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A review by mxtiffanyleigh
Katja from the Punk Band by Simon Logan
5.0
I was intrigued by Simon Logan's KATJA FROM THE PUNK BAND, reading about it on his "coldandalone" author website about a year before it was published. I was re-reminded of the book via Spinetingler, who short-listed it on their list of 2010 Best Opening Lines.
I finally picked up a Kindle copy, couldn't put it down, read it furiously like I was sweating out a fever dream, and subsequently picked up Mr. Logan's entire bibliography. KATJA is a strong intro to his unique vision and worldbuilding, and is above all a fantastic novel - a fast, tight read that straddles sci-fi dystopia and hard-boiled crime noir.
The story takes place over the course of roughly 24 hours on an unnamed Russian "island" - a landscape that resembles a ROBOCOP New Detroit shantytown, without hope or cybernetic heroes. We are introduced to Katja, the titular punk rocker, armed with a mean survivalist streak, a guitar that doubles as a battleaxe, and a drug vial that is her ticket off the island - if she can live that long.
Chapter to chapter the point-of-view changes between several characters that have connections to either Katja or the vial, knowingly or unknowingly. Mr. Logan jumps-starts their backstories and staggers their POV's so that they overlap, giving us multiple perspectives on the same events and set-pieces while creating suspense and surprise.
The book is like looking at an industrial Escher print, and Mr. Logan writes with expert skill. The characters hurtle through the narrative, which is strewn with double-crosses, near-misses, and violent, extreme collisions.
Though it has elements of a "day after tomorrow" sci-fi and hard-boiled crime fiction, in KATJA Mr. Logan has created his own unique genre - apunkalyptic noir, maybe. His prose is cinematic, and white- or bloody-knuckled in equal measure. KATJA FROM THE PUNK BAND plays out like a Coen Brothers' movie set in Mad Max's universe. I look forward to reading more from Simon Logan in the future.
I finally picked up a Kindle copy, couldn't put it down, read it furiously like I was sweating out a fever dream, and subsequently picked up Mr. Logan's entire bibliography. KATJA is a strong intro to his unique vision and worldbuilding, and is above all a fantastic novel - a fast, tight read that straddles sci-fi dystopia and hard-boiled crime noir.
The story takes place over the course of roughly 24 hours on an unnamed Russian "island" - a landscape that resembles a ROBOCOP New Detroit shantytown, without hope or cybernetic heroes. We are introduced to Katja, the titular punk rocker, armed with a mean survivalist streak, a guitar that doubles as a battleaxe, and a drug vial that is her ticket off the island - if she can live that long.
Chapter to chapter the point-of-view changes between several characters that have connections to either Katja or the vial, knowingly or unknowingly. Mr. Logan jumps-starts their backstories and staggers their POV's so that they overlap, giving us multiple perspectives on the same events and set-pieces while creating suspense and surprise.
The book is like looking at an industrial Escher print, and Mr. Logan writes with expert skill. The characters hurtle through the narrative, which is strewn with double-crosses, near-misses, and violent, extreme collisions.
Though it has elements of a "day after tomorrow" sci-fi and hard-boiled crime fiction, in KATJA Mr. Logan has created his own unique genre - apunkalyptic noir, maybe. His prose is cinematic, and white- or bloody-knuckled in equal measure. KATJA FROM THE PUNK BAND plays out like a Coen Brothers' movie set in Mad Max's universe. I look forward to reading more from Simon Logan in the future.