A review of

((Frequencies))

by Josh Ortega

Published by: Omega Point Productions (http://www.omegapp.com)

I confess, I'm a coward. I get intimidated by what I think of as "tech stuff." Being faced with hard sci-fi, cyberpunk, etc., scares me. I write fantasy and erotica, I read mostly horror, and tend to avoid most everything else.

One look at ((Frequencies)) made me think that I was going to be in over my head the moment I started reading. For goodness' sake, the book comes complete with an 18-page glossary and three handy reference tables having to do with spectra and frequencies. The story was set in 2051 and had to do with literal thought police, able to scan brainwaves and make sure people weren't having imaginative thoughts unless cleared for it.

Not at all my usual thing. But I'd met the author a year ago at a book event, during the historic WTO riots here in Seattle as a matter of fact, and we'd corresponded several times since. He shared his experiences with self-publishing, and introduced me to the very satisfactory printer I used for my own second book. So, when I spotted his book in the local library, I thought I'd at least try it.

I'm so very glad I did! Two pages in, I was interested. Ten pages, and I was captivated. And it kept on getting better! ((Frequencies)) is packed with memorable characters, and the author has a knack for establishing them in just a couple of sentences so that they all but leap off the page as vivid, real people.

The setting - near-future Seattle - was wholly believable … from the floating Mercer Skyland to canned lattes to the altered post-quake profile of Mt. Ranier, it all seemed a perfectly plausible extension of the way this area's developing. Down to the way the corporations use subliminal frequency emissions to keep their employees' brain waves in a state of heightened concentration, the better for productivity and efficiency … I can just see 'em doing it even now!

I found to my relief that I was easily able to deal with all the science and advancements. Clones, gengineering, hovercars, computer stuff and the rest all fit seamlessly into what to me is the important part, the _story. Caring about the characters and what happens to them, that's what it's all about as far as I'm concerned. And ((Frequencies)) delivers flawlessly in that respect.

The protagonist, Marc McCready, is a Freemon, whose job is to track down and contain and neutralize 'freekers.' A freeker is someone whose thoughts have gotten unproductively out of control, and when freekers start vocalizing about these illegal ideas, they can trigger the same effect in others - ideas are dangerous things.

In the course of his duties, Marc meets Ashley Huxton, one of the privileged rich, cleared to have any sorts of thoughts she wants. But Ashley's creative energies aren't going the way her father, mega-powerful Ordosoft executive Mason Huxton, would like. The family's problems are heightened when a mysterious enemy starts stalking them one by one, leading Mason on a bizarre quest while Marc and Ashley try to avoid the assassin.

This book's got it all. Thrills, spills, chases, explosions, fights, hot sex, conspiracies, gadgets … it's apparently being adapted to a comic book or graphic novel, but it'd also make one hell of a movie (with a killer f/x budget). Unlike a lot of the near-future settings I've seen, this one manages to have an element of cleanliness and hope. Not much in the way of grunge and angst, but a speculation that could actually make me feel not too bad about living in that society. Provided I was still allowed to think me thinks, but then, that's the tricky part, isn't it?

An interesting touch was the use of little R's in circles and TM for trademark everywhere it was called for. I'd never seen that actually done in a book before, though in the back of magazines like Writer's Digest, there are always helpful reminder ads by companies tired of being used as a verb (the Xerox and Rollerblade people are the ones that come foremost to mind). But in ((Frequencies)), Josh didn't miss a one. Brand name or company name, real or created for his world, he got them all, and as disconcerting as it was at first, I soon got used to it.

Honestly, about the only nits I could pick with the entire book boil down to two - I prefer nice crisp justified margins down both sides, and it ended too soon! Left me hanging! The note at the back says that Josh is at work on the sequel, and I hope he hurries, because this time I expect to be able to get past my technophobia without a qualm and dive right in.

I heartily recommend ((Frequencies)), and after I return this copy to the library, it is certainly going on my to-buy list.

-- reviewed by Christine Morgan, Dec. 1st, 2000