Hylozoic

April 6, 2009
Surfing across the transfinite dimensions, this giddy sequel to 2007’s Postsingular
chronicles the fight to keep Earth “gnarly” in the face of aliens who want to steal the quantum chaos that makes the planet interesting. Metanovelist Thuy and her husband, JayJay, who’s addicted to the global groupmind called Gaia, maneuver between worlds to fend off chaos-diverting Peng real estate developers and flying manta-ray Hrull. Math prodigy Chu, who mitigates his autism with telepathy, and a parallel universe Hieronymus Bosch join Thuy and JayJay as they escape from modern-day fundamentalists and Renaissance witch-hunters and try to keep Gaia from going volcanic. Rucker’s plotting can be as loopy as his time lines, and the ending is so confusing that even his characters complain, but his wild imagination never slows down.

Starred review from April 15, 2009
Sequel to Postsingular (2007), Rucker's yarn of a future where everything—animals, rocks, the planet Earth—is conscious, telepathic and often irrepressibly chatty.

This weird future stems from the exploits of teenager Chu, who strummed the Lost Chord on a golden harp to unfurl the eighth dimension and unleash limitless computing power. Though based on respectable extrapolations of current physics theories, Rucker's approach takes a high-comic trajectory with a satirical edge, adding plot and imagery evidently inspired by the paintings of medieval Dutch artist Hieronymus Bosch. Once everything's telepathic, there's little or no privacy, and the Founders—Chu, friends Thuy, Jayjay and many others—do pretty much as they please. Chu strives to become more connected and less fixated. Thuy writes hypertext novels. Jayjay, addicted to the"high" afforded by deep communion with Gaia, spaces out. However, various alien species take notice of the now conscious Earth. While brain-surfing toward a (temporary) pinnacle of omniscience, Jayjay encounters a talking pitchfork, Groovy, and his girlfriend Lovva (the harp who played the Lost Chord). Groovy betrays Jayjay into the clutches of the Pekklet, an invading alien who quantum-entangles Jayjay and forces him to reprogram large blocks of matter; the objects affected lose their"gnarl," becoming dull and predictable and allowing colonists from distant planet Peng to project themselves into Earth's reality and take up immovable residence. Chu, meanwhile, meets big trouble of his own.

Serious, uproarious fun, with brain-teasers and brilliant ideas tossed about like confetti.

(COPYRIGHT (2009) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

May 15, 2009
Ruckers Postsingular (2007) described Earths radical transformation into a Singularity, wherein all matter, animate and inanimate, became unified in a superconscious global mind. As the tale continues, aliens notice Earths newly awakened status and begin salivating over its resources. While enjoying their newfound ability to communicate telepathically with birds, trees, and even rocks, Jayjay and Thuy, better known as the Singularitys celebrity Founders, are just putting the finishing touches on their recently constructed, sentient cottage when Jayjays hyperspace-surfing consciousness is co-opted by a chicken-like ET named Pekka. Before Jayjay fully understands whats happening to him, he is quickly drafted into an underhanded scheme to reprogram large blocks of terrestrial matter, enabling a wholesale alien immigration unless the ingenuity of Jayjay and his friends can save the day. As always, Ruckers riotously inventive riffs on theoretical physics take precedence over any semblance of plot. True Rucker fans, however, wouldnt want it any other way, as this whimsical stew of outlandish scenarios, far-fetched ideas, and quirky characters goes down with plenty of laughs.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)