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A review by frasersimons
After Atlas by Emma Newman
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Colour me pleasantly surprised.
The first book was good but not like this at all. An indentured detective back on Earth is tasked with solving the murder of a cult leader he has a tumultuous and complicated history with. We get much more world building around the Gov-Corps and world powers, but I think you could certainly read this or the first books as stand alone and not feel like you’d miss anything pivotal, yet still feel rewarded for seeing the connective tissue.
My favourite part is how everyone is chipped, and how Newman makes the concept of immersive UI and technologies accessible. Rather than info dump the idea of hybrid reality, she is incorporates it seamlessly into the everyday negotiation of life, and educates the reader as needed. Hybrid reality is still rather rare in scifi and especially cyberpunk trappings, probably because people like the idea of a more analog retro future in the subgenre. Seeing it done well is a treat.
This is a more plot heavy book than the first, though the character work is still very good, and the world convincing. It is less concerned with larger thematics, which isn’t a bad thing. I think much of what can be said about capitalization, Corportocracy, labour, stratification of class—has lost its heft, after being tread on over and over. While the themes are still present, Newman has at the centre the feelings around the loss of agency around digging yourself further in the hole to feel any semblance of humanity, and how crushing it is to feel owned.
It is a bleak world, as one expects from cyberpunk, and perhaps a bit of a surprise after the first book, with the idea of humanity on another planet bringing the assumption that maybe the world has pulls together somewhat, even if it’s overshadowed by the government corporations mentioned in the first book. Anxiety, though, permeates the main characters of both books, as well as the future. Yet there is a nice balance of embodied humanity in the characters, attempting to fight for any scrap of agency they can. It’s not about fighting back against the corporations, it’s about the human condition in such a place and future, which makes everything relatable.
The first book was good but not like this at all. An indentured detective back on Earth is tasked with solving the murder of a cult leader he has a tumultuous and complicated history with. We get much more world building around the Gov-Corps and world powers, but I think you could certainly read this or the first books as stand alone and not feel like you’d miss anything pivotal, yet still feel rewarded for seeing the connective tissue.
My favourite part is how everyone is chipped, and how Newman makes the concept of immersive UI and technologies accessible. Rather than info dump the idea of hybrid reality, she is incorporates it seamlessly into the everyday negotiation of life, and educates the reader as needed. Hybrid reality is still rather rare in scifi and especially cyberpunk trappings, probably because people like the idea of a more analog retro future in the subgenre. Seeing it done well is a treat.
This is a more plot heavy book than the first, though the character work is still very good, and the world convincing. It is less concerned with larger thematics, which isn’t a bad thing. I think much of what can be said about capitalization, Corportocracy, labour, stratification of class—has lost its heft, after being tread on over and over. While the themes are still present, Newman has at the centre the feelings around the loss of agency around digging yourself further in the hole to feel any semblance of humanity, and how crushing it is to feel owned.
It is a bleak world, as one expects from cyberpunk, and perhaps a bit of a surprise after the first book, with the idea of humanity on another planet bringing the assumption that maybe the world has pulls together somewhat, even if it’s overshadowed by the government corporations mentioned in the first book. Anxiety, though, permeates the main characters of both books, as well as the future. Yet there is a nice balance of embodied humanity in the characters, attempting to fight for any scrap of agency they can. It’s not about fighting back against the corporations, it’s about the human condition in such a place and future, which makes everything relatable.