The Incrementalists by Steven Brust and Skyler White

Published by Tor Books on September 24, 2013

The "ancient secret society trying to control us all" plot has been done to death, but The Incrementalists takes an unusual (although only partially successful) approach. The novel departs from the norm in two ways: it doesn't feature the mindless chase scenes that too often characterize secret society novels, and the secret society (or most of it) isn't malevolent or power-hungry like the typical ancient secret societies that tries to control us. While the novel's set-up is therefore promising, The Incrementalists too often reads like a romance novel. It isn't a trashy romance novel, but neither is it a compelling love story.

Phil is a member of the Incrementalists, an ancient organization that is modern enough to use email (@incrementalists.org). The Incrementalists strive to make the world a little better. Their tool is meddlework -- meddling with someone's mind to change his or her actions. Not only has the organization been around forever, so have its members ... in a sense. Incrementalists live beyond their deaths when their memories are absorbed by new recruits.

Phil recruits Ren to join the Incrementalists without telling her that she'll be absorbing Celeste, his long-time lover. Ren, on the other hand, doesn't tell Phil that she has her own agenda for learning the business of meddlework. But Celeste has an agenda too, leading to a plot that is filled with conflicting agendas. Another plot wrinkle: Celeste's last memory before her suicide (which should be stored in the Garden where the Incrementalists keep their collective memories) has gone missing.

Meddling is a subtle process, more an act of manipulation than control, and that's another departure from novels with similar themes. Whether meddling, however well-intentioned, is morally right or wrong is a strong theme that creates the opportunity for conflict among the characters, but that theme is underutilized. The plot focuses not on what the Incrementalists do (mostly they fret and quarrel without doing anything) but on an internal conflict within the group. That's both good and bad. It's good to personalize a story. It's bad (or at least disappointing) to set up a large moral dilemma without using it effectively. The story's background details are often more interesting than the story itself.

To a large extent The Incrementalists tells a love story, and like most fictional love stories, it runs a predictable course. It's different from most love stories in that the lovers are masters at manipulation, leaving the reader to wonder whether the love is real or induced by meddling. Unfortunately, that theme too is underutilized. Intrigue is added to the story by Phil's love of both Ren and Celeste (conveniently for him, they sometimes occupy the same body), but that love triangle is more interesting in concept than in execution.

In the end, while The Incrementalists is well-paced, written in capable prose, and often entertaining, it doesn't live up to its potential. The main story is too abstract while the love story is unexciting.  Because the novel is better in concept than in execution, I cannot recommend it with enthusiasm.

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS