prond's review against another edition
3.0
Все герои книги очень любят разговаривать, только вот одна проблема: ни один из них этого делать не умеет и, как результат, каждый разговор представляет собой череду плохо понятных вспышек ярости и самоуспокоения на фоне попыток вывести из себя своего собеседника. Практически все диалоги происходят по данной схеме - общаются ли друг с другом враги, друзья или незнакомые люди. В итоге интересная сюжетная завязка плотно забивается бесконечными и скучными попытками подобного коммуницирования.
imperia_'s review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
matbrown's review
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
termith's review against another edition
4.0
Неплохой детектив, завёрнутый в хорошую фантастику.
Я немного был не готов к философским рассуждениям героев, да и выглядели они в книге так, как будто вставлены искусственно (хм, что-то давно не было философии... пора!).
В остальном - отличное чтение!
Я немного был не готов к философским рассуждениям героев, да и выглядели они в книге так, как будто вставлены искусственно (хм, что-то давно не было философии... пора!).
В остальном - отличное чтение!
stelepami's review against another edition
2.0
Fairly standard scifi. I found the plot more interesting than the premise. Bit more graphic than I normally like. I would have liked to follow the characters further, but it has been awhile since I read a stand-alone in the genre, so that was refreshing.
kukushka's review against another edition
4.0
Black Man (or Thirteen, as it’s known in the US) envisions a future in which genetically modified super-soldiers have come and gone. Carl Marsalis is a ‘Variant Thirteen’ whose escaped persecution by becoming persecutor, his job is to use his enhanced abilities to hunt down others like himself.
It was an interesting book with a rather frightening image of the future. For one thing, the US has been split apart by ideology, with a vast portion fenced off and backwards, an anti-technology society referred to as ‘Jesusland.’ The hints dropped throughout the book about how this future came about are frighteningly plausible.
Given the subject matter, it should come as no surprise that the book contains quite a bit of graphic violence. It did verge on the gratuitous at times, but it fights with the context. Thirteens are hated and excluded from society precisely because of their psychopathic violent tendencies.
I’ve read that the name was changed in the US to avoid the more racially-charged title. It’s a shame, because the fact that Carl Marsalis is black plays a fairly important role in the story. The whole idea of the ‘Variant Thirteen,’ people who are seen as not quite people, echoes back to the rhetoric we’ve so often heard in the context of race. To censor the title, eliminating the big neon sign pointing at the analogy of the book, doesn’t avoid racism. Rather, it just hides it – and it’s questionable just how much use not talking about a problem can have in fixing it.
All in all, a solid future-fiction with a good plot and an excellent premise.
It was an interesting book with a rather frightening image of the future. For one thing, the US has been split apart by ideology, with a vast portion fenced off and backwards, an anti-technology society referred to as ‘Jesusland.’ The hints dropped throughout the book about how this future came about are frighteningly plausible.
Given the subject matter, it should come as no surprise that the book contains quite a bit of graphic violence. It did verge on the gratuitous at times, but it fights with the context. Thirteens are hated and excluded from society precisely because of their psychopathic violent tendencies.
I’ve read that the name was changed in the US to avoid the more racially-charged title. It’s a shame, because the fact that Carl Marsalis is black plays a fairly important role in the story. The whole idea of the ‘Variant Thirteen,’ people who are seen as not quite people, echoes back to the rhetoric we’ve so often heard in the context of race. To censor the title, eliminating the big neon sign pointing at the analogy of the book, doesn’t avoid racism. Rather, it just hides it – and it’s questionable just how much use not talking about a problem can have in fixing it.
All in all, a solid future-fiction with a good plot and an excellent premise.
joannawnyc's review
3.0
It's a lot of fun and really engaging, but the plot part ... sucks. So as long as you don't mind being taken on a fascinating journey that is mostly a bunch of cool diversions that don't actually take you anywhere, then this book is for you. Which is not to put it down; I mean, I quite liked it. The world-building is quite amusing, though I'm not sure how we got there from here. I was also amused how the hero, Carl Marsalis, is basically James Bond without the charm (but with the English accent).
megankass's review
2.0
Spends way to much time over-explaining an unnecssasarily complicated world poorly and very little time setting up a cliched procedural plot with what could have been an interesting twist if written better. Nearly 20% of the way through and I still don't know who the main characters are, if any. They keep changing. The guy the summary focused on has barely been in the book, and for what little he was, he was terribly clumsy for a supposed badass. This book needed serious re-working in how the story was presented.