whatyoutolkienabout's review against another edition
4.0
I want to start by thanking Netgalley, Titan Books and the Author for giving me access to an ARC for an honest Review. I will start by tackling the elephant in the room, a few reviewers don’t seem to like this book. Of course each to their own but I personally feel it fits it’s genres very well and gives a rather refreshing take on a protagonist.
Thought to be Altered Carbon and the Wind-Up Girl meeting Apocalypse Now the book certainly doesn’t hide that it’s going to be gritty and action-packed. At the base it does also deal with ideas of memory, identity and the power of narratives. Certainly you have to go in with an open mind and a strong stomach for some of the violence we witness but it does match and pair with the plot and genres.
The book focuses on Lin ‘The Silent One’ Vu who is a gangster in Chinese-occupied Hanoi, living and hiding in the streaming, paranoid alleyways of the 36 Streets. Born in Vietnam, raised in Australia everywhere she is an outsider.
Not one to give up she has thought for her place in Hanoi underworld and secured herself tutelage under Bao Nguyen who teaches her to fight and most importantly survive. Because in the 36 Streets there are no second chances.
But the people of Hanoi have more to worry about than the Chinese occupation with Fat Victory. An addictive immersive simulation of the US-Vietnam war. One of the game’s developers – an Englishman – comes to Hanoi on the trail of his friend’s murdered and Lin is drawn into the grand conspiracies of the city.
Now Lin must confront the immutable moral calculus of unjust wars. She must choose between: family, country or gang. Truth, blood or redemption and no choice on the 36 Streets is easy.
Now I have to admit it did take me a little while to get into this one. What did keep me going was Lin. A protagonist who could be classed as grey morality at a push. A hero who is flawed in several ways, moulded by her past and those around her to survive and look out for number one. I can see why some people might find it difficult to sympathise or like Lin but I found her intriguing and it kept me wanting to know more and I am so glad it did. Most definitely this is not for the faint of heart or those who expect to have the cyberpunk feel but not the gore and grit that goes with it. There is drug use, there is alcohol consumption, violence and swearing but given the setting what can we expect? As such I feel that none of the above is out of place within the narrative and never felt like it was there for shock value or just because it can be.
I do have to say though that the story itself did take some getting into, it wasn’t that it was overly complex but rather that it seemed to come secondary in some instances to the action. Once you do get into it, for me about three chapters in it is a good book. It kept me going and I did finish it in three sittings after hitting that mark since I did want to know what happened.
All in all I would recommend this book to sci-fi cyberpunk fans but would caution that it deals with the darker and more violent side of these genres, sometimes in great detail. It isn’t clean cut good vs bad, you will find yourself wondering if the protagonist is making the right choice or doing the right thing but I personally found that refreshing myself.
Thought to be Altered Carbon and the Wind-Up Girl meeting Apocalypse Now the book certainly doesn’t hide that it’s going to be gritty and action-packed. At the base it does also deal with ideas of memory, identity and the power of narratives. Certainly you have to go in with an open mind and a strong stomach for some of the violence we witness but it does match and pair with the plot and genres.
The book focuses on Lin ‘The Silent One’ Vu who is a gangster in Chinese-occupied Hanoi, living and hiding in the streaming, paranoid alleyways of the 36 Streets. Born in Vietnam, raised in Australia everywhere she is an outsider.
Not one to give up she has thought for her place in Hanoi underworld and secured herself tutelage under Bao Nguyen who teaches her to fight and most importantly survive. Because in the 36 Streets there are no second chances.
But the people of Hanoi have more to worry about than the Chinese occupation with Fat Victory. An addictive immersive simulation of the US-Vietnam war. One of the game’s developers – an Englishman – comes to Hanoi on the trail of his friend’s murdered and Lin is drawn into the grand conspiracies of the city.
Now Lin must confront the immutable moral calculus of unjust wars. She must choose between: family, country or gang. Truth, blood or redemption and no choice on the 36 Streets is easy.
Now I have to admit it did take me a little while to get into this one. What did keep me going was Lin. A protagonist who could be classed as grey morality at a push. A hero who is flawed in several ways, moulded by her past and those around her to survive and look out for number one. I can see why some people might find it difficult to sympathise or like Lin but I found her intriguing and it kept me wanting to know more and I am so glad it did. Most definitely this is not for the faint of heart or those who expect to have the cyberpunk feel but not the gore and grit that goes with it. There is drug use, there is alcohol consumption, violence and swearing but given the setting what can we expect? As such I feel that none of the above is out of place within the narrative and never felt like it was there for shock value or just because it can be.
I do have to say though that the story itself did take some getting into, it wasn’t that it was overly complex but rather that it seemed to come secondary in some instances to the action. Once you do get into it, for me about three chapters in it is a good book. It kept me going and I did finish it in three sittings after hitting that mark since I did want to know what happened.
All in all I would recommend this book to sci-fi cyberpunk fans but would caution that it deals with the darker and more violent side of these genres, sometimes in great detail. It isn’t clean cut good vs bad, you will find yourself wondering if the protagonist is making the right choice or doing the right thing but I personally found that refreshing myself.
mhjenny's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
the_tridentarii's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
fast-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
3.75
amanda_serenity's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
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? No
3.5
fictiojuris's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
wifi_bifi's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
david_agranoff's review against another edition
4.0
One of the best things about science fiction becoming more international is we get more international voices. Napper is out of Australia but according to his bio, he has lots of experience with Southeast Asia. His experience really makes this novel unique on many levels but we are here to chat about it. This is a noir cyberpunk novel that is not set in an amorphis random city, the world-building and setting is one of the best features of this novel.
Set a hundred or so years in the future in Chinese occupied Ha Noi. The future of this novel is Sino-dominated like the classic China Mountain Zhang, but unlike the Maureen McHugh masterpiece, the majority of those details are beyond the narrative. This is a fine choice as we know what we need to know, and that leaves Napper room to expand.
April was one of the best reading months I have had of modern Science fiction in a long, long time. So at any point, if it seems like I am being negative, I am not. I loved this novel. I thought it was great but my bar is pretty high at the moment. I read a succession of masterpieces in the last month and while I think this novel is very good to great that M word is one I don’t take lightly.
Before I get into spoilers let me get into a few things I thought were really cool. For the most part, I enjoy that the speculative fiction community is getting progressive. I like the diversity, I like the new voices. I also like the occasional old-school action-adventure sci-fi story. I don’t want sad puppies bullshit so 36 Streets is perfect. Plenty of diversity in setting, characters, a progressive message but strong guns-blazing action.
So if that sounds good and you trust me stop right here, go read it, and come back.
Still need more convincing. OK let's get into the story Lin Vu is a gangster living in the streaming technology hybrid world of this future. There are all kinds of neat details. People in this future are on the net through contact lenses. Lin grew up in Australia even though she was born in Vietnam. She doesn’t speak the language she gets English subtitled in her retina [like this] something that fades into the background.
Lin learned badassery in a series of flashbacks under the of a gangster Bao Nguyen. Family, country, and gang loyalty are all tested in occupied Vietnam. While we follow Lin a simulation VR game Fat Victory becomes all the rage. In the game, the US-Vietnam war is replayed and has become addictive. We dive more into the game as one of the designers comes to the city to track down the murderer of a friend.
What happens is a noir mystery and action tale that is woven together with excellent world-building and a reflection of how mega-corporations, crime, and colonization come ahead in 22nd century Ha Noi.
The World-building is summed up nicely with this passage early in the novel.
“Paved alleyway, close on all sides, the old quarter. The men at Bia’Hoi She just watched her go, sullen, red-eyed. The heat beating down, worse than unusual, night but still unbearable, air thick. Tempers on edge, the aftermath of a Chinese crackdown the week before. A prism grenade thrown into a high-end restaurant popular with the Chinese military; two dead officers, two dead waiters, and a dozen were injured. Not the most notable of attacks, except one of the dead officers was a general. So there were raids and arrests and bodies turning up, young men and young women, tortured and aired out and worse. Everyone an informant, everyone Viet Minh, no one able to talk or trust.
She lurch-stepped down the alley. The thirty-six streets they called it.”
Once the novel gets into the video and there are several mentions of the classic novel of the Vietnam War from the native side The Sorrow of War by Bao Ninh. This is an important book to the story of 36 Streets, and while I have read it I like Napper does a good job explaining the importance through quotes straight from The Sorrow of War “The tragedies of the war years have bequeathed to my soul the spiritual strength that allows me to escape the infinite present.”
That novel for the people of that country is All Quiet on the Western Front, and Platoon all in one. A haunting and amazing reading experience. It really sets up the idea that the creators of Fat Victory are trying to erase not only national pride but the spiritual earthquake that the conflict was for the tiny nation. The simulation/game was being used to make the “Chinese Dream” more acceptable to people who fought the French and Americans out of their land.
“What they tried to do with Fat Victory was a war crime. I mean, these pricks tried to mind-fuck an entire population, turn them against the country of their birth.”
The mission statement could get lost in all the action, which is lots of fun. If you are focused on gun battles, swords, weapons, and how the technology works then you might miss the subtle way Napper told you what the message is.
“To one side were the windows, looking out over the city. Oceans of people passed, in the spaces between the neon and the streetlight. Towers of steel and glass, lighted windows, a universe in each one. People living their lives, side by side, yet so far from each other. Lin’s line of sight was the halo-billboard of the girl in a red dress, twirling it, smiling and mouthing the words: The Chinese Dream is my dream.”
Lin is a stranger in a strange land, but so are all the people of the 36 streets and the game, the technology is trying to make them into something they are not. At the heart of this cyberpunk noir. That is your theme.
I am on record as preferring novels under three hundred pages. I liked this novel from beginning to end but I do think it could have been streamlined a bit. That is a minor nitpick. I loved the setting most of all, but really enjoyed the characters and the story. More than anything I am dying for more stories in this city.
36 Streets by T.R. Napper is overdue old school cyberpunk. Put on your mirrorshades and read it.
Set a hundred or so years in the future in Chinese occupied Ha Noi. The future of this novel is Sino-dominated like the classic China Mountain Zhang, but unlike the Maureen McHugh masterpiece, the majority of those details are beyond the narrative. This is a fine choice as we know what we need to know, and that leaves Napper room to expand.
April was one of the best reading months I have had of modern Science fiction in a long, long time. So at any point, if it seems like I am being negative, I am not. I loved this novel. I thought it was great but my bar is pretty high at the moment. I read a succession of masterpieces in the last month and while I think this novel is very good to great that M word is one I don’t take lightly.
Before I get into spoilers let me get into a few things I thought were really cool. For the most part, I enjoy that the speculative fiction community is getting progressive. I like the diversity, I like the new voices. I also like the occasional old-school action-adventure sci-fi story. I don’t want sad puppies bullshit so 36 Streets is perfect. Plenty of diversity in setting, characters, a progressive message but strong guns-blazing action.
So if that sounds good and you trust me stop right here, go read it, and come back.
Still need more convincing. OK let's get into the story Lin Vu is a gangster living in the streaming technology hybrid world of this future. There are all kinds of neat details. People in this future are on the net through contact lenses. Lin grew up in Australia even though she was born in Vietnam. She doesn’t speak the language she gets English subtitled in her retina [like this] something that fades into the background.
Lin learned badassery in a series of flashbacks under the of a gangster Bao Nguyen. Family, country, and gang loyalty are all tested in occupied Vietnam. While we follow Lin a simulation VR game Fat Victory becomes all the rage. In the game, the US-Vietnam war is replayed and has become addictive. We dive more into the game as one of the designers comes to the city to track down the murderer of a friend.
What happens is a noir mystery and action tale that is woven together with excellent world-building and a reflection of how mega-corporations, crime, and colonization come ahead in 22nd century Ha Noi.
The World-building is summed up nicely with this passage early in the novel.
“Paved alleyway, close on all sides, the old quarter. The men at Bia’Hoi She just watched her go, sullen, red-eyed. The heat beating down, worse than unusual, night but still unbearable, air thick. Tempers on edge, the aftermath of a Chinese crackdown the week before. A prism grenade thrown into a high-end restaurant popular with the Chinese military; two dead officers, two dead waiters, and a dozen were injured. Not the most notable of attacks, except one of the dead officers was a general. So there were raids and arrests and bodies turning up, young men and young women, tortured and aired out and worse. Everyone an informant, everyone Viet Minh, no one able to talk or trust.
She lurch-stepped down the alley. The thirty-six streets they called it.”
Once the novel gets into the video and there are several mentions of the classic novel of the Vietnam War from the native side The Sorrow of War by Bao Ninh. This is an important book to the story of 36 Streets, and while I have read it I like Napper does a good job explaining the importance through quotes straight from The Sorrow of War “The tragedies of the war years have bequeathed to my soul the spiritual strength that allows me to escape the infinite present.”
That novel for the people of that country is All Quiet on the Western Front, and Platoon all in one. A haunting and amazing reading experience. It really sets up the idea that the creators of Fat Victory are trying to erase not only national pride but the spiritual earthquake that the conflict was for the tiny nation. The simulation/game was being used to make the “Chinese Dream” more acceptable to people who fought the French and Americans out of their land.
“What they tried to do with Fat Victory was a war crime. I mean, these pricks tried to mind-fuck an entire population, turn them against the country of their birth.”
The mission statement could get lost in all the action, which is lots of fun. If you are focused on gun battles, swords, weapons, and how the technology works then you might miss the subtle way Napper told you what the message is.
“To one side were the windows, looking out over the city. Oceans of people passed, in the spaces between the neon and the streetlight. Towers of steel and glass, lighted windows, a universe in each one. People living their lives, side by side, yet so far from each other. Lin’s line of sight was the halo-billboard of the girl in a red dress, twirling it, smiling and mouthing the words: The Chinese Dream is my dream.”
Lin is a stranger in a strange land, but so are all the people of the 36 streets and the game, the technology is trying to make them into something they are not. At the heart of this cyberpunk noir. That is your theme.
I am on record as preferring novels under three hundred pages. I liked this novel from beginning to end but I do think it could have been streamlined a bit. That is a minor nitpick. I loved the setting most of all, but really enjoyed the characters and the story. More than anything I am dying for more stories in this city.
36 Streets by T.R. Napper is overdue old school cyberpunk. Put on your mirrorshades and read it.