brainycat

Wow. I have not read cyberpunk so engaging, so dark, and so well developed in years. I could not put this series (Starfish, Maelstrom, Behemoth) down - I finished them in a weekend. A week later, I still find myself going over the nuances of the world portrayed in these books.

The ideas, while comfortably within the bounds of traditional cyberpunk, show a flair for detail and an imagination that happily convinced me to suspend my disbelief almost immediately. Once I was engrossed in the world,… (more)

Wow. I have not read cyberpunk so engaging, so dark, and so well developed in years. I could not put this series (Starfish, Maelstrom, Behemoth) down - I finished them in a weekend. A week later, I still find myself going over the nuances of the world portrayed in these books.

The ideas, while comfortably within the bounds of traditional cyberpunk, show a flair for detail and an imagination that happily convinced me to suspend my disbelief almost immediately. Once I was engrossed in the world, and found myself relating to the characters, the story seemed to flow across my reader as fast as I could render the pages. His style is to describe facets of the world in detail, while leaving the broader currents* painted in broad strokes, allowing me to fill in my mental picture without losing me in the background.

Very, very highly recommended. One of my top 5 reads of 2009, without question.
*sorry, couldn't resist

This story involves the beginning the SenTrax Aleph, which figures so prominently in one of my most favorite stories ever, "Snake Eyes". I read Snake Eyes first, so this felt more like background info, and it's hard to give the story a fair chance. If you like cyberpunk at all, this is definitely worth a read.

I first read this when the Mirrorshades anthology came out. It knocked my wee socks off then, and it still blows me away now. An incredible story on so many levels, this story really does stand the test of time and re-reading. Also, a good introduction to the cyberpunk genre for people who aren't necessarily scifi fans.

I cannot recommend this story enough. If you only read ONE story this year, read this one!!!

You can feel the DNA of cyberpunk twining around in this story. Well written, but may feel a little predictable to more experienced readers of the genre. Definitely worth it just for the quality of the writing, if not for any unique ideas.