A review by coljac
Android: Free Fall by William H. Keith Jr.
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.