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Hammond Hinkley has written an app that emulates the human brain. He uses it to upload his own mind and spawns Hammond Flux, a version of himself free of human limitations. Rather than use his new power and knowledge to improve the lot of humanity Hammond Flux decides to settle old scores and remake the world to his liking. The chaos that follows threatens to bring civilisation to its knees and Hammond Hinkley is forced to face his worst fears and challenge the monster he has created before it destroys everything he loves.
Plot/Idea: 8 out of 10
Originality: 9 out of 10
Prose: 5 out of 10
Character/Execution: 6 out of 10
Overall: 7.00 out of 10
Assessment:
Killip brings the Jekyll-Hyde conflict into the technology age as Hammond Hinkley, needing results at British start-up Lazarus, creates an electronic alter ego by emulating his brain. The emergence of increasingly inimical Hammond Flux, presented in densely developed prose, offers a powerful dystopian yet parodic vision that the retrospective narration leaves unresolved. Although characterization is subordinate to plot advancement, the imaginativeness of the alternate universe sustains interest throughout. Killip's suggestion that human hubris will be its own undoing is sometimes overwhelmed by the intensity of the good-vs-evil identity clash.
Date Submitted: September 29, 2016
