Back in November, at TusCon, I had the opportunity to speak on a panel alongside Carolyn Kay. I’ve known Carolyn for several years and I’ve read and enjoyed her short stories, but I think this was the first time we’d actually spoken on the same topic. In this case, the topic was science fiction set not in the far reaches of space, but right here on Earth. She mentioned her newest novel, Gunpowder Geishas, a cyberpunk piece set in a Tokyo of the future. I thought it sounded like a blast, so I thought I’d give it a read.
Gunpowder Geishas opens as a mercenary team called the Scarlet Rabbits are preparing to embark on an off-world mission. Although trained as a mercenary and just as competent as her brothers, Sakura, is told to stay behind on Earth by her father, the mercenary team’s leader. The mission seems as though it should be simple. The Scarlet Rabbits just need to break into a facility and steal an item and get out. The only problem is that they’re not the only ones after the item. Things go very wrong and the Scarlet Rabbits are ambushed and the bounty is stolen out from under them. As far as anyone knows, the only survivor from the Rabbits is Katie Newsom, the team’s tech. This leaves Sakura, her mother and her aunt to figure out what went wrong and get on the trail of those who ambushed their family. Fortunately, Sakura’s aunt, Katsume, is a mechanical engineer who had been tasked to develop a new generation of body armor for the Scarlet Rabbits. Unfortunately, Sakura’s mother decides to disband the Rabbits.
Sakura, Katsume, and Sakura’s best friends pull together their resources and create a smaller security company called the Gunpowder Geishas. Newsom eventually makes her way back to Earth and joins up with the Geishas. The new team’s first job is to provide security for Tokyo’s Solstice Festival, which puts them in conflict with a gang that’s trying to take control of Tokyo’s lively “lower levels.” All the while, they continue to work to find out what happened to the Scarlet Rabbits.
Based on the fact that we discussed the novel in a panel about Earth-based science fiction, you can probably guess that most of the story is, indeed, set on Earth. Still, it’s a fun story that combines elements of cyberpunk with some exciting mecha-anime-style action. I really enjoyed seeing this kind of high-octane science fictional action focused on a team of women. Carolyn does a great job of weaving the two big plot lines together. Just to note, the book is billed as “Book 8 of the Phoenix Initiative” but the story stood completely on its own. Feel free to jump in with Carolyn’s novel. You can find out more about Carolyn and her books at: https://www.carolynkayauthor.com/
As it turns out, Carolyn’s husband is Chaz Kemp, the current cover artist for my Scarlet Order vampire novels, which we also discussed in the contest of science fiction set on Earth. If you’re wondering how vampire novels count as science fiction, I’ll just say that depends on the vampire story you tell! Also, we talked about how even my space-based science fiction spends quite a bit of time on Earth, because I like thinking humans will never quite give up on the world we’ve always considered home. You can learn more about my writing at http://www.davidleesummers.com
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