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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
Noir like Blade Runner, but in the same universe as Murderbot. Or even Expanse. And more graphic in every way than either of those. Overall a fun read.
Starts very strong, but unfortunately can't keep it up for all the hundreds and hundreds of pages.
This stand-alone novel seems to be set in a universe different from Morgan's books featuring Takeshi Kovacs as the main character, or at last during a different era, since there is no mention of the ubiquitous “stacks” or “sleeves” that permeate those earlier works. The world building here is great and enjoyable, though in many ways it’s underpinned by the same dynamics of the Kovacs universe: namely, that governments and businesses are corrupt, most people are in it only for themselves, and the most valuable commodity is a true friendship. In other words, it’s classic crime noir in space, or at least on Mars in this case. In some ways this book is most like Altered Carbon, since there is an underlying mystery that the hero has to solve. And then there is the hero himself, easily my least favorite part of the book. Although superficially different from Kovacs, their internal dialogue and thought processes are basically indistinguishable. Both men are hard-nosed ex-super agents who lament a past to which they can never return. That aside, I didn’t like the story as much as Altered Carbon, but it’s still an enjoyable Noir read.
Painfully slow. I've read any enjoyed all of Richard Morgan's books (Market Forces maybe less so)... this one is just bad.
Veil is the same main character from all of his other books without any of the interesting features. There's none of Kovacs' mental acuity, agelessness, and Envoy training, thanks to the core sleeving concept. None of Carl and Ringil's seething anger at being the target of prejudice. There's no sense that he might be have a strong moral code but there's darkness inbuilt into him - he's explicitly genetically wired to be violent and unlikeable, and rather than using that to create tension as Morgan did with Carl in Thirteen, he just uses it as an excuse to lay out the same old alpha male tropes without any kind of the interesting counterpoint.
Morgan's world building and description is always fantastic, but the 200 pages I read went on and on and on with description of Mars and explanation of yet more tech. We're in exposition central here. Veil is more lecturer than enforcer. Outside of that we've got heaps on heaps of paper thin character models, and violence that I didn't care enough about to find interesting. One of the things I love most about Morgan's other work are the terrifying implications of what technology can be (e.g. ways to 'misuse' stacks) but I didn't see any of that here.
If I cared about the characters then maybe I'd be interesting in the action scenes, but they boil down to Veil shooting people as if he's switched on the VATS system from Fallout 3 and gone into an invulnerable cutscene... and then having some 'witty' repartee that displays how unlikeable he is and how the NPCs he's shot have no personality. Kovacs' Envoy reflexes/calculated violence and Ringil's supernatural sword skill this is not.
The plot hadn't started by the point I gave up. Altered Carbon and Thirteen hook you in with a mystery. Here, it's just Veil being a thug for a variety of people, with the main thread apparently being a bodyguard for an auditor (but not really). Given Veil is not likeable or interesting in any way and the action is a step too far past suspension of disbelief, I needed a plot to keep me going.
Veil is the same main character from all of his other books without any of the interesting features. There's none of Kovacs' mental acuity, agelessness, and Envoy training, thanks to the core sleeving concept. None of Carl and Ringil's seething anger at being the target of prejudice. There's no sense that he might be have a strong moral code but there's darkness inbuilt into him - he's explicitly genetically wired to be violent and unlikeable, and rather than using that to create tension as Morgan did with Carl in Thirteen, he just uses it as an excuse to lay out the same old alpha male tropes without any kind of the interesting counterpoint.
Morgan's world building and description is always fantastic, but the 200 pages I read went on and on and on with description of Mars and explanation of yet more tech. We're in exposition central here. Veil is more lecturer than enforcer. Outside of that we've got heaps on heaps of paper thin character models, and violence that I didn't care enough about to find interesting. One of the things I love most about Morgan's other work are the terrifying implications of what technology can be (e.g. ways to 'misuse' stacks) but I didn't see any of that here.
If I cared about the characters then maybe I'd be interesting in the action scenes, but they boil down to Veil shooting people as if he's switched on the VATS system from Fallout 3 and gone into an invulnerable cutscene... and then having some 'witty' repartee that displays how unlikeable he is and how the NPCs he's shot have no personality. Kovacs' Envoy reflexes/calculated violence and Ringil's supernatural sword skill this is not.
The plot hadn't started by the point I gave up. Altered Carbon and Thirteen hook you in with a mystery. Here, it's just Veil being a thug for a variety of people, with the main thread apparently being a bodyguard for an auditor (but not really). Given Veil is not likeable or interesting in any way and the action is a step too far past suspension of disbelief, I needed a plot to keep me going.
Head spinning
Very enjoyable. Not a quick read but that's me I suppose. A fast paced book with some really dark character.
Very enjoyable. Not a quick read but that's me I suppose. A fast paced book with some really dark character.
Loved this book again! Truly amazing novel again. Great writing, page-turner too!
Mars Noir. Burnt out relic of a special force used by the solar system controlling oligarchy is living on Mars. Typical noir adventure, mystery and violence happen under Morgan's, as usual, excellent style.
Hard boiled ex-military detective story set in the future... on mars. Fair warning, it gets explicit in parts. The overall story has the feel of one of the old noir detective stories, though, just with updated technology. I very much enjoyed it.
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes