Blurb
A naturally gifted
ex-national champion and a savant with a computer-like mind compete
against the world's best in the 22nd century's most popular sport -
CUBEBALL - the chess-like, technology-enhanced, snooker of the future
where the world stage is dominated by gambling, drugs and massive
audiences.
Review
For
billions of fans worldwide, Cubeball is the most thrilling sport
available in the twenty second century, a fast-paced, high-stakes
game combining skill, strategy and luck. Obsessed viewers spend hours
watching broadcast matches and fight for tickets to live contests.
For
managers, advertisers, gamblers and criminals, Cubeball is big
business. Millions of credits are won or lost in a single
competition, but that’s just the beginning. Cubeball champions are
the rock stars of the era, worshiped and emulated, and their product
endorsements are practically priceless.
For
Mickey Allen, however, Cubeball is art and passion, a vocation,
almost a religion. Mickey has a rare natural gift for the
technologically enhanced, three dimensional descendant of billiards.
From his earliest years, he has possessed a near-mystical ability to
understand the impossibly complex interaction of forces that control
the myriad balls and their trajectories. As the sport becomes
increasingly influenced by high technology and by
performance-boosting drugs and supplements, Mickey continues to play
pure Cubeball, relying on his intuition and inner vision.
Ten
years before the start of the novel, Mickey fled to Mars after being
forced by his corrupt manager Johnnie to throw a championship match.
Now, broke and desperate, he has returned to Earth, and to the only
thing he really knows or cares about: Cubeball. He struggles against
the insidious influence of his former manager, the chilly disdain of
his brilliant sister Riley, and his own tendencies toward alcohol and
drug addiction. His goals: to reclaim the championship title, make
enough money to clear his debts, and set to rest the ghost of Jules,
the woman he’d once loved, whom Johnnie had destroyed.
He
finds unlikely allies in Ludwig, an autistic savant who sees the
Cubeball plays as visual music, and in his rehab therapist Dr. Harry
Vance. However, Johnnie is richer, more powerful and more evil than
ever, Riley’s loyalties are not clear, and the new generation of
top-rated Cubeball players are ten years younger and sharper than
Mickey, but just as hungry. If Mickey loses the championship, he will
have lost everything.
I
am not generally a fan of sports-themed stories, although science
fiction is one of my favorite genres. In addition, the first few
chapters made it clear to me that Cubeball
is no literary masterpiece. The writing is awkward in some
places, and I noticed a number of serious editing errors.
Nevertheless, this novel hooked me from the start. It’s written
with passion, more than skill. Somehow, the author really made me
care about Mickey and his quest to recover his life and his
self-respect. I raced through the nearly 300 pages of the novel,
eager to see how Mickey fared. After all, this is scifi. Happy
endings are not required.
Though
I never really managed to visualize how Cubeball is played, Mickey’s
talent for the game is vividly portrayed and endlessly fascinating.
When Ludwig appears in the tale, he complements Mickey’s physical
prowess with his transcendental visions of action and reaction. Both
Mickey and Ludwig are underdogs, despised by society. There’s a
deep satisfaction in seeing them triumph, especially since it’s not
an easy process.
Some
aspects of Michael Leon’s portrayal of the twenty second century
seem like natural extensions of current societal trends. The mass
fervor associated with Cubeball is not that different from today’s
sports manias. (The rampant commercialism is equally familiar.) Other
features of Leon’s world—for
instance, the drug-drenched virtualities of the Velvet
Underground—struck me as more
original and surprising. Ultimately, though, I felt that the
futuristic background of the novel was not all that important to its
goals. Really, the book is about a man following his dream,
overcoming both internal and external obstacles to achieve the
success that is his birthright. This is a timeless journey.
Excerpt
Jules’
gaze emboldened Mickey to reveal his special gift to her. He strode
confidently to the cue-ball and lined up one of the most difficult
shots in cubeball. Then with little thought, he cracked the cue-ball
with a force that matched the passion he was feeling. The curve on
the first line was more pronounced than the programmed line set by
the computer.
Mickey
had struck the perfect shot. Sam and Riley sat staring at the
console, mesmerised by what they had just seen and eager to
re-capture its perfection on replay. Only champions could play this
way and it was clear to all that Mickey was developing into one.
“Fucking
incredible,” said Johnnie. His eyes were wide. Filled with awe for
Mickey’s skills and expectation with how much he could earn from
it.
Mickey
didn’t hear his appreciative manager. He didn’t see the small
tear that had formed in his kid sister’s admiring eye. His gaze
remained on Jules. She brushed her hair back on to her shoulders
before resting her slender hands on her hips. Her mouth was wide
open, breathing in her excitement for what she had just seen. Then
her eyes revealed that there was more to her feelings than that of an
adoring fan. Her gaze began to fill with a stirring hunger. Fate was
beginning to move into Mickey’s life like an evening moon tide.
About
the Author
I
commenced writing science fiction novels full time in 2009. It was a
life-long interest of mine. I have written five novels - all
exploring contemporary social issues in future speculative worlds.
They are: Shadow Dance; Extinction;
Cubeball; Titan Sages and Alive.
My novels blend speculative science, new age and poetry. Readers of
novels such as Carl Sagan’s Contact would enjoy my novels.
Links
Website:
http://www.michaelleon.com.au/
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/MichaelLeon0433
Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/Michael-Leon/e/B01LNQALBW/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0
Buy
links
Cubeball is only 99 cents
during
the
tour!
Michael
will be awarding a $20 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner
via rafflecopter during the tour.
December 8: Fangirls Read It First
December 15: Long and Short Reviews
December 29: Beyond Romance
January 5: Magic and Machines
December 8: Fangirls Read It First
December 15: Long and Short Reviews
December 29: Beyond Romance
January 5: Magic and Machines
