neko_cam's review
2.0
A passable detective story only remarkable for being set in the Android universe.
ozgur_ozubek's review
3.0
to be honest, i found the author more of a dedective-thriller one then a scifi. what you read is a dedective story with bits of terms borrowed from Android card game.
"What is the true definition of humanity?" once you read this proposition, you happen to expect a "ghost in the shell" or "blade runner" drama. yet the author fails to meet my expectations.
I'm a fan and player of the Android: Netrunner card game. I started the book hoping to find icebreakers, deckers, ruthless corporations and their agendas,etc. None was in the book. just some mention of the famous decker "Noise" along with the descriptions of corporations. The author did not bother much to dive into the world of Netrunners and just delivered an average dedective thriller spiced with scifi terms.
i found some reviews crediting the author for the marvelous environment, for Beanstalk, corporations, New Angeles, bioriods, etc. Hear me guys, they are all borrowed from the game. they are not the creation of the author.
"What is the true definition of humanity?" once you read this proposition, you happen to expect a "ghost in the shell" or "blade runner" drama. yet the author fails to meet my expectations.
I'm a fan and player of the Android: Netrunner card game. I started the book hoping to find icebreakers, deckers, ruthless corporations and their agendas,etc. None was in the book. just some mention of the famous decker "Noise" along with the descriptions of corporations. The author did not bother much to dive into the world of Netrunners and just delivered an average dedective thriller spiced with scifi terms.
i found some reviews crediting the author for the marvelous environment, for Beanstalk, corporations, New Angeles, bioriods, etc. Hear me guys, they are all borrowed from the game. they are not the creation of the author.
coljac's review
1.0
The best thing about this book is the setting, the rich and interesting Android cyberpunk universe. Unfortunately, as a mystery this book left a lot to be desired. The pieces of the puzzle were all there, but didn't quite fit, so the author resorted to hammering them into place. There were just too many sections where detailed explanations of technology, constantly harking back to the 20th century, were inserted, followed by explanations of why the technology could or couldn't be used to circumvent some part of the mystery. I acknowledge that it's difficult to write a police story set a hundred years in the future with miraculous technology and ubiquitous surveillance, so some reasons must exist for plot purposes that technology can't instantly solve everything. Overall, though, the whole thing just felt a bit forced.
My second problem was the neo-noir style; the protagonist projected the mentality of a 1940s detective - "the bioroid was stacked in all the right places and had legs up to here" sort of thing. It just felt antiquated and out of place.
Writing a detective novel set in someone else's universe is no easy task, so props to Keith for that. The book was readable, but Chandler in space, this isn't.
My second problem was the neo-noir style; the protagonist projected the mentality of a 1940s detective - "the bioroid was stacked in all the right places and had legs up to here" sort of thing. It just felt antiquated and out of place.
Writing a detective novel set in someone else's universe is no easy task, so props to Keith for that. The book was readable, but Chandler in space, this isn't.
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