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A review by trackofwords
Day Zero: A Watch Dogs: Legion Novel by Joshua Reynolds, James Swallow
4.0
Trouble is brewing in an alternative but worryingly believable London, with organised crime rife, private military contractor Albion muscling in on the Met, and hacker collective DedSec leading an underground resistance. Tensions begin to escalate when a spate of shootings rock the East End, and players from all sides step up their efforts as a deeper mystery comes to light in the battle for control of the city.
As much as this is a smart, gripping thriller, it clearly comes from a sci-fi angle, with all the high-powered hacker tools and smart AI-personalities (think Iron Man’s Jarvis but with added sarcasm for DedSec’s AI Bagley). It’s also a love letter to a changing but still recognisable London, from the shifting of power to the geography of its streets and buildings. It certainly doesn’t feel like a tie-in novel; fans of Watch Dogs will see the connections, but there’s no need to know anything about the game when the plot, setting and characters are all so much fun and so clearly depicted. It does a great job of suggesting a future that might yet come to pass – if you’re so inclined, it’s easy to see this as a warning – but it’s also just a lot of fun, and ultimately proves to be an effective combination of Swallow’s sense for tight plotting and Reynolds’ enviable touch with dialogue and character.
Read the full review at https://www.trackofwords.com/2020/11/09/day-zero-james-swallow-and-josh-reynolds/
As much as this is a smart, gripping thriller, it clearly comes from a sci-fi angle, with all the high-powered hacker tools and smart AI-personalities (think Iron Man’s Jarvis but with added sarcasm for DedSec’s AI Bagley). It’s also a love letter to a changing but still recognisable London, from the shifting of power to the geography of its streets and buildings. It certainly doesn’t feel like a tie-in novel; fans of Watch Dogs will see the connections, but there’s no need to know anything about the game when the plot, setting and characters are all so much fun and so clearly depicted. It does a great job of suggesting a future that might yet come to pass – if you’re so inclined, it’s easy to see this as a warning – but it’s also just a lot of fun, and ultimately proves to be an effective combination of Swallow’s sense for tight plotting and Reynolds’ enviable touch with dialogue and character.
Read the full review at https://www.trackofwords.com/2020/11/09/day-zero-james-swallow-and-josh-reynolds/