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A review by thetainaship
Catspaw by Joan D. Vinge
5.0
I chose to read this book because it seemed very cyberpunk, and I am interested in cyberpunk. I have not read many cyberpunk books yet, but I would like to read some more, because Catspaw did not disappoint.
I decided quite early that Cat is a character I could grow to love. He is confident, brave, loyal, compassionate at times, but he also has a healthy measure of faults. Sometimes I thought I could probably do a much better job at not offending everyone I meet, but I am a completely different person who doesn't have Cat's experiences.
Mikah was an amazing friend and I just liked him. His appearance was very lucky, but there was a good explanation for why he wanted to help Cat.
Lady Elnear was someone I could also have been loyal to. She genuinely tried to understand.
The plot was very complicated and I am afraid I did not quite follow it all the time. There were many plot twists and new layers of intrigue and sometimes it just got too complicated. I am pretty sure I know who wanted to kill who and why. Still, it was never boring at all; it was interesting and exciting from beginning to end.
There was not really a big romantic subplot. There was something until two thirds of the book, but that much, and it was cut short. I would have liked even less romance, and the sex scenes were just as unnecessary in my opinion.
The end of the book was very impressive. I read the last 140 pages in one sitting, and I have not been reading much lately, so that is special at the moment!
I find I do not know much to say about the worldbuilding. I do not understand the way the combines work: Are they megacorporations or computer systems? What are they?
I loved this book very much all the way through. I just found out it is the second part of a series, but obviously it can be read on its own without any problems. I definitely want to read the rest of the series, though!
EDIT: My review from my first read doesn't do the book enough justice, but reading it was still an intense experience the second time. I understood what actually happened a little better this time, and the important thoughts and ideas didn't go quite as far over my head.
I decided quite early that Cat is a character I could grow to love. He is confident, brave, loyal, compassionate at times, but he also has a healthy measure of faults. Sometimes I thought I could probably do a much better job at not offending everyone I meet, but I am a completely different person who doesn't have Cat's experiences.
Mikah was an amazing friend and I just liked him. His appearance was very lucky, but there was a good explanation for why he wanted to help Cat.
Lady Elnear was someone I could also have been loyal to. She genuinely tried to understand.
The plot was very complicated and I am afraid I did not quite follow it all the time. There were many plot twists and new layers of intrigue and sometimes it just got too complicated. I am pretty sure I know who wanted to kill who and why. Still, it was never boring at all; it was interesting and exciting from beginning to end.
There was not really a big romantic subplot. There was something until two thirds of the book, but that much, and it was cut short. I would have liked even less romance, and the sex scenes were just as unnecessary in my opinion.
The end of the book was very impressive. I read the last 140 pages in one sitting, and I have not been reading much lately, so that is special at the moment!
I find I do not know much to say about the worldbuilding. I do not understand the way the combines work: Are they megacorporations or computer systems? What are they?
I loved this book very much all the way through. I just found out it is the second part of a series, but obviously it can be read on its own without any problems. I definitely want to read the rest of the series, though!
EDIT: My review from my first read doesn't do the book enough justice, but reading it was still an intense experience the second time. I understood what actually happened a little better this time, and the important thoughts and ideas didn't go quite as far over my head.