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ISBN 1-870338-85-5 (UK hbk),,, 1-870338-90-1 (UK special boxed edition)
novel, science fiction, slipstream, cyberpunk, horror, postmodern, future, edge, mutant, identity, women, native american culture
Near Future, Earth. First novel. Cover art and illustrations by Don Coyote. Forward by Brian Aldiss. Postscript by James P.Blaylock. Of this edition 100 copies are specially bound (boxed edition), slipcased, and signed by all the contributors. Finalist for the Arthur C.Clarke Award in England and winner of the 1991 Readercon Award for Best Novel. This novel was followed by a sequel: The Bell Factory (unknown if published).
"In the sealed city of Mickey-san the skies are still blue. There is no crime. No pollution. No one is unemployed and entertainment is the primary industry. In the tunnels below lies Dogton. Hard, dirty, industrial and restless with a subterranean rage, its nightlife neon and garish. But surrounding all is Ded-Tek, grim, violent and predatory, with survival being the sole occupation of its inhabitants, and The Market its one hope.
"Amidst this city of outcasts is Tommy Uchida, enigma, god, a mind too brilliant for his artificially enhanced body; and Kumo, trickster chimera, living by her wits and for her art, trying to assert her humanity.
"All are interconnected by the uncertainty of their future; fifteen minute viruses, a cold blistering sun, savage police 'wire-dogs', offbeat cult groups, roving gangs of rich boys, and the punishment of the 'Bell Factory', and the spectre of a brutal murderer, a foreshadow of a change that none of them can comprehend." [jacket blurb, UK hbk, 1990]
"Misha's writing takes you by surprise. Her unerring style beguiles you with humanity and humor into letting down your guard until you suddenly find yourself shivering as the coldness of her world envelops you and you realize that this novel, stripped of its trappings, forces you to meet yourself, in a figurative and literal back alley, any back alley USA. Though Misha dazzles us with futuristic devices to lead us down these ominous streets populated by terrifying police, abused fashalts, chimeras, mutants, fifteen minute viruses, predatory gangs and cult groups, we discover at the center of this wasteland a handful of appealing rascals, outcast artists and a reconstructed man struggling to retain their human dignity." --Dave Memmott (in Science Fiction Eye , Issue 8, Winter 1991).
"Its pages reveal a series of starkly painted images that go to work on your mind like the pictures of a tarot deck. They talk directly to your right brain..." --James P.Blaylock.
"This novel is not an easy read. Imagine Arthur Rimbaud writing cyberpunk and you'll have some idea of what to expect. Misha plunges you into a nightmare near future without explanation, without warning. If you're looking for escapism, this is not the book for you. This is prose-poetry, and, as such, requires an effort on the part of the reader." --Henry W.Targowski (in Mark/Space , January 1998).
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