Reviews

Market Forces by Richard K. Morgan

wolvereader's review

3.0

Market Forces takes place in a ridiculous near future where investment banking executives control the fate of third world revolutions...and also duel to the death on the highways of England. (Ok, so the IBank stuff is far more plausible.) The story follows the adventures of a young executive named Chris, who I disliked within the first 20 pages, and who became less likable (although occasionally more sympathetic) as the book progressed. In fact, I found most of the characters repulsive.

That said, author Richard K. Morgan explores the ideas of unfettered capitalism and unhinged morals, and what that might look like for society and for the ultimately unlucky executives that rule it. It's a tribute to Morgan's writing and ideas that I kept reading despite the characters' irredeemable douchery.

miedvied's review

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

jeffl's review

5.0

This book is so ridiculously action-movie-like over the top that it can barely see the top from space. I enjoyed the hell out of it.

athenalindia's review

3.0

This book is ludicrous. The premise really doesn't hold up to the minutest bit of scrutiny, and yet the writing isn't quite as pointed as necessary for a satire. But for all that, it was an enjoyable read, once I resolved to stop trying to think if anything like this would ever happen. Because, after all, even if it's ludicrous, Mad Max in the modern corporate world is pretty fun.

Note: The rest of this review has been withheld due to the changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.

In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook

mckitterick's review

4.0

I felt this was the best SF novel of the year. This is surprising to write, because one really can't like the protagonist for most of the book. However, as the story progresses, we discover he's just a product of his environment - both his horrid childhood environment (the Zones) and his dog-eat-dog's-whole-family corporate environment that is the current time of the book. These influences have turned him into what he is... and it isn't necessarily a bad thing. He's the best person he could be as a result of these things, and in fact transcends what we expect of him.

However, more importantly, this book is the best indictment of the current policital-corporate culture we live in today. It's not just satire, dressing current political affairs up in the clothing of corporations; it's a projection of "if this goes on..."

tundragirl's review

3.0

Although I enjoyed this book, I have to say it doesn't hold a candle to Morgan's Takeshi Kovacs books. It was a good read, but at the end of the day, all the characters were pretty unlikable. Definitely not my favorite of Morgan's novels.

arbieroo's review

2.0

The rising power of corporations has been a strong theme in SF since the '80s. It was a key element in cyberpunk and it's central to this novel. This isn't cyberpunk, though - cyber is largely irrelevant, certainly not a key theme or even an important part of the world building. Instead, Morgan extrapolates the trends of corporate power in the international political arena (in fairly conventional ways) and innovates by doing the same for corporate internal politics. These ideas are extreme and hopefully preposterous.

I found it to be a compelling read in that it's full of incident and yet, and yet...the actual plot develops slowly, is a little too predictable and our protagonist isn't a hero. Not even an anti-hero. Just an asshole. Which made it difficult to care - much like Kovac in the sequels to Altered Carbon.