Bunny Modern: 12/29/08

I love it when a science fiction or fantasy novel where the world isn't the point. Bunny Modern by David Bowman with his near future look at New York and New Jersey comes close to accomplishing this goal.

In this day and age where alternative energy is becoming a world wide concern and oil prices are so volatile, Bunny Modern reads like it was published this year rather than last decade.

In Bowman's vision of the future, electricity has stopped working but not because of a lack of oil. It has just stopped. Some speculate a karmic reason but no one has a solid explanation as to why it stopped working. At the same time, the fertility rates have dropped and babies are worth more than gold to parents. The wealthiest families hire gun toting nannies to protect their little bundles.

Bunny Modern is narrated by Dylan, a man who can "Sheldrake " or see into the minds of other people (but only women in his case). He spends most of his time sheldraking the mind of Clare, a nanny now in charge of Soda.

Soda ends up being the key to the entire plot. Dylan knows more than he lets on, making him an unreliable narrator but the way he shares things makes the discovery process about how the near future works more fun for the reader.

If anything, the ending of Bunny Modern is the novel's weakest part. The truth behind Soda and his relationship to the nanny agency that Clare works for is silly and not explained satisfactorily for my tastes. The last couple chapters had me thinking of Baby Herman Who Censored Roger Rabbit by Gary K. Wolf) and Mom of Mom's Robots Futurama).

Despite the disappointing ending, I enjoyed Bunny Modern .

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