Woken Furies by Richard K. Morgan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I see a lot of mixed reactions to this book but fortunately, mine is all gung-ho. Why? Because I freaking love this book. Why? Because it has all the best features of the hardest of hard-SF, the fantastic world-building, the hard tech, the bloodthirsty craziness of uploaded and downloaded consciousnesses mixed with the mafia of all breeds and Oligarchies and corporations and all if it is mixed some of the tightest characters I've had the pleasure to read.

That doesn't really describe it, though.

The novel is an extremely complex homecoming for Kovacs, a returning to Harlan's World at long last. A hundred years of travels, war, exploration under shady circumstances under his belt, and his interesting outlook always getting him into serious trouble.

A death wish?

That's the big question, isn't it? All through the first two novels, he keeps engaging in super risky behavior such as falling in with traitors or con artists or government executives with dark secrets or just plain rebellions. His situational morality is honed to a very fine degree. :)

Take him back home and have him fall in with random strangers and you'll never believe how much trouble he gets into. Or the scope of the trouble.

Those alien artifacts are still around and causing trouble. The one over Harlan's World is a wonderful wrinkle in the worldbuilding. :) No spoilers, but I was blown away by the sheer weight of the complex storytelling propelled like a rocket named Kovacs. :)

All those little hints and reveals from the first book and the tv series really comes home to shine in this book. Did I mention that there is a lot of really great and complex storytelling going on here? Not just mirroring and externalizing of self-hate or the complications of the tech, but love, humor, and ... screw it. Just read it. :)

I'm going to hunt down some hardcover copies of this trilogy. I want to showcase them and re-read them at extended leisure. :)

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