Novelty

[The Flame Alphabet approaches] the theme less through the prism of language itself than through the twists and turns of an elaborate plot. It's a sci-fi disaster thriller, basically, driven by the conceit that language has become toxic in a more than purely metaphorical sense. Words have begun literally poisoning people, their ravaging effects sweeping across America like a deadly plague.

Homage to Burroughs or Stephenson?