My review
4 Stars
A great technothriller. Very focused on journalism. There are a lot of references to historical events that marked our human history. The main character makes brave choices and we keep turning the page to see what next challenge she will face. We can feel the author is very knowledgeable and researched well. I am always pulled to read cyborg-themed novels. Reverse journalism is the best concept created and how it drives the plot.
Synopsis (from Amazon):
Named Finalist in the American Fiction Awards 2024 (category Science Fiction: Cyberpunk), The Logoharp describes the extraordinary journey of a young American journalist who chooses to work as an AI-driven propagandist—aka "Reverse Journalist" who foresees and reports the future for 22nd century China. Naomi is surgically transplanted, giving her extraordinary powers of foresight and physical strength. She hears voices in her Logoharp, a universal translator of all world languages, allowing her to take the pulse of global crowds, predicting and broadcasting political and social events with deadly precision.
But Naomi also hears discordant voices coming from unidentified sources. She knows only that mysterious voices sing to her of other worlds, other freedoms. When she's tasked with finding a flaw in a State system that balances births and deaths —a system devised by a Chinese architect, Naomi's lover who abandoned her in youth—she experiences "unintentional contradiction." Suppressed emotions resurface, compelling her to rebel. Her decision has unexpected consequences for the men and women she loves, for her own body, and for the global societies she's vowed to protect.
Author bio:
Arielle Emmett, Ph.D., is a writer, visual journalist and traveling scholar specializing in East Asia, science writing and human interest. She has been a Contributing Editor to Smithsonian Air & Space magazine and a Fulbright Scholar and Specialist in Kenya (2018-2019) and Indonesia (2015).
Her work has appeared in Mother Jones, The Scientist, Ms., Parents, Saturday Review, Boston Globe, Washington Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, Detroit Free Press, Los Angeles Times Book Review and Globe & Mail (Canada), among others.
Arielle has taught at the International College Beijing, University of Hong Kong Media Studies Centre, Universitas Padjadjaran (West Java, Indonesia) and Strathmore University Law School (Nairobi). Her first science fiction novel, The Logoharp, about China and America a century from now, is part of a planned series on dystopian paths to utopian justice.
Website: https://leapingtigerpress.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arielle.emmett
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Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/thelogoharp
Praise:
"In Arielle Emmett's fevered imaginings one great and ancient state is able to dominate the rest using an unbeatable secret weapon. Logoharps. Creatures able to see into the future, ensuring the state is always a step ahead. That is, until one rebels. Imagine Mona Lisa Overdrive meshed with The Wind-Up Girl. That's the kind of sci-fi ride you're in for with The Logoharp."
– Kevin Sites, author of The Ocean Above Me
"The Logoharp offers a thought-provoking experience for those willing to confront unsettling truths. Some may find comfort in the familiar illusions of their own "Matrix," while others may feel a revolutionary spark ignited within them. Ultimately, this novel serves as a mirror, reflecting each reader's willingness to either accept the status quo or challenge it."
– Literary Titan
“A hugely ambitious vision of a time in which America is a Chinese colony, almost anyone over 50 is sent off to die in a cozy ice-sled, and journalists are tasked with chronicling a future which then comes to pass. If you're fascinated by technology and by glimpses of where we'll be a hundred years from now, look to a new hero, Naomi. She's the half-human cyborg reporter who believes in truth, foresees the future and, in desperation, rebels against it."
–Beverly Gray (Executive Board Member, ASJA)
"In the world of The Logoharp, there is no security, not even an objective reality, only the reality created by journalism in reverse. Emmett's' novel creates a troubling vision of media that borders on propaganda in an AI-filled future."
—Hamilton Bean, Ph.D., author of No More Secrets: Open Source Information and the Reshaping of US Intelligence (Praeger).
"Prepare to be swept away by an imperfect yet wildly relatable heroine. This ancient, futuristic world will make you angry, frustrated, hopeful, in love, and inspire an uprising within."
—Grace Diida, L.L.M., Venture Capital Research
"Loved The Logoharp! It's genuinely original, disturbing in a provocative way, occasionally funny and erotic, creative and well-paced — and I can't get those ice sleighs out of my head! Naomi is one strange —and beguiling—heroine."
—Laura Berman, feature writer, retired columnist, The Detroit News.
Q&A
On writing:
How did you do research for your book?
In the last decades I’ve taught and reported from Beijing, Hong Kong, Taipei, Jatinangor (Indonesia) and Nairobi, studying the Chinese influence on media, human rights, and local economies. Before that, I wrote a doctorate on the impact of news photography, measuring
how images affect the minds of readers and viewers. In all, I spent about 12 years researching material for this book.
Which was the hardest character to write? The easiest?
Naomi, The Logoharp’s main character, was the most challenging. In this story, she starts as a vulnerable American journalist and morphs into an AI-driven media propagandist (aka “Reverse Journalist”) for China who eventually rebels. Why would she do this? She lives in a severely weakened “Ameriguo” in the 22nd century. Betrayed by a young lover, she believes that “Mother Country” (China), the dominant global power, will ensure peace and a harmonious existence for a troubled planet. She chooses to become an elite Reverse Journalist (RJ), someone who doesn’t write about current events. Instead, she “reports the future.” Surgically transformed, she’s equipped with a “Logoharp,” a neural instrument that doubles the size of her brain, enabling her to hear government instructions but also mysterious voices from sources she can’t identify. This sets up a conflict. Her human conscience never leaves her…and then she discovers a terrible secret in Harbin, Manchuria.
The easiest character to write was Lang Fei (Chinese for “waste of space”), based on an old Chinese doctor friend. He’s eccentric, lovable, possibly a spy, who tries to help Naomi and her friend Miranda discover the truth about a broken system. But all these characters have complexities and changes of mind.
In your book you make a reference to Reverse Journalism. How did you come up with this idea?
Attempts in the past to make journalism an independent monitor of power, to adhere to facts, to get multiple sides of a story, have morphed over the last decades into an obsession with prediction, partisan agenda and “winner-loser” celebrity. You can argue that journalists, in the service of media bosses, “write the future” by cherry picking facts, leaving out others, and predicting outcomes that reinforce the powerful. It wasn’t much of an extrapolation for me to create an AI-driven journalist, Naomi, whose job for China is to report the future as though it has already happened—and then it does. RJs, in effect, do not report current events. They are co-authors and guides to political and social events that have not yet come to pass.
There are many books out there about dystopic futures. What makes yours different?
My novel is cross-cultural, scientific, and political. It deals with a verboten topic of family racism, the “disposal” of talent in middle and elder years, and severe media dysfunction on both sides of the Pacific.
In the novel, Naomi, despite her cyborg transformation, retains memories of her parents’ instructions about right and wrong. She attempts to find a grain of truth in a world where there is no objective reality and media becomes a blunt instrument of mass illusion. Her job is to entertain and quell rebellion in the masses. As Andrew Singer, a China expert, wrote in this review:
"The Logoharp is a story of love and horror. It is relatable and disturbing. The grave issues facing us now remain potent: AI, drugs (fentanyl), and climate catastrophe to name a few....these all converge as the novel slides down the ice."
– Andrew Singer Talks about China.
What advice would you give budding writers?
Joyce Carol Oates noted recently that writers should deal with subjects that are taboo to them or their families. Another way to say this is to make the unseen seen. Also felt. Pay attention to close observation of the concrete, sensory world – how things appear, sound, smell, taste, touch…Believe in the power of time and unconscious thought (even dreams) to help solve narrative problems. Be honest about how much you love and hate certain people, places, and things. Allow yourself a gray area, too. And be aware that acutely observing others doesn't mean you know yourself.
Your book is set in China, Taiwan, and America. Have you ever been there?
Many times, many years. I’ve lived, reported and taught in Beijing, Hong Kong, Taiwan, parts of Indonesia, and, more recently, Nairobi, Kenya on a Fulbright Scholarship. Also Italy and Ireland.
In your book you state, “…the connection between corrupt and inept is very strong.” Why is that?
Naomi is speaking in her own voice to two of her bosses who become torturers, Dean Cheung and Dakota Sung. Both exploit the corrupt and incompetent actors around them to hoodwink the public. As Naomi says, “You are trained to exploit any gap in knowledge among the masses, leveraging their ignorance to mask the incompetence of officials all around you…”
If you could put yourself as a character in your book, who would you be?
Naomi, unquestionably.
Do you have another profession besides writing?
I’ve been a Fulbright scholar and researcher teaching at universities and law schools in the U.S., China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, and Africa.
How long have you been writing?
Since the age of four.
Do you ever get writer’s block? What helps you overcome it?
Generally, any “block” results from not knowing a subject or incident as thoroughly as I need to. Deeper research helps.
What is your next project?
A sequel to The Logoharp. Naomi's son grows up to be a pilot and later graduates as a military psychologist, refuting every value his mother stands for. Until he crashes, survives, and discovers the power of The Gyroscope.
What genre do you write and why?
I guess I’m writing “literary” science fiction, but not the classic “alien invasion” or dystopic survivalist stuff. I write political and scientific extensions of our lives right now. Though I’m a great admirer of many classic science fiction writers—among them, Ray Bradbury, H.G. Wells, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Liu Cixin, William Gibson, Ursula LeGuin, Nnedi Okorafor, and many others—generally I write, or extrapolate from current scientific and social trends and developments.
What is the last great book you’ve read?
A toss-up between Liu Cixin’s The Three Body Problem and Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain.
What is a favorite compliment you have received on your writing?
One of my readers said he was struck by ‘the humanity of the main character. Several said the narrative was riveting. “Grabbed from the beginning,” M. Monahan wrote. :I was amazed by the parallels between a fiction story and present-day happenings. I appreciated the succinct, interwoven prose that exposed how vulnerable we are to what could be the very near future.”
A few other observations below:
“Bold, brainy, and provocative fiction…exploring urgent issues of truth, mis-and disinformation, and what it means to be human, all from the perspective of a winged, part-cyborg “Reverse Journalist”(RJ) …Emmett is a talent to watch.” —Publishers Weekly Booklife
“Wonderfully visceral and unique…The whole time I was reading these detailed passages I kept thinking "This would be an epic Cronenberg movie!" So take note David! The author lovingly inserts pieces of history, deep musical knowledge and a love for art and color throughout, making the premise more believable and enthralling.” – J. Bowie, an Amazon reader.
“This novel about Naomi, a half-human Cyborg journalist, may be as significant as Orwell’s 1984.” —Sonya DiPalma, Chair, UNC Asheville Communications Dept.
How are you similar to or different from your lead character?
Naomi and I are twins, but she is far more capable, in control, and much more powerful to affect the future.
In one sentence, what was the road to publishing like?
Choppy, extended, and fraught with highs, lows, and considerable cost and peril.
Which authors inspired you to write?
Joyce Carol Oates, Ernest Hemingway, E.B. White, Madeleine L’Engle, F. Scott Fitzgerald, William Styron, Han Su Yin, Ray Bradbury, John Hersey, Emily Bronte, Jane Austen, James Baldwin, H.G. Wells.
What is something you had to cut from your book that you wish you could have kept?
No.
On rituals:
Do you snack while writing? Favorite snack?
Classical music, coffee, green tea, pretzels, sometimes chocolate-covered cranberries, oranges (yum).
Where do you write?
My office, my dining room, library, guest house, airplanes.
Do you write every day?
Yes.
What is your writing schedule?
Variable.
Is there a specific ritualistic thing you do during your writing time?
In today’s tech savvy world, most writers use a computer or laptop. Have you ever written parts of your book on paper?
Yes, I drafted the first outline for The Logoharp in a paper notebook after returning from China in 2012.
If you’re a mom writer, how do you balance your time?
I’m a grandmother now. There was no such thing as balance. I was a single mother for many years, writing at all times when my kids were at school or after they went to sleep.
Fun stuff:
If you could go back in time, where would you go?
I’d go back to the 1960s when my parents were both alive and America was brimming with possibility and positive changes.
Favorite travel spot?
Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa.
Favorite dessert?
Salad of Gold.
If you were stuck on a deserted island, which 3 books would you want with you?
I’d want my Kindle loaded with books. But there wouldn’t be electricity or charging stations, right?
What’s the funniest thing that ever happened to you?
I was traveling on backroads with my Mom inside a little yellow school bus headed toward Nara, Japan. Suddenly among the sea of Japanese faces I hear a voice calling out, “Arielle?” It’s Jamie, a Chinese language classmate from U-Michigan. We had taken the same Japanese art class and here we were, on the other side of the world, meeting accidentally, trying to find the real temples of Nara. We had a crazy, great time together that day, but I never saw her again.
What’s the most courageous thing you’ve ever done?
I gave up my son at age 15 to his father when the boy was severely beaten by a school rival. The hardest thing I’ve ever done. Long story short: Today my “boy” is a postdoctoral fellow in neuropsychology, a terrific Dad and a Major in the US Army.
Any hobbies? Name a quirky thing you like to do.
I play piano, swim, lift weights, hike, plant trees and speak Mandarin, French and bad Spanish wherever I can.
If there is one thing you want readers to remember about you, what would it be?
That The Logoharp was both memorable and scary. As critic Andrew Singer described it:
“Emmett's most biting social critique is not of the bland, authoritarian system that prevails a century from now. Rather, it is reproval of the America of today that let itself go and collapsed to such a system. The siren call of this lament is strong.”
What is something you've learned about yourself during the pandemic?
Keep up on your vaccines and wear masks. Talk to people who are accepting anti-vaccine conspiracy theories as gospel. In this case, the gospel is baloney.
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