Subcutanean by Aaron A. Reed

Synopsis:

Insecure college senior Orion loves music, books, and his best friend Niko. When the two of them find a secret basement in their rambling old off-campus house, at first Orion’s thrilled. It’s another secret to share, another adventure to maybe, at last, bring them closer together.

But something’s wrong: the basement doesn’t end. Blandly decorated halls stretch on for miles past peeling wallpaper, empty bedrooms, and countless stairwells always leading down. Soon they realize Downstairs is a snarled tangle of possibilities, more and more opening up the deeper they go. Something down there multiplies everything: architecture, emotions, even people.

Together they must navigate an increasingly dangerous labyrinth that peels back their friendship to raw and angry roots, filled with two-faced doppelgängers, treacherous architecture, and long-buried secrets. Most dangerous of all is Orion’s consuming obsession: somewhere down there, is there a Niko who loves him back?

Subcutanean is a unique novel that changes with every printing. Each copy contains a unique telling of the story: no two are ever quite the same.

Disclaimer:

I received a copy of Subcutanean from the author in exchange for review consideration. This did not impact my review.

Edition:

Paperback

My Thoughts:

When you first open this book, you’re greeted by the following:

The book you’re holding is unique. There is no other exactly like it.
Each printing of Subcutanean is different. This is the one and only version generated from seed #(insert seed # here – mine is 30036). Words, sentences, or whole scenes may appear in some printings that do not appear in others. No two copies are alike.
But all of them are the same story, more or less. Don’t worry about what’s in the other versions. They don’t matter. This is the one you have.
This is the one that’s happening to you.

How cool is that? I’ve never read another book quite like this one. Don’t mistake – this is no Choose Your Own Adventure novel (although I have very fond memories of those from my childhood). It’s some sort of new-fangled interactive fiction!

“Day by day, decision by decision, were’ losing our lockstep. And the more out of sync we get, the harder it is to go back…And the deeper,” he pressed on, “the deeper we’ll have to go to find another way through.”

I’m not going to try to tell you much about the story since your experience is liable to be different than mine, but I will tell you it quickly becomes enormously creepy. And I’ll also tell you that the premise is very engaging and the characters are well written.

And to add to my enjoyment, at the end of the book, there’s even an explanation of some of the decisions made by the rendering code during the generation of my copy. So, in my version of the story:

• My narrator was a bit more pessimistic than usual (It’s like they knew who it was going to. They didn’t though, for the record.)
• My narrator didn’t like to use slang.
• Some proper nouns were different – including Semblances, Grapple Buddies (a type of climbing apparatus), and Imajica (again, it’s like they knew I’m a fanatical Barker fan.)
• My version of Niko misquoted Thoreau.
• This Ryan spoke to his father on the payphone.
• My copy had a city of recursive houses.
• My finale took place on a tube of bedroom-stuff suspended over an endless dropoff.

Thank you so much, Aaron! I really appreciated having the opportunity to review this incredibly fun book.

About the Author:

Aaron A. Reed is a writer, designer, and researcher focused on finding new ways for gamemakers and players to tell stories together. His fiction, games, and playable artworks have won recognition from a broad range of storytelling communities, including the Independent Games Festival (video games), the ENnie Awards (tabletop roleplaying), and Kirkus Reviews (traditional publishing). Aaron is a multi-time IndieCade and IGF finalist, and his work has also been shown at South by Southwest, Slamdance, and GaymerX; he has spoken about digital storytelling at PAX and PAX East, Google, WorldCon, NarraScope, and the Game Developer Conference. Aaron holds a PhD in Computer Science and a MFA in Digital Arts and New Media. He lives in Santa Cruz, California.

(From the author’s website)

Rating:

This is such an interesting idea. I love the idea that I could pick up a second copy in the future and experience something different than I did this time. If I could change anything, I think I’d just have liked to see a little bit more overtly creepy stuff happening. I mean, it felt bizarre for sure, but the threat-factor felt like it could have been ramped up just a hair. But still, Subcutanean is an excellent book.

Want to buy Subcutanean? You can get predetermined seeds using my Bookshop affiliate links below (and I’ll earn a wee bit of store credit which will eventually allow me to buy more books to review in a beautiful example of the circle of life). Or you can pick it up via the book site below if you want a surprise seed. I’ve also added it to my 2020 Reads list there.

Subcutanean
By Aaron A. Reed
Self Published
Published: February 2, 2020
Paperback, E-book
215 Pages
Author's Website
Buy a random seed
Twitter: @subcutanean