‘ReBody’ – Clive Warner (Citiria Press)

I can’t see myself ever opting for cryogenic storage, for someone who reads a fair bit of science fiction I wouldn’t actually want to find myself living in the future… Humans being cryogenically frozen is a fairly popular theme in science fiction, Clive Warner takes a look at the process (in ‘ReBody’) and wonders if it’s something that we should be considering at all…
Hugh Toffle wins cryogenic insurance on a night out but finds himself needing that policy sooner than he thought when a vengeful father finds Hugh sleeping with his daughter. Three hundred years later… Hugh is revived but finds that only his head survived the experience. He also finds himself seriously out of pocket with no way to pay for the robot that his head has been grafted to. Cue a new life as a domestic cleaner and a strange trip (involving sentient animals) into a very strange world of the future…
‘ReBody’ is a confusing but ultimately entertaining and thought provoking story. The introduction to Hugh felt like it dragged on a bit considering the book is only just over two hundred and fifty pages long. I was wondering if anything was actually going to happen but, all of a sudden, I found myself in the middle of a weird dream sequence, the first of many, that was very evocative but (again) didn’t seem to have an awful lot to do with the story or it’s main premise. This may be something to do with Warner’s love of all things Phillip K. Dick, I don’t know. Things picked up though when I got onto the main plot involving Hugh’s journey through the world of the future. Warner certainly asks a lot of questions that will make people think twice before getting their head frozen! There’s also a lot going on in this brave new world where nothing is as it seems and there were plenty of cliffhangers that kept me reading. I enjoyed reading of the full on warfare between sentient cats and dogs and the little touches of humour made me chuckle. There were things that I felt could perhaps have done with a bit more explanation (Xor for example) but I’m guessing that there is a line that needs to be drawn if you want to effectively draw a character with a very limited perception of his world.
‘ReBody’ was a nice quick read for the daily commute. A little confusing to begin but, once I got into it, very entertaining.

Seven out of Ten