What did I just read?

  So, I finished this book this morning and I might have liked it?  Maybe?  I’m not really sure how I felt about it.  It might have been good, but I think I might have simply been trying to figure out WTF was going on.  Instead of good, maybe intriguing would be a better description.  I’ll try to explain.

The book has many viewpoints/location points.  There’s some sort of interplanetary organization (John and Quinn work there)where the Chair has died, a successor has been announced and some in the organization are freaking out.  There’s also a bookstore currently in the care of Auvek Oliphant due to some drunken stupidity by his Uncle/cousin/relative person. There’s a young woman (maybe?  Age is kind of difficult to be sure of) named Bronwyn, who is looking for a book and more about her family.  Did I mention the guy who runs the space station?  I think his name is Lebron. He seems a bit organized crime and is having problems.  Oh, and the reporter Sauvignon, who is also called Salve.

Not only are there multiple viewpoints, there are multiple threads.  John and Quinn are spying on the new Chair, trying to figure out why the other successors declined to be Chair and figuring out why the Clock is so important.  Auvent is trying to figure out why the bookstore looks the way it does, why he’s not allowed in certain rooms, how he ended up with a robot monkey (named Simon) and why so many people want to know about the Clock.  Bronwyn wants to know what happened to her parents, why her aunt is so overprotective, why the butler (named Butler) is so weird and why she’s not allowed to know about the Clock.  Hebron is concerned about his missing lackey, the possibility that he might be fired, his weird brother, strange phone calls, a station visit from the higher ups and why everyone cares about the Clock.  Salve?  Salve just wants a good story to shut up his boss.  There’s also a gang war, a gang leader named Rathead, Doors and of course, the Clock.  The Clock might be a doomsday device.

So…it was okay?  I think it’s supposed to be humorous and maybe a look at how stupid we all are.  Or maybe I shouldn’t read science fiction while battling a cold.  Give it a try if you want something different.  Unless you always read books like this, in which case, please read it and explain it to me!