CIRCUS PLANETARIA

An astronomer and a data analyst end up at cross purposes after they’re recruited for a possible terrorist group in Tyler’s debut novel.

Nicolas Nesbitt, astronomer and Los Angeles resident, is out of a job. Fired from the planetarium where he spent the last few years, Nesbitt gets off to a surprising start in his new life when he encounters a woman on a purple bicycle covering his truck with bumper stickers. Meanwhile, Gary Saar, a data analyst for the Global Information Bureau (GIB), is shopping for groceries and contemplating the nature of his existence, while the Reverend Jimmy Pea, wildly successful televangelist, is experiencing both a spiritual epiphany and a slide into insanity. Part of the reverend’s experience becomes a high priority for the GIB when a series of videos detailing leaks of highly sensitive information goes online, and the struggle for control of the world’s most vital asset—information—plays out in unusual and, occasionally, humorously absurd ways. Part absurdist satire, part surrealist romp, Tyler’s narrative spans a wide range of topics, from data science to ontology, and the author manages to keep the conceptual pieces together in a story that largely hangs together on its own terms. Tyler’s language is rich and complex, and hits a stylized tone that suits the material, although it sometimes veers into excess and descriptive sentences that display a love of language for its own sake rather than for building exposition. (One sentence begins: “If it is simply the propensity of technology to disastrously outpace any culture appropriate for controlling it, and if this is the explanation for the surprisingly unchatty cosmos…”) The characters provide forward momentum rather than examples of well-rounded development; except for occasional flashes of insight into Jimmy Pea, none are presented as believable people, but given the tone and material Tyler is working with, that is more of a feature than a bug. Although fans of traditional narratives may wish to look elsewhere, readers who appreciate some of the more abstruse works of writers such as Philip K. Dick will find much to appreciate in Tyler’s work.

An intricate and overstuffed novel that’s long on complexity and absurdity.