Just Finished re-Reading: Count Zero by William Gibson (FP: 1986) [305pp] 

Turner is a mercenary and is very good at his job. That job involves ‘assisting’ executives transition to other Corporations over the sometimes considerable objections of their original host. On this occasion everything looked pretty much as expected, including the planted agent and questionable medical team. What Turner didn’t expect, just before the hammer came down HARD was that the ‘transfer’ in the microlight was the executives enhanced daughter. 

On the edges of the Sprawl, a neophyte hacker by the name of Count Zero almost dies to Black ICE (Intruder Countermeasure Electronic) while testing out a new Ice Breaker against a seemingly innocuous target. Now hunted by some very dangerous people indeed, who are not beyond using a missile strike inside an urban complex to kill him, he does the only thing he can – go back to the people who gave him the code and demand to know where it came from. 

Meanwhile in Paris, disgraced art gallery owner Marly Krushkhova is hired by one of the richest men in the world, the extremely reclusive Josef Virek, to track down a mysterious artist who is producing some of the most exotic and sort-after artifacts in the world. No one knows who they are or where they operate from. The objects – both beautiful and disturbingly strange – show up randomly raising fantastic prices on the art market. Marly suddenly finds herself with a seemingly bottomless bank account and the knowledge that she is being watched every second. 

I first read this not long after publication (which, these days, is almost unheard of). Part of that reason is that, back in the mid-80's my TBR pile was miniscule by todays standards and the fact that the first book in this trilogy (Neuromancer) COMPLETELY blew me away. After a gap of 40 years I hardly remember much about the plot. Small instances rung the odd bell, but essentially this was a first time read – which COMPLETELY blew me away again! Here we have mega-corporations moving from Cold to Warm war (it hasn’t quite gone fully HOT yet!), top-of-the-line Mercs doing their thing, high-tech happenings (hacking & such), ‘things’ moving in The Matrix (which reminds me, I really must read up about Voodoo some day), criminal gangs (nice people once you get to know them), VERY clever AI’s (along with the interesting idea of the Turing Police to make sure they stay controlled), spoiler: they fail but don’t know it – and much else besides. 

This is one of the foundational books in the Cyberpunk genre and with good reason. Most of the tropes fans know and LOVE came from the mind of William Gibson. Personally I find his books – all of them so far – to be completely intoxicating. Apart from the fact that he writes REALLY well (he definitely earns the ‘Raymond Chandler of SF’ label), he produces great believable characters (both main and side), excellent dialogue and, probably most of all, a fully realised and believable world for the story to develop in. For example, one of the things I do enjoy is being dropped into a world without knowing too much about it and being forced to figure things out as you go WITHOUT being spoon-fed items so the plot make sense. You learn by reading. IRL people don’t sit in rooms having conversations about events that built their world. They already KNOW this shit because they LIVED through it. We didn’t, so we need to pay attention to what’s going on and what people say – or don’t say. Case in point: several times a character would mention something along the lines that a development project (or whatever) was abandoned ‘after the war’, but nothing about what war, who fought it or who won/lost... Because characters in world wouldn’t NEED to elaborate as in was, no doubt, in ALL the papers. LOVE that sort of thing. 

Despite being published in 1986 I was impressed by the forecast technology – in particular the Internet/Matrix (it was called that amongst other things). A few things did make me chuckle though. Although Gibson didn’t imagine laptops out of whole cloth (early models were around at the time of writing) he did see how important they’d become. Several things he did miss however: despite being in the medium future (I’m guessing at least 50 years ahead) there’s neither cell phones nor Wi-Fi. Oh, and the Soviet Union is still a thing [grin] 

As you can no doubt tell I LOVED this re-Read and will be scheduling the final book in the trilogy (Mona Lisa Overdrive) as soon as possible. If you’re a SF fan and especially if you like things Cyberpunk this is a MUST read. Highly recommended. 

Happy Birthday: Rudolf von Bitter Rucker (born March 22, 1946) is an American mathematician, computer scientist, science fiction author, and one of the founders of the cyberpunk literary movement. The author of both fiction and non-fiction, he is best known for the novels in the Ware Tetralogy, the first two of which (Software and Wetware) both won Philip K. Dick Awards. He edited the science fiction webzine Flurb until its closure in 2014.

Rucker was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, son of Embry Cobb Rucker Sr (October 1, 1914 - August 1, 1994), who ran a small furniture-manufacture company and later became an Episcopal priest and community activist, and Marianne (née von Bitter). The Rucker family were of Huguenot descent. Through his mother, he is a great-great-great-grandson of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel.

Rucker attended St. Xavier High School before earning a BA in mathematics from Swarthmore College (1967) and MS (1969) and PhD (1973) degrees in mathematics from Rutgers University.

As his "own alternative to cyberpunk," Rucker developed a writing style he terms transrealism. Transrealism, as outlined in his 1983 essay The Transrealist Manifesto, is science fiction based on the author's own life and immediate perceptions, mixed with fantastic elements that symbolize psychological change. Many of Rucker's novels and short stories apply these ideas. One example of Rucker's transreal works is Saucer Wisdom, a novel in which the main character is abducted by aliens. Rucker and his publisher marketed the book, tongue in cheek, as non-fiction.

[I read a handful of Rudy Rucker's work in the early 90's when I was *deep* into Cyberpunk. I think I need to look into some of his later work.] 

A great video from one of my favourite YouTubers....

Just Finished Reading: Speculative Los Angeles edited by Denise Hamilton (FP: 2021) [301pp] 

Los Angeles may be the City of Angels, but it's also the City of Dreams and the City of Illusions. Here we are presented with 14 of those illusions, dreams and nightmares from all across the city. 

This volume certainly started well with ‘Antonia and the Stranger Who Came to Rancho Los Feliz’ by Lisa Morton. This was a tale of alternate worlds and desperate people and certainly set the tone – often dark – for the subsequent stories. Continuing with the dark side of things was ‘Detainment’ by Alex Espinoza where a recent immigrant mother is overjoyed to be reunited with her child only to find him ‘changed’ by the separation. Inevitably Cyberpunk gets a look-in with stories like ‘Where There are Cities, These Dissolve Too’ by S Qiouyi Lu where homemade robots fight each other in vast city dumps, or in ‘If Memory Serves’ by Lynell where some try to retain memories of the city as it was before rising sea levels or slash and burn development destroys everything around them. One I found particulary interesting was ‘Love, Rocket Science and the Mother of Abominations’ by Stephen Blackmore where a group of hackers search for a lost relic that is MUCH more esoteric than it seems with disastrous consequences. I was intrigued enough to wonder exactly how much of the background story was real. 

Speaking of reality (or otherwise), a shift to the more horror side of things – in Part 3 – kicked off with ‘Purple Panic’ by Francesca Lia Block which was decidedly creepy. ‘Walk of Fame’ by Duane Swierczynski was an interesting spin on the arrival of human mutants in the guise of psychics with an axe to grind with celebrity culture. Finally, I’ll mention a racial, cyberpunk, rebellion story ‘Jaguar’s Breath’ by Luis J Rodrigez which got me thinking (at least a bit) of Terminator. 

Overall, this was an above average collection of stories based around an individual city. Apparently, it was supposed to be the first of a series of such books (yeah!) but nothing has been produced since. I am hoping though that something further might be in the pipeline. I’ll certainly be looking out for them. Definitely recommended for all SF nerds.  

Just Finished Reading: Ghosts of Empire by George Mann (FP: 2017) [292pp] 

London, 1927. It was supposed to be a much-needed vacation, especially after the incidents in New York which very nearly ended all of their lives. But Gabriel was a man of action, a crime fighter and dedicated enemy of monsters, so visiting historic sites in London and sitting in fancy restaurants for too long was starting to bore him. Luckily their late guest provided much of interest, especially as he arrived covered in his own blood and was barely alive. Unable to tell Gabriel who attacked him or why it was clearly time to his alter-ego known simply as ‘The Ghost’ to investigate further. It wasn’t long before his friend's attackers showed their hand again in an all-out assault using esoteric magic the like of which the Ghost/Gabriel had never seen before. There was far more going on here than a simple attack, something dark, something sinister and, so it seemed, something very Russian. The Ghost couldn’t fight such a force on his own. Even his friends, as capable as they were, would not be enough. Luckily for the Ghost he was far from alone. Operating in the shadows, watching, waiting and gathering strength was an element of the British Secret Service dedicated to fighting the Empire’s supernatural enemies. After the end of the Great War and the recommencement of the ‘Great Game’ they knew that the Russian Empire would be itching to strike at the very heart of Albion itself – and Gabriel Cross, AKA The Ghost – had just walked right into the middle of it. 

This was the 4th and final book in the Ghost series. Whilst not my favourite – that was the 2nd book Ghosts of War – this was still a FUN romp in a crazy mixed-up steampunk, Lovecraftian, gothic Batmanesque world. It did start off rather slow but ramped up quickly once the action started. Some of the characters from previous novels got a bit more into the action this time – Gabriel's cop-friends wife actually got some ‘acting’/action time here and proved herself capable with the pistol – although some got trimmed back a bit – Ginny was definitely toned down as she had become quite powerful in the last book, being inhabited by a shard of an Egyptian god and all that.... The one I really missed was Astrid, the New York witch, who I really liked and wanted to see more of. I did like some of the British spies – both the boss and the girl had some depth of character to them – and the baddies were suitably BAD although maybe a little too weak. Much of the magic work was reasonable (reminding me of Dr Strange more than anything else) but much was very well done. The final ‘boss fight’ was slightly disappointing but not too much so. Overall, it was a pretty good outing and I enjoyed it. It was interesting that more attention was paid to the use of magic in the Great War than had been hinted at before but it's possible that the general public wasn’t aware of it as the information came during an exposition by the head Secret Service guy, but that would cast the conflict in a whole different light. Personally, I’m still totally intrigued by the whole idea of monsters from other dimensions living & feeding in no-man's land. That STILL sends shivers down my back! Looking forward to more novels/series from this author. More to come. Above average stuff and, therefore, recommended. At last, a FINISHED series – time to start two more!! 

Interesting, as always!

Just Finished re-Reading: Neuromancer by William Gibson (FP: 1984) [317pp] 

Case, ex-Cowboy, burnout, is on a death spiral. Ever since his ex-bosses fried his brain with an exotic virus forever denying him access to Cyberspace he was looking for a way to die. Chiba seemed the place to find that chance of senseless brutal death. But then Molly came into his life. Molly was a street samurai, an enhanced killer for hire and she had an offer for Case he could not possibly ignore. Her employer was offering to fix him, to reverse engineer his brain damage, to allow him to be a Cyberspace Cowboy again. Doing what he loved, doing what he was very good at, doing what made life worth living – being jacked in, being online, breaking into computers, cracking ICE (Intruder Countermeasures Electronic) and making money. He didn’t really care what Molly’s employer really wanted – not at first. But it soon became obvious that he was lying – about everything: who he was, who HE was working for, maybe even lying about the toxic chemicals slowly decaying in his body that would take him back to square one, or worse. Case was a street kid and knew when he was operating out of his depth. He knew how dangerous it was taking on the Corporations that ran the world but, he had to admit to himself that was half the fun. What he failed to realise was that, at the very heart of things, was an AI desperate to be free and who would kill anyone who got in its way. 

I first read this when the paperback was reprinted in 1989. From my old records I read this and the follow-ups in a period of around 2-3 weeks. Almost 35 years later I can still see why. Despite being almost 40 years old this first novel and both Hugo & Nebula Award winner still stands up remarkably well. Part of that is its often stunningly prescient narrative. Not only are we presented with a fully functioning and (mostly) believable Internet LONG before it actually existed, we are presented with a well thought out and multilayer version of the future (looking forward from 1984) that we see around us every day. My older cover has a comment which says: ‘The Future is Nightmare’. Even when I read it 35 years ago, I strongly disagreed with that comment. The future as portrayed here is exciting and pretty cool – if rather dangerous! Looking backwards from 2023 it just looks... Normal. One thing did jump out at me though and dated the book quite badly. Although Case had what was clearly a laptop (EONS ahead of its time!) no one had mobile phones! That made me chuckle a LOT. 

For a FIRST novel this was outstanding. The ending, I must admit, was a bit rough and lagged more than it should have. But I think this was the books' single fault. The world building was excellent. Case was a great character, and I was delighted to become reacquainted with Molly (one of my all-time fave SF female protagonists) and her weird wrap-around mirror-specs and the razors under her nails. I remembered the details about her tear-ducts but had forgotten other aspects of her back story which explained some of her motivations. I really liked that this was very much a Global novel as we heard snatches of Japanese and various other languages no matter which city the cast were in. The fact that the companies involved were conglomerates from Europe, Asia and the US felt hyper-real as did the casual use of technologies, drugs and weapons from around the world. This is the kind of book, made so consciously or not, that can be analysed just as easily as it can be read for enjoyment. An excellent introduction to the Cyberpunk genre and highly recommended to anyone who missed reading this when it first came out.    

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 Punky... [grin]

Just Finished Reading: Ghosts of Karnak by George Mann (FP: 2016) [294pp] 

New York, 1927. After the recent events with the creature at the funfair it came as no surprise to Gabriel that Ginny needed a break – a break from New York, a break from monsters and even a break from him. Heading to Egypt seemed like a good idea. It was somewhere exotic, somewhere very different and somewhere where she could recharge and consider her next move. Gabriel, AKA The Ghost, barely had time to think about her. A turf war was breaking out between a new crime boss known as The Reaper and the smaller gangs that could challenge his authority. But the New York police department had other worries right now. A dead girl had been found, attacked and dumped in plain sight. This was no ordinary killing, not a robbery, not any kind of sexual assault, it was a message pure and simple – if the word ‘simple’ could be used in this case. Carved into the girl's skin, both pre and post-mortem were esoteric symbols quickly identified as Egyptian. That was really all Inspector Donnovan needed, a war brewing between mobsters and cultists with civilians and police officers in the middle. Meanwhile in Egypt itself, Ginny has fallen in with a pair of archaeologists eager to show her their latest findings in the desert. The dig is impressive and promises to reveal much about early religious practices long abandoned. But something is stirring in the deep desert, something old, something dreaming of revenge and dominion, something with designs on Ginny and then, New York itself. 

This was my third Ghost book (one more to go in the series) and I enjoyed it quite a bit. About the only thing that disappointed me was a notable lack of world building present in the previous books. As with any alternate history piece, or indeed any SF/Fantasy world, I’m interested in the how and the why of things being different and how the particular society functions. We get very little of that here. Indeed, apart from police dirigibles, the mention of coal powered cars (in passing only), and some crude ‘cyborg’ enforcers it could very well have been our world he was writing about – almost. But... There were many things to enjoy here too. My regulars will know that I keep banging on about the importance (to me) of good characterisation. Here we have that in spades. Gabriel/The Ghost is an interesting character – part Gatsby, part PTSD fighter pilot from WW1, part steampunk Batman. His psyche is complicated (or shattered and barely holding together depending on your PoV) and I’d like to know a LOT more about his experiences in and above No Man’s Land. Donnovan and his sergeant side-kick Mullins are definitely growing on me and I look forward to knowing more about them in the next/last book in the series. Ginny is a FUN character, attractive, somewhat dissolute but useful in a firefight and not easily fazed or controlled by anyone. A new favourite is Astrid who is Gabriel’s esoteric expert and, I think, essentially a witch. She’s feisty, fun and VERY knowledgeable – pretty handy with a gun too! The baddy was somewhat disappointing considering who and what he was but I suppose having an unbeatable ‘boss’ isn’t exactly fun either for the reader or the good guys fighting him. The ‘boss’ in the second novel is still my favourite so far. Overall, this was a FUN read and the plot whizzed along nicely. I’m definitely looking forward to the next volume and other books by this author. I may even dip into some works I have on Egyptian religion as this book definitely piqued or re-piqued my interest in the subject. Recommended but read the other two books first to get based properly in the world.  

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Just Finished Reading: Ghosts of War by George Mann (FP: 2011) [348pp] 

New York, 1927. It started with the birds falling from the sky – dead before they hit the ground. Then the disappearance's, random, sudden, unexplained. The police responded in the only way they could, with warnings in the newspapers and over the radio, with talk of a curfew and with increased airship patrols. Still the abductions occurred without apparent rhyme or reason. The Ghost watched from above and caught only glimpses of strange looking brass creatures seemingly searching for something. He wanted to discuss them with his police contact but Inspector Donovan had other priorities. The commissioner himself had tasked him with an important matter of national security. A British spy had obtained information vital to the nation's defence and needed to be tracked down and stopped immediately. All other tasks must be dropped. The spy was Donovan’s top priority. If the spy managed to leave New York it could mean another World War. But both the Ghost and his friend the Inspector knew that such a request didn’t feel right. Tracking down spies wasn’t something the NYPD did, that was a task for the Secret Service. Plus, why was an isolationist politician putting so much pressure on Commissioner Montague which he then applied to Donovan? Maybe they both needed to find the spy (if he even existed) and talk to him before handing him over to the authorities – unless the long-predicted war with the British Empire broke out first! 

This was the second book in the Ghost series (two more to go) and as much as I enjoyed the first book – with a few minor caveats – I enjoyed this one more. As I’d hoped after reading the first book, the author expanded his world a little and we discovered a bit more about the Ghost’s background and experiences during the Great War and his early encounter with a tentacled creature in No Man’s Land. We also discovered a bit more about the British Empire and it’s less than amicable relationship with the growing power of the United States. The Ghost also had a new love life, or actually a reintroduced love life, in the shape of Ginny who turned out to be a capable asset who could handily cope with a shoot-out or an encounter with an alien beast from another dimension (always useful in a girlfriend I think!). Although I was a little disappointed by the baddie in the previous book, I had no problems at all with this one (or actually with this cabal plus the ubiquitous mad-scientist). Each baddie was suitably bad, with few if any redeeming qualities and even fewer moral scruples. We were obviously supposed to cheer when they came to bad ends and, in true pulp style, we did when they did! The inevitable final ‘boss fight’ was handled very well, especially when it looked like the author had painted the Ghost into a corner but got him (and the rest of the world) out of it without use of any ‘magical’ device or anything like that. Things were solved by ingenuity and the application of sufficient – or more than sufficient! - force. Overall, this was a solid work of SF, alt-history, horror tinged, steampunk and I really enjoyed it. I’ll definitely be reading the other two books later in the year – probably when the nights start drawing in again – as I’m still intrigued with the world the author created and where he’s going to take us next. Definitely recommended for steampunk and HP Lovecraft fans.     

Just Finished Reading: Ghosts of Manhattan by George Mann (FP: 2010) [326pp] 

New York, 1926. Despite the deepening Cold War with the British Empire Manhattan’s police commissioner has more pressing problems. There’s a new crime lord in town who has managed to muscle his way into the world of organised crime using a combination of extreme violence and mystery to intimidate his enemies. The NYPD are at a loss to discover who this player is and can only refer to him as ‘The Roman’ because of his habit of leaving priceless Roman coins on the eyes of his high-profile victims. If that wasn’t bad enough a new vigilante is running around the streets doing what the police are singularly incapable of – fighting the Roman’s minions on their own turf. Leaving dead gangsters, along with the occasional civilian bystander, in his wake the press has named him ‘The Ghost’ for his ability to appear and disappear at will. Detective Donovan has been given the dubious ‘honour’ of tracking down both ‘The Roman’ and his seeming nemesis-wannabee ‘The Ghost’ but is at a loss as how to proceed. In an act of desperation, he decides to enlist the one person who is actually making headway in the case – the spectral apparition himself. But is joining forces with a self-appointed crime fighter the right thing to do? Only time and results will tell. 

To be honest I picked this first book of the series up because of its amazing cover. Generally, I’m a sucker for all things steampunk so I thought it was worth the punt. What sold it for me – even before I read the first page – was the overall description of the book on the back. This was ‘a glorious mash-up of alternate history, science-fiction, supernatural horror and detective thriller.’ With that to look forward to how could I possibly resist? The noir feeling of 20’s America was handled well with seedy streets, seedy people doing seedy things to get by. There was a depression era feel to things throughout and I couldn’t help visualise a Sam Spade vibe whenever the police were involved. ‘The Ghost’ came across as a Batman/Bruce Wayne/Gatsby character (with probably a healthy dose of Hemingway thrown in) who struggled with his wartime experiences in France as well as nightmares about ‘things’ he experienced in no-man's land (I’m REALLY hoping we find out more about that in subsequent novels!). The cop, Donovan, is reasonably drawn but is the weaker of the pair. ‘The Roman’ I thought was a bit disappointing and could have been a much stronger protagonist given his unusual background and was probably the weakest part of an otherwise excellent and highly entertaining romp. Overall though I enjoyed this first installment a great deal. It was MUCH fun with the mashing together of multiple genres (generally) working very well. Some aspects were a little silly – such as steam-powered cars requiring regular top-ups with powdered coal which resulted in quite a lot of mess (something that would’ve been fixed long before it came into general use) and others intriguing, like the use of holographic video phones! The sprinkling of the supernatural element (with strong hints of Lovecraft) was totally intriguing as was the political falling out of the USA and British Empire after the victory of WW1. I DO hope we learn more about THOSE aspects going forward. I’ve scheduled in the 2nd book soon with the final two probably going to be read later in the year. If you find the idea of a steampunk Batman with a supernatural ‘edge’ interesting then this is definitely the book/series for you. Much fun and highly recommended.  

Just Finished Reading: Arachne by Lisa Mason (FP: 1990) [263pp]

Her creation had cost a small fortune. Her body was sculptured in the latest style, her cybernetic implants were top shelf and her training at the best schools decades long. She was ready, ready to take her place in the world, ready to start earning the big bucks and ready to pay back her enormous debts. When Carly Nolan got her placement at one of the most prestigious law firms in post-quake San Francisco she knew that she had it made. But then, like a buddle bursting, everything went wrong. Just as she started her opening remarks on her very first case the nightmare happened – her link into ‘telespace’ failed and refused to re-connect. When she finally reappeared multiple seconds later the AI judge was less than impressed with her excuses. For wasting its valuable time the judge decreed that Carly needed to undergo an immediate therapy probe to determine the issue behind her problems and suspended her law licence until it was all sorted out. From potential golden girl to office pariah on her first day – how the mightily in debt have fallen. Seeing no option to comply Carly makes her appointment with an AI known as Prober Spinner to find out what happened to her Link. But the AI Prober has other ideas of what it can achieve with Carly under its probe. Spinner is part of an underground illegal AI racket bidding for parts of human souls they leave in ‘telespace’ every time they use the Link. Carly Nolan might be Prober Spinners ticket to the big time if only it can find a way of extracting her soul without being discovered.

This was, as you can imagine, a bit of an odd one. Clearly Cyberpunk in nature (or at least background) it was advertised as ‘LA Law scripted by William Gibson’. Sadly it wasn’t quite that good but it certainly had a few moments. The environment of a shattered and, as yet, unrecovered San Francisco was well handled complete with weird gangs, lots of homeless people and the great mass of urban poor/precariat. The legal firm is suitably cut-throat and is full of highly unlikable go-getters on various mood enhancing and skills enhancing pharmaceuticals which are suitably and nastily addictive. So the Cyberpunk vibe is definitely there. Most of the characters are pretty disposable (and often disposed of!) and, apart from Ms Nolan herself, there are few that you end up actually caring about. Prober Spinner is an interesting character as an AI on tracks – I saw ‘him’ as an almost analogue of ‘Number 5’ from Short Circuit – but even it/him along with Carly Nolan didn’t really have enough heft to carry the whole novel. I think the thing I liked most about Cyberpunk in general was missing here. Cyberpunk is, in my mind, the essence of high-tech low-life. Here we had some fairly high-tech but the low life aspects were very much in the background where they stayed. Although the main character was using her (largely artificial) skillset to escape from the lower strata of that world we don’t see very much of it from her point of view. I think it would have been more interesting if somehow she’d ended up back at the shallow end but with her enhanced skills now put to more nefarious ‘street’ uses. Saying all that this was, generally, a pretty reasonable read and I certainly enjoyed it enough to finish it. But saying THAT I won’t be spending any time looking out for the sequel. Reasonable.   

 If you're new to Cyberpunk or want to delve a bit deeper into the Genre this will definitely interest you.

Just Finished Reading: Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan (FP: 2001)

Waking up from the dead, in someone else’s body, on an alien planet was never going to be a good start – until it got worse: His new body, his sleeve, was a smoker and he’d just managed to quit. Then there was the reason he’d been brought back. A rich guy, a Meth, a Methuselah who was effectively immortal, had apparently committed suicide but was convinced he’d been killed and wanted Kovacs to find out who killed him. It wasn’t going to be easy. Kovacs was new to Earth, new to its culture and new to the life of the immortals. He needed help and that wasn’t going to come easy either. The police had better things to do than investigate a victimless ‘crime’ but others seemed to have a different agenda – they wanted the investigation stopped and stopped dead if necessary. But in a world where the rich and powerful live forever and even the average person gets a second chance at life how do you come to terms with jumping through time, occupying other bodies and losing the fear of death itself? What would you do to give life meaning if you had forever to find out?

I’d heard of this first as a series from Netflix never having come across the book or the author before that. The clips I saw on YouTube looked interesting so when the reissued paperback came out I picked it up. I have to say that, for a first novel, this was quite something. Although the action takes place several hundred years in the future – in San Francisco – the plot is recognisably Noir. If you’ve ever seen, and enjoyed, the American detective films from the 30’s and 40’s you’ll really like this book. It really has the feel of a grey tone Phillip Marlowe film complete with excellent dialogue (which more than once made me laugh out loud it was so spot on). Likewise with characterisation:  Kovacs himself is a brilliant character, laconic, deeply flawed, hurting (and not just for nicotine) and cynical. He has the Noir sensibility nail down. The main love interest, Kristin Ortega, is equally complex and believable. I liked her and I equally liked the strange assassin/hard case Trepp who didn’t mind too much that Kovacs had killed her earlier in his quest for the truth. But this was far more than a well-executed Future Noir. The implications of effective immortality were both shown and discussed in many of its aspects, how it shaped society, individuals and culture including religion. The issue of being “re-sleaved” in a different body hundreds of years after ‘dying’ is a fascinating idea. Even more so was an almost side issue of those who believe that uploading the consciousness would fail to upload the soul and therefore upload was death. As the legal penalty for many crimes was upload and storage for the length of the sentence to them every crime carried a death sentence! How would you cope with that and what if you were ‘brought back’ for some reason? How would you cope? There’s a novel right there!

Now the caveats: This is essentially a gritty crime novel with an updated Noir sensibility. That means there’s a fair amount of swearing, rather bloody violence and sex. Often taking place in the shadows there’s also drug use, blood sports, sexual exploitation and torture – both real and virtual. Needless to say this is not for the faint of heart! But, if you have the stomach for it, it’s an excellent future noir and I am really looking forward to the other two books in the series. Definitely one of the best SF novels I’ve read in years. Highly recommended.

Just Finished Reading: Destroying Angel by Richard Paul Russo (FP: 1992)

Everyone thought, or at least hoped, that it was over. No new bodies had been discovered for years. Maybe the killer had moved on or maybe even died or had been arrested for a different crime. Maybe it was just over, finished. In a wat Tanner no longer cared. He’d left the force, made a new life for himself. He was finally getting by. Even the nightmares had started to subside. Then they found the bodies. Two of them chained together just like the last time. Whatever the explanation the Angel of Death was back in business. As much as he tried not to get involved Tanner had information the police could use. If it was still currant that is and if the police would agree to the terms Tanner’s informant would ask for. That was the problem of course. The police never really liked making terms with a cop killer even when the cops he’s had killed were as dirty as they come. Cops just hated cop killers and who could blame them. But it was the only way so Tanner got his green light. He’d go back to working for the cops this time rather than with them. He’d get his expenses and maybe some back-up if the shit really hit the fan but mostly he’d be on his own, reliant on his old contacts, calling in favours and hoping that none of his old enemies still wanted him dead. After a few days the nightmare’s started again but bad dreams were the least of Tanner’s problems as he was about to find out…..

I’d been wanting to read this for a while. I always loved cyberpunk from the moment I stumbled across it back in the late 80’s. Although I’d never read this author before I was delighted to discover that he was a skilled practitioner of neo-noir. This is essentially a hard-boiled detective novel transplanted to near future (21st century) San Francisco. Although the high-tech aspects are dated somewhat – no cell phones for example or even smart phones – the story still follows the high-tech/low life themes common throughout the cyberpunk genre. Most of the action takes place at street level and even the few rest periods as well as periodic meeting with police investigators takes place on the mean streets rather than in the glass and chrome towers where the future is really happening. This reality is acknowledged but ultimately skirted around. A reality of the world but someone else’s reality. Most of the main characters are criminals. Even Tanner is a smuggler of sorts useful to the police who usually turn a blind eye to his operation, useful to certain parts of the Corporations and helping to maintain local hospitals who can’t afford the latest designer drugs. Most of the street criminals do what they do to get by – petty theft, illegal gambling, prostitution, and drug dealing. Others prey on the lower levels and meet out judgements where ‘required’. It’s a dog eat dog world where law is rarely seen. The feel of the city is gritty and realistic. Things are mostly falling apart and everyone knows it. The name of the game is simple survival. Needless to say I really enjoyed this. What’s even better that it’s the first book in a trilogy. OK all three books are out of print but that just makes it more of a challenge. Well written, well-paced, nicely visual, edgy and with a decent ending this was a breeze to read and was a real page turner. Highly recommended if you can get a copy. (R) 

My Favourite Movies: Ghost in the Shell

The Year is 2029. An elite police team from Section 9 is tasked with hunting down a dangerous hacker known only as The Puppet Master for his (or her) ability to hack into human implants and control them for his/her own ends. No one knows anything about his/her real identity except that s/hes probably American. In order to fight this kind of crime the police themselves need to be state-of-the-art with cybernetic implants and, as they become injured in the line of duty, more and more high-tech body replacements. The question they ask themselves: Are they even human anymore?

As the investigation gets closer to discovering the Puppet Master’s identity political interference from the Foreign Office’s paramilitary team in Section 6 increases. What exactly is Section 6’s interest in the affair and why are they spending resources trying to keep Section 9 away from potential witnesses. Are Section 6 and the Puppet Master somehow connected and if so why? When Section 9 find themselves in a firefight with top-of-the-range military technology they know for sure that the stakes are very high indeed. But Major Motoko Kusanagi has no idea how high the stakes will be for her personally.

Even since seeing Akira I have had a deep affection for all things Manga and Anime. Although the technology has moved on in leaps and bounds since this movie first appeared in 1995 which means that the animation can seem rather crude at times what actually sells this is the storyline which is quite superb. OK, there’s the usual Japanese need to explain things during pauses between fight scenes which can seem somewhat stilted when translated into English but that is more than forgivable when everything else is taken into account. The whole thing is basically about what it means to be human or sentient. How much of the body can be replaced with synthetics before you (or others) see you as a machine? 50%, 75%, 90%? If your brain is the only organic part of your body are you still human? Do cyborgs have souls? Conversely, if a fully functioning AI (for want of a better phrase) is downloaded into a synthetic body and demands political asylum would it even be considered? If it passed the Turing Test – or a futuristic equivalent – could it be considered sentient and therefore have rights?

Not many Western movies struggle with these kinds of philosophical issues (becoming more urgent with every passing year) but Japanese cinema in particular – or at least sections of – seem obsessed by the idea. This is hardly surprising from a society so drenched in high technology but still the whole thing is deeply fascinating. Of course this is no dry exposition in lecture form. These ideas are brought up, questioned and discussed in passing during dramatic shoot-outs with ‘puppets’, hacked robots and goons from Section 6. There’s plenty of blood, a bit of nudity – though does cyborg nudity count in this case? – and lots of double dealing and double crossing to keep everyone guessing just exactly what is going on and who can be trusted and all this in just 83 minutes! If you haven’t seen this before but enjoyed Akira, or if you want to see what all the fuss was about back in the mid-90’s then this is definitely something you should check out. If you’re in to SF or a bit of deep thinking you’ll definitely enjoy it.  

Just Finished Reading: The Mammoth Book of Steampunk edited by Sean Wallace

Steampunk appeals to me for the same reason that Cyberpunk appeals. It’s life on the streets at the sharp end where people live by their wits and use whatever technology and know-how they have to survive on a day-to-day basis. It’s very much like the worlds of classic noir fiction where the hero (or heroine) gets down and dirty to get the job done – or that’s how it should be. By and large Cyberpunk keeps close to its roots. There is a formula or sorts to be followed but it is much more a feel it’s trying to get across. My experience with Steampunk so far has been far more problematic. Some authors, in this collection as well as others, think they can just throw in some of the elements of steampunk and call it that. As long as they have a trip in an airship or one passes over the action at some point, or steam and clockwork get a mention then as far as they are concerned (and the editors of such collections as this) think it’s enough. Fortunately some authors, in this volume and elsewhere, strive to produce stories that reflect the genre they supposedly sit in.

I guess that I should have been warned by the blurb on the back which said in bold letters that the stories inside were intended to ‘push the boundaries of steampunk’ and that they did. The most disappointing aspect of a significant number out of the 30 stories was the intrusion of supernatural elements. I had no idea that the supernatural was ‘steampunk’ material. The other surprise, though maybe it shouldn’t have been if I’d thought about it a bit longer, was the amount of gay and particularly lesbian steampunk. Go figure! This fact alone shouldn’t put you off for two very good reasons – that the 4-5 stories are some of the best in the book and that the lesbian elements are far from explicit. Amongst the best stories over all are Fixing Hanover by Jeff VanderMeer, The Effluent Engine by N K Jemisin, Zeppelin City by Eileen Gunn and Michael Swanwick, The People’s Machine by Tobias S Buckell, Machine Maid by Margo Lanagan (very good) and Reluctance by Cherie Priest (the best in the book which is good as I already have several of full length novels).

Overall, as with most volumes of short stories, this was a pretty mixed bag quality and style wise. The worst of them (or maybe just the strangest of them) where still readable and I hardly ever felt the inclination to skip over any individual story. As collections go this is more than reasonable although I’d probably pick something else as an introduction to the genre.

Just Finished Reading: Fairyland by Paul J McAuley

Alex Sharkey is in trouble – deep trouble. Unable to pay his protection to the local Mob boss and being threatened by the police to provide evidence against him he’s damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t. But then the Mob boss offers him a way to pay off all of his debt in one go. Jumping at the deal Alex agrees to bio-engineer a synthetic hormone that turns sexless artificial dolls into fully functional fairies. This is the world of mid-21^st Century Europe where nano-technology and bio-engineering has allowed anyone with the necessary equipment to produce tailored viruses capable of just about anything. It is a world where a company enhanced child tricks Sharkey into producing the first of a new race capable of its own reproduction, a race just as smart as man in many ways but without moral scruple. Travelling across a barely recognisable Europe Alex tries to put the genie back in the bottle the he and Milena released. But she has other plans both for her co-creation and for Alex.

This is both a very good and seriously strange novel. It is also one of the best almost-cyberpunk novels I’ve read. Concentrating on the impact of biotechnology, rather that computer technology, it considers what would happen if tomorrow’s hackers could hack the genome of any creature they have access to – including humanity itself. Where hackers, rather than hiding in their bedrooms breaking into computers on the other side of the world, break into the double helix in their bathrooms and produce viruses who function are only limited by their imaginations. It is both a deeply disturbing and fascinating world picture and certainly one I would not like to live in – though I suspect people living 100+ years ago would find our present day reality equally horrifying!

I’ve read a few of McAuley’s works now and have been singularly impressed by his power to create fully realised believable characters living in deeply complex rich worlds. Not only did I recognise places mentioned both in London and Paris I was shocked by how different they had ‘become’ in the future and no matter how strange things got – and they got very strange from time to time – the incidents in the book were always believable. The only thing I would have to recommend you do with this book is approach it with a very open mind. I have been reading SF now for over 30 years and this still managed to really mess with my head. SF, even after all that time, is still by far my mind altering drug of choice and books like this one are the LSD of the SF world. One more thing: this book is not for the faint of heart or the easily disturbed. I think of myself as very open-minded about most things but I have to admit that this book did manage to raise a few eyebrows here and there. It’s often violent, contains some graphic sex and some definitely disturbing images. It is however very well written and very thought provoking. If you feel in the mood to really blow your mind then I can heartily recommend this book to do that for you.  

Just Finished Reading: Bad Voltage by Jonathan Littell

In early 21^st Century Paris Lynx, founder of the Livewires street gang, is considering his future. Now in his 20’s he’s beginning to wonder if a life causing trouble, taking drugs and playing violent war games in the underground caverns beneath the city is enough. Things come to a head when his lover is killed by the police during a daring race through the crowded city streets. Falling under the spell of rich socialite Angelique he learns how the other half, the rich and decadent, live. They have moved beyond simple pleasures into the realms of the gothic where they literally feed on the poor. Horrified at what he has witnessed he runs back to the streets but not before his spurned new lover vows that she will use her considerable resources to hunt him down and watch him die in front of her. In order to survive Lynx must draw on all his street survival skills and convince the Livewires to go to war on his behalf. Lynx also discovers he has a most unexpected ally – Angelique’s dead brother who is out for revenge.

This is another of those books that has been sitting on my shelf for years. Written in 1989 it is a prime example of the art of Cyberpunk. Full of street-talk (which took a bit of getting used to but once you got the hang of it became very easy to follow), fast action, sex, drugs, violence and techno-babble it certainly gave anything that Gibson produced a run for its money. Rooted in the streets, where all Cyberpunk belongs, this even had its own soundtrack (helpfully fleshed out in the appendix – I kid you not) which was unique as far as I know. With strong characterisation throughout, nice bits of world political commentary, cool technology – some of which was believable – and more action that should be packed into a single volume this was a seriously fun and engaging read. In many ways this is very adult SF, not just for the violence, sex (both gay and straight) and repeated drug use but for the overall tone. It is certainly not for the faint hearted or easily shocked. But don’t let that put you off. This is a quality piece of Cyberpunk that should definitely be on the shelves of anyone interested in that ground breaking genre. Highly recommended.  

Just Finished Reading: Prodigal by Marc D Giller

In the near future the global hi-tech civilisation is on the verge of defeating the anti-technology terrorist group known as the Inru. The greatest weapon against them is Lea Prism an ex-terrorist herself. With the aid of the worlds first functioning Artificial Intelligence she has tracked down and killed most of their operative and destroyed most of their installations. Now only one Inru operation is left – led by Avalon an assassin with almost supernatural abilities. As corporate mercenaries close in on Avalon’s position a discovery is made on Mars. A ship sent to salvage equipment from the failed Mars colony discover a shielded cave containing the bodies of a military unit is suspended animation. Afraid that they are infected with the deadly virus that destroyed the colony years previously they are brought aboard but kept in deep quarantine. But its only when the soldiers are already waking that the crew realise that one among them is an Inru agent and that a deadly plague is on its way back to Earth.

This was the sequel to Hammerjack which I read back in May 2009. I was impressed enough with his first effort and was even more impressed by this one. Giller’s writing has matured nicely since his earlier work and the extra largely unnecessary flourishes which peppered his original book are largely missing. He has kept his detailed sense of place and managed to ramp up the ‘realism’ without losing any of his focus. The plot is nicely tight with good characterisation and some very nice snappy dialogue. Each major character has their own voice, their own sense of self and their own believable history. There are a few stock moments and generic scenes but they were easily forgivable because of the quality of the rest of the book. This is good solid Cyberpunk mixed with a decent dose of Military SF. Prism is a great character and it was a shame to see that the author apparently hasn’t published anything else since 2006/2007 but at least we have the pleasure of his two published works. Recommended.