liso's review against another edition
4.0
This reads as an explosion of talent; rough around the edges, but it's got depth. Morgan has built a well thought-out world for his characters to live in, so much so that the plot of this book takes a backseat to pretty much everything else.
I'm writing this about 80% of the way through, and I don't expect that I'll need to edit my impressions based on the next 20%. For me, this book isn't the murder mystery, it's the landscapes, lore, and depth.
If you love to get lost in a world skillfully built and masterfully exposed, give this a read.
I'd award one more star if I cared about the plot in any capacity other than a reason to justify a constant change of scenery.
I'm writing this about 80% of the way through, and I don't expect that I'll need to edit my impressions based on the next 20%. For me, this book isn't the murder mystery, it's the landscapes, lore, and depth.
If you love to get lost in a world skillfully built and masterfully exposed, give this a read.
I'd award one more star if I cared about the plot in any capacity other than a reason to justify a constant change of scenery.
irreverent's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
oedipa_maas's review against another edition
3.0
Solid plot, great fight scenes, unique locations and a cast of minority characters (the future ain't gonna be white, that's for sure). A little tiresome after awhile with the constant everything-relates-back-to-genetics dialogue and narration, but overall I plowed through all 620 pages in about four days. I like Morgan. He can also write a hot sex scene, which is more impressive than almost anything else when you think about it.
wishanem's review against another edition
4.0
Sci-Fi always has something to say about the present, and the question here is a familiar one: How much does free will exist, and how much of our lives is determined by genetics, childhood experience, and society's prejudice? There are some excellent conversations between the characters on the topic, and the events of the book highlight the question more than they provide clear answers. Occasionally there was just a really strong sentence that stuck with me. For instance, "Anyone who's proud of their country is either a thug or just hasn't read enough history yet."
The book's protagonist has a relatively simple way of seeing the word that allows him to be a vehicle for the reader. His mentor summed it up, "Only live with what you've done, and try in future to only do what you're happy to live with."
The overarching story is a competent crime thriller with a couple of unique touches and page-turning writing, but the asides and philosophical moments were my favorite part of the book.
Here's a couple quotes to illustrate what I mean:
Yavuz said, "At times, it shames me to be male. I mean, we index how civilised a nation is by the level of female participation it enjoys. We fear those societies where women are still not empowered, and with good cause. Investigating violent crime, we assume, correctly, that the perpetrator will most likely be male. We use male social dominance as a predictor of trouble, and of suffering, because when all is said and done males are the problem."
In response, Sevgi says, "The way it looks from the historical context, the male cycle of civilisation had to come first, because there was no other way outside of male force to create a civilisation in the first place. To have law and art and science, you have to have settled agrarian societies and a non-labouring class that can develop that stuff. But that kind of society would have to be enforced, and pretty brutally in the terms we look at things today."
There's also a lot of subtext about racism couched in an overt examination of prejudice based on genetic modification. One of the most interesting reoccurring events in the book was the children who had at least one parent that was a genetically-modified super-soldier, but who were being set up to be raised outside of the oppressive system that the book's super-soldiers were subject to. The eventual fate of one of the three was very up in the air, subject to a contentious legal battle and kept in cryogenic stasis until their fate was decided. The book's brooding philosophical super-assassin protagonist is set up as a potential guardian for the child, but that plotline is never resolved. The other two were in the care of their relate-able criminal mothers, and almost certain to survive unscathed into adulthood. This is an obvious set-up for a sequel (that has never been written), and I want to read that story a great deal more than the one I got.
Words that jumped out at me from this book:
adipocere - a grayish waxy substance formed by the decomposition of soft tissue in dead bodies subjected to moisture.
antecuchos - Peruvian shish kabob, usually skewered beef and onions
atavistic - relating to or characterized by reversion to something ancient or ancestral.
blag - to persuade someone in a clever or slightly dishonest way
chunter - to mutter or to talk in a low inarticulate way
cimit - usually spelled "simit", a Turkish circular bread typically encrusted with sesame seeds. Widely known as a "Turkish bagel" in the USA.
demodynamic - ambiguously either the flow of a demonstration or the flow of demonic power.
lemeño - a type of criminal slang specific to Lima, Peru
occlude - to block passage through
onbekend - "unknown" in Dutch. A common surname in the former Dutch-ruled Indonesia where there weren't surnames.
raki - an unsweetened, occasionally anise-flavored, alcoholic drink that is popular in Turkey, Greece, Iran, Turkic countries, and in the Balkan countries.
rapprochment - (especially in international relations) an establishment or resumption of harmonious relations.
rectilinear - characterized by a straight line or lines
sahlep - a Turkish flour made from tubers of the orchid genus Orchis, or the drink made from the same.
sicario - hitman or hired killer, specifically one in the emlpoy of South American drug cartels
superannuated - no longer in use or valid or fashionable; too old to be useful; discharged as too old for use or work; especially with a pension
virilicide - the elimination of masculinity.
vivarium - an indoor enclosure for keeping and raising living animals and plants and observing them under natural conditions.
The book's protagonist has a relatively simple way of seeing the word that allows him to be a vehicle for the reader. His mentor summed it up, "Only live with what you've done, and try in future to only do what you're happy to live with."
The overarching story is a competent crime thriller with a couple of unique touches and page-turning writing, but the asides and philosophical moments were my favorite part of the book.
Here's a couple quotes to illustrate what I mean:
Yavuz said, "At times, it shames me to be male. I mean, we index how civilised a nation is by the level of female participation it enjoys. We fear those societies where women are still not empowered, and with good cause. Investigating violent crime, we assume, correctly, that the perpetrator will most likely be male. We use male social dominance as a predictor of trouble, and of suffering, because when all is said and done males are the problem."
In response, Sevgi says, "The way it looks from the historical context, the male cycle of civilisation had to come first, because there was no other way outside of male force to create a civilisation in the first place. To have law and art and science, you have to have settled agrarian societies and a non-labouring class that can develop that stuff. But that kind of society would have to be enforced, and pretty brutally in the terms we look at things today."
There's also a lot of subtext about racism couched in an overt examination of prejudice based on genetic modification. One of the most interesting reoccurring events in the book was the children who had at least one parent that was a genetically-modified super-soldier, but who were being set up to be raised outside of the oppressive system that the book's super-soldiers were subject to. The eventual fate of one of the three was very up in the air, subject to a contentious legal battle and kept in cryogenic stasis until their fate was decided. The book's brooding philosophical super-assassin protagonist is set up as a potential guardian for the child, but that plotline is never resolved. The other two were in the care of their relate-able criminal mothers, and almost certain to survive unscathed into adulthood. This is an obvious set-up for a sequel (that has never been written), and I want to read that story a great deal more than the one I got.
Words that jumped out at me from this book:
adipocere - a grayish waxy substance formed by the decomposition of soft tissue in dead bodies subjected to moisture.
antecuchos - Peruvian shish kabob, usually skewered beef and onions
atavistic - relating to or characterized by reversion to something ancient or ancestral.
blag - to persuade someone in a clever or slightly dishonest way
chunter - to mutter or to talk in a low inarticulate way
cimit - usually spelled "simit", a Turkish circular bread typically encrusted with sesame seeds. Widely known as a "Turkish bagel" in the USA.
demodynamic - ambiguously either the flow of a demonstration or the flow of demonic power.
lemeño - a type of criminal slang specific to Lima, Peru
occlude - to block passage through
onbekend - "unknown" in Dutch. A common surname in the former Dutch-ruled Indonesia where there weren't surnames.
raki - an unsweetened, occasionally anise-flavored, alcoholic drink that is popular in Turkey, Greece, Iran, Turkic countries, and in the Balkan countries.
rapprochment - (especially in international relations) an establishment or resumption of harmonious relations.
rectilinear - characterized by a straight line or lines
sahlep - a Turkish flour made from tubers of the orchid genus Orchis, or the drink made from the same.
sicario - hitman or hired killer, specifically one in the emlpoy of South American drug cartels
superannuated - no longer in use or valid or fashionable; too old to be useful; discharged as too old for use or work; especially with a pension
virilicide - the elimination of masculinity.
vivarium - an indoor enclosure for keeping and raising living animals and plants and observing them under natural conditions.
markyon's review against another edition
4.0
My first reaction to this novel was what a brave book this was in today’s current political and social climate. Richard, who could hardly be accused of holding much back in his earlier novels, has extrapolated some very interesting and scary ideas of the future. In doing so he has included comments on race (though the name ‘Black Man’ has clearly more than one meaning here), and society, politics, religion, economics, science and space pioneering. At a time when the discussion of such issues in the real world can be seen to be both difficult and controversial, this book manages to look at these issues through a future perspective. It deserves praise for doing so.
This is not a Kovacs novel. In fact, whereas the Kovacs novels (Altered Carbon and so on) looked at a society where death could be avoided through the process of ‘sleeving’ (being transported or downloaded to another body), here death is a very real part of life. There are deaths aplenty here as the actions of a Thirteen is to act as assassin and gun-for-hire. By moving away from his earlier series, Richard has been able to fashion a future which is a scary extrapolation of current world events. One of SF’s greatest tricks is to highlight issues of the present by examining their potential consequences in the future, and this is something that is very noticeable in this book. Punishment, internment, segregation, political and religious differences – elements of this story are clearly mirrored in the world of the 21st century.
Richard also dips into SF tradition by having the idea of the key character as an ‘outsider’. From AE Van Vogt’s mutant Slan to the present day, the idea that the protagonist is not one of the majority but separate in some way, is a common theme. Here this produces both sympathy for Carl Marsalis and allows the reader to see what it means to be different in a future society.
The book started very well for me. The middle section I found slower, where there is less action and more dialogue driven examination. With perseverance though, the book picked up for me at the end. My overall impression at the end was a fully realised world, clearly thought out, though not a happy one. At times, its bleakness made the book hard going, though it is a read worth finishing.
This is not a Kovacs novel. In fact, whereas the Kovacs novels (Altered Carbon and so on) looked at a society where death could be avoided through the process of ‘sleeving’ (being transported or downloaded to another body), here death is a very real part of life. There are deaths aplenty here as the actions of a Thirteen is to act as assassin and gun-for-hire. By moving away from his earlier series, Richard has been able to fashion a future which is a scary extrapolation of current world events. One of SF’s greatest tricks is to highlight issues of the present by examining their potential consequences in the future, and this is something that is very noticeable in this book. Punishment, internment, segregation, political and religious differences – elements of this story are clearly mirrored in the world of the 21st century.
Richard also dips into SF tradition by having the idea of the key character as an ‘outsider’. From AE Van Vogt’s mutant Slan to the present day, the idea that the protagonist is not one of the majority but separate in some way, is a common theme. Here this produces both sympathy for Carl Marsalis and allows the reader to see what it means to be different in a future society.
The book started very well for me. The middle section I found slower, where there is less action and more dialogue driven examination. With perseverance though, the book picked up for me at the end. My overall impression at the end was a fully realised world, clearly thought out, though not a happy one. At times, its bleakness made the book hard going, though it is a read worth finishing.
keary's review against another edition
5.0
The best of Richard Morgan's books so far. kept me interested to the end. Great characters with great writing. Looking forward to the next one.
billiams01's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
vornaskotti's review against another edition
5.0
Richard K. Morgan's "Black Man" was one of those books that are initially a very interesting read - sometimes action packed, sometimes surprisingly touching, but consistently thought provoking. The thing that made it stand out for me is the fact that it was one of those books which stayed in my head for weeks after the book was finished. The novel touched interesting and important themes and featured characters, who by all probabilities should've been unlikable or cliched, but whom Morgan managed to make believable, approachable and persons you could empathize with.
One of those books which are good right after you've read them, but mature to the status of bloody excellent after a couple of weeks.
One of those books which are good right after you've read them, but mature to the status of bloody excellent after a couple of weeks.
riduidel's review against another edition
1.0
Dans ce roman, on s'attache aux pas de Carl et de ses potes enquêteurs. Carl est un treize, une espèce de mutant chez lequel on a réveillé tous les gènes "sauvages" pour en faire une espèce de super-guerrier. Carl enquête, donc, sur les meurtres commis par un autre treize. Parce que ces treize, qui peuvent tuer pour un oui ou pour un non, vivent au milieu des autres humains, et peuvent donc faire des dégâts. Carl essaye donc d'arrêter ce qu'on pourrait considérer comme un de ses frères d'éprouvette.
Bon, je vais éviter de faire comme l'auteur et tirer à la ligne comme un dingue, je n'ai pas du tout aimé cette bouse.
Les personnages sont creux (les treize comme les autres), l'intrigue est hâtivement bâtie et largement téléphonée, et le dénouement final traîne en longueur d'une façon presque abjecte.
Mais le pire, c'est que pour l'auteur, tout le comportement semble être prédéfini par les gênes : pas moyen de transformer un treize en individu normal (alors que précisément le héros de ce roman fait exactement le contraire). Pas moyen non plus d'éviter la ghettoisation de pans entiers de la population, envoyés sur Mars ou dans des camps.
Bref, c'est positivement gerbant à tous les niveaux.
Bon, je vais éviter de faire comme l'auteur et tirer à la ligne comme un dingue, je n'ai pas du tout aimé cette bouse.
Les personnages sont creux (les treize comme les autres), l'intrigue est hâtivement bâtie et largement téléphonée, et le dénouement final traîne en longueur d'une façon presque abjecte.
Mais le pire, c'est que pour l'auteur, tout le comportement semble être prédéfini par les gênes : pas moyen de transformer un treize en individu normal (alors que précisément le héros de ce roman fait exactement le contraire). Pas moyen non plus d'éviter la ghettoisation de pans entiers de la population, envoyés sur Mars ou dans des camps.
Bref, c'est positivement gerbant à tous les niveaux.
smcleish's review against another edition
2.0
Originally published on my blog here in August 2007.
On the assumption that any technology developed by the human race will be used in for short term gain without consideration of the consequences or of ethics, the outlook for genetic engineering is frightening. That is the basic premise of Black Man, Richard Morgan's latest novel (published in the US as Thirteen, presumably because the publishers there - Del Rey - don't want readers to assume that it is about racism). Richard Morgan envisages the production of three types of genetically modified human being: the hibernoids, considered ideal for space exploration because they hibernate; bonobos, submissive bimbos produced for the sex trade; and thirteens, sociopathic individuals expected to be super-soldiers. None of these groups performed as expected by their makers, and by the time in which Black Man is set, they are rarities, feared and hated by many. The thirteens are the most feared, with the result that they have been declared non-humans, not covered by human rights legislation. Most of them have emigrated to Mars to escape the restrictions placed on them on Earth.
Carl Marsalis is not just a thirteen, but a renegade: he hunts down other thirteens for the UN. However, when he is arrested in Miami, he is left to rot in a brutal Jesusland jail - Jesusland being the fundamentalist state that has seceded from the US - until his expertise is needed. A thirteen has escaped from indentured service on Mars, getting back onto a ship returning to earth. A glitch in the hacker code needed to override the normal cryogenics so that he could get on board means that this thirteen has been woken up only two weeks into the journey, surviving the remainder by brutally butchering the other passengers and eating their body parts. The shuttle crashes in the Pacific, and a killing spree begins. So Marsalis is freed from prison, and sets out, abrasively and violently, to track down the missing thirteen.
In many ways, Black Man is a maverick cop thriller with added science fiction elements. I can't really think of a way that the SF ideas really add anything to the story at all. In the Takeshi Kovacs novels, starting with [b:Altered Carbon|40445|Altered Carbon|Richard K. Morgan|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320538722s/40445.jpg|2095852], the ideas are fascinating in themselves and a vital part of the plot and atmosphere of the novel. It seems that without Kovacs, Morgan has problems putting together anything beyond a science fiction inflected violent thriller; his other non-Kovacs novel, Market Forces has similar problems. Here, things are worse, because Marsalis is too much like Kovacs (minus a sense of humour), making it look as though Morgan is incapable of writing a range of characters.
My feeling is that publishing this novel as it is was a mistake. Morgan should have been encouraged to revise it, beefing up the science fiction content, improving the characterisation (particularly of the female characters) and reducing the violence. Genetic manipulation is obviously a topic that science fiction should be exploring at the moment, but this is not the novel to start a debate on how it should be handled.
On the assumption that any technology developed by the human race will be used in for short term gain without consideration of the consequences or of ethics, the outlook for genetic engineering is frightening. That is the basic premise of Black Man, Richard Morgan's latest novel (published in the US as Thirteen, presumably because the publishers there - Del Rey - don't want readers to assume that it is about racism). Richard Morgan envisages the production of three types of genetically modified human being: the hibernoids, considered ideal for space exploration because they hibernate; bonobos, submissive bimbos produced for the sex trade; and thirteens, sociopathic individuals expected to be super-soldiers. None of these groups performed as expected by their makers, and by the time in which Black Man is set, they are rarities, feared and hated by many. The thirteens are the most feared, with the result that they have been declared non-humans, not covered by human rights legislation. Most of them have emigrated to Mars to escape the restrictions placed on them on Earth.
Carl Marsalis is not just a thirteen, but a renegade: he hunts down other thirteens for the UN. However, when he is arrested in Miami, he is left to rot in a brutal Jesusland jail - Jesusland being the fundamentalist state that has seceded from the US - until his expertise is needed. A thirteen has escaped from indentured service on Mars, getting back onto a ship returning to earth. A glitch in the hacker code needed to override the normal cryogenics so that he could get on board means that this thirteen has been woken up only two weeks into the journey, surviving the remainder by brutally butchering the other passengers and eating their body parts. The shuttle crashes in the Pacific, and a killing spree begins. So Marsalis is freed from prison, and sets out, abrasively and violently, to track down the missing thirteen.
In many ways, Black Man is a maverick cop thriller with added science fiction elements. I can't really think of a way that the SF ideas really add anything to the story at all. In the Takeshi Kovacs novels, starting with [b:Altered Carbon|40445|Altered Carbon|Richard K. Morgan|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320538722s/40445.jpg|2095852], the ideas are fascinating in themselves and a vital part of the plot and atmosphere of the novel. It seems that without Kovacs, Morgan has problems putting together anything beyond a science fiction inflected violent thriller; his other non-Kovacs novel, Market Forces has similar problems. Here, things are worse, because Marsalis is too much like Kovacs (minus a sense of humour), making it look as though Morgan is incapable of writing a range of characters.
My feeling is that publishing this novel as it is was a mistake. Morgan should have been encouraged to revise it, beefing up the science fiction content, improving the characterisation (particularly of the female characters) and reducing the violence. Genetic manipulation is obviously a topic that science fiction should be exploring at the moment, but this is not the novel to start a debate on how it should be handled.