Central Station

Finished this about an hour ago. A fascinating novel built from a whole pile of short stories from Lavie Tidhar. Tidhar packs just about every genre imaginable into a single piece of fiction. To have the birth of a Frankenstein’s monster, the perils of virtual reality, data vampires, gumshoe pulp detectives all orbiting this hub of humanity set in Tel Aviv is fascinating.

While it felt disconnected and a bit disjointed in places, the concept of "Central Station" buys him generous leeway. The depot or hub allows all of these threads to weave together believably.

Speaking of believable, the future Tel Aviv—the backdrop for much of the story—is painted with extraordinary detail. From the sights and smells to the conversations over glasses of arak.

The depth of the Chong family is interesting and the idea of both WeiWei’s Folly and “memory cancer” Is captivating to me. (Especially since a book close to the top of the pile is The Art of Memory

Recommended, check it out. Central Station, by Lavie Tidhar