SFF

Inside a Silver Box

by Walter Mosley
Tor. Jan. 2015. 304p. ISBN 9780765375216. $25.99; ebk. ISBN 9781466858442. SF
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When privileged young Lorraine Fell interrupts her daily Central Park run for philosophical meditation, a feral black man named Ronnie Bottoms kills her in a botched rape attempt. The crime is committed atop ground where the titular Silver Box, a sentient artifact, lies buried. Reanimated by the box, Lorraine convinces Ronnie to use the item's powers to resurrect hewer's characteristics, among other new powers. The box enlists the strange duo's aid in its battle against the Laz, the alien species that used it to terrorize the universe before it became entirely sentient.
VERDICT While showing flashes of humor and insight, Mosley's ("Crosstown to Oblivion" series) latest sf outing will ultimately leave most readers unsatisfied. Explorations of class and race, sex, violence, and subjugation mix in a plot too frail to sustain its cosmological questions, and that meanders too much to work up momentum or emotional force. Fans of Mosley's crime fiction will long for his return to that genre, while sf readers may find the work short of science or action. Best recommended to those interested in New Age philosophy. [Mosley's new Leonard McGill mystery, And Sometimes I Wonder About You, will be released May 2015.—Ed.]
Reviewed by Neil Hollands, Williamsburg Regional Lib., VA , Jan 01, 2015
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