This is Gary Gibson’s third book, and the first in a series. The story is gripping and moves along at a decent pace. While some parts of the story are entirely predictable, the main story has enough twisted that you can’t be quite sure what is happening until near the end.
A fine read. The story continues in Nova War.

Five adventurers set out for fame, fortune and XP. It couldn’t be easier, they  just have to embark on a quest to save the world. They even have the help of the gods. Which is a problem, since the gods aren’t quite sure what they are supposed to be doing.

Having played role-playing games, this book reminded me of the way the games I played would go. Despite the best efforts of the games-master the players would head off in random directions, and would seem to try their best to avoid the carefully crafted story presented to them.

The story is spilt between the action in the world, as our intrepid and mismatched heroes seek adventure, while elsewhere the gods bicker and argue and annoy each other and the games master, the AllFather.

This is a funny book, the best book I have read on role-playing. And its laugh out loud funny. Any role-player is going to recognise some of their games in the characters and the situations they are presented with. It also reminded me why I switched to games-mastering Paranoia. So much easier to kill the players. A definite winner.

Angry Robot Books, available now.
A near future Cape Town, where corporations and governments work hand in hand to maintain each others dominance and control over the populace. This is a fast and furious near-future dystopia, that feels scarily real.

Moxyland follows the four people whose stories are closely intertwined. Kendra is an up and coming artist, about to make it into the big time, and now a sponsorbaby for a corporate brand. Toby, broadcasting his life in the hope of becoming famous. Tendeka the idealist rebel trying to become a hero. And Lerato, ambitious corporate employee.
Although each of them want different things from their lives, the four individuals are about to have an impact on each others lives.

Since this is a near future SF novel, the technology isn’t that far ahead of what we are familiar with. Mobile phones have become more important, becoming both payment method and identification (both ideas being put forward by phone manufacturers and evangelists now) to the point the mobile phone is the most important part of identifying you as you. And is also the key to controlling the citizenry. Disconnection isn’t an inconvenience, it is a restriction of both movement and peoples ability to interact with society. Coupled with workable genetic engineering, this is a worryingly believable novel.

Review
May 2009, Free

The premise of this story has been done before, many times. A deadly plague spreads around the world bring death and destruction to civilisation. Unusually, unlike many recent apocalypse plague stories, there are no zombies. Instead, this concentrates purely on the human aspect of a epidemic.

The story does take the unusual and experimental style of an information leaflet, showing the panicked response to a pandemic sweeping the world. The style makes for a short, fast paced read. While this experimental style could have been interesting, in execution it falls flat.

All I can say is that it is a good thing that the authors are not writing a real emergency advice leaflet. There is no clear voice, nor a coherent plot. It is not until nearly half way through that it is revealed how the deadly virus is transmitted. Worse, in a failed attempt to increase suspension, it isn’t until the end that the symptoms are revealed. And then there is the climax, where the virus is finally overcome. By washing hands. Is that it? Will civilisation fall because people can not wash hands? Despite the early promise, this fails to entertain or inform.

Really, this story could have benefited from a
more potent and real threat. And Zombies. But then, couldn’t everything?

Not recommended.