In a dystopian world reminiscent of A Clockwork Orange, Arliss Dubai returns to planet Teton from a five-year prison stint for a crime he naturally says he didn’t commit. The reader isn’t sure either way. BLEND follows a futuristic blended family. In the mile-high megacity of Vandress, life is challenging unless people have money and status. Meera, an engineer on the water system, gave up both when she married Arliss, and they have a son.   Twelve-year- old Kip Dubai is a distinctive-looking boy. His dad is a blue-skinned Blend of construct and human, designed for hard physical labour, and his mother is fair, and he turned out a hybrid known as a Patchie. The Edbank spits them out at fourteen. His mates have their adopted slang and regularly steal and redistribute goods such as medicaments that only the wealthy can afford. But Kip is doing more than just being a lookout now, and he’s coming under increased scrutiny with his father home from the mining colony moon. Trouble is heading his way.     Offante Ruhl is a gossip monger and junk shop proprietor, so Arliss heads to see him in the hope of finding work and information. But Enforcement officers are already following him around, whether to shops or the decaying Servo District. Feeling against Blends is becoming ugly. Arliss doesn’t have much chance of clearing his name, so he wants to stop Kip from doing something he shouldn’t.     This first tale in The Rogues of Teton series builds atmosphere quickly. The reader is slow to like anyone, because they can seem unrelatable. Meera is the most standard character, admirable, hardworking and trying to be a good mom. The others change sides rather rapidly, or else we spend a chapter following a planetary supervisor who sneers at everyone and blames Blend people for worsening air quality. I don’t see how they justify that accusation, but most city people only know what they are told.   I always like reading SF, but I did find chapters full of slang tough going at times. We don’t get explanations; we’re just dropping into conversations with different units of time and measure, political figures and cults. The family tale is a good area of focus for the reader. My favourite scene is when the Dubais go to cultivate their garden patch, a main source of fresh food. BLEND is a book for adults, with strong violence and menace. Frank Kennedy has previously written SF series such as The Forever Children and Farewell Amity Station, so if you can’t wait for the next exciting instalment you can start on his finished series.