Smoking Mirror Blues

THE DAZZLING MUST-READ SF CLASSIC BY THE NEBULA NOMINEE AUTHOR! An ancient god. A new technology. The future will never be the same. New technologies allow Beto Orozco, ladies' man and game developer, to resurrect an ancient trickster deity - Tezcatlipoca the Aztec Lord of Chaos. Only Beto did so without any safety measures. Tezcatlipoca hijacks the body of the man who resurrected him, running wild and getting back to his old business of creating chaos and world-domination control. Ti Yong/Hoodoo Investigations sizes up the threat this AI god represents (to wit, he wants to use music to foment chaos across the globe, partying hard as he does so), and they decide, with the help of the program's creator and a handful of Beto's original friends, to stop Tezcatlipoca and free Beto.Their mission is complicated by the Earth Angels, a shadowy organization of monotheistic terrorists who believe the only way to stop Smokey Espejo is by creating a cybernetic version of their "e;one true God"e; using the same software."e; As these three groups head toward a collision, one thing is certain: the gods humanity has crafted will hold a dark and smoking mirror to our collective soul."e;The rising movement for more diversity in literature has put the spotlight on Latino fiction, however, the subset of works that make up what Rudy García calls 'Latino SpecFic' are also worthy of greater notice. I would argue that the tools it affords an author are uniquely apt for exploring the human condition. Hogan's style is both deftly self-assured and gleefully madcap, hearkening to the very best of Philip K. Dick, Harlan Ellison and Samuel R. Delany. Shifting viewpoints are intercut with commentary from news reporters and the communications of different organizations. Steamy, explicit scenes are juxtaposed with philosophical conversations and political machinations, but the narrative flows smoothly, drawing a reader deep into this imagined world. If you love great speculative fiction and/or Chicano literature, you owe it to yourself to give this a read."e; -David Bowie, composer "e;Ground control to Major Tom"e;"e;A delirious mosaic of sex, drugs, rock 'n' roll, post-cyberpunk savvy, linguistic fun and Aztec myth. Exemplary -- and exuberantly fun."e; -Claude Lalumiere, January Magazine."e;If you're looking for something new and different, with a little edge to it, then Smoking Mirror Blues is a book you should be reading right now."e; -James M. Palmer, New York Journal Of Books