Synopsis:
Julia Z, a young woman who gained notoriety at fourteen as the “orphan hacker,” is trying to live a life of digital obscurity in a Boston suburb.
But when a lawyer named Piers—whose famous artist wife, Elli, has been kidnapped by dangerous criminals—barges into her life, Julia decides to put the solitary life she has painstakingly created at risk as she can’t walk away from helping Piers and Elli, nor step away from the challenge of this digital puzzle. Elli is an onierofex, a dream artist, who can weave the dreams of an audience together through a shared virtual landscape, live, in a concert-like experience by tapping into each attendee’s waking dream and providing an emotionally resonant and narrative experience. While attendees’ dreams are anonymous, Julia discovers that Elli was also providing a one-on-one dream experience for the head of an international criminal enterprise, and he’s demanding his dreams in return for Elli.
Unraveling the real and unreal leads Julia on an adventure that takes her across the country and deep into the shadows of her psyche.
Review:
I wanted to love this book. I’ve been a huge Ken Liu fan for years now, starting with his short stories and into his massive Dandelion Dynasty series and even his Luke Skywalker Star Wars short story collection. So, when I saw All That We See or Seem was on the horizon for this year, I got excited for a great sci-fi tale. I saw a few early reviews and tried to chalk it up to people who just “didn’t get” Liu’s genius. Alas…I have to put myself in the same shoes as the so-so early reviewers.
Let’s say up front…Ken Liu has THE GOODS™. Many of his short stories (whether in his own collections or in various anthologies) have left me on the verge of an existential crisis if not tears. His work in fantasy over the last decade has set him up to be a major author to watch for years to come.
Which is why his latest book is a disappointment to me. I really don’t want to be a downer. There’s a lot to like about All That We See or Seem and you can see Liu’s skill with the written word shine through at parts, but ultimately the story has some structural issues that are just too big to overlook.
I guess part of the problem was me. I had expectations that were not aligned with the core of this book. It seems to me that Liu might be trying to start a series based on a recurring main character who has special skills for solving crimes and/or righting the wrongs of the world. Since this is our introduction to Julia Z, it comes off clunky and stilted at times, but that can be fixed and altered down the road given enough time with her. I’ve read more than my fair share of John Grisham, Jeffrey Archer, Michael Crichton, Scott Turow, James Rollins, Clive Cussler and the like…and that’s the feeling I got from most of All That We See or Seem. In fact, for two-thirds of the book, I got a major vibe of The Pelican Brief off Liu’s work (and that is no harsh criticism…Grisham’s early books were fantastic legal thrillers). I’ve seen the word “cyberpunk” used for this book (based on the cover art and assumptions based on the synopsis, maybe?), but I would instead list this as a decent “techno-thriller.”
The main problem with the book, though, is the structure. It feels like one book for sixty percent of it, then there is a full stop that feels out of left field. The last third of the book is a completely different feel to it and almost feels like some of the low-points of Ready Player One in some ways. Julia Z can be a good recurring character for Liu — she has a fantastic backstory that lends itself to her skills and her level of involvement in society in general. But, there are major parts of this book that just don’t work like they should. The Macguffin seems like it’s going to be a much bigger part of the story than it is. The villain is fairly one-note and certain things happen off-page that feel important.
Ultimately, I think the length is part of the issue. Liu excels at short fiction and his Dandelion Dynasty books are great door stops. The ideas are great in All That We See or Seem, but perhaps he has either too much room or not enough to get everything on the page that he’d like. Ultimately, I’ll be first in line to read Liu’s next work and I’ll even re-read this book again in the future to see if re-set expectations helps with my perception of it.
Thank you to Saga Press for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
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