Rate: 4/5
Medium: Audiobook
Overview (No Spoilers):
I have not been able to stop talking about Dungeon Crawner Carl. When I heard that Dinniman had another novel coming out called Operation Bounce House, I couldn’t wait to sample something loosely overlapping Carl in a venn diagram.
In Operation Bounce House, humanity has taken to the stars, expanding out from Earth out to far away planets. This story takes place in a remote farming settlement that seems far removed from civilization, with Earth a seemingly impossible distance away. With a generations long quarantine drawing to an end, both Earth and New Senora are preparing for the lines of communication and travel to open back up. Greed proves too powerful of a temptation and a corporation from Earth brings war and genocide to the peaceful farmers in an unexpected, brutal attack that is hard to read, especially as it amplifies.
Ok, I can’t resist a spoiler, so please be forewarned. The colonists are facing attacks from a series of robots controlled by the paying citizens of Earth in a bizarre game with deadly consequences. It was fascinating to see how Dinniman wielded the stereotypical themes of violence justification and normalization by the masses into this advanced setting. The difference was extreme between the ‘gamers’ and our technologically disadvantaged farmers who were fighting the best they could against impossible odds for their lives..
Oliver Lewis and his sister Lulu live on their grandfather’s ranch helped by a series of farming drones. The two siblings themselves are vastly different, with brooding Oliver in stark contrast with his enterprising sister Lulu who has grand aspirations of leaving her small ranch and moving to Earth. Their constant companion is Roger the robot who runs the rest of the farm and looks out for the two siblings despite them being grown adults. Roger was endlessly amusing, resourceful, and surprising. The seemingly harmless drone had prebuilt countermeasures for offense and defense in the event of such an attack from Earth.
Dinniman captures the complex connections of a small community as the people of New Sonora were more than neighbors, and with their shared history becoming more as found family. The trailblazers have bonds that were tempered with the depth that they had endured from significant loss to the struggles living on the fringes of society. Every battle sequence I was on the edge of my seat, anxiety mounting in the face of the overwhelming odds where anyone could be lost.
Overall, Operation Bounce House is a dark, often hopeless read that Dinniman shapes into an unraveling mystery that has danger exponentially ramping throughout. The dark is often lifted with unexpected humor when one is least expecting it. The last revelations of Operation Bounce House will leave you pondering the grey areas of morality and questioning who is actually the ‘good guys’ in this complex novel.
Additional Insight (Spoilers Abound):
- What will happen with the AI out in the world at large? As with DCC I was really enjoying the banter and personality of the AI. I saw the twist coming that the AI was going to be behind the mass casualty event. What will it mean for the world with Roger out in the wild. This theme feels very similar to DCC’s AI.
- I love when a story is able to muddy good vs. evil to the point that it is impossible for the reader to clearly pick sides.
- The chaos Roger unleashes on earth was horrifying and also delightfully vengeful. Having the anonymity stripped from the would be soldiers added an alarming level of humanity to find mostly ‘normal’ people playing these roles.
- She was the star of an account equivalent to an Only Fans, and had amassed insane amounts of money that she was unable to touch until the quarantine was lifted. I kept wanting to find out more about Lulu and her motivations.
- The video clips were perfect. Sprinkled throughout the story they were a wonderful mechanism to be able to add history, depth, and humanity to the people of New Sonora.
The Critiquing Chemist 