The Only Thing to Fear Is Fear Itself - Techno-Fear by German Alcala

Techno-Fear (The Novel)

By German Alcala

Self-published January 10, 2012

I know the past couple of reviews haven't been that great. I've been struggling to find the right pace for this blog. My goal is to present you with enough detail to get you to like the books I read without giving you too many spoilers. That stops now. I'll still avoid giving you too many details but I'll spoil the crap out of a book if it gets my point across. So without further ado, this weeks book is... Techno-Fear!

Set in the technologically advanced past of 1980, Techno-Fear is a sci-fi fantasy about a rag tag group of survivors of a terrorist attack who are thrown into an alternate dimension. Starting out in an amusement park called Techno-Joy which is a cross between Las Vegas, Disney World and a Japanese Mall an unknown group sets a hacker on the path to bring down America’s biggest technology corporation. Acting on an anonymous tip that was faxed to him (it is 1980 after all), the CEO of Techno-Joy and Mango Computers Jonathon Suede contacts the CIA* to help avert the coming disaster.

The CIA sends one of their top agents Tony Trinity to supervise the operation. Unfortunately Tony is too late and all hell breaks loose. Joining him is fellow CIA operative and psychic Stephanie Givoskil; Margaret Bombo, a woman who sends me into Vietnam flashbacks from editing papers for people who are ESL whenever she speaks; Jean Roux, a former child star searching for his lost boyfriend after the attack; Harold Adorno, a personal trainer who is constantly described as an Adonis (which I admit I had to Google, an Adonis is a really good looking guy named after a Roman god) and the rest of the cast of Lost who eventually get one episode.

(*I’ll give it to the young author; the CIA is a badass organization to include in a sci-fi/fantasy novel. They’re so far integrated in our culture what with the fight against terrorism and counter espionage that it seems to make sense. But keep in mind that officially the CIA has a directorate to never conduct operations on American soil. It keeps them from stepping onto the toes of other government agencies. A more likely group to head up the investigation would be the FBI’s cybercrimes division. Hell even the NSA might even work, except I don’t think they have field agents.)

Techno-Fear is so far reaching that the reader has to be constantly on their toes to avoid being lost. Whether that was by accident or design remains to be seen. This book has everything a sci-fi nerd needs; a digital world, technology run a muck, an interesting plot and oh yeah did I mention yet that there’s a fucking DRAGON. Yeah that's right, it's right there in the description of the book, an effing dragon. Not just any dragon, a dragon queen. I think that was the selling point when I was looking for a new book to read. Tell me there's a dragon involved and I get all high school nerdy on ya.

The terrorist attack opens a rip in the time-space continuum and the group is pulled into a digital world referred to as Techno-Fear (because joy is replaced with fear). This alternate dimension is less Tron and more the wood between the worlds in The Magician's Nephew. They group is forced to search for shelter and other survivors while also looking for a way home.

Things don't go as planned when the dragon queen sends her minion Sylvester to kill or enslave everyone trapped in the parallel world. Our heroes now must fight for their lives instead of just survive. They eventually escape Sylvester and take refuge in a replica of the queen’s castle and make their final stand before the rip in the space-time continuum repairs itself and nearly traps them in the digital hell. Once back home they learn there are several hundred people missing from the wreckage of the terrorist attack. It is implied that they were trapped in Techno-Fear. Knowing that nobody would believe them, the group decides to keep what transpired a secret for fear of being thrown in the loony bin.

Tony Trinity was my original choice for a main character when the book first opens. There was so much effort put into making him the de facto hero at first. He's forced off the road on the way to Techno-Joy and this causes him to reach for a carton of cigarettes in the glove box. That just screams badass. Then when shit hits the fan we’re reminded that he’s prepared for any eventuality because of his CIA training. He's unfazed by the sight of endless dead bodies. Unfortunately soon after everyone makes their introductions, our boy Tony is reduced to a supporting character. The closest I could find to a main character after that was Jean, a character who borders on being classified as a Mary Sue. Jean is given the most back story and character development. Things also just sort of happen to him. He’s a central character for the soul reason that he's there and he’s essential to the climax of the novel. I could basically describe the book as the story of Jean Roux, a fifteen year old searching for love and a way home after being transported to a parallel dimension.

As much praise as Techno-Fear deserves with regards to the overall story this book is rife with grammatical and continuity errors and the occasional anachronism. Two of the characters mention the 2001 movie The Others staring Nicole Kidman then admit that it won’t be out for a couple of decades (Nicole Kidman wouldn't have an onscreen role until 1983 so it’s doubtful the characters would even know who she was). While I enjoyed Techno-Fear it seemed more like a first draft than a complete novel to me. Had our author had an editor (an unfortunate downside to self-publishing) this could be a bestselling sci-fi novel. I’m impressed with the depth of work German Alcala has amassed in the few years he’s been publishing. A search of his Amazon author page shows 17 books, short story collections and poetry collections. Pretty amazing considering he’s only fifteen. I hope he eventually lands himself an agent who hooks him up with a proper publisher to make some serious bank.

Side note: If homoerotic scenes offend you, especially those between adult men and adolescent boys then this book is most definitely not for you. There are two scenes, one romance novel level graphic, that take place.

5/10 great story but could use some editing to really make it great.

I won’t be doing a review next week in order to get some of my own writing done and take care of some personal business. We’ll return with a review of Lilith’s Tears by David Jones. Until then, keep it real.