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Recall Chronicles
Way of the Serpent
When Jenda Swain – youthful and vigorous at the age of 111 – encounters an incongruously old woman at an out-of-the-way café, her life veers in a new direction amid unsettling questions about her own identity and her role in the corporation-dominated culture of 2125. Her journey takes her into the arms of a Latino artist, who has a quest of his own. Answers come together as their world falls apart.
- GenresScience Fiction
260 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 4, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 25, 2016
I decided to dip my reading toe into some science fiction with this book, and I found it intriguing and entertaining. What would you do if you could live forever? That’s the premise of this book, and the results reinforce Newton’s third law: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
It’s 2125, and thanks to prophylactic pill called Chulel, aging is a thing of the past. Fertility has declined, population growth is non-existent, and people live young, healthy lives for centuries. But if you live that long, can your brain possibly store all your memories? Not to fear, your memories are now under corporate control. Jenda Swain is a living the life of a valued cog in the Dallas offices of Your Journal, having worked there for 90 years. Everyone relies on YJ as a secure repository for their personal stories, photos, thoughts and feeling. She is content with her life and career until she meets an aged woman who claims to know her, but of whom Jenda has no memory. She wonders if she ever had.
Jenda is about to take a required, every-seven-years sabbatical, and on the spur of the moment and with the vague recollection that she used to paint, decides to trade her reservations for a year in California for an artists’ colony in Mexico, where her mother had gone a few times. Her decision is fateful. There she meets handsome Luis-Martín Zenobia, an anthropologist by training but following a study of the traditional arts and crafts of the surviving native populations of Mexico, has become an artist of some note. They fall in love, and Jenda discovers Luis-Martín is a retrogressive, painting in real oils on archival canvasses and has dissident tendencies, untrusting of a corporation that stores memories. He introduces her to some of his friends, who share his distrust, and triggers memories she can’t jibe with what she knows of herself from YJ. This leads her to discover what truly happens after each person’s sabbatical and how YJ manipulates society.
The answer to the question I asked is woven into the romance of these two – Jenda, who becomes aware that large parts of her life, as it exists in YJ, are missing, and discovers how the company is manipulating everyone’s lives – and Luis- Martín, who embraces enduring creation and has plans to disrupt YJ and essentially restart society.
The book is full of futuristic surprises: a wrist-worn digilet, which is a computer with a colloidal drive; clothes that are designed to be thrown away after one wearing so no washing is required and fashion is always up to date; paintings that are three-dimensional facsimiles and recyclable; fabricated trees which produce new leave according to a timetable; pills for everything, including the enhancement of the sexual experience and the slightest feeling of anxiety or sadness. However, the issues of the story line are familiar to all of us: social media, corporate politics, consumerism. The author has just taken these issues and extended them into the future.
Did I like this book? Yes and no. Its premise is inherently interesting, it made me think, its various threads are woven together neatly, and it has an emotional ending. The problem was the fact I couldn’t connect with Jenda until about halfway the way through the book, when her struggle to find her lost memories and reclaim her past finally got to me. This may have been because there was a lot of telling and as a result, I felt more like a watcher than a participant in her life.
Despite my differences with the writing style, the book kept me engaged, more so in the second half, and I intend to read the second volume in this series.
It’s 2125, and thanks to prophylactic pill called Chulel, aging is a thing of the past. Fertility has declined, population growth is non-existent, and people live young, healthy lives for centuries. But if you live that long, can your brain possibly store all your memories? Not to fear, your memories are now under corporate control. Jenda Swain is a living the life of a valued cog in the Dallas offices of Your Journal, having worked there for 90 years. Everyone relies on YJ as a secure repository for their personal stories, photos, thoughts and feeling. She is content with her life and career until she meets an aged woman who claims to know her, but of whom Jenda has no memory. She wonders if she ever had.
Jenda is about to take a required, every-seven-years sabbatical, and on the spur of the moment and with the vague recollection that she used to paint, decides to trade her reservations for a year in California for an artists’ colony in Mexico, where her mother had gone a few times. Her decision is fateful. There she meets handsome Luis-Martín Zenobia, an anthropologist by training but following a study of the traditional arts and crafts of the surviving native populations of Mexico, has become an artist of some note. They fall in love, and Jenda discovers Luis-Martín is a retrogressive, painting in real oils on archival canvasses and has dissident tendencies, untrusting of a corporation that stores memories. He introduces her to some of his friends, who share his distrust, and triggers memories she can’t jibe with what she knows of herself from YJ. This leads her to discover what truly happens after each person’s sabbatical and how YJ manipulates society.
The answer to the question I asked is woven into the romance of these two – Jenda, who becomes aware that large parts of her life, as it exists in YJ, are missing, and discovers how the company is manipulating everyone’s lives – and Luis- Martín, who embraces enduring creation and has plans to disrupt YJ and essentially restart society.
The book is full of futuristic surprises: a wrist-worn digilet, which is a computer with a colloidal drive; clothes that are designed to be thrown away after one wearing so no washing is required and fashion is always up to date; paintings that are three-dimensional facsimiles and recyclable; fabricated trees which produce new leave according to a timetable; pills for everything, including the enhancement of the sexual experience and the slightest feeling of anxiety or sadness. However, the issues of the story line are familiar to all of us: social media, corporate politics, consumerism. The author has just taken these issues and extended them into the future.
Did I like this book? Yes and no. Its premise is inherently interesting, it made me think, its various threads are woven together neatly, and it has an emotional ending. The problem was the fact I couldn’t connect with Jenda until about halfway the way through the book, when her struggle to find her lost memories and reclaim her past finally got to me. This may have been because there was a lot of telling and as a result, I felt more like a watcher than a participant in her life.
Despite my differences with the writing style, the book kept me engaged, more so in the second half, and I intend to read the second volume in this series.
January 19, 2020
Jenda Swain keeps encountering people she can't remember. They say she is not who she thinks she is. Jenda's search for her real past propels her into danger from people who don't want the truth to be discovered--by Jenda or anyone else. Way of the Serpent is an excellent exploration of a future where people might live forever--but at a cost. And who is profiting from the cost?
Serpent has good characters and a fast-moving plot. There is physical danger and the puzzle of mystery. This is the kick off of a three-book mystery, each possible as a stand-alone, with partial overlap of characters. Each explores the ramifications of a social change in the future, believable changes in a society that could easily grow out ours. The trilogy is a classic What If ... extrapolation of consequences of our society's choices, but it does not ever lose itself in the ideas--the people and their attempts to cope remain the lens.
Serpent has good characters and a fast-moving plot. There is physical danger and the puzzle of mystery. This is the kick off of a three-book mystery, each possible as a stand-alone, with partial overlap of characters. Each explores the ramifications of a social change in the future, believable changes in a society that could easily grow out ours. The trilogy is a classic What If ... extrapolation of consequences of our society's choices, but it does not ever lose itself in the ideas--the people and their attempts to cope remain the lens.
August 25, 2022
I love the world building in this book. The science fiction concepts are plausible, and Birdwell runs with them to create a terrifying yet believable future for humanity. The characters are appealing and believable. Neither overwhelmingly competent and righteous nor annoyingly idiotic, they are people I could imagine as friends. Like all of us, they are trying to get along in a world rife with economic, political, environmental, and social ills stemming from the drive to do-good and create profit.
November 27, 2015
I received a copy of this book from the author, this does not affect my opinion of this book or the content of my review. In the interests of full disclosure, I’m acquainted with this author as she is a former professor of mine. This fact may indeed be influencing my opinions and the content of this review, however, if that is so, it would be to make me harsher than usual. Tough classes breed tough critics, and who has never wanted to be the one to critique their teacher’s work?
So starts the beginning of what I am told is to be a series, the next one which may be coming out Spring 2013.
So what happens when everyone can live for practically ever? In literature it is almost always a cautionary tale, because there simply must be a trade off of some sort. Somehow I feel that when we get to that point in our medical revolution we will race forwarded with no real thoughts to the outcomes, just as people in this world have done.
Jenda Swain lives in a post-apocalyptic world, though few know that this is so, as the end of all they knew came gently and everything seemed for the good. The trade off for longevity and eternal health doesn’t seem so dire. Merely your memories, but that isn’t so bad, because technology once more evolved to rescue them. Imagine if Facedbook was where you went to store all your memories, imagine then that with all this power, government and governance was a mere shadow and corporations are the real power. That last part doesn’t seem so far fetched at the moment, to be honest.
But this is the world Jenda lives and works in. She is a cog in the machine of exomemories, until that chance encounter mentioned in the blurb sends her spiraling off her pre-planned and narrowly defined life.
So what did I think of this book? It was very interesting. I enjoyed the wheels within wheels conspiracies and the intricate ways different plot threads were woven together to form a rich albeit care worn and oft mended tapestry. And Jenda’s emotional turmoil at discovering the lie that is her life, that was believable and engaging, as was her relationship with Luis. What I struggled with was how the story was told, with much telling and less showing, and much of that in Jenda’s head, and she seemed so removed from many of the events. This puts the reader at a slight remove, watching the events of the story unfold instead of feeling immersive. But the way the author blended components of a morality play with a mystery and a thriller was all but riveting. The sum of the whole was greater than its parts, much like human memory, so while the way the story was written may have not have been to my preferences, the story itself absolutely was and was what kept me racing through it.
In retrospect, I suspect the stylistic choices were purposeful and were likely a mirror and commentary on the events of the story itself. It just wasn’t, as I said, my preference. But that ending though was amazing and emotional. I almost wish I had waited to read this until the sequel comes out early 2016 so that I can binge read and find out what happens next.
Fortunately dear readers, I did not and am able to tell you about it while this book is currently on sale for the holidays so check it out.
Post scheduled 11/27/2015
https://burnsthroughherbookshelf.word...
So starts the beginning of what I am told is to be a series, the next one which may be coming out Spring 2013.
So what happens when everyone can live for practically ever? In literature it is almost always a cautionary tale, because there simply must be a trade off of some sort. Somehow I feel that when we get to that point in our medical revolution we will race forwarded with no real thoughts to the outcomes, just as people in this world have done.
Jenda Swain lives in a post-apocalyptic world, though few know that this is so, as the end of all they knew came gently and everything seemed for the good. The trade off for longevity and eternal health doesn’t seem so dire. Merely your memories, but that isn’t so bad, because technology once more evolved to rescue them. Imagine if Facedbook was where you went to store all your memories, imagine then that with all this power, government and governance was a mere shadow and corporations are the real power. That last part doesn’t seem so far fetched at the moment, to be honest.
But this is the world Jenda lives and works in. She is a cog in the machine of exomemories, until that chance encounter mentioned in the blurb sends her spiraling off her pre-planned and narrowly defined life.
So what did I think of this book? It was very interesting. I enjoyed the wheels within wheels conspiracies and the intricate ways different plot threads were woven together to form a rich albeit care worn and oft mended tapestry. And Jenda’s emotional turmoil at discovering the lie that is her life, that was believable and engaging, as was her relationship with Luis. What I struggled with was how the story was told, with much telling and less showing, and much of that in Jenda’s head, and she seemed so removed from many of the events. This puts the reader at a slight remove, watching the events of the story unfold instead of feeling immersive. But the way the author blended components of a morality play with a mystery and a thriller was all but riveting. The sum of the whole was greater than its parts, much like human memory, so while the way the story was written may have not have been to my preferences, the story itself absolutely was and was what kept me racing through it.
In retrospect, I suspect the stylistic choices were purposeful and were likely a mirror and commentary on the events of the story itself. It just wasn’t, as I said, my preference. But that ending though was amazing and emotional. I almost wish I had waited to read this until the sequel comes out early 2016 so that I can binge read and find out what happens next.
Fortunately dear readers, I did not and am able to tell you about it while this book is currently on sale for the holidays so check it out.
Post scheduled 11/27/2015
https://burnsthroughherbookshelf.word...
July 5, 2016
I love dystopian books. The sci-fi aspects of them intrigue me. Way of the Serpent is the first book in the Recall Chronicles by Donna Dechen Birdwell. The premise of this book is that people have been taking Chulel, a drug that stops aging. Along with the dispersement of Chulel the people are forgetting their histories. Living over a hundred years with no or little recollection of the childhoods. Yet, there is place that keeps memories for people…or are they replacing bad memories with the memories they think people should have?
Jenda Swain has lived life as expected. Working, taking her time off, traveling, and spending time with her grandma. I like Jenda. She was interesting, unique, and smart. As she starts to put together missing pieces I was intrigued by her. I wanted to know her history, her life story, and where her life would take her. The romance that she starts with Luis is sweet, loving, and true. They protect, respect, and love each other. Despite their different lifestyles they fit together perfectly.
The different countries that are visited in the travels of Luis and Jenda are wonderful. I loved the descriptions of the buildings, the streets, and the people as they make their way through Central and South America to find answers to their pasts. When they made contact with people who they use to know I enjoyed the stories told and the things they learned. With each visit or stop they learned so much about themselves and each other.
When I picked up Way of the Serpent I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. This is definitely an adult book where most dystopian books are young adult books. I recommend checking this out. The short chapters, the witty story, and the wonderful travels all make this a winner for me.
Jenda Swain has lived life as expected. Working, taking her time off, traveling, and spending time with her grandma. I like Jenda. She was interesting, unique, and smart. As she starts to put together missing pieces I was intrigued by her. I wanted to know her history, her life story, and where her life would take her. The romance that she starts with Luis is sweet, loving, and true. They protect, respect, and love each other. Despite their different lifestyles they fit together perfectly.
The different countries that are visited in the travels of Luis and Jenda are wonderful. I loved the descriptions of the buildings, the streets, and the people as they make their way through Central and South America to find answers to their pasts. When they made contact with people who they use to know I enjoyed the stories told and the things they learned. With each visit or stop they learned so much about themselves and each other.
When I picked up Way of the Serpent I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. This is definitely an adult book where most dystopian books are young adult books. I recommend checking this out. The short chapters, the witty story, and the wonderful travels all make this a winner for me.
April 6, 2016
Donna Dechen Birdwell brilliantly builds a dystopian world that has the potential to come to life.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews