Bio Melt

A quite promising premise -- a dystopian future where people combine physically with other people in order to compete, since automation has made human beings less needed -- that at about the halfway point turns into one of the most juvenile, silly, and poorly-written stories I've ever read. It's a real shame, because the set-up is so good, but then the tale basically turns into a video game mixed with a bad summer superhero blockbuster, geared for about the middle school level. Thrown into the mix of environmental ruin and the complexities of melting into other people -- which are the strongest points of the book -- is a ridiculous side-story about an abandoned sex robot factory. Plot holes abound (how would the automated bond hotel differentiate between bonders and people living there indefinitely?) and plot points occur magically: characters aren't able to make a needed boat, so one just miraculously appears, explained later. There is also some very bad writing here, as if this story never spent any time on an editor's desk. I finished the book because I'd been invested in it up to the halfway point, but the second half is a lot crappier than the first. Could make an interesting film if handled right, but it would have to focus on the rich complexities of the bonding process and environmental disaster over the incredibly hokey adventure story second half, which felt like I was reading a gifted middle-schooler's writing. This was overall a disappointing read, as I much enjoyed CM3's Cannibals of Candyland, a much more even and consistent tale. When CM3 says proudly his work isn't carried by many libraries and retailers, there may be a good reason for that. Sometimes he writes very well, but Biomelt, especially its second half, is not well-written. One of course has to especially suspend disbelief with Bizarro fiction, but CM3 asks too much of his readers here.

The idea behind this book is fantastic: two people go into a machine, one combined person, a continuation of both but with a singular consciousness, comes out. In this world combined people are the norm, as combining creates individuals with the life experiences and skills of many.Mellick is a master of coming up with an idea and taking it to its logical extremes. In "Bio Melt," that entails new creatures forming out of the sludge left over from people melting together, individuals coming out as mutant aberrations, and environmental destruction. As with most of his books, you can expect well-developed characters, unexpected deaths, and an overall insanely enjoyable story.The reason I'm giving this a rating of 4 rather than a 5, which most of his books earn from me, is that for the type of story this is, each new character resulting from a melting could have been created with more depth. As an author, frankly, I can't say that I would have done any better than Mellick and I have no real suggestions for how he might have achieved this with the fast-paced plot, but I did feel I wanted to understand the new characters better.

I’ve read nearly all CM3’s books and I pre-order his new ones as soon as I find out about them. I’ve really loved and enjoyed 95% of them, and I’ll continue buying whatever he writes.With all that said, I was actually surprised to find that Biomelt is one of my top favorites. I thought it would be a cool Mellick story about the tender-hearted schlub and the semi-cruel female, and it started like that, but then it kept developing in new and strange ways, and every time I thought it was about to wrap up, it kept going and it was amazing.By the time it really did start to end, I was totally invested in the characters and I wanted to keep going with them.Also, this book begs for a sequel, to describe everything that happens in the missing 50 years.Anyways, this is a great book and I really hope he keeps on cranking out his stories because he’s the best at what he does and I love stepping into his worlds every few months.

This is, in essence, a whole lot of different stories fighting over which one gets to dominate. There's setups that don't amount to much. There's tangents that go on for a long time without ultimately amounting to anything. Characters turn up and then just sort of hang around for a while before getting killed off. Oh, and the world randomly ends, only not really.There's a whole lot of good stuff in here, though, if you concentrate on the individual scenes without expecting much in the way of an overarching plot.

This is one of the best books I've ever read, Bizarro or otherwise! Mr. Mellick has really outdone himself with this one. The originality, story world, and characters are just wonderful. One particular scene towards the end, involving a hauntingly beautiful violin that moved one of the characters, was very powerful. That same character became my favorite of the story and provided a very thought provoking and deep level to the book that I didn't realize Bizarro could do. It makes one wonder what life is, what civilization is, and who we really are. I absolutely loved this story, every page of it!Please, if you enjoy Bizarro, Carlton Mellick's works, or just great fiction in general, you owe it to yourself to buy this book. It's a true masterpiece.

Hello, this story is intelligently disturbing in that it could really come to pass. Very well written and extremely entertaining to read. Good stuff. Thanks.

Another novel from CM3 that entertains and oozes originality. Its real simple with CM3. Do you like books that are fun and interesting and not like every other book? If so, jump on board and enjoy many books a year from him

Another wild story from Mellick