Jabberwocky Reviews

The Mechanical Muse by FranklinBarnes

"In this modern reimagining of the Faust myth, Chris Marley, a student at Southern California University, accepts an offer from an enigmatic professor to join her research team testing Project Narcissus, a new AI content-generation tool. Chris finds he is only limited by his imagination, Project Narcissus filling in the rest, and invents new talents and accomplishments to erase his shortcomings. His only proof is what he can conjure on his computer, but the evidence doesn't lie—or so people believe.

Though his lies earn him fame, fortune, and a girlfriend, the more Chris embraces his new persona the more he sacrifices to maintain it. As the end of the week approaches and his unconditional access to Project Narcissus expires, Chris must choose between the temptations of his unfettered creativity and preserving his authentic self.

"An evil sorcerer offers you an immense amount of power, but it comes with a price.""

I think this is a very creative take on the prompt—dare I say fiendishly creative—and with the cover and everything this presents the most intriguing first impression out of the ONC submissions so far. It's topical, it's a clear premise, and it's a good balance between your literary comfort zone and a more modern style. We see this in the story itself too, where on its surface it reads quite lightly but I can already tell you want us to read between the lines.

I think you've struck a really good balance in this regard within your story thus far. I see a spiritual similarity to your other writing, and I fully expect a cameo sometime, but you've taken some of the same themes and reworked them in this new light. I can see the resemblance to Marlowe's play, especially in the character names, and I think we're seeing the beginning of a very dramatic, tragic character arc for Chris. Part of me wants to see this written as a stage play and not as a novella. I hope to, in future additions to this review, comment more on your thematic development. One last bit of kudos should be given for your use of symbolism, and if this is anything like your other books I expect this to continue.

This is definitely one I expect you to keep resubmitting, and even if you don't I'll keep reading. I can take a guess at what happens given your cited inspiration, but I'm sure there will be some tricks along the way. The devil is in the details. Fabulous start.