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annaswan's review
3.0
Enjoyable plot and characters, but Arthur's Texan dialect is distractingly terrible.
egelantier's review
3.0
a sequel to zero sum game! cat, a math-wielding mercenary, solves several seemingly disconnected cases while trying to cope with having friends, developing ethics and abstaining from her usual 'no person no problem' approach, with varying degrees of success. the plot lost coherency and/or the flimsy veneer of plausibility here and there, but the id-soothing emotional parts made up for it, and cat is such a fun protagonist to share the pov with; she hits the 'cynical loner with a heart of gold and desire to be loved' point a lot of urban fantasy heroines helplessly miss, and does it seamlessly. mostly, you want to hug her a lot, deathly maths and all.
frakalot's review
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Another great adventure for Cas Russell and Co. The story starts a little slowly but builds up to a satisfyingly greater complexity through a series of lesser events. As we begin, the "jobs" seem to be minor triflings after the largesse of the Pithica affair - trying to make the Mafia sound big and scary wasn't very effective in the wake of such a globally active conspiracy. Well, I suspect that we all thought Pithica would be a recurring menace, like Batman's Joker, but apart from a few references they didn't even feature in book two.
Although in my opinion it remains as a thin veneer, it nonetheless still excites me to read a heavily pro-science adventure and I think that the applied mathematics was stronger in this story than the first.
If you fell in love with Rio (for some reason I like to roll the 'r') in book one, then prepare to be disappointed. God's self-appointed Angel of Death barely gets a mention in this story and although this didn't bother me in the least, it seemed an odd choice by the author given the character's importance to Cas Russell herself. At this stage I'm thinking there must be a good reason for doing this.
There's a bit of a struggle maintaining the reluctant hero scenario, where Cas is not necessarily a good person but continues to find herself doing good deeds. At least for us depraved readers this is tempered by a pummelling of amoral introspection.
I wasn't going to mention the robots because it felt like too big a reveal, but there it is in the blurb so here it is too. What seems inconsistent to me is that this is pegged as a near-future scifi series but the general population in this story are shocked by the concept of humanoid robots. How crazy could this really seem in a near future?? Considering I've read about such things already in development. I even recall watching some thing about people who want to marry their "lifelike" sex bots.
Look, plausibility of the premise aside, this is another very fun story. The author did a great job with characters, new and old, and the plot gets delightfully sticky as it goes along.
Although in my opinion it remains as a thin veneer, it nonetheless still excites me to read a heavily pro-science adventure and I think that the applied mathematics was stronger in this story than the first.
If you fell in love with Rio (for some reason I like to roll the 'r') in book one, then prepare to be disappointed. God's self-appointed Angel of Death barely gets a mention in this story and although this didn't bother me in the least, it seemed an odd choice by the author given the character's importance to Cas Russell herself. At this stage I'm thinking there must be a good reason for doing this.
There's a bit of a struggle maintaining the reluctant hero scenario, where Cas is not necessarily a good person but continues to find herself doing good deeds. At least for us depraved readers this is tempered by a pummelling of amoral introspection.
I wasn't going to mention the robots because it felt like too big a reveal, but there it is in the blurb so here it is too. What seems inconsistent to me is that this is pegged as a near-future scifi series but the general population in this story are shocked by the concept of humanoid robots. How crazy could this really seem in a near future?? Considering I've read about such things already in development. I even recall watching some thing about people who want to marry their "lifelike" sex bots.
Look, plausibility of the premise aside, this is another very fun story. The author did a great job with characters, new and old, and the plot gets delightfully sticky as it goes along.
coolcurrybooks's review
4.0
Half Life is the second installment in a science fiction thriller series I’ve been really enjoying, Russell’s Attic. While I’d recommend reading the first book, Zero Sum Game, before Half Life, you could probably read the two independently, since the plots are separate.
Cas Russell is a mercenary with mathematical based superpowers. After the events of the last book, she’s decided to try and be a bit more ethical in the jobs she takes on. So she takes a job from a father who’s claiming that his daughter has been kidnapped by a corporation. At the same time, one of her new friends has run into some trouble with the local mafia.
Cas is fast becoming one of my favorite SFF anti-heroines. I really loved her character development in the last book, and I’m so glad that it continued in Half Life. She’s actively trying not to kill people! I don’t know how much of her new found morality is internal versus external, her thinking about what Arthur would approve of. She is trying to have friends, but she’s still not very good at interpersonal relationships in general.
Something I’m also really glad about is that Half Life added more female characters, since last time the only ones besides Cas were all villains. This time around, Cas has female allies as well as female villains. And it looks like at least one of them will be returning in the next book!
Overall, this series is proving to be so much fun, and I just can’t wait to read the next one.
Originally posted on The Illustrated Page.
Cas Russell is a mercenary with mathematical based superpowers. After the events of the last book, she’s decided to try and be a bit more ethical in the jobs she takes on. So she takes a job from a father who’s claiming that his daughter has been kidnapped by a corporation. At the same time, one of her new friends has run into some trouble with the local mafia.
“So I can do math,” I said. “Just because I can do it really fast doesn’t mean I’m some sort of superhero.”
“I didn’t say superhero,” Checker argued. “You’d have to be heroic for that.”
Cas is fast becoming one of my favorite SFF anti-heroines. I really loved her character development in the last book, and I’m so glad that it continued in Half Life. She’s actively trying not to kill people! I don’t know how much of her new found morality is internal versus external, her thinking about what Arthur would approve of. She is trying to have friends, but she’s still not very good at interpersonal relationships in general.
Something I’m also really glad about is that Half Life added more female characters, since last time the only ones besides Cas were all villains. This time around, Cas has female allies as well as female villains. And it looks like at least one of them will be returning in the next book!
Overall, this series is proving to be so much fun, and I just can’t wait to read the next one.
Originally posted on The Illustrated Page.
nancyotoole's review
3.0
Half Life is the sequel to Zero Sum Game, which focuses on a superhero-esque anti-hero who's abilities are fueled by power of math. Admittedly, I didn't like Half Life as much as Zero Sum Game. Some of the later twists were a bit far fetched for my taste. Still, it's certainly worth reading if you enjoyed Zero Sum Game. The characters are all great, and I enjoyed seeing how our heroine, Cas, is developing from book to book. The main storyline delves into the world of AI, which adds an interesting layer to this universe. I am looking forward to checking out the third book when it is released later this year.
celiaedf12's review
3.0
Cas is back! (One sentence summary - maths is her superpower, she tracks down lost things/people, mostly for their rightful owners). Half Life is action heavy and has robots, plus Cas is super awesome - what more could you want?
captainraz's review
4.0
Man SL Huang sure knows how to up the stakes. I felt like the end of every chapter was an escalation and it kept me coming back for more. Looking forward to the next one.
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