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3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
This was a really fun cyberpunk/near-future sci-fi. The intersection of the dystopian corporations with the sports world made for an interesting premise, and the way the characters interacted within that framework felt so realistic. Books that explore greed, purpose, and what it means to be human always go hard, and The Body Scout was no exception.
dark
mysterious
might be my fault for my high expectations but this book did not deliver as a baseball book, nor as a noir/whodunnit story... the scifi elements were suuuper cool though!
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
An engaging cyberpunk mystery involving professional sports in the future time
The Body Scout: A Novel by Lincoln Michel is a stand alone novel with a lot to enjoy tnt could easily slot into the world of Cyberpunk, Shadowrun, or some other similar future world…
Kobo isn’t a corporate merc, law enforcement, or even a PI. He’s a talent scout for the Yankees and former cyber-league pitcher who finds his world shaken when his adopted brother dies on the plate during a game.
In the vein of Sam Spade, Phillip Marlowe, or the Rockford Files, Kobo has just enough to get by while clashing with baseball executives, cloned Neanderthal mercs, anti-modification Purists, cyberware loan sharks, and a host of other obstacles.
In a world where sports teams are named after corporations instead of cities and sports programs are pushing for any steroid, genetic modification, or organs transplant edge just shy of cybernetics, Kobo is in over his head, but he’s gonna do what he has to even if it brings his entire life crashing down…
I highly recommend this as the writer does a good job of introducing a ton of different technology, medical “upgrades”, future science speak, and various corporations and changes that COULD happen in such a world…
The Body Scout: A Novel by Lincoln Michel is a stand alone novel with a lot to enjoy tnt could easily slot into the world of Cyberpunk, Shadowrun, or some other similar future world…
Kobo isn’t a corporate merc, law enforcement, or even a PI. He’s a talent scout for the Yankees and former cyber-league pitcher who finds his world shaken when his adopted brother dies on the plate during a game.
In the vein of Sam Spade, Phillip Marlowe, or the Rockford Files, Kobo has just enough to get by while clashing with baseball executives, cloned Neanderthal mercs, anti-modification Purists, cyberware loan sharks, and a host of other obstacles.
In a world where sports teams are named after corporations instead of cities and sports programs are pushing for any steroid, genetic modification, or organs transplant edge just shy of cybernetics, Kobo is in over his head, but he’s gonna do what he has to even if it brings his entire life crashing down…
I highly recommend this as the writer does a good job of introducing a ton of different technology, medical “upgrades”, future science speak, and various corporations and changes that COULD happen in such a world…
adventurous
mysterious
medium-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
This story of a baseball scout on the hunt for his brother’s killer in a dystopian future New York City is endlessly creative. There’s new forms of transportation, home gadgets, clothing, and (especially) biological developments – both plant and animal. The ways in which the human body is now augmented, reframed, remixed, enhanced, and otherwise juiced up are the central concern – especially super enhanced baseball players. Michel’s knives are out for the sins of big pharma, big baseball, and big government, and they seem ever more nefarious as the hunt goes on.
It’s that endlessly creative part that was the problem for me. My wife tells me that when she was a child she liked to pretend that Daniel Boone was her friend. She entertained him and herself by telling him about various modern conveniences and how they worked. The Body Scout reminded me of her game. Every page brings something newfangled, its description strategically lagging by a couple of graphs or even pages so we can wonder what zootech, astroclones, a Bleedr machine, an eraser (a narcotic cigarette), and dozens of other new things are just long enough to enjoy having whatever we haven’t figured out explained. It gets old, and plot, character, and point of it all suffer for the game. Even the tough guy, detectiveish, noir posturing of Kobo, the body scout, gets lost in tomorrow’s wizardry. The Body Scout is not so much a baseball book either. The game serves mostly as a convenient marker for the ills of body and mind-altering substances and appliances – here run amok in the hands of the rich and powerful. If you hate big pharma, all day-every day, this is for you.
It’s that endlessly creative part that was the problem for me. My wife tells me that when she was a child she liked to pretend that Daniel Boone was her friend. She entertained him and herself by telling him about various modern conveniences and how they worked. The Body Scout reminded me of her game. Every page brings something newfangled, its description strategically lagging by a couple of graphs or even pages so we can wonder what zootech, astroclones, a Bleedr machine, an eraser (a narcotic cigarette), and dozens of other new things are just long enough to enjoy having whatever we haven’t figured out explained. It gets old, and plot, character, and point of it all suffer for the game. Even the tough guy, detectiveish, noir posturing of Kobo, the body scout, gets lost in tomorrow’s wizardry. The Body Scout is not so much a baseball book either. The game serves mostly as a convenient marker for the ills of body and mind-altering substances and appliances – here run amok in the hands of the rich and powerful. If you hate big pharma, all day-every day, this is for you.
adventurous
dark
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
medium-paced
No hook, nothing to keep me reading. The prose is monotone. The voice is bland and plodding.
The book is lazy SciFi which sprinkles speculative ideas like heavy sugar frosting; any single idea could be used as a short story, but together it is shallow and noisy. So much so that I found sections of the book disorientating.
The character has so many body alterations - but I don't believe it. I feel like I am being told rather than shown.
I will use the book as an example of what not to do. I will compare it to the Tucker sections of William Gibon's Count Zero to understand how Gibson makes it feel grounded and real. I will compare it to Neil Stephenson's books to understand how Stephenson writes with a voice that has energy, a voice that carries you along.
The book is lazy SciFi which sprinkles speculative ideas like heavy sugar frosting; any single idea could be used as a short story, but together it is shallow and noisy. So much so that I found sections of the book disorientating.
The character has so many body alterations - but I don't believe it. I feel like I am being told rather than shown.
I will use the book as an example of what not to do. I will compare it to the Tucker sections of William Gibon's Count Zero to understand how Gibson makes it feel grounded and real. I will compare it to Neil Stephenson's books to understand how Stephenson writes with a voice that has energy, a voice that carries you along.
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated