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A review by colossal
Repo Virtual by Corey J. White
5.0
In the city of Neo Songdo, a failed capitalist autonomous city-state that's located in Korea, Julius Dax "JD" makes his living in the real world as an on-call robot repairman and in the virtual world doing repossession jobs of digital property in a detailed online game called VOIDWAR. In the world of rampant climate change and political collapse an economy that's basically been taken over by robotic production makes it difficult for humans to make ends meet. All of which makes an offer from JD's sibling Soo-hyun to make big money difficult to refuse. The job is to steal something in the real world from the apartment of the man who owns Zero Corporation (the makers of VOIDWAR).
But what JD actually steals isn't what he was told it was, and fairly soon he has Soo-hyun's cult leader after him as well as a retired covert operative employed by Zero Corporation on his tail, all while trying to make sense of what he's now in possession of.
It's about time someone did a good job at updating the cyberpunk genre for a more modern perspective. It's an interesting update too, with the first and second generations of this sub-genre really skewing towards rampant capitalism and showing the effects of that on people. This one goes a step further to describe a capitalism that has failed leaving countries, cities and people looking for alternatives.
JD makes for an interesting character. Ostensibly a thief, but with an interesting point of view, illustrated by a conversation he has with his ex:
His view isn't even all that different from the cult that JD's sibling is a member of, and it makes for an interesting story where nearly all sides of the conflict realize that they're heading for disaster.
I strongly recommend this; it's an excellent read. If you get a chance, the audiobook is also brilliant, and the Australian narrator does a brilliant job of capturing the chatter, particularly between JD and Khoder.
But what JD actually steals isn't what he was told it was, and fairly soon he has Soo-hyun's cult leader after him as well as a retired covert operative employed by Zero Corporation on his tail, all while trying to make sense of what he's now in possession of.
It's about time someone did a good job at updating the cyberpunk genre for a more modern perspective. It's an interesting update too, with the first and second generations of this sub-genre really skewing towards rampant capitalism and showing the effects of that on people. This one goes a step further to describe a capitalism that has failed leaving countries, cities and people looking for alternatives.
JD makes for an interesting character. Ostensibly a thief, but with an interesting point of view, illustrated by a conversation he has with his ex:
“I want to be with you, but the you that has a job, that gives a damn about his future.”
JD dressed quickly, smell of last night’s clothes filling his nostrils as soon as he was dressed. He met Troy in the hallway between rooms. “Why do you think I do this shit?” he said. “There are no jobs, there’s no fucking future,” he spat the words out, angrier than he’d meant, and Troy stepped back as though struck.
Troy crossed his arms over his chest. “You can’t believe that.”
“I do, though. I have to make a future for myself any way I can. But sure, you go and teach philosophy to students who’ll wind up working four jobs just to make ends meet. When all this comes tumbling down, at least they’ll be able to chat about Kierkegaard while they’re eating rats around a bonfire.”
His view isn't even all that different from the cult that JD's sibling is a member of, and it makes for an interesting story where nearly all sides of the conflict realize that they're heading for disaster.
I strongly recommend this; it's an excellent read. If you get a chance, the audiobook is also brilliant, and the Australian narrator does a brilliant job of capturing the chatter, particularly between JD and Khoder.