Appeared in Writers of the Future 27
In a future world where religion/magic and science have mixed in a curiously new/old way--packed with mages, computers, and Higgs bosons--Detective Conroy is investigating the death of Magister Musoke. A sub-sentient artificial intelligence, Stromboli leads him through the Academy. Conroy goes to interview Tommy Nagura, but he's also killed. It all ends in an uneasy revelation with the "whodunnit"--a criminal impossible to convict.
It's interesting Johnson lists Asimov and Clarke as influences. No doubt he read and enjoyed them, but I didn't get a similar feel. My first thought was a William-Gibson-laced Randall Garrett's Lord Darcy although set in the future instead of the past, but of course, this may only be one of Johnson's writing modes.
The setting is rich, and the style curiously flips from high to baroque albeit not consistently strong. The mystery reveal is cool but not necessarily one that readers could put together, which is typical of most speculative mysteries, including Garrett's. A writer interesting enough to follow up. He has a free ebook on Smashwords.
APB-SAL is a blog about education, science, science education, fiction, science fiction, literature, literary stories, poetry, and anything else that strikes the blogger's fancy. NOTE: This blog interrogates art. It rarely make moral proclamations. For that attend the church or politician of your choice. This blog concerns aesthetics, not propaganda. Consider this as interviews with books where the interviewer presents interviewees, so you get what you need to do your own thinking.
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