"The Textile Planet" by Sue Lange

We have a peculiar case on our hands people and there is no time to lose. Sue Lange needs us to make her name as big as a bloated elephant. I can’t believe that I kept her on the waiting list for three months just to read three chapters of her serialized novel “The Textile Planet” and that was before I forgot and returned to find nine installments. Sorry Sue, hope you manage to forgive me. Anyways this review will be without structure and utterly free as a bird in tone, voice and making sense. The story has to have a fitting representation after all.

If you have been following the blogosphere, you would know that there is a new mean website, which is offering free fiction by quality writers for readers, who don’t have the capacity to house more books in their homes, like me, but then again I do bend space so anything is possible. To stay on the matter at hand I am talking about the BookViewCafe. I had the pleasure of being introduced to an interactive serialized novel by Sue Lange, which goes by the name “The Textile Planet”. Here is the premise so far:

“Marla Gershe has been the perfect working bee in the fashion industry. She has done the impossible: bend time and circumstances to abide her schedule, cloned herself to be everywhere, anytime and manages to life off on coffee. She is the proof that those who want can achieve anything, but that doesn’t mean she likes it. So Marla starts a small scale revolution only to end up in a hospital with amnesia after a shot to her abdomen. Now with recollected memory and the obligation to return to her workplace, Marla decides to change tactic and run as far away as possible and never return back.”

Not to sound cliché, but this is something else entirely. In Lange’s world everything is big and fashion has escalated in importance sporting a small empire, which is ruled by chaos and a fast motion daily rhythm. The first thing you will notice is that this story has had too much coffee itself and dashes from an event to an event like the “Flash” from DC comics. The prose is compact and Spartan. It sends a buzz of adrenaline through your body and dialogue does not improve. Lines fly like bullets and by the time you are done reading you feel like you have run a sprint. Marla herself is the living computer, which has to process, analyze and solve problems and information at an incredible speed. For some this might be a kill-joy, but I found my brain pleasantly stimulated after reading it.

Considering the fact that the author has managed nine chapters from 32 in total, I am not going to discuss the plot, because so far there is only the foreboding that something strange will happen anytime soon. However I can comment that reading this as a serialized novel fits the full throttle pace fine. As much as it stimulates your mind, it burns a lot of your energy and you need some rest before tackling another engrossing chapter. Plus this is an interactive story with links to edited off parts, which can be read separately, embedded radio files and even a short video. These extras I call the bling-bling accessories.

You can find the first eight chapters compiled in a free e-book; so if you want something a bit more quirky and electric, come to the whacky side with Marla Gershe as your guide. You never know. It may end up being your cup of tea or coffee.