Intersection Thirteen By Matthew Buscemi - A Different Twist On The Government Book Ban Trope

Intersection Thirteen by Matthew Buscemi

I received an advance review copy for free and am leaving this review voluntarily.

Intersection Thirteen is a brilliantly written sci-fi/speculative fiction story set in the distant future. Buscemi uses a familiar trope for the backdrop of this tale; what happens when the government eliminates access to knowledge and philosophy to control the masses. In this case, though, the story goes much farther than a rehashing of Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451.

I enjoyed this story for its entertainment value and for the way the author didn't complicate his story with a lot of technical jargon. The story follows the principal character the entire time and includes a small cast of supporting characters that all contribute in their own ways.

I loved the way the Buscemi developed the principal character by unveiling her backstory little-by-little through the entire book. It really brought her to life for me and helped with my understanding of her motivations.

According to the author, in the future, unspecified events lead up to a dystopian situation in which access to works of fiction and philosophy are banned and eliminated. The population will be relegated to a subsistence existence barely able to maintain a comfortable lifestyle. Drones in the air and on the ground constantly survey people as they go about their lives and rules are enforced by thugs that use harsh methods as enforcement. There are many dangers on the Earth of our universe.

The people of the future, according to Intersection Thirteen, have learned how to travel through interdimensional space and visit other Earths. A small group of individuals have made it their business to visit these other places to collect works of fiction and philosophy, hoping, one day, people will once again have access to the wonders of the past as presented through literature.

Mira, the point-of-view character, takes her small ship to the parallel earths on a journey to find and bring banned literature back to her planet and discovers an intersection carved out of interdimensional space. On the surface, it seems she has found a place where benevolence abounds. She discovers a vast library where she finds everything she is looking for. But as she learns, everything is not what it seems and there are secrets many would not like to come to light.

Principal character Mira Rous, loves literature and has made it her mission to be a part of a small group of individuals calling themselves the Reconstructionists. Their mission is to travel between dimensions and bring back banned literature to a world under the control of powers that want to control the thinking of the populace. She is driven to do this because of her experience growing up.

Mira is a thoughtful character, and we get her story in the past and present simultaneously through the story. Her character development is excellent and she quickly becomes someone the reader can care for and invest themselves in.

As an avid reader myself, I can appreciate Mira's plight, but that is not my favorite plot point.

I enjoyed the way Buscemi lightly connected the events of recent history to what is in this story. No specifics are revealed, but the hints the author gives are palpable. But there is space for the reader to draw their own conclusions. I didn't feel pressured to think one way or another, but I did have to stop and think along the way, which is something a good book should do.

While this story would seem to be based on an old trope, a government that controls thought through the destruction of contrary literature, there is much more to it than that. My takeaway from Intersection Thirteen is the story as more of a hero's journey than anything. Mira grows as the tale unfolds. She goes from a young girl who loses everything to finding a calling that could affect an entire planet if successful. 

I recommend Intersection Thirteen as an entertaining story with great characters who are on a quest to make their world a better place. Considering recent history, this story can also be thought provoking and seem somewhat relevant. But in the end, it is just good sci-fi and well worth a look.

Buscemi is a skilled writer. Not only does he create excellent characters, the settings are also colorful and read as wonders to behold. I loved the way the story went from Mira finding a place where it seems all her problems were solved, only to find more problems cropping up. The story is exciting and moves at a good pace and will hold a reader's interest.

All around, Intersection Thirteen is a well crafted, fun, and thoughtful story with a heavy dose of imagination.

Matthew Buscemi is the author of numerous novels and short stories. His work has been a semi-finalist for the Cygnus Award. In addition to writing, he is also a professional software engineer, a freelance typographer and book designer, and an avid reader of fiction of all varieties. He lives in Seattle, Washington with his husband.

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