Short Book Reviews: Combat Linguistics Rules!

 Battle of the Linguist Mages, by Scotto Moore (Tordotcom)

 This is a deliciously psychedelic romp through the virtual worlds of gamers, linguists, philosophers, cultists, and political power players. Isobel is the Queen of Sparkle Dungeon, a medieval rave-themed VR game. Her prowess makes her an ideal candidate to learn the secrets of "power morphemes"—dense units of meaning that can warp reality when skillfully pronounced. As she masters level after level of power morphemes, she realizes the driving force behind them—and her beloved game—is a shadowy faction led by the Governor of California, bent on developing the arcane art of combat linguistics to create a totalitarian empire. This faction is out to recruit Isobel, but so is the resistance movement of spellcasting anarchists. Unfortunately for everyone, the faction has attracted much bigger and weirder enemies than the resistance, emerging from dark and vicious dimensions of reality.

The story is jam-packed with ideas, action, and just plain fun. I mean, really, combat linguistics? I loved the characters, even the evil, scheming governor. I’m not a gamer, although many of my friends are, so I’m sure some of the hilarious Easter eggs and in-jokes went by me. If there’s a fault in the book, that is its length. There’s a limit to how many didn’t-see-it-coming twists one storyline can sustain and even whimsy falters after so many pages. Still, I enjoyed the linguistic mages enough to look forward with anticipation to Moore’s next book.

Short Book Reviews: A Queer Fantasy Role Playing Club Love Story

The Cleveland Heights LGBTQ Sci-Fi and Fantasy Role Playing Club, by Doug Henderson (University of Iowa Press)

To begin with a disclaimer: I’m not a gamer, although I appreciate both the imagination and the community-building involved. I found the idea of a queer (in the most inclusive meaning) D & D club appealing. I wondered how would this be any different from a mainstream (cis/het) club. The answer turned out to be both not so much and a lot.

The players at the Readmore Comix and Games store’s weekly game include both out and closeted gays, a transgender dungeon master, and a confused maybe-bisexual. The group has become too small for a great adventure, so when a new guy joins, sensitive, lonely Ben is instantly smitten. That is, until his character is killed in the game, the boyfriend of the closeted banker is accosted on the street, and the connections and parallels between the game and real life become even stronger. The game characters, situations, and humor reflect the changing worlds of the players.

Since I’m not a gamer, I didn’t connect with much of the game action. I kept thinking I’d never write a plot line like that, while I tried to keep in mind that games have a different story structure. What mattered to me were the reactions and interactions of the players. I suspect that the intended audience, queerfolk who are also gamers, would love the campy atmosphere and the burgeoning sexual tension between Ben and the new guy.

In the end, though, I found the resolution too pat, the problems too easily overcome, and too many questions left unanswered. But for all that, it’s a sweet gay-gamer-geeky love story sure to bring a smile to many readers’ faces.