"Song of Synth" isn't bad, really, it's just that it isn't as good as it should be. Mr. Doubinksy draws heavily on "Neuromancer" and the druggy side of cyberpunk and that's fine by me, but while the drug throbs through our hero's system, there is no story throbbing through the book.

Mr. Doubinsky sets up his location, a future megalopolis, and he sets up his drug theme and the mechanism the drug uses, but he does not take them anywhere. We read but do not understand that Synth provides Marcus Olsen with a customizable chemical experience similar to the "gland" drugs of the Culture. But Marcus smoothes and flavours his experiences with Synth but seems not to be overly affected by the result. The drug enhances his life and while the potential for overindulgence or poisoning is there, Mr. Doubinsky chooses not to take Marcus down the rabbit hole. Marcus goes about his life and then one day moves to Samarkand (sort of like the voluntary migration in Purple Wage) and there his drug cravings are muted and then seem to fall away, and then his girlfriend the neurologist cures the addiction and the book is over. The secondary plot is about Marcus's participation in illegal political activities and the death of one of his friends who was a leader in the revolutionary movement, but Marcus, and we, seem disengaged. The writing lacks immediacy and a compelling voice.

I received a review copy of "The Song of Synth" by Seb Doubinsky (Open Road Integrated Media for Skyhorse / Talos) through NetGalley.com. Originally published 2017.

An interesting look at the construction of reality. The nature of the drug makes Marcus an unreliable narrator, but also makes us look at our own lives--are we constructing our own reality by seeing things as we prefer, much the way Synth is pulling things from Marcus' brain?

This was a very intriguing concept with well developed characters. I don't find many book that I cannot put down but this one qualified. I was very invested in the novel and couldn't wait to see how it turned out.

A real good read. Drugs, some sex, allegorical visions of a better world, that becomes true.