^ I read the book years ago and wasn't impressed by it. I wrote at the time…
As a pulp thriller, the story is tight and well paced, and it hits all of the points that a reader would expect from a pulp thriller.
As cyberpunk sci-fi, it's hopelessly cheesy and poorly thought out. It became clear after the first several chapters that the author is not well versed in his chosen genre or in the underlying technology, fictional or otherwise. Some tech described in the story is advanced beyond recognition, while some seems unnecessarily stunted and mundane, and the cultural context doesn't fit any of it.
Unfortunately, the plot of the thriller depends heavily on the described technology, so the story never comes together like it should. The characters' choices and motivations simply don't make sense after a while, given the social and technological options that *should* be available to them.
The book is good enough for me to finish it, but not good enough for me to pick up the next.
Of course, I don't know (yet?) if that Netflix adaptation is better or worse than the book, or even if it
is an adaptation and not an all-new story that simply reuses some of the names and concepts from the book.
I love cyberpunk and have almost since the beginning (Sterling, Gibson, Jeter, Williams, Stephenson), but… <shrug> …I'm in no great hurry to watch that particular bit of cyberpunk. I still need to see
Blade Runner 2049, and there's plenty of great anime/manga in the genre.
Posted: Tue Feb 20, 2018 1:12 pm