A near-future noir, COLOR OF A MIRROR centers on a cybernetically-enhanced musician named Tonic, who simply wants to be a rockstar--which is apparently too much to ask. When one of her B-sides is used as the soundtrack to a viral homicide, she's catapulted into the spotlight, only not like she'd imagined. What ensues is a brooding, character-driven story focusing on the interior dilemmas and relationships of Tonic and others as they struggle to make it in a world that will crush them without a second thought.
Adams-Dufresne’s accomplished, engaging debut transports readers to the moon in the late 21st century, where abandoned lunar colonies have evolved into a gritty megacity known as the Dive. In this domed bureaucracy, individuals who can afford high-tech body enhancements thrive, while the less fortunate struggle to survive in the dark corners of the moon’s industrial landscape. At the heart of the story is Tonic, a musician whose already crumbling career spirals into chaos when her song unexpectedly appears on the playlist of a neuro-terrorist. A blend of flesh and metal, Tonic projects a tough exterior yet grapples with deep insecurities about her identity and fading humanity. Her romantic and professional partner, Fé, provides much-needed stability, while her manager, Amara, serves as a constant reminder of the pressures of the music industry—financial struggles, reputation and the consequences of failure.The moon’s dystopian conflicts, like the culture, biotech, and everyday challenges of lunar life, extrapolate from contemporary concerns in resonant ways. As Tonic's music becomes associated with violence, the manipulative chairman of the corporation Nox exploits her growing debt, coercing her into increasingly dangerous and illegal activities. Desperate Tonic delves into the Dive, where she crosses paths with Kaet, a graffiti artist, and his ex, Blau, a hacker, as they uncover dark secrets about Nox. Revealing the streets of the Dive, concert venues, underground networks, and more, the narrative paints a haunting picture of a society that has lost touch with its humanity—a humanity that Adams-Dufresne centers, even as the mystery grows tense.
Color of a Mirror excels in world-building and delving into the psychological complexities of its fascinating characters. The plot occasionally takes a backseat to atmosphere and character, as sensory-rich prose vividly brings to life the sights, sounds, and emotions experienced through Tonic’s visor. Lovers of thoughtful SF and cyberpunk will relish this compelling tale that grapples with themes of identity, corporate greed, and the relentless struggle for personal autonomy.
Takeaway: Striking and humane SF mystery on the moon in the late 21st century.
Comparable Titles: Charlie Jane Anders’s The City in the Middle of the Night, David Pedreira’s Gunpowder Moon.
Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A
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On a dangerous, corporate-colonized moon of the future, a cyborg music star, a heartbroken artist, and a hacker are ensnared in intrigue and murder.
Adams-Dufresne's SF noir mystery is set on Earth's moon in the late 21st century. Decades earler, circa the 2040s, attempts to create international, viable human lunar colonies failed, leaving the cold, inhospitable moon with abandoned mines and underground complexes. Here, the unsavory TEM corporation constructed the Dive, a megacity drawing misfits and suspicious character. Its economy is based on next-generation internet, vice tourism, and questionable cryptocurrency.
Among the characters roaming this dark world are Mirian Sasklowic, who finds it easier to live life with multiple prosthetic limbs in the moon’s low gravity. She seeks to reinvent herself as “Tonic,” the frontwoman of the rock band AKA:NO. Her faltering career attracts police attention when AKA:NO’s release “Kill-Song” appears on the playlist of an enigmatic gang member and terrorist who slaughters several commuters in the public transport. In a parallel (and much fuzzier) plotline, graffiti artist Kaet Westergaard, nursing multiple heartaches, partners with his hacker ex-girlfriend, Blau, to unearth the Dive’s most guarded secrets, using the stolen credentials of a missing, possibly mob-connected VIP. Either plotline has the potential to anchor an action-thriller, but Adams-Dufresne instead unusually delves into the characters’ psychologies, their often unhappy relationships, and their attempts to maintain equilibrium in an off-planet environment. This last becomes especially critical for Tonic’s tale as her extensive cybernetics fail and her post-operative delirium seems to provide clues to her traumatic backstory. However, a late-arriving major twist awaits the reader—and then a few more beyond that, splintering what was already a moody, meandering narrative through environments not unlike those in the classic film Blade Runner: “Blocky shapes line her vision, multiple rows of them, all covered with a layer of dust except one, where the dust and the cloudy vinyl cover beneath have been peeled back, like an old scab clinging to the edge of an even older computer.”
Those with adventurous tastes for extremes of cyberpunk will be best equipped for this lunar journey.
Intricate, next-generation cyberpunk with a head-spinning finale.
