Another hard core SF novel from Richard Morgan

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	• Thirteen Richard K. Morgan Del Rey, 2007 - 560 pages average customer review:based on 61 reviews view larger image
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Another hard core SF novel from Richard Morgan

I like Richard Morgan's hard bitten, technology heavy style, though I don't think this book (which was released as 'Black Man' in the UK. Sad that a hard core SF author goes PC for his US readers) has the same cohesion in its social commentary as his earlier 'Market Forces'.

The plot is straighforward enough. An apparent bad guy, Carl Marsalis, reluctantly hunts an altogeher much badder guy. During the process our somewhat hero haltingly reveals that he's not such a bad guy after all, just sadly misunderstood. The theme is familiar (does a guy called Rick Deckard from Philip K. Dick's 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?' sound familiar) because it's a theme Morgan explores well in his Takeshi Kovacs novels.

There's loads of plot detail of course; with over 500 pages to fill there is going to need to be. Some of that detail is filler - perhaps stage setting for a future Marsalis novel? - but overall it does not come across as a bloated book.

Bottom line is that if you like your sci-fi loaded with state of the art weapons, fights aplenty, technological extrapolations , drugs, sex and lots of characters dying, Morgan is not going to let you down. If you are looking for something more mellow with depth in the social engineering, go read a recent Iain M Banks novel such as 'Matter'.

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Well Crafted Novel

Thirteen, by Richard K. Morgan, is an extremely well crafted novel about life in the near future. Humans have colonized Mars, though by all reports it's not a very pleasant place to live. Humans have also toyed with genetic alteration of themselves, producing several variants, one of which is the thirteen. By the time this book takes place, the variants have fallen out of favor. The thirteens, in particular, are considered dangerous, and are required to either live in camps or go to Mars. Many thirteens, who obviously dislike these options, try to live in secret. Enter the protagonist, Carl, a thirteen hired by a big, faceless government agency to track down the rogue thirteens and bring them in if possible. Against this backdrop is set a murder mystery on a grand scale. Enjoy.

This book is available in ebook format both for the Sony Reader and the Amazon Kindle.

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Not Altered Carbon

If you start this book thinking you are going to get more of the story from the Altered Carbon line, then you will be disappointed.

The book is well written, the future setting (if a bit melodramatic in its portrayal of the future US) is well realized and eloquently depicted. It has all the essential elements.

The only two problems: The reader isn't let in on enough back-story early enough and the protagonist doesn't earn your sympathy (he is a bit of a chump).

All said, it was still an enjoyable read.

reviews: 1, page 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11

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