OK, I'll state right now that I'm no good at reviewing novels. This
will contain spoilers, and for all I know, it may even miss the
point. Even the few novels I do read are usually science fiction,
not romance, so I won't make any comparisons to other romance novels.
The reason I feel compelled to write about Infinite Loop despite not
being very qualified to do so is that it is clearly a small run
print. It would be a shame for it to never be discovered by a wider
audience.
Infinite Loop is a romantic lesbian novel. The blurb on the back
of the book describes it as "more than an erotic road novel," but
even that statement seems to over-emphasise the erotic parts of the
story.
What made me notice the book in the first place was that it was about
a geek girl. The protagonist, Regan O'Riley, appears to be at least
somewhat based on the book's author, Meghan O'Brien. I consider
this a good thing, as it's about time that a geeky character was
actually in a story written by a geek. Regan doesn't grow out of
being a geek to become a "normal" person like the geeky characters
in too many Hollywood movies. She programs computers, wears Thinkgeek
t-shirts, watches films like The Princess Bride and beats guys at
video games.
The conversation Regan and Mel have about how midi-chlorians ruined
the Force as an analogy for realising your own potential in the Star
Wars prequels is as good as any dialogue written by Kevin Smith.
Just in case you still weren't convinced of the geek authenticity,
the book even gets its title from the protagonist's own use of a
programming error as an analogy for how people too easily get stuck
in the same daily routine for the rest of their lives.
Unlike a lot of romantic stories, the conflicts in this novel don't
arise from the protagonist's problem attaining love. Instead, she
falls in love and keeps it quite easily, and together, Regan and her
lover conquer their fears and their pasts, to build a happier future
together. They're always there to help each other, and together,
they can overcome anything.
There's a scene in this novel that had me rooting for Regan just as
much as the comparable one in the film Hackers made me cringe: some
sexist guys are hogging an arcade game, and she ends up challenging
them. This is from her point of view, though, and when those boys
insinuate women can't play arcade games properly, and the story
flashes back to how kids picked on Regan in school, it really got
me emotionally invested in her playing the game.
The story is also about Regan's new-found lover, Mel. It's terrifying
to watch her confront the father who disowned her, and the scene
where she's reunited with her estranged brother had me on the verge
of tears for several pages.
Sure, there's quite a few novels and films that present lesbians in
a positive light, but this one presents a geek lesbian as someone
who's happy that way. I just hope more fiction will be written by,
and about, geek girls.
Of course, the erotic parts aren't bad either.