Silver Helix

Van Rooyen (My Name Is Magic) spices up a familiar cyberpunk world with appealing, voicey narration and an added layer of mutagenic magic. The setting is an alternate, near-future Helsinki where the government, having already committed a genocide against magic-wielding Ethereals, now works to eradicate the last traces of Ethereal DNA from the human genome and citizens rebel against this regime by removing their mandated neural implants. Vat-grown “psyborgs” Zee-Four and Zee-Five, government operatives, are nearing their “regen” date, when they will be retired and repurposed, when they’re sent to hunt down a fugitive scientist. Five’s mental scan of the dying man triggers suppressed memories of the psyborgs’ lives before the vats—memories the scientist’s lost daughter, Omyn, may share. Conveniently, Four and Five’s final mission is to locate her as well. They find Omyn raising her little brother and dabbling in anti-government activism—and she proves uniquely immune to the psyborgs’ mental weaponry, deepening the mystery of what history all three may share and how their past ties them to the Ethereals. Van Rooyen packs a lot in (and leaves an open door for a sequel). As a result, the initially breezy pacing eventually bogs down in repetitive fight scenes and zigzagging plotting. Still, fans of kinetic cyberpunk will find plenty to enjoy. Agent: Lindsay Leggett, Rights Factory. (Sept.)