Scan barcode
redchippednails's review
1.0
Did not finish. Kept switching perspective to new characters I could care less about. Completely broke the momentum.
ananarchie's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
p9ng's review
4.0
Loved this. Funny, bloody action on the border of, well, everything. Hackers and magic. Fun read!
trenchcoat_moss's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
yevolem's review
4.0
Cyber Mage is an interquel that takes place between Djinn City and The Gurkha and the Lord of Tuesday. As such it contains spoilers for the former and explains how the conditions of the latter came to be. Although the four books are allegedly standalone, I wouldn't advise starting with this one. None of the characters from Djinn City play a prominent role in terms of page count, though it does tell you what happened to most of them. All of this happens in and around Dhaka, Bangladesh, at the end of the 21st century. The exact dating of the series is unclear due to in-text contradictions in and between books.
As the About The Author says, "Saad Z. Hossain writes in a niche genre of fantasy, science fiction, and black comedy with an action-adventure twist". That's accurate, though for this book in particular, unlike the others, there's a lot of cringe comedy. There's too much for my preference, though his usual humor is present as well.
Marzuk Dotrozi Khan Rhaman is an infamous 15 year hacker savant known online as the Cyber Mage. He's notorious for some of the most daring and skillful hacks ever perpetuated and is a founding member of the most secretive and elite hacker collective. Less known are his ties to organized crime. His gaming identity in the VRMMORPG Final Fantasy 9000 is equally well known for griefing and innovation.
Marzuk has three severe weaknesses, his physical condition, his social skills, and attractive girls. Although he dropped out of school long ago due to having far surpassed any need for formal education, he decides to join high school to spend more time with his crush. Truly there is no other institution that is more treacherous or dangerous. If that weren't enough, a mysterious entity is contacting him in his dreams. Yes, Marzuk is as cringe as he seems, if not more so.
Akramon Djibrel is a golem forged from a corpse through dragonfire and djinn magic. At the behest of his djinn patron, he beheads any and all in pursuit of his quarry. He keeps the heads to interrogate and torture them, as he's able to keep them alive for a couple weeks. He's become something of a viral sensation to watch on livestreams, with Marzuk being especially interested.
As for the plot, a certain djinn has plans for humanity again. This time he's sure it'll work and all the humans will do what he wants and all the other djinn will respect him again. All that stands in his way are the djinn that have grievances against him and feel that they may as well oppose him with their allies.
If this were a bit worse I'd round it down. Marzuk is too much of a extremely online/hacker/gamer/edgelord caricature to read without grimacing. The VRMMORPG parts were overly much, especially when there was play-by-play commentating. It was certainly something different than the usual. Overall there's more that I enjoyed a lot than what I disliked.
Rating: 3.5/5
As the About The Author says, "Saad Z. Hossain writes in a niche genre of fantasy, science fiction, and black comedy with an action-adventure twist". That's accurate, though for this book in particular, unlike the others, there's a lot of cringe comedy. There's too much for my preference, though his usual humor is present as well.
Marzuk Dotrozi Khan Rhaman is an infamous 15 year hacker savant known online as the Cyber Mage. He's notorious for some of the most daring and skillful hacks ever perpetuated and is a founding member of the most secretive and elite hacker collective. Less known are his ties to organized crime. His gaming identity in the VRMMORPG Final Fantasy 9000 is equally well known for griefing and innovation.
Marzuk has three severe weaknesses, his physical condition, his social skills, and attractive girls. Although he dropped out of school long ago due to having far surpassed any need for formal education, he decides to join high school to spend more time with his crush. Truly there is no other institution that is more treacherous or dangerous. If that weren't enough, a mysterious entity is contacting him in his dreams. Yes, Marzuk is as cringe as he seems, if not more so.
Akramon Djibrel is a golem forged from a corpse through dragonfire and djinn magic. At the behest of his djinn patron, he beheads any and all in pursuit of his quarry. He keeps the heads to interrogate and torture them, as he's able to keep them alive for a couple weeks. He's become something of a viral sensation to watch on livestreams, with Marzuk being especially interested.
As for the plot, a certain djinn has plans for humanity again. This time he's sure it'll work and all the humans will do what he wants and all the other djinn will respect him again. All that stands in his way are the djinn that have grievances against him and feel that they may as well oppose him with their allies.
If this were a bit worse I'd round it down. Marzuk is too much of a extremely online/hacker/gamer/edgelord caricature to read without grimacing. The VRMMORPG parts were overly much, especially when there was play-by-play commentating. It was certainly something different than the usual. Overall there's more that I enjoyed a lot than what I disliked.
Rating: 3.5/5
magis1105's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
tagoreketabkhane31's review
5.0
This has become one of my favorite books of all time. Perfect for fans of G. Willow Wilson "Alif: The Unseen" and for those who are fans of literature from the Subcontinent and Desi authors, Saad Hossain knocks it out of the park with his latest release, "Cyber Mage". This is my first book from the author, and I am putting him in my automatic buy corner because as a Bangladeshi author, he beautifuly melded his brand of dark comedy, fantasy, mythology, science fiction and technology to continue his world building with his latest release.
The story takes part in a future Dhaka, one that has changed and become the center of many things, in part because of the individuals that now operate in the bifurcated city. On one hand we have the Cyber Mage, a fifteen year old hacking prodigy who is counted among the very best of the netizens in the virtual and gaming sphere - and also indicative of the trends and cultural jargon that any affluent fifteen year old Bangladeshi kid would be. On the other front is Djibrel, a golem created by djinn on Earth to serve as their champion as he goes around parts of Old Town (a district in Dhaka) providng vigilante justice as he attempts to fulfill the mission that he was brought back to life for.
The book is filled with comedic moments, gaming and technology references that showcase not only the very best of the science fiction genre, but also contains moments that reflect the very Bangladeshi nature of the book - as an #OwnVoices author writing about his home city of Dhaka, I appreciated how he was able to straddle the various religious, social, economic, and political spheres that control the city and put them in the background of his novel. Indeed, what makes the book even better is veiled political commentary on state of Dhaka (and Bangladesh as a whole) in what the government is (and is not) doing for her citizens.
I won't give too much of the plot away (because I really encoruage anyone who either wants to diversify their shelf, read more from BIPOC, Desi authors) to check out this book. It remids of the work of Samit Basu, but also G. Willow Wilson on the merging of myth, magic and tech. I can't wait to read the rest of his backlist.
The story takes part in a future Dhaka, one that has changed and become the center of many things, in part because of the individuals that now operate in the bifurcated city. On one hand we have the Cyber Mage, a fifteen year old hacking prodigy who is counted among the very best of the netizens in the virtual and gaming sphere - and also indicative of the trends and cultural jargon that any affluent fifteen year old Bangladeshi kid would be. On the other front is Djibrel, a golem created by djinn on Earth to serve as their champion as he goes around parts of Old Town (a district in Dhaka) providng vigilante justice as he attempts to fulfill the mission that he was brought back to life for.
The book is filled with comedic moments, gaming and technology references that showcase not only the very best of the science fiction genre, but also contains moments that reflect the very Bangladeshi nature of the book - as an #OwnVoices author writing about his home city of Dhaka, I appreciated how he was able to straddle the various religious, social, economic, and political spheres that control the city and put them in the background of his novel. Indeed, what makes the book even better is veiled political commentary on state of Dhaka (and Bangladesh as a whole) in what the government is (and is not) doing for her citizens.
I won't give too much of the plot away (because I really encoruage anyone who either wants to diversify their shelf, read more from BIPOC, Desi authors) to check out this book. It remids of the work of Samit Basu, but also G. Willow Wilson on the merging of myth, magic and tech. I can't wait to read the rest of his backlist.