she was part of the normal facilities staff. Overhead hung a blank, mirroring the one she had left behind in biospace.
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Cyberpunk Action:

‍“Lucky” was a word newbies and tenderfoots used right before they fucked up bad enough that people started dying in messy ways.

The constant action comes in successive bursts like gunfire,
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The second drone closed immediately behind its counterpart, diving into the opening left by the swing. Nine dropped to one knee. The drone shot past over his shoulder. Nine whirled. His blade cut a crackling crescent through the air and caught the drone from behind. Another display of electric fireworks and it also hit the floor.

A grizzly mess of human parts, mixed with cubicle debris, littered the perimeter of the blast site, like human sacrifices to a corporate god.
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Glitch’s cat avatar, pictured on the awesome cover, is the best part of the novel. It can split itself into nine copies and is just plain cool.
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For the briefest moment, she felt her body go limp as her mind dropped away from it. Then all bio-space sensation cut out, and she was inside the Matrix of the building. The wind, the roof, the chemicals, all of it dropped away... A little, black, house-cat avatar with purple eyes in a constant state of pixelated glitch sprang into existence.
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…Her avatar pawed at the heavy lock on the portal, sending a little tremor through what her brain thought was her hand. Code—rendered into 3D images for ease of handling — was a tangible thing to her when she was jacked in...Glitch’s avatar sprang free of the water and shook itself like a dog, spraying pixels everywhere that hung awkwardly in the air for a moment before dropping to the ground.

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Violence Rating:

Beck plays an unconscious homage to patriarchy by filling her text with constant, preemptive violence, though she does create Glitch as the one conscience-laden person who shuns it, while supporting crews who do the dirty work for her. The idea in cyberpunk is that due to corporate oppression, people have no choice but to raid corporate facilities and such, but without more of Glitch’s background we can only surmise her motivation. There is a scene where the fabric of cubicle walls is sliced through by one member with a sword, however, as a statement against corporate life.
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Because this is a novella, average data was benchmarked in consideration of the shorter length of the novella format in order to provide proper comparison. Benchmarking was performed based on 26 other popular works. Results follow:
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--References to knives or swords were slightly higher than average for a cyberpunk novel.
--References to blood or bleeding were slightly higher than the average cyberpunk novel.
--References to guns were two and a half times higher than other cyberpunk novels. In fact, Beck uses the word gun as much in her roughly 100-page novella as K.W. Jeter does in his 250-page work Dr. Adder, which was deemed too violent to be published in the 70s and had to sit on the shelf before finding a publisher in the 80s. There is a value to all dystopian literature to reinforce our values by showing what happens when society breaks down, however, which is one of the reasons I support it. Also, some of the violence occurs in virtual reality or is performed against drones; whether that makes a difference to the reader unconsciously however is a point of contention.
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She pressed the muzzle of the gun against Glitch’s throat, where the hoodie gave way to bare skin. Her cyber eyes glinted in the darkness. Glitch stayed put, feeling the cold metal in the soft spot above her collarbone. She fought down the urge to bat the gun away, consequences be damned.

‍Overall:

Defrag is a quick-read novella that is constant cyberpunk action, similar to Entropy Angels by Mark Harritt. Those who like Cyberpunk 2077 or who approach it like a level of Shadowrun will enjoy the breakneck pace and cybernetic action. What the larger world that Glitch inhibits is like, however, remains to be seen by the end of book I, as does the deeper facets of her personality. The introduction and conclusion seem a bit rushed, but the action takes center stage in a way that will appeal to gamers. The book is easy to read, well edited overall, and definitely accomplishes the thrill escape that it seeks to do. Learn more about The Glitch Logs series or purchase Defrag here.