"Placenta of Love" Book Review

Item: Placenta of Love
Rating: 3.5
Author: Administrator

Written by Gabino Iglesias

Published by Eraserhead Press

Placenta Of Love 01

Written by Spike Marlowe
2011, 96 pages, Fiction
Released on October 22nd, 2011

Review:

I have a challenge to all the male readers out there. Sit down, take a deep breath, and focus all your intellectual and physical capabilities on one single task: developing a new organ from scratch. If you manage to succeed, get in touch with me and we'll make a lot of money. If, on the other hand, you fail miserably, then stay where you are and marvel at the wonderful and extraordinary thing that is the placenta. Yes, women can grow a new organ, and you're here thanks to that organ's filtering skills. In Placenta of Love, author Spike Marlowe finally gives the placenta its deserved space in weird fiction.

Captain Carl is an AI robo-pirate living on a gigantic amusement park that covers Venus. His creator gave him intelligence so above and beyond that which we associate with AIs that Carl eventually became a creator himself. One day he creates the love of his life. Completely enamored of the result, Carl soon embarks on a different task: finding a body to go along with the mind and personality he concocted. The chosen body ends up being a big placenta from a different part of the park. With the love of his life now having a physical presence, Carl sees nothing but bliss in his future. Sadly, the happiness is short-lived. The placenta's instincts kick in and the desire to reproduce transforms her into a monster that devours everyone and everything in her path leaving behind small placentas. With each birth, the placenta grows and soon the entire park faces obliteration. Only Carl, along with a few sidekicks, can put a stop to his beloved before she destroys the Venus.

Yes, this is a book about a robo-pirate who has a cat friend that talks and is in love with a psychologically-challenged placenta. However, the narrative is also about sacrificing for love and doing what it takes to make things right even if the quest promises to be full of hardships. Marlowe is a talented new voice and she keeps things interesting throughout, both surprising readers with new elements and ensuring the action moves along at a swift pace.

Placenta of Love is a unique addition to the bizarro genre because it combines a very dreamlike atmosphere with likeable, surprisingly multidimensional characters and some very uncanny sexiness sprinkled on top. If you're looking for a wonderful trip, take off to Venus with Marlowe's work and celebrate the wonder that is the placenta.