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patchworkbunny's review against another edition
2.0
The Final Evolution is the fifth book in the Avery Cates sci-fi series by Jeff Somers however this is the first I've read.
Avery Cates is your average hard-ass tough guy. There are lots of guns, augmented brains, avatars with downloaded artificial intelligence, psychics that can control your actions and did I mention guns? It's certainly action packed and has some good themes going on but I think I have missed out by starting this far in. It takes a while for any sort of plot to form and I think if you don't like action based fiction, you won't enjoy this. Whilst I would much rather have the back story of the plague (I still have no idea what it was) and Avery's history with Orel. I'm sure these won't be a problem for the seasoned fan.
There were moments that shined amongst the gunfire. After the civil war, many cities are left radioactive and Avery and co enter such a place. The way that humans are used is frightening and it's one of the few moments that we see a chink in Avery's armour. The appendix actually made me want to read more and I would have liked that style to have been more prevalent throughout. Avery also hears voices of dead men and women in his head after he had been connected up to other consciences (I'm guessing this was in a previous book) and they guide the way to some degree.
I think Avery would translate well onto the screen; I'm much more inclined to watch men running around with guns than reading about them. A bit long and probably not my cup of tea, but one for the action sci-fi fan.
Avery Cates is your average hard-ass tough guy. There are lots of guns, augmented brains, avatars with downloaded artificial intelligence, psychics that can control your actions and did I mention guns? It's certainly action packed and has some good themes going on but I think I have missed out by starting this far in. It takes a while for any sort of plot to form and I think if you don't like action based fiction, you won't enjoy this. Whilst I would much rather have the back story of the plague (I still have no idea what it was) and Avery's history with Orel. I'm sure these won't be a problem for the seasoned fan.
There were moments that shined amongst the gunfire. After the civil war, many cities are left radioactive and Avery and co enter such a place. The way that humans are used is frightening and it's one of the few moments that we see a chink in Avery's armour. The appendix actually made me want to read more and I would have liked that style to have been more prevalent throughout. Avery also hears voices of dead men and women in his head after he had been connected up to other consciences (I'm guessing this was in a previous book) and they guide the way to some degree.
I think Avery would translate well onto the screen; I'm much more inclined to watch men running around with guns than reading about them. A bit long and probably not my cup of tea, but one for the action sci-fi fan.
kilcannon's review against another edition
4.0
If the whole series had been like this ...
The book probably only deserves three stars, if only because it still has many of the problems that plague the series and has a totally useless epilogue (although it was labelled "Appendix, so I guess its uselessness was known).
Still ... a very satisfying ending to a very hit-or-miss series.
The book probably only deserves three stars, if only because it still has many of the problems that plague the series and has a totally useless epilogue (although it was labelled "Appendix, so I guess its uselessness was known).
Still ... a very satisfying ending to a very hit-or-miss series.
tharrick's review against another edition
2.0
A very disappointing end to a series that started so well and began to descend into mediocrity by the end of book 3.
albatrossonhalfpointe's review
4.0
Having reached the end of the Avery Cates saga (sad face), I’m now going to attempt to actually nail down why I love these books so much. I have sort of come up with a few reasons before, but I’ve really been considering the matter, and I think I have a few more:
The extremely black humour. Dude is seriously funny, often in the most morbid way imaginable. Death is not sacred in Somers’ world, and is just as open to mocking as anything else. And while I won’t say that nothing offends me, I’m pretty much fully on board with making sport of death, one own mortality and other failings, and the sheer fucked-upedness of the world.
The extreme violence. No, really. Confession time (although I think I may have admitted this before): I find extreme, over-the-top violence in movies highly entertaining. At least when it’s mixed with humour (see above). Shoot ‘Em Up, Kill Bill, and Repo are all movies that I genuinely love, which really surprises some people. Now, normally, my taste in books is a little more high-brow than my taste in movies, but there are exceptions, and this is one of them. Somers has captured something about those ridiculously violent and hilarious movies that I love and rendered it in book form. If someone ever made these into movies, I would watch the hell out of them, happily buy the special edition boxed set, and binge-watch all five movies in one horrifyingly bloody day. Which I would then follow with a full day of yoga and meditation or something, because I do have my limits. But anyway. Somers writes intense gun fights, ice-cold gun executions, bloody explosions and insane telekinetic battles better than I would have thought possible, and I enjoy every word.
His treatment of women. I’m not saying these books would pass the Bechdel Test. They would not. I’m not sure I can think of an instance where two named women were even in the same room, let alone with time for any sort of meaningful conversation. The male characters vastly outnumber the female ones. But the women who are there are legit people, not one of whom exists solely for the purpose of being rescued and/or seduced by Cates. They range in appearance, in amount of power they have, and in personality. Every one of them has her own thoughts, feelings, and goals (which may or may not align with Cates’), as well as the agency to make decisions and act on them. Although Cates may observe and comment on some of their physical attributes, he respects them (or doesn’t) for their brains and their actions, and treats them the same way he would men. Sometimes that means beating the tar out of them (or at least attempting to), so if you find man-on-woman violence unacceptable no matter what, you might not love this part so much. Ultimately, he neither diminishes them nor makes allowances for them because of their gender, and I really do love that.
So there it is. There are a few reasons why I love these books, and why you might like them too, even if bleak, post-apocalyptic cyberpunk isn’t usually your thing.
The extremely black humour. Dude is seriously funny, often in the most morbid way imaginable. Death is not sacred in Somers’ world, and is just as open to mocking as anything else. And while I won’t say that nothing offends me, I’m pretty much fully on board with making sport of death, one own mortality and other failings, and the sheer fucked-upedness of the world.
The extreme violence. No, really. Confession time (although I think I may have admitted this before): I find extreme, over-the-top violence in movies highly entertaining. At least when it’s mixed with humour (see above). Shoot ‘Em Up, Kill Bill, and Repo are all movies that I genuinely love, which really surprises some people. Now, normally, my taste in books is a little more high-brow than my taste in movies, but there are exceptions, and this is one of them. Somers has captured something about those ridiculously violent and hilarious movies that I love and rendered it in book form. If someone ever made these into movies, I would watch the hell out of them, happily buy the special edition boxed set, and binge-watch all five movies in one horrifyingly bloody day. Which I would then follow with a full day of yoga and meditation or something, because I do have my limits. But anyway. Somers writes intense gun fights, ice-cold gun executions, bloody explosions and insane telekinetic battles better than I would have thought possible, and I enjoy every word.
His treatment of women. I’m not saying these books would pass the Bechdel Test. They would not. I’m not sure I can think of an instance where two named women were even in the same room, let alone with time for any sort of meaningful conversation. The male characters vastly outnumber the female ones. But the women who are there are legit people, not one of whom exists solely for the purpose of being rescued and/or seduced by Cates. They range in appearance, in amount of power they have, and in personality. Every one of them has her own thoughts, feelings, and goals (which may or may not align with Cates’), as well as the agency to make decisions and act on them. Although Cates may observe and comment on some of their physical attributes, he respects them (or doesn’t) for their brains and their actions, and treats them the same way he would men. Sometimes that means beating the tar out of them (or at least attempting to), so if you find man-on-woman violence unacceptable no matter what, you might not love this part so much. Ultimately, he neither diminishes them nor makes allowances for them because of their gender, and I really do love that.
So there it is. There are a few reasons why I love these books, and why you might like them too, even if bleak, post-apocalyptic cyberpunk isn’t usually your thing.
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