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cecile87's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this sci-if mystery. The characters were interesting, both the good and the evil. The landscape of the protagonist’s journey was full of depth and seasoning. I liked the diversity of the people. I didn’t know this was the second volume of a two-part series. Maybe I’ll read that one next.
jmoses's review
4.0
An interesting and engaging read. The world is neat, and the characters engaging. The Beta is, I feel, a little shallow, but that may fit in with the plot and i just wasn't in tune. This also stands up on its own, without having read (or remembered) the first book.
zare_i's review
5.0
This was truly a great read.
First thing first - I do not know why is this called Hardwired #2 because I could not see any connection points. Could be that I am missing something ..... in any case that's my 2 cents on this.
Back to the story. Main protagonist is Steward, data broker and gang banger in his youth and later member of elite mercenary outfit Icehawks sent to fight against other corporations on mysterious planet of Sheol. Well, to be more precise protagonist is clone of Steward (so called Beta) with the 15 year-gap since original Steward (aka Alpha) did not update his memories in the meantime. What Beta knows is that Alpha was killed on one of the colonies, and that his private life is in shambles.
Beta Steward, after series of incidents and deadly accidents involving him and people around him, soon decides he needs to look into conditions under which his Alpha died. And to achieve this goal he needs to become a storm - whirlwind in the title.
I wont go into any more details because book needs to be read, and I truly do not want to spoil anything for anyone. Its a truly great story.
Authors style is wonderful, way world is portrayed is pure joy. You can feel the people walking around, hear the noise. One of the recently read books that had same quality was Neon Leviathan by T.R. Napper (highly recommended if you did not read it already). There are no heavy details on technology or society, but through mentions and descriptions of the [brave new future] world we see how corporations now rule everything, how national states collapsed and how cybernetic enhancements and genetic manipulation started to dominate everything. In this way Richard K Morgan's style seems to echo this author's cyberpunk style. And I like this a lot.
I also liked the elements of story related to indoctrination of mercenary troops by corpos (use of quasi religion with elements of Zen), very similar to the way Dune universe troops get indoctrinated (I guess proven methods are there to remain eh :)). Also ideological rules from various corporations - what can be seen, read and consumed - might have seemed out of this world few years ago but now .... not so much.
Everything that makes a good action story is here: hero trying to bring his past to the light, advanced technology, space flights, commandos, secret services and spies, assassins, wars on distant worlds ..... you name it it is in there. Story flows very naturally and keeps you interested 'til the very end.
I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone looking for cyberpunk action/spy story.
First thing first - I do not know why is this called Hardwired #2 because I could not see any connection points. Could be that I am missing something ..... in any case that's my 2 cents on this.
Back to the story. Main protagonist is Steward, data broker and gang banger in his youth and later member of elite mercenary outfit Icehawks sent to fight against other corporations on mysterious planet of Sheol. Well, to be more precise protagonist is clone of Steward (so called Beta) with the 15 year-gap since original Steward (aka Alpha) did not update his memories in the meantime. What Beta knows is that Alpha was killed on one of the colonies, and that his private life is in shambles.
Beta Steward, after series of incidents and deadly accidents involving him and people around him, soon decides he needs to look into conditions under which his Alpha died. And to achieve this goal he needs to become a storm - whirlwind in the title.
I wont go into any more details because book needs to be read, and I truly do not want to spoil anything for anyone. Its a truly great story.
Authors style is wonderful, way world is portrayed is pure joy. You can feel the people walking around, hear the noise. One of the recently read books that had same quality was Neon Leviathan by T.R. Napper (highly recommended if you did not read it already). There are no heavy details on technology or society, but through mentions and descriptions of the [brave new future] world we see how corporations now rule everything, how national states collapsed and how cybernetic enhancements and genetic manipulation started to dominate everything. In this way Richard K Morgan's style seems to echo this author's cyberpunk style. And I like this a lot.
I also liked the elements of story related to indoctrination of mercenary troops by corpos (use of quasi religion with elements of Zen), very similar to the way Dune universe troops get indoctrinated (I guess proven methods are there to remain eh :)). Also ideological rules from various corporations - what can be seen, read and consumed - might have seemed out of this world few years ago but now .... not so much.
Everything that makes a good action story is here: hero trying to bring his past to the light, advanced technology, space flights, commandos, secret services and spies, assassins, wars on distant worlds ..... you name it it is in there. Story flows very naturally and keeps you interested 'til the very end.
I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone looking for cyberpunk action/spy story.
dantastic's review
4.0
The clone of a mercenary named Steward wakes up and is tasked with finding out who killed the original. The only problem is his memories are fifteen years out of date. The Beta Steward wanders through his Alpha's former life, piecing together the last fifteen years in an effort to solve his murder. His search takes him from the earth to far flung colonies. Can Steward find his own murderer without being killed himself?
Voice of the Whirlwind, while on the surface is a combination of cyberpunk and space opera, is really a layered murder mystery. Steward wanders through the wreckage of his Alpha's former life and gradually pieces things together. Twists and turns abound. Since this wasn't my first invite to a detective party, I had a lot of the angles figured out by the end but not nearly all of them. This thing has as many angles as a dodecahedron. It's a real word. Look it up!
The world Walter Jon Williams has created is a step beyond the other cyberpunk stories written in that bygone age of 1987. While Steward is a fairly typical cyberpunk protagonist in most respects, most of the story takes place on space stations.
The best part of the book is the background Williams serves up, namely the Alpha Steward's stint with the Icehawks, a mercenary army, during a conflict called the Artifact War, a war over caches of alien artifacts littering other planets, notably a fateful ball of ice called Sheol. The aliens, simply called The Powers, aren't just humans with rubber masks. They're sort of centaur-amoeba things that I have difficulty describing. Needless to say, they are very alien aliens.
The tech level was pretty standard cyberpunk stuff: mirror shades, leather, monofilament, exotic firearms, cybernetics. Actually, Williams threw in a lot of gene splicing and his science regarding living in space and space travel was actually harder than I thought it would be.
I'm nearing the end of my book report here and can't decide how to rate Voice of the Whirlwind. I enjoyed it quite a bit but I wouldn't say I thought it was amazing. I will say that it has aged a lot better than many of its contemporaries. While I smiled when Steward had to use phone booths, Williams manages to keep most of the computer details pretty high level, unlike William Gibson in Neuromancer. Hell, I'll give it a 4 but that's in and of itself, not a reflection on the rest of the books on my shelf.
Voice of the Whirlwind, while on the surface is a combination of cyberpunk and space opera, is really a layered murder mystery. Steward wanders through the wreckage of his Alpha's former life and gradually pieces things together. Twists and turns abound. Since this wasn't my first invite to a detective party, I had a lot of the angles figured out by the end but not nearly all of them. This thing has as many angles as a dodecahedron. It's a real word. Look it up!
The world Walter Jon Williams has created is a step beyond the other cyberpunk stories written in that bygone age of 1987. While Steward is a fairly typical cyberpunk protagonist in most respects, most of the story takes place on space stations.
The best part of the book is the background Williams serves up, namely the Alpha Steward's stint with the Icehawks, a mercenary army, during a conflict called the Artifact War, a war over caches of alien artifacts littering other planets, notably a fateful ball of ice called Sheol. The aliens, simply called The Powers, aren't just humans with rubber masks. They're sort of centaur-amoeba things that I have difficulty describing. Needless to say, they are very alien aliens.
The tech level was pretty standard cyberpunk stuff: mirror shades, leather, monofilament, exotic firearms, cybernetics. Actually, Williams threw in a lot of gene splicing and his science regarding living in space and space travel was actually harder than I thought it would be.
I'm nearing the end of my book report here and can't decide how to rate Voice of the Whirlwind. I enjoyed it quite a bit but I wouldn't say I thought it was amazing. I will say that it has aged a lot better than many of its contemporaries. While I smiled when Steward had to use phone booths, Williams manages to keep most of the computer details pretty high level, unlike William Gibson in Neuromancer. Hell, I'll give it a 4 but that's in and of itself, not a reflection on the rest of the books on my shelf.
cdeane61's review
4.0
Started a little slow but quite a ride once it got going.
Some really interesting stuff here, unique aliens and human/alien interactions, clone backups, space habitats, and an ever evolving story line that keeps pulling you in deeper and deeper.
Like the first one, liked this one, may just have to look into the next.
Some really interesting stuff here, unique aliens and human/alien interactions, clone backups, space habitats, and an ever evolving story line that keeps pulling you in deeper and deeper.
Like the first one, liked this one, may just have to look into the next.
wintermute314's review
Meh. I bought this on a whim as a kindle low cost offer. It's cyberpunk alright but written by a machine. A mix of clichés and tough guy talk but none too credible. After a quarter of the book I abandoned it.
spitefulgod's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
vailynst's review
3.0
Notes:
Currently on Audible Plus
The broad outline of the story is really interesting and some of the setting elements. It needed to be a little bit longer to let the character be fleshed out into true potential. Steward was an interesting man. It kinda sucked that the story ended right when I wanted to see what else he could or would do.
Currently on Audible Plus
The broad outline of the story is really interesting and some of the setting elements. It needed to be a little bit longer to let the character be fleshed out into true potential. Steward was an interesting man. It kinda sucked that the story ended right when I wanted to see what else he could or would do.
frasersimons's review against another edition
3.0
A bit more of a fun romp compared to the pretty excellently concocted and well executed Hardwired. But thats not a bad thing in the least. There’s some fun action, some twists across the investigation. Betrayals and deaths; frenetic pacing and excellent prose. Its exactly what it says on the tin and holds up pretty well.