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Stamping Butterflies by Jon Courtney Grimwood
01/01/2006 . Source: Shaun Green 
pub: Gollancz. 424 page enlarged paperback. Price: £ 6.99 (UK). ISBN: 0-575-07650-X. Buy from Amazon US - Buy from Amazon UK
nb: US titles may only be available from Amazon US, and UK titles from Amazon UK. check out website: www.orionbooks.co.uk
In the 1970s, Marrakech the half-German/half-Turk boy Moz encounters rock star Jake Razor and is led down a path of decadence, drugs and sex. In the near-future, Marrakech, a man without a name, attempts to kill the President of the United States. When captured he offers no explanation of his actions and presents a psychological mystery as Prisoner Zero. In the distant future, the latest Emperor of the 2023 worlds is watched by a majority of his 148 billion subjects, providing them with entertainment from within his city-sized palace. The Emperor resents his role and plots against the near-omnipotent Library which made him a figurehead.
These three distinct narratives begin with the most tenuous links between them, if any. Over the course of the novel, it becomes increasingly apparent just how closely entangled they are. One of the most wonderful aspects of 'Stamping Butterflies' is guessing at these links: where they might be, what they might be and who they might be. This is a story about the abuse of power, about imperialism and quantum physics. As can be discerned from the title, it is about the echoes and ripples through time caused by seemingly small actions. This lofty concept is humanised by focusing on the human tales at the centre of each narrative: the hardships Moz and his friend Malika face as children, the detachment of Prisoner Zero and the deathwish and cruelty of an Emperor who believes nothing is real. The novel's resolution is a delight, although in the battle between concept and character there can be only one victor.
I must admit that I found 'Stamping Butterflies' to be a slow-starter. I was about a third of the way through the novel before it really captured my imagination. From this point on, I read it compulsively. At this point, you should indulge your cliché of choice about turning pages and putting books down. My early difficulties may have been due to the initial feeling of disjointment when switching between the three timelines. At first, nothing seems to be linked and it takes some time before events start unfolding at a reasonable pace (excepting some highly explosive scenes in near-future Morocco). If you're after a quick fix, 'Stamping Butterflies' is not for you.
If you would enjoy a novel which explores high concept ideas from a human perspective, which features beautifully tragic and broken characters, which evokes a powerful sensation of being somewhere else through gritty and detailed imagery and description and which is frequently witty and always clever, then this is definitely the book for you. It's imperfect and unbalanced, but just like its characters it is smart and appealing.
Shaun Green
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