Spare and Found Parts

In Griffin's post-apocalyptic Black Water City, Nell is feeling pressure to complete her "contribution," a project meant to advance the city's progress, without which she'll be sent to work in the stone yard. Her late mother designed the giant statue that lifts morale in the city, and her father is a genius at creating artificial limbs to replace ones lost in the epidemics that followed the toxic electromagnetic pulses of "the Turn," the disastrous end of a computer-run society. Nell herself wears the ticking clockwork heart he made to replace the poisoned heart she was born with, and perhaps because of it, she feels alienated from society-even from her friend Ruby, and especially from her unwanted suitor, Oliver. But when Nell finally does come up with an idea for her contribution (creating a mechanical boy with salvaged computer intelligence to be an ambassador for the reintroduction of computer technology), her plan disgusts Ruby and Oliver. Ruby: "It could cause a disaster...that kind of greed belongs in the past." Nell wants to rely on her father, at least, for help-but he has selfish plans of his own that Nell is unable to countenance. Part Pinocchio, part Frankenstein's monster, Nell's construction allows the story authentic depths of horror and moral disquiet. The author's unusual prose is lush enough to provide thorough world-building and spare enough to carry the main character's emotions without overstatement. anita l. burkam

In Griffin's post-apocalyptic Black Water City, Nell feels pressured to complete her "contribution," a project to advance the city's progress. She finally has an idea: creating a mechanical boy to be an ambassador for the reintroduction of computer technology. Part Pinocchio, part Frankenstein's monster, Nell's construction allows the story authentic depths of horror and moral disquiet. The unusual, lush prose provides thorough world-building.