Reviews

Titanium Noir by Nick Harkaway

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timinbc's review against another edition

5.0

Wow, this checks all the boxes that CAN make a great novel, and at the end I declare that Nick has assembled, developed and connected all the boxes as well as you could possibly expect. This book is all the things that a lot of my recent reads haven't been.

It's a genre mashup, so if you don't like those, maybe step out. I like them a lot.

So, hard-boiled detective doesn't give a writer much to work with, but it's a solid base to build on. The author can decide if the tec will be good or "gritty," and he can try to write better snark than previous noir authors have done. The latter is a high bar to clear, and Harkaway has soared over it.

The author can also write a good villain, or in this case two. And a confident, experienced author can make them criminals who aren't without ethics, and thus not entirely predictable. And add sidekicks who actually have personalities.

So, now we add in the SF element, which is acceptably original, and developed well within the Grand Rule that you get to put in impossible things, but you can't keep adding - you have to develop your impossibilities with consistency and logic (e.g. if he has X, doesn't that mean he'd have trouble with Y?)

Harkaway has challenged himself here, and succeeded. I'm going to go and make sure I haven't missed some of hos books.

bsheindl's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

3.5

trin's review against another edition

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2.0

bookwyrm76's review against another edition

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4.0

Hard boiled detective blended with a scifi dystopia. A good blend too. The detective, California Sounder, is the noir detective in this story. All the great tropes are there and handled deftly. The mystery has plenty of twists and turns. There are hints but not so many that it's easy to see the ended. Great read for noir fans who are looking for something new and different.

bookwyrm76's review against another edition

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4.0

Classic noir detective story with a sci-fy/urban bent. Blending different genres don't always work, but this one blends so smoothly that it doesn't even seem like a mashup. It just IS and it pulls classic themes like wealth in a totally contemporary way. I would recommend this for fans of Jim Butcher's Desden novels or for readers who have read YA Dystopias and are looking for more with social commentary along with the action or mystery.