Metallic Realms is the inadvertent biography of one Michael Lincoln. Obviously there is a a connection to the author, but it feels nothing deeper than tongue-in-cheek, or at best, a tiny contributor to the novel's meta layer. It's an inadvertent biography because Michael is ostensibly writing a piece of academia: the be-all end-all history of the Star Rot Chronicles, a series of pulp fiction stories. The stories are written by friends of Michael's, a group of writers calling themselves The Orb 4. Michael desperately admires The Orb 4. He loves their fiction, and more so wants to be accepted by them. But he just can't seem to get over his own personal hump to connect. While singing the praises of The Orb 4, Michael describes the background social dynamics—the inspirations, the conflicts, the real life happenings—of the group which lead to their stories. But the fact he can't help inserting the perceived injustices of his own life into the narrative is where the novel truly comes come alive.
Despite ostensibly being a history of the Star Rot Chronicles, the beating heart of Metallic Realms is Michael Lincoln. Perhaps the truest, deepest definition of a nerd, he garners the fullest empathy and frustration from the reader. On one hand he is disconnected from common, social reality. He knows infinite details of myriad fictional worlds but can't pick up on normal social cues—hygiene, flirtation, rejection, etc.—in our world. Like a blindered horse he pushes ahead, day to day, optimistically believing his worldview is unquestionably correct and everyone else is mistaken or mislead. His view of good vs bad science fiction is the final word, for example. But his optimism can be infectious. His scholarly spins on Star Rot are bubbly, endearing. His minor relationship successes warm the heart. But where he grabs the reader by the fuzzies are his whole-hearted attempts to to push The Orb 4 into global fame and recognition. He accepts they find his fiction paltry, unworthy of their standards, but believes he can contribute in other ways, We all can understand that.
But perhaps the best part of Michael's portrait is that it's more static than dynamic. There is no redemption arc. There is no Hallmark inflection point where Michael sees the error of his ways and casts aside his nerdiness to becomes bog standard human. He evolves a bit—“gets older” perhaps the better signifier. But he remains a nerd in more than just a love of science fiction, all to the bitter end. Author Michel successfully finds this middle road, this non-dichotomous handling of character, in turn preventing the novel from becoming maudlin. For example (or maybe just a cheap shot): how Metallic Realms compares to Jo Walton's Among Others.
Both novels ooze science fiction fandom; they recognize the meta. Likewise, both use a science fiction convention—a ”gencon” social experience—as their plot's climactic peak. But where the two novels diverge, and diverge significantly, is Walton's cheesy usage of science fiction fandom. She uses it as a healing salve for a handicapped girl. How can you root against this without being an a-hole? It's deep purple—a Hallmark feels-good moment that automatically takes the character, and book, out of serious discussion. In Metallic Realms, Michel gives readers a more complex character, one that doesn't corner them. He feels like a guy you see on the street, real, and for that naturally generates deeper interest and engagement.
Beyond Michael's character, Metallic Realms also does an excellent job capturing modern Western culture and society. From nerdom to social media, the state of science fiction publishing to lost youth, Michel has his finger on the multiple pulses which make up modern 20-something existence. Living off mom and dad, maturing later in life, conflicting social messages, generational disparities—so much of Michael and Orb 4's lives echo contemporary existence.
For those who take that to mean 'liberal politics', think again. Eschewing much modern science fiction, the novel has no underlying agenda. There is no virtue signaling for virtue signaling's sake. Gender, feminism, identity politics, yadda yadda yadda play small roles in the novel, but only because they are part and parcel of everyone's cultural sphere, whether you want them or not. It presents that spectrum of modern life but does not judge it. For moderates, it will be pleasant reading the piss being taken out of both sides, Wokies to MAGA nuts.
There are so many thought footholds in Metallic Realms. Another is the way the book engages with genre. The author is well aware it can be the stinkiest cheese in print form. But Michael's academic effort to tell the tale of The Orb 4 and the inspiration behind their fiction somehow humanizes their brand of stinky pulp. It leads to an unspoken question: what if all crap science fiction has such human roots? Do I feel comfortable with judgments I've levied in the past? And going forward, can I look at it the same? For scholars who take a text-only approach to analysis, it gives food for thought.
I can't end this review without bringing under the spotlight one of science fiction's most 'humorously insightful' writers, Robert Sheckley. Lincoln Michel is not Robert Scheckley, nor does is he trying to be. But there are a couple parallels that I think warrant an analog between the two. Indirectly critiquing modern society through the lens of science fiction comedy. Check. Deceivingly simple prose that cuts to the core of something in a few words. Check. Half-grin worn on the reader's face nearly the entirety of the reading experience. Check. Again, the two writers are not the same. But those three boxes are checked. Just saying.
In the end, Metallic Realms is a delightfully fascinating read. In a market inundated with monotonous titles and faceless keywords, Metallic Realms stands out, a genuine surprise. It rewards readers who have a bit of genre knowledge under the belt. It engages readers in a trainwreck main character, a guy unwittingly digging his own grave oblivious to the signs all around him. And yet he's genuine, you want him to come to his senses—to put the shovel away. Combine his character with an erudite and clever awareness of the spectrum of modern Western culture, historical science fiction to modern, social media to fan fiction, the novel becomes a legitimate paean to nerd culture that tells it like it is. And if anything, it's a fair portrait of the entitled, lost generation currently making their way through their 20s, trying to find a foothold in society in the face of the internets flood of varying messages.
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