I really enjoyed this read as it reminded me of classic Jeff Noon in his Vert heyday which is a top book. Bold as Love is set in a conceivable but far out near future where environmental and (again as in all most near future sci fi I’ve read recently) religious tensions have led to a meltdown. The absurd but oddly believable solution in this parallel universe is for the government to set up a counter-culture think tank of musicians / rock stars to pacify the disillusioned masses that ends up running the county.
It believable because the rock star / policy influencer line has been blurred in recent time (think since live aid celebrities have spoken up more on political issues – U2 a case in point). It’s absurd because it takes that ’three days at a festival – what if the whole world was like this’ and runs with it. However for those that have been there in a festival bubble forgetting reality it’s a wonderfully coherent flight of fantasy.
The musical vibe was spot on with a mix of futuristic techno-masked Vj’s and indie junior starlets brushing with the dark side of rock n roll. There are lots of good ideas crammed into the book. Perhaps that contributed to it losing focus towards the end. I was a little disappointed that it didn’t tidy up all lose ends. Instead I felt it disintegrated into chaos (as life does?) towards the very end, perhaps intentional to capture that festival vibe? Or maybe that’s because it the beginning of a series. Still, I think I’ll be back for the others in the sequence as it was fun and easy read :)
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