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Finished: 2019-09-14
Graphic violence: CheckGratuitous sex: CheckRampant neoliberalism: CheckNoiresque Protaganist: CheckBFG: CheckReally explicit gratuitous sex: Check
Must be another cheery tale from Richard Morgan! Obviously, this is rather rude, but I think it's also accurate :)
I read Black Man (aka Th1rte3n) nearly 8 years ago and Carl and his Cressi sharkpunch have lodged in my memory ever since (to be honest, mostly the sharkpunch). Thin Air is set in the same universe as Black Man albeit at least 100 years later (in 2107). Thin Air also reads very similarly to Black Man and, indeed, the Takeshi Kovacs trilogy. I feel like these are very pigeon-holeable books (a little like Len Deighton and his somewhat formulaic spy novels) but that's not to say they're not enjoyable, they very much are and if you've read any of Mr Morgan's other sci-fi works and liked them, you'll love this equally.
This time around, we're running shotgun (ha!) on one Hakan Veil. Veil is an ex-overrider, a frequently cryogenically-suspended "Break Glass" option when interstellar travel goes wrong and a space-ship (or at least its cargo) needs to be recovered from pirates, mutinies or misadventure. One of Veil's missions went wrong, resulting in his forcible retirement, dumped on Mars by the interestingly-named "Blond Vaisitus TransSolar Enforcement and Security Logistics" who, incidentally, purchased Veil from his mother in-vivo and proceeded to train and enhance him both physically and psychologically.
Veil is now doing the noir thing on Mars, using his employment skill set in dubious "enforcement" jobs in order to scrape enough Marins together to get back "home". He's been stuck there for 14 Earth years so far and had built up a pretty interesting stable of friends and associates which are a major draw for this book because they've nearly all got backstory of interest! There's Lieutenant Nikki Chakana of the Bradbury PD (there are a LOT of places named, if not in homage, at least in recognition of humans with a contribution to the concept of Mars in both science fiction and fact), the typical noir-detective whose allegiances you're never really certain of. Mr Hannu Holsmtrom, in a similar position to Veil in that he's also ended up exiled to Mars from his previous gig as Navy pilot and now makes his living as local celebrity and hacker extraordinaire. Veil's ex-running-mate Milton Decatur, now moved on and up in the world. Actually, you could pretty much name everyone because they're ALL solidly imagined and created characters and the world they inhabit is similarly textured which means that the plot of the book isn't a straight line so much as a meandering through all of the ways that these people's lives intertwine.
I really enjoyed this book, but there are two larger problems and one suspension of disbelief issue for me. Problem One: the combination of so many people, some of whom had very similar names and so many intertwined plot points left me wondering if I really was following along at times. Problem Two: the sex scenes and, to some extent, some of the cruder phrasing. For instance, at one stage while being depressed about the superficiality of life, Veil's contemplations are rendered as:
"Raw spectacle shoved in a blender, shorn of all useful context or depth, then splattered across the audience's collective face like an endless series of cum shots".
Well, OK, I get the point, but I'm not loving the imagery that comes with it and I think the point could have been made equally well without the crudity. Similarly, a lot of the sex scenes I found to be not just crude but often out of character for the people involved. It's hard to get into details without hitting spoiler territory. Maybe it's because I'm a prude of some sort (or maybe my life is just being lived in a bizarrely sheltered fashion), but the ludicrous sex scenes just seem, well, ludicrous. I will content myself with this minor tutting and move on.
With regard to the suspension of disbelief thing, that's possibly me failing to be imaginative enough but I really get pulled out of the moment when, even though I've elected to roll with the fact that nearly everyone is able to harbour what appear to be on-board general AIs, they tend to be able to achieve feats of connectivity that seem - well - contrived. It's hard not feel like everything these AIs do is a bit of a deus ex machina.
To be clear, the above whining consists only of minor quibbles! Overall, this is a fast-paced, fun techno-noir-thriller and you should read it!
There's an interesting interview with Mr Morgan about Thin Air that's worth a read at https://www.richardkmorgan.com/2018/10/thin-air-deep-dive/.
Graphic violence: CheckGratuitous sex: CheckRampant neoliberalism: CheckNoiresque Protaganist: CheckBFG: CheckReally explicit gratuitous sex: Check
Must be another cheery tale from Richard Morgan! Obviously, this is rather rude, but I think it's also accurate :)
I read Black Man (aka Th1rte3n) nearly 8 years ago and Carl and his Cressi sharkpunch have lodged in my memory ever since (to be honest, mostly the sharkpunch). Thin Air is set in the same universe as Black Man albeit at least 100 years later (in 2107). Thin Air also reads very similarly to Black Man and, indeed, the Takeshi Kovacs trilogy. I feel like these are very pigeon-holeable books (a little like Len Deighton and his somewhat formulaic spy novels) but that's not to say they're not enjoyable, they very much are and if you've read any of Mr Morgan's other sci-fi works and liked them, you'll love this equally.
This time around, we're running shotgun (ha!) on one Hakan Veil. Veil is an ex-overrider, a frequently cryogenically-suspended "Break Glass" option when interstellar travel goes wrong and a space-ship (or at least its cargo) needs to be recovered from pirates, mutinies or misadventure. One of Veil's missions went wrong, resulting in his forcible retirement, dumped on Mars by the interestingly-named "Blond Vaisitus TransSolar Enforcement and Security Logistics" who, incidentally, purchased Veil from his mother in-vivo and proceeded to train and enhance him both physically and psychologically.
Veil is now doing the noir thing on Mars, using his employment skill set in dubious "enforcement" jobs in order to scrape enough Marins together to get back "home". He's been stuck there for 14 Earth years so far and had built up a pretty interesting stable of friends and associates which are a major draw for this book because they've nearly all got backstory of interest! There's Lieutenant Nikki Chakana of the Bradbury PD (there are a LOT of places named, if not in homage, at least in recognition of humans with a contribution to the concept of Mars in both science fiction and fact), the typical noir-detective whose allegiances you're never really certain of. Mr Hannu Holsmtrom, in a similar position to Veil in that he's also ended up exiled to Mars from his previous gig as Navy pilot and now makes his living as local celebrity and hacker extraordinaire. Veil's ex-running-mate Milton Decatur, now moved on and up in the world. Actually, you could pretty much name everyone because they're ALL solidly imagined and created characters and the world they inhabit is similarly textured which means that the plot of the book isn't a straight line so much as a meandering through all of the ways that these people's lives intertwine.
I really enjoyed this book, but there are two larger problems and one suspension of disbelief issue for me. Problem One: the combination of so many people, some of whom had very similar names and so many intertwined plot points left me wondering if I really was following along at times. Problem Two: the sex scenes and, to some extent, some of the cruder phrasing. For instance, at one stage while being depressed about the superficiality of life, Veil's contemplations are rendered as:
"Raw spectacle shoved in a blender, shorn of all useful context or depth, then splattered across the audience's collective face like an endless series of cum shots".
Well, OK, I get the point, but I'm not loving the imagery that comes with it and I think the point could have been made equally well without the crudity. Similarly, a lot of the sex scenes I found to be not just crude but often out of character for the people involved. It's hard to get into details without hitting spoiler territory. Maybe it's because I'm a prude of some sort (or maybe my life is just being lived in a bizarrely sheltered fashion), but the ludicrous sex scenes just seem, well, ludicrous. I will content myself with this minor tutting and move on.
With regard to the suspension of disbelief thing, that's possibly me failing to be imaginative enough but I really get pulled out of the moment when, even though I've elected to roll with the fact that nearly everyone is able to harbour what appear to be on-board general AIs, they tend to be able to achieve feats of connectivity that seem - well - contrived. It's hard not feel like everything these AIs do is a bit of a deus ex machina.
To be clear, the above whining consists only of minor quibbles! Overall, this is a fast-paced, fun techno-noir-thriller and you should read it!
There's an interesting interview with Mr Morgan about Thin Air that's worth a read at https://www.richardkmorgan.com/2018/10/thin-air-deep-dive/.