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mostlysignssomeportents · 1 month

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Rebecca Roque’s “Till Human Voices Wake Us”

I'm touring my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me in TOMORROW (Apr 17) in CHICAGO, then Torino (Apr 21) Marin County (Apr 27), Winnipeg (May 2), Calgary (May 3), Vancouver (May 4), and beyond!

"Till Human Voices Wake Us" is Rebecca Roque's debut novel: it's a superb teen thriller, intricately plotted and brilliantly executed, packed with imaginative technological turns that amp up the tension and suspense:

https://www.blackstonepublishing.com/till-human-voices-wake-us-gn3a.html#541=2790108

Modern technology presents a serious problem for a thriller writer. Once characters can call or text one another, a whole portfolio of suspense-building gimmicks – like the high-speed race across town – just stop working. For years, thriller writers contrived implausible – but narratively convenient – ways to go on using these tropes. Think of the shopworn "damn, my phone is out of battery/range just when I need it the most":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIZVcRccCx0

When that fails, often writers just lean into the "idiot plot" – a plot that only works because the characters are acting like idiots:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiot_plot

But even as technology was sawing a hole in the suspense writer's bag of tricks, shrewd suspense writers were cooking up a whole new menu of clever ways to build suspense in ways that turn on the limitations and capabilities of technology. One pioneer of this was Iain M Banks (RIP), whose 2003 novel Dead Air was jammed with wildly ingenious ways to use cellphones to raise the stakes and heighten the tension:

https://web.archive.org/web/20030302073539/http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.03/play.html?pg=8

This is "techno-realism" at its best. It's my favorite mode of storytelling, the thing I lean into with my Little Brother and Martin Hench books – stories that treat the things that technology can and can't do as features, not bugs. Rather than having the hacker "crack the mainframe's cryptography in 20 minutes when everyone swears it can't be done in less than 25," the techno-realist introduces something gnarlier, like a supply-chain attack that inserts a back-door, or a hardware keylogger, or a Remote Access Trojan.

Back to Roque's debut novel: it's a teen murder mystery told in the most technorealist way. Cia's best friend Alice has been trying to find her missing boyfriend for months, and in her investigation, she's discovered their small town's dark secret – a string of disappearances, deaths and fires that are the hidden backdrop to the town's out-of-control addiction problem.

Alice has something to tell Cia, something about the fire that orphaned her and cost her one leg when she was only five years old, but Cia refuses to hear it. Instead, they have a blazing fight, and part ways. It's the last time Cia and Alice ever see each other: that night, Alice kills herself.

Or does she? Cia is convinced that Alice has been murdered, and that her murder is connected to the drug- and death-epidemic that's ravaging their town. As Cia and her friends seek to discover the town's secret – and the identity of Alice's killer – we're dragged into an intense, gripping murder mystery/conspiracy story that is full of surprises and reversals, each more fiendishly clever than the last.

But as good as the storytelling, the characterization and the mystery are, Roque's clever technological gambits are even better. This book is a master-class in how a murder mystery can work in the age of social media and ubiquitous mobile devices. It's the first volume in a trilogy and it ends on a hell of a cliff-hanger, too.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/16/dead-air/#technorealism

#pluralistic #books #reviews #novels #mysteries #thrillers #technorealism #gift guide #rebecca roque

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tenyxshx-a · 4 years

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➸ @despairforme // ➸ Send me a 🐤 for a Tweet my muse would make about yours

[ 🐤 pls omg ahahaha ]

#despairforme #(i honestly can't tell which one of the two is the worst XD)#(but i bet they get into a lot of shenanigans doifjsdofijsd)#(they're awful but i love them)#(thank you for sending!)#➸ disturbance of whispers (ask)#(meme reply.)#➸ partners in crime; high school idiots (despairforme; nnoitra r.; teen v.)#➸ hacker voice: i'm in (teen v.)

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tenyxshx-a · 4 years

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➸ @despairforme:

Nnoitra has a birthday gift for his friend! It's a big, pink hat with fluffy pink feathers on top. He saw it in a Halloween costume shop, and had to get it for Doffy. Oh, and yeah - he stole it. "Happy Birthday, dumbass." He puts the hat on his friend's head.

“Oh damn Nnoi, you always know what to get me!”

Quickly, he reached out to touch the hat and see if it’s put correctly on top of his head. Is it obnoxious? Yes. Probably meant to be worn to some sort of costume party? Definitely. Is he still going to strut around the campus wearing it? Oh absolutely! This was a gift after all, and he would make sure that Nnoitra got it for him and that this was apparently his friend’s style of giving gifts! Okay maybe he wouldn’t go that far, since Nnoitra actually remembered his birthday unlike other people!

“Fufufu, let’s go grab some snacks after school!”

#despairforme #(i love that he stole it xD)#(really gives that extra NNOITRA^TM vibe xD)#(oisdjfosdfjs)#(precious)#(i say as they are literally assholes and probably not the best example of healthy friendships)#(but it works out so hey!)#(and doffy got a nice hat to bother other people with xD)#(imagine if he wears it in class... like no one behind him can see shit sodjoifjsodijfoisdjfosd)#(thank you !)#➸ disturbance of whispers (ask)#➸ heaven's fallen (ic.)#➸ hacker voice: i'm in (teen v.)#➸ partners in crime; high school idiots (despairforme; nnoitra r.; teen v.)

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tenyxshx-a · 4 years

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➸ @despairforme:

"Ey Doffy?" It's time for revenge for that butter prank the other pulled on him. "Ya wanna sleep over at my place 'ta'night?" He may or may not be planning to shave Doffy's head in his sleep. [highschool!au.]

Doflamingo loved spending time with Nnoitra. After all, he was a great source of entertainment! And probably a friend as well, but wasn’t that basically the same thing? Doflamingo’s smile widened at the suggestion. He would love to! Anything was better than an empty student house. Though he couldn’t help the wicked amusement rising inside of him.

“Are you sure you want that Nnoi? I mean, I only sleep well when I’m not alone so I’ll have to sleep in your room. And you know-?” for dramatic effect, he leaned forwards, hands pushed against his mouth, voice turning into a whisper: “People might think ya know-.”

With the last words, he stood up straight again and raised his voice: “That you’re gay! I mean, sleeping together with me in one room? Oof! But hey, I thought you’d never ask!”

#despairforme #(these interactions make me realise just how problematic teen!doffy is AND I LOVE IT)#(like he isn't actively homophobic?)#(but the way he makes these jokes around nnoi and in general?)#(it's very awful and a good way to see how teen!doffy is A ROYAL ASS FOR REAL)#(i loved it omg!)#(what if nnoitra messes up and that's how doffy loses his left eye in this verse XD)#(that's very dark sdofjsidofjs)#(butter prank nnoi you ate that out of own volition !!!!)#➸ disturbance of whispers (ask)#➸ heaven's fallen (ic.)#➸ hacker voice: i'm in (teen v.)#➸ partners in crime; high school idiots (despairforme; nnoitra r.; teen v.)

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tenyxshx-a · 4 years

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{ Teen!Doffy throwing a tantrum like... }

#(tell me again: do you really think teen doffy is cute or nice to hang out with?)#(WELL THINK AGAIN)#(teen!doffy is like that one bird when you talk to bird owners they just)#(*shake head* *sad nod*)#(osdjfiosdfj)#➸ behind the glasses (hc.)#➸ hacker voice: i'm in (teen v.)#(this is crack but also not so in the tag it goes)

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tenyxshx-a · 4 years

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“Fufufufu, Valentine’s day~.”

#(im not a big fan of it XD)#(doffy on the other hand just likes to make fun of it lmao)#(but he love the attention tho...)#(this guy IS2G)#(canon doflamingo??? EH??? i need to figure that out)#➸ heaven's fallen (ic.)#➸ hacker voice: i'm in (teen v.)

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tenyxshx-a · 5 years

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY BITCH!!! Then he slams a cupcake in his face. He would've chosen a cake, but he couldn't afford one. [highschool!au]

➸ @despairforme

Holy fuck.

He should’ve expected this, should’ve known Nnoitra would pull something like this. After all, it was what Doffy always tried with him anyways. Still, the force of it did make him stumble a bit. Also, Nnoitra’s yelling had startled him. He didn’t like loud noises and it just so happened that his friend could be the loudest person on this school if he wanted!!!

Still, he wasn’t going to be annoying about this, because if anything, he did enjoy it. Doffy loved it when people paid attention to him and his life, which included his birthday date. Licking most of the frosting of his face using his fingers, he stared at Nnoitra for a few seconds before a huge grin appeared on his face.

“Fufufu, why thank you! A free cupcake! I’ve eaten for the next week!”

Loudly laughing, he proceeded to free more of his face from the sweetness: “So shall I treat you to something since it’s my birthday?”

#despairforme #(I CROPPED THIS ICON JUST FOR THIS!!!)#(and sadly it's cake instead of a cupcake XDDD)#(SWEET DREAMS ARE MADE OF THESE!!!!!!!!!)#(or in this case: friendships)#(teen!doffy v: now THIS is how you celebrate someone's birthday!!!!)#(osijdfiosdjfos)n(th #(thank you for sending XD!!!!)#(these losers are so great im cryin)#➸ disturbance of whispers (ask)#➸ hacker voice: i'm in (teen v.)#➸ growing strong (birthd.)#➸ partners in crime; high school idiots (despairforme; nnoitra r.; teen v.)

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tenyxshx-a · 5 years

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Would u also like me to work for u in finding ur partner?

➸ anonymous