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mark monday's Reviews > Seeklight
Seeklight
by
by
Science fiction pulp or sweaty nightmare made real? A tense and often inexplicable fever dream? You be the judge! Seeklight is about the son of a so-called traitor, his flight across a curiously lifeless colony full of curiously lifeless humans, his slow movement into understanding of his purpose and his powers. It has clones & fake angels & screamingly murderous robots; it also has a female character who in any other novel would be a romantic interest, but in this one is just as mindlessly, frustratingly, monomaniacally small-minded as every other character. It has a low-key, downbeat tone and a style that manages to be simultaneously sinuous, hypnotic, and blandly prosaic.
It has a kind of theme: HUMANS ARE FUCKING MISERABLE BUGS. They are not worth the effort of saving; downward is their natural trajectory.
Jeter is not interested in making you happy and he is not interested in letting you understand the nuances of the human condition. He wants you to know about entropy, about the inherent piggishness of human nature, about quests that go nowhere, and answers that deliver questions that have no answer. He wants you to understand there is actually no hope. I hate that message and I didn’t particularly like this book. But I also really respected it, its choices and its insularity and its bleak and rather pure logic. Color me impressed. Alienated and saddened, but impressed.
This is Jeter's first published novel. Apparently he arrived in the science fiction world fully-formed and already equipped with the cynicism and world weariness of several lifetimes. Kudos? Yes, kudos!
A version of this review is part of a larger article on Jeter posted on
It has a kind of theme: HUMANS ARE FUCKING MISERABLE BUGS. They are not worth the effort of saving; downward is their natural trajectory.
Jeter is not interested in making you happy and he is not interested in letting you understand the nuances of the human condition. He wants you to know about entropy, about the inherent piggishness of human nature, about quests that go nowhere, and answers that deliver questions that have no answer. He wants you to understand there is actually no hope. I hate that message and I didn’t particularly like this book. But I also really respected it, its choices and its insularity and its bleak and rather pure logic. Color me impressed. Alienated and saddened, but impressed.
This is Jeter's first published novel. Apparently he arrived in the science fiction world fully-formed and already equipped with the cynicism and world weariness of several lifetimes. Kudos? Yes, kudos!
A version of this review is part of a larger article on Jeter posted on
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Reading Progress
Finished Reading
April 15, 2013
– Shelved
April 15, 2013
– Shelved as:
z-kw-jeter
June 20, 2015
– Shelved as:
buried-treasure
December 4, 2018
– Shelved as:
scifi-60s-70s-80s
Comments Showing 1-20 of 20 (20 new)
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thanks! although i actually had no hand in creating it, that was all Dan & Kemper & others. my own Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ heroes. i'm just along for the ride and any free treats. i do have my own blog (linked on my profile) but it is just basically reviews from Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ, nothing special. the only non-review on that blog is some nonsense i posted on Gay King Renly. the Best King!
I haven't read it yet, but it can't be nonsense - he was so obviously gay, in more ways than one. ;-)I will have to take a peek at your blog...
I am working on reading selected Laser books. I loved the Koontz/Wolfe novel and am looking forward to the Raymond F. Jones, R. F. Nelson and Eklund books as well as the controversial Piers Anthony novel (and am trying to get the one by Tim Powers). I will add this one to my list. Thank you.
hope you enjoy it Denis.poor GK Renly!
Sounds like Jeter's in need of an Arbys pick-me-up.Is it worth it to be born into misery, & die alone for that brief chance to love? No. It's exactly the same as never being born. Enjoy Arbys
The only way out of this nightmare is the sweet release of death, so fuck it. have another sandwich, fatty. Arbys: to your nadir and beyond
Arby's was made for Jeter! or perhaps Jeter was made from Arby's? who knows. it's a Jeter-Arby's Ouroboros.
mark wrote: "it's a Jeter-Arby's Ouroboros."Hell: not quite how you pictured it.
somewhere, Jeter is eating an Arby's sandwich and gazing emptily into the distance. he's not sure whether he wants to destroy the entire human race, or just himself because he is a part of it. instead, he takes another bite of his Arby's.
@Mark:We all sin. We all destroy. We all come to naked covered in horsey sauce & have to call a friend to help dispose of a body. Arbys: a friend.
@Miriam:
This living hell got me like *washes down handful of pills with bleach, steps to ledge, finishes Reuben, jumps*
So, I'm not missing anything never having eaten at Arby's?
somewhere in the Adirondacks, on the porch of his sprawling but decrepit lake house, Jeter moodily unwraps an Arby's sandwich from the large to-go bag by his side. he takes a plug from his bottle of whiskey as he watches the blood-red sun set slowly over the lake. in the distance... the eerie cry of a loon... and then the haunting sound of a whippoorwill. the evening fog begins to roll in.then, gratingly, come the harsh and ugly sounds of drunken teenagers camping deep in the woods. Jeter smiles his crooked half-smile and takes a bite of his sandwich. he is going to have a busy night.
Miriam wrote: "So, I'm not missing anything never having eaten at Arby's?"you are missing out on the emptiness of life! come on, Miriam, it's Arby's time!
Come on down to Arbys: a place where no one knows who you are or cares what happened at that rest area last week. Arbys: eat your sins.Give a man an Arbys sandwich, he eats for a day. Teach him to slaughter, & he dies bloody & alone in darkness just like he would have anyway
Your parents don't love you
your children will die
Come eat Arbys
It's best if yer high
Drink the poison
Gargle the flesh
Arbys: then death
ok, you win.winner winner,
I cheated...only cut and paste, thus the italics. Although, I will readily admit that your messages 9 & 12 were quite clever, but I think they were slightly over the max, 140 character limit ;)It's good of me to change the rules, once the game's completed.
both Arby's and I approve of your cutting & pasting & cheating. it's the Arby's way!plus you inspired me to send a link for NIhilistArbys to a friend who just invited me over for dinner with his family. the invitation was just too endearing; it needed some Arby's.
I can only imagine their reaction will shift from, confused, to shocked, to disgusted, all the while you'll never stop grinning.
oh my God, I totally love that. I just replayed it a half-dozen times in less than a minute!
BTW, nice work on Shelf Inflicted -- looks spiffy!