The Sapphire Sirens by John Zakour – review

Zachary Nixon Johnson is the last freelance Private Investigator left on the planet.   He has a supercomputer named HARV, who is holographic and also linked into Zach’s brain, an assistant named Carol, and a semi-intellingent AI weapon named Gus.  He also has an incredible talent for getting himself into trouble.  He gets kidnapped to the hidden kingdom of Lantis, where his help has been enlisted to solve the murder of Lantis’s queen.  He quickly discovers that being the only man on an island of 10,000 women isn’t necessarily the paradise that he thought it would be.  The women of Lantis all have some particular talent, which is basically their equivalent of a superpower, and they all know how to use those talents to their best advantage.  Zach soon finds that he has to conduct his investigation without any of his usual contacts and missing a large chuck of the resources he’s used to utilizing. 

The Sapphire Sirens is part of the Zachary Nixon Johnson series, but it isn’t necessary to have read any of the previous books in the series.  Events from the other books are mentioned, but even if a reader is unfamiliar with those other stories, they don’t play a big enough role in this novel to cause any confusion.  Enough backstory is provided over the course of the plot to give the reader a good idea of what’s happening.

This book is a throwback to old, pulp science fiction  There isn’t any kind of an attempt to make the technology or the plot completely believable.  The good news is that it doesn’t have to be.  The Sapphire Sirens is a funny, campy romp through warrior women tropes that keeps the focus on telling a very entertaining story.  The book doesn’t take itself too seriously at all, and it doesn’t become condescending in the slightest.  The writing style is pure pulp revelry at its finest.

Zachary Nixon  Johnson is a competent enough P.I., but the simple fact remains that if he didn’t have HARV around to assist with the investigations, he probably wouldn’t manage to solve the crimes nearly as well.  HARV is developing a personality the longer that he’s around Zach, and HARV is revealed to be writing a graphic novel which he uses as a creative outlet, since he feels that one is necessary. The residents in Lantis are more scientifically advanced than the regular Earth citizens.  They are somewhat more technologically advanced, as well, but some of their technology isn’t as good as that available on Earth.

This is the kind of book that’s the literary equivalent of a summer blockbuster movie.  It’s a lot of fun to read.  It does get a little silly, but if you’re looking for something light and entertaining to read, then this is definitely a book to consider.