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BULLETTITIME by Nick Mamatas / ChiZine Publications (August 2012) / 225 pages / Trade Paperback & eBook
An infinite number of David Holbrooks exist. They each have a unique timeline, a particular combination of choices and coincidences changing the course their tortured life takes, and thanks to the goddess Eris, one version of Dave sees them all, lives them all at whim. This almost all-seeing Dave narrates from the Ylem, where he watches the various disasters of his multitude of lives, watches as the goddess of discord plays mercilessly with poor cough-syrup guzzling, teenaged Dave. Regrets are irrelevant when you can see life in all directions, but what can Dave do?
Part satire, part fantasy, comic and tragic, Bullettime by Nick Mamatas is a swift but complicated novel, a skilled dissection of what-could’ve-beens, high on action and violence. Under the author’s direction, watching these lives unfold is like watching a slow motion car crash.
As Mamatas leads the reader through his choices and their consequences, the many incarnations of Dave remain recognizable as the same character. He is a nerdy, dorky, tortured kid, a potential school shooter, a coward, a loser, an immature man-child, a sticky cough syrup addict, a source of contempt and sympathy, all at once and separate, under the author’s careful measure.
This book is unexpectedly entertaining. Bullettime flows so well and is so bizarrely believable, I never rejected his statement. Living out the lives of a character caught in an infinite number of catch-22 situations might be tedious, but Mamatas is a true craftsman who doesn’t take himself too seriously, playing with language and rhythm without losing the speed of his narrative. Even his side trips into Daves with short, miserable lives are skillfully placed and do not weigh the tale down. You root for this poor soul, even as you cringe.
Bullettime isn’t for everyone. It is unique and depicts a grim look at the American school system and at our culture. Mamatas’s satiric voice won’t appeal to all, but he’s sold me on his particular brand of weirdness. I’m impressed and will be seeking his work out in the future.
- K.E. Bergdoll
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