An atmospheric tale of corruption and abduction set on Mars, from the author of the award-winning science fiction novel Altered Carbon, now a series from Netflix.
[A] super-fluid action thriller ... a dazzlingly intricate game of political double- and triple-cross, spiced with tastily kinetic battle sequences ... Luckily most of the action happens outside the bedroom, and it’s expertly written. Morgan is very good at the mild, pleasurable alienation of unexplained but workable-out vocabulary items ... Most of all, Tak Veil’s first-person narration is addictive and deceptively highly wrought: it’s casual and coarse, as befits a former mercenary, yet highly imagistic and sensuously attuned ... By the end, rather unkindly, you hope he gets sucked back into it in a sequel.
When Morgan writes, the vision he creates is a vibrant and meticulously detailed world that feels so real you could reach out and touch it ... The book has an almost tangible quality, it’s fast and frantic with a lot of action ... Mixed in with the thriller-esque action and cyberpunk backdrop is a hard-boiled noir story (think Philip Marlowe or Sam Spade) complete with a twisting and turning plot that keeps readers on their toes.
If I have one criticism of Morgan’s writing, it’s the striking similarity of the main characters in his SF novels: hard, hyper-cynical men with dark pasts and a notable facility with extreme violence ... Dark as it is, world building is one of Thin Air’s strongest points. It may be a cliché, but Morgan really makes this version of Mars come to life. Various neighborhoods and areas are described in a way that makes you feel like you’ve actually been there ... There are a few parts that drag, especially towards the end, but the vast majority of the novel is fast-paced and hard to put down. For such a dark novel, it’s also surprisingly funny at times, with a few hilarious scenes and some phrases only Morgan could come up with ... a worthy addition to Richard K. Morgan’s increasingly impressive bibliography. Recommended.
