Terminal Café

by Ian McDonald

Decades after a technological discovery enables the dead to come back to life, the realms of the living and the undead are separated by strict boundaries, and a restless artist decides to explore an ultimate challenge. Reprint.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Cyberpunk, Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy, Speculative Fiction

343 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Ian Neil McDonald was born in 1960 in Manchester, England, to an Irish mother and a Scottish father. He moved with his family to Northern Ireland in 1965. He used to live in a house built in the back garden of C. S. Lewis’s childhood home but has since moved to central Belfast, where he now lives, exploring interests like cats, contemplative religion, bonsai, bicycles, and comic-book collecting. He debuted in 1982 with the short story “The Island of the Dead” in the short-lived British magazine Extro. His first novel, Desolation Road, was published in 1988. Other works include King of Morning, Queen of Day (winner of the Philip K. Dick Award), River of Gods, The Dervish House (both of which won British Science Fiction Association Awards), the graphic novel Kling Klang Klatch, and many more. His most recent publications are Planesrunner and Be My Enemy, books one and two of the Everness series for younger readers (though older readers will find them a ball of fun, as well). Ian worked in television development for sixteen years, but is glad to be back to writing fulltime.

Reviews

[Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

I failed.

I made it sixty-five pages into Necroville before I sank down onto the baking-hot sands of defeat, dazzled by McDonald's bright prose, but confused, lost and thirsty for something else to read. I lay there - watching the unread novels in my collection circling - and wanted to give in, but I hate to leave a book unfinished so I gathered my resolve, hauled my weary inner reader up, and staggered for a few more pages before falling for the last time. My parched carcass lies there still as a warning to others who might attempt the same journey.

I wasn't expecting this to happen. I expected to love this book.

I'm a fan of Ian McDonald. Brasyl, Cyberabad Days and River of Gods are all prominent on my bookshelves and I love his ability to spin a complex, interesting SF story set in different and fascinating cultural contexts. I've recommended Cyberabad Days in particular to many people as a great set of SF short stories, full of brilliant ideas and rich with the sights, smells, and cultural quirks of the subcontinent. McDonald is a skilled writer and I've generally enjoyed his work.

In common with McDonald's other work, Necroville has some cool plot elements going on.

It's 2063, and nanotechnology has arrived, and arrived big. Death is no longer permanent, and when you die you are resurrected as a nanotech being, in a human-like, but essentially alien body. As a result, the world swarms with the dead, and a stratified system has developed where the dead are very definitely second class citizens, confined after dark to their own zones and mostly employed to do menial work, which they labor at to pay off the massive costs associated with their resurrection. In this interesting scenario we follow several characters, all of which are struggling with something, who are coming together for The Day of The Dead celebrations that occur once a year in Necroville, the city of the resurrected in L.A.

However, while the concepts are cool, I simply found the profusion of characters confusing, and I never really connected with the story. I'm sure you've experienced the sagging feeling you get thirty pages into a book when you realize it probably isn't for you, along with the powerful urge to close it every time you complete a page. The pull of my phone and the time-wasting social-media-gawking it offers isn't strong enough to pull me from a book I love, but its tug was black-hole powerful while I was trying to read Necroville.

It may seem odd to give a two-star rating to a book that I couldn't even finish, but there were aspects of this novel I liked- the colour, the tech, the melange of cultures and languages. McDonald's writing is fun, and there were some very cool images and sequences in his story. I suspect that this is one of those rare books, that while narratively and technically good, simply doesn't gel with my inner reader for some reason. I can't really place many specifics as to why I wasn't engaged, and many other reviewers have loved it. I suspect that this isn't a weak book, but that it simply isn't the right book for me.

This is one of McDonald's earliest novels, and I recommend that if you are interested in reading him you start with one of his later works, such as River of Gods or Cyberabad Days. Then again, you may read Necroville and love it. If you do, I'm interested to hear how you love it and why.


PS: This book is a great example of a personal bugbear of mine- the needless inclusion of masses of words from foreign languages, in this case, Spanish. I’ve been learning Spanish for a while, have traveled in the Spanish speaking world, love the culture, etc. etc., but I’m not fluent, and it’s annoying to have to constantly engage my e-reader’s translation program to figure out what’s going on in a sentence. It sucks me right out of the narrative, and if I was reading a hardcopy I’d need a physical dictionary or phone on hand to refer to, something that busts my engagement with the story if I have to do it too often. A few foreign words add flavor, but add too many and a book requires a translator.

[Florin Pitea · Rating 4 out of 5]

A complex post-cyberpunk book about the social impact of nanotechnology used to resurrect the dead. Fast moving, imaginative and sur-realist in places. Invites and rewards a second reading. Recommended. For an extended review, please visit my blog: http://tesatorul.blogspot.ro/2013/09/....

[Ryandake · Rating 1 out of 5]

how do i make half a star?

if that question were in necroville-ese, it would take up half a page and be full of impenetrable lingo.

here's a sample of a speech one character monologues at another:

"I'm four hours into the party; it must be about two, two-thirty; there are a hundred, two hundred? on the dance floor, the temperature's up in the high thirties, the music is so loud it's something you feel [...] rather than hear. There's some Thex holding me up, some Hybrid-17 keeping me in touch with the ground and a MDA remix whispering no limits, no limits to my autonomic nervous system. They switch on a brain-flicker white flood and the music and the pills and the dancing and the white light come together, becoming something more, and I'm someplace else. I don't know where, I can't describe it, I don't think it can be described. It only lasts an instant, but for that instant, I'm out. I'm free. I'm across the frontier."

so, if you can stand 354 pages of that, you're a better woman than i. bear in mind that i left out many, many passages of unexplained terms, relationships, and significance.

ya. good luck with that.

[Bogdan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Printre temele predilecte ale scriitorului Ian McDonald pot fi amintite nanotehnologia, cadrul cyberpunk sau impactul schimbarilor sociale si tehnologice asupra societatilor vestice. Dintre premii as aminti: Locus Fantasy Award (1992) pentru “King of Morning, Queen of Day”, Philip K. Dick Award Best Collection winner (1991) : “King of Morning, Queen of Day”, British Science Fiction Award (1993) : “Hearts, Hands, and Voices” ( aparuta tot la Pygmalion si pe care am reusit dintr-un noroc s-o si gasesc ), British Science Fiction Association Award Best Novel winner (1995) pentru “Necroville” plus o lista un pic mai lunga si mai stufoasa de nominalizari.

Necroville (1994), sau “Terminal Cafe” cum o mai gasim tradusa, este o carte cum rar o sa mai intalniti. Pentru mine acesta a fost al doilea contact cu romanul, acum citiva ani mai avand o tentativa de lectura esuata dupa citeva pagini. Asa ca acum mi-am luat inima-n dinti serios si nu m-am lasat.

Nici acum inceputul nu mi s-a parut spectaculos, si raman la impresia ca este la fel de greoi ca data trecuta. De-a lungul romanului am ramas cu impresia ca scriitorul este atras in exces de anumite elemente.

Deseori, m-am trezit cu o serie de termeni si situatii, care nu au fost detaliate anterior, si abia dupa ce inaintezi in lectura, incepi sa-ti faci o idee despre “ce” si “cum”. Apoi ar mai fi abundenta acestor situatii si termeni noi, idei originale care, mai ales la inceput, te cam pun pe ganduri si pe mine m-au silit sa recitesc anumite pasaje. Insa trecand pe aceste mici neajunsuri, intriga ce se complica pe parcurs, frumusetea faunei locale si complexitatea personajelor dezvaluie o lume de vis.

Ne aflam intr-un moment in care nanotehnologia a inflorit asa de tare incat nu mai exista moarte propriu-zisa. In eventualitatea decesului se poate apela la serviciile Casei Mortii, o companie de nivel mondial, persoana in cauza urmand a fi supusa unui tratament specific pentru a fi adusa din nou printre noi. Pornind de la premiza ca omul acum nu mai poate muri si dupa cum aflam si din spusele scriitorului, de la un citat al lui Ian Watson (“…primul lucru pe care-l veti obtine prin nanotehnologie va fi nemurirea”) asistam la o inflorire ideatica si literara a subiectului, de proportii cu totul nebanuite.

In principal sunt urmarite aventurile a cinci prieteni, secondati de cate un al doilea partener, in anul de gratie 2063. Aventurile au loc pe parcursul a unei singure nopti. Noapte cu totul speciala pentru ca portile Necroville-urilor ( orasele unde se gasesc mortii) se deschid si muritorilor de rand. Daca la inceput nu stim prea multe despre eroii nostri, pe parcursul romanulu, apar din ce in ce mai multe elemente din trecutul fiecaruia.

Si astfel putem pune multe detalii cap la cap, gasind raspunsul la intrebarile care ne-au macinat. La aceste detalieri si prezentari de caractere am observat ca se urmareste aceeasi linie in general. La un moment dat, intr-un fel sau altul personajul ajunge inevitabil sa se spovedeasca cuiva.

De remarcat si usurimea cu care se destanuie dar si aspectul ca e vorba de cineva pe care abia l-a cunoscut, destainuirea fiind presarata si cu ceva detalii destul de intime. In fond, avem parte de cinci personaje, fiecare cu parcursul si propria-i evolutie si e destul de greu de venit cu abordari si idei mereu noi.

In ciuda acestor semnalari nu poti sa nu admiri tesatura pe care o dezvolta scriitorul Ian McDonald si nu poti sa ramai insensibil la imaginatia de care da dovada scriitorul.

Ca tot e un subiect la zi, mi-a placut ideea ca justitia nu se mai face acum la nivel local ci a fost trecuta la nivel international, avocatii putand apela acum, dupa o intelegere prealabila intre cei doi, la orice judecator din lume. Si dupa cum e normal se aplica legea specifica zonei respective. Ei bine acesta este doar un aspect foarte mic al lumii vaste in care, daca mai gasiti cartea pe undeva, aveti sansa sa patrundeti

Treptat, pe masura ce patrunzi in actiune, si ti se dezvaluie tot mai mult din trecutul personajelor ajungi sa te indragostesti de mare parte dintre ele si sa-ti doresti sa treaca peste toate obstacolele.

Toti cu idealuri proprii de viata, vor incerca pe diferite căi sa-si descopere menirea, sa se impace cu sine sau dimpotriva sa lupte pentru respectarea principiilor. Singura mini-poveste care nu m-a prins prea a tare a fost cea a lui Santiago, ce in acelasi timp are si rol de legatura cu toate celelalte personaje, fiind si catalizatorul principal al romanului. Vanatoarea la care participa se intinde pe o portiune consistenta a romanului si parca devine la un moment dat inutila.

In general, actiunea este bogata si complicata la nivelul intrigii prin prezenta in joc a mai multor corporatii, care, alaturi de Casa Mortii, conduc destinele celor vii dar si hotarasc asupra sortii mortilor. Odata ce ai murit iti pierzi drepturile din lumea viilor si trebuie sa o iei de la capat dupa un cu totul alt set de reguli. Si pina la un razboi in toata regula, la vedere sau ascuns, nu mai e decat un pas.

Dupa cum afirma si Mihai-Dan Pavelescu in prefata, subiectul romanului a mai fost exploatat si de altii, mai cu seama de Robert Silverberg in nuvela Born with the dead publicata in 1974. Probabil eroare de tipar, pentru ca in postfata nuvela e trecuta cu anul aparitiei 1993. Ei bine as puncta eu ca aceeasi nuvela este prezenta si in Almanahul Sci-fi Magazin 2009.

Ar mai fi de amintit si abundenta termenilor spanioli impreuna cu obsesia evidenta a scriitorului de a prezenta secvente din aparitii cinematografice care au facut furori printre cinefilii deceniilor trecute.

Mai sunt si o serie de trimiteri catre lumea Sf-ului, de care am aflat din aceeasi prefata . Eu am reusit sa identific doar una dintre ele, cea catre Philip K. Dick cu omul din turnul inalt, de Harlan Ellison (Viziuni periculoase) si William Gibson (cu nava Marcus Gravey!) nu prea m-am prins singur.

Daca va spun ca de traducere s-a ocupat Gabriel Stoian iar consilierul colectiei celor de la Pygmalion era Stefan Ghidoveanu cred ca nu e de mirare ca au fost vremuri cand treburile in sf-ul romanesc se miscau cu o alta viteza si la un alt nivel decat la momentul de fata.

Cireasa de pe tort a constituit-o intamplatoarea aparitie a interviului cu Ian McDonald din revista Nautilus, in care se vorbeste mai in detaliu despre ultimul proiect al scriitorului, plus alte subiecte interesante. Recunosc ca am vrut sa abordez “Necroville”-ul pentru a incerca apoi sa vad despre ce e vorba in renumitul sau “Brasyl”. Insa la momentul de fata nu mai sunt asa curios pentru ca, din cate am observat, si acolo sunt mai multe destine incrucisate, lucru pe care de altfel il intalnim si in viitorul sau roman “The dervish house”.

Actiunea se petrece cam la fel tot pe o perioada limitata de timp. Si in plus avem parte tot de nanotehnologie si probabil de termeni mai mult decat provocatori. In alta ordine de idei, cadrul, personajele si actiunea s-au modificat insa modul de constructie si abordarea literara a ramas neschimbata. Ian McDonald este un scriitor de lecturat, insa pentru multi cred ca se va dovedi o adevarata provocare sa-i parcurga un roman din curentul cyberpunk, cum de altfel a fost si pentru mine. “Necroville” ramane in amintirea mea ca o lectura deosebita care m-a imbogatit, m-a impresionat si mi-a sporit, in mod cert, bagajul imaginativ.

http://www.cititorsf.ro/2009/04/08/ne...

[Randal · Rating 2 out of 5]

A thoroughly stylish cyberpunk but not a thoroughly entertaining one. Once Santiago Columbar pulled his crew together for one last night in Necroville, it was going to be a gang caper or a hugely complex interweaving of multiple threads, one for each member of the crew.
McDonald chose the latter, but lacked the finesse to make each of the characters or their stories distinct enough, so it got to be a chore keeping track of which sincerely f***ed up lead was which: The celebrity drug dealer, the ladder-climbing lawyer, the poor little rich boy, the -- what was Trinidad's back story again?
Borrowing heavily HEAVILY from William Gibson and Blade Runner's vision of Philip K. Dick, this story of a post-apocalyptic struggle for the soul of the replicants, err, resurrected humanity finally fails under its own verbiage.

[Thomas Hale · Rating 5 out of 5]

(Terminal Café in the USA). It's 2063, and thanks to nanotechnology, the dead walk the Earth and lead ordinary lives as an oppressed segment of society. That's an interesting enough premise on its own, but throw in four distinct narratives that shape and warp around each other, heavy cyberpunk and transhumanist overtones, reanimated dinosaurs, a crunchy spacefaring subplot, AND have it all take place over the span of 12 hours. It shouldn't work nearly as well as it does; I loved it! The twists are surprising, the resolutions satisfying, there's a good mix of action and intrigue, and McDonald put a lot of thought into how his premise changes life in human society. Even as a postcyberpunk novel written in 1994, this doesn't feel that dated at all (especially compared to, say, Snow Crash), even though it wears its influences on its sleeve. Fun, fast-paced and dense with cool ideas.

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

McDonald, Ian. Terminal Café. Spectra, 1994.
I was inspired to get back to McDonald after reading his impressive Luna series last year. If anything, I am more impressed with Terminal Café, which presents what one might call a nano-dystopian future that would be right at home in the works of Philip K. Dick and William Gibson. Nanotechnology has put immortality within our reach, but there are strings attached. First, it does not just repair the body, it replaces it with a one in which proteins have been replaced with a type of plastic. Thus, the resurrected dead will always seem eerily wrong to the living. The technology is also run by corporations that charge a bundle for it, creating an indentured servant class of the resurrected dead. In the Los Angeles area, the dead are segregated into a ghetto called Necroville, which was the title of the novel when it was published in Britain. In Necroville, the day of the dead is celebrated every year as a blood sport. Our two main living (i.e., meat) characters are Santiago Columbar, a burned-out artist looking for thrills in Necroville, and YoYo Mok, a lawyer whose case pits her against the corporate bosses of nanotech. The dense, poetic style of the novel reminds me of Roger Zelazny at his best and seems to have created its own brand of Spanglish, which will not surprise readers of the Luna series. If the novel looks back to Gibson, Zelazny, and Dick, it also looks forward to writers like Charles Stross and Richard K. Morgan. That is good company to be in. Recommended.

[Marco Landi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Devastante! Un libro unico, geniale come pochi.. Ian unisce fantascienza spinta con cyberpunk, noir, adventure, e qualsiasi altra cosa gli passa per la testa in un mix adrenalinico di azione, religione, nanotecnologia, filosofia e space opera.. Lo fa a suo modo, con una struttura complessa, ricca di flashback e storie nella storia, di incastri e trovate sensazionali che arrivano diritte al cuore.. Usa molti neologismi, parole in lingua spagnola (essendo una rielaborazione de Los Dias De Los Muertos) e termini tecnici un po ostici inizialmente, ma se non vi lasciate atterrire e gli date tempo, vi prenderà la mente e ve la fotterá alla grande.. Un capolavoro! Sono più vivi i morti dei vivi!!!

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

I do not know why it took me so long to read this. I admire McDonald immensely. The lyric poet of SF. Amazing imagination, inventiveness of language, the immersion of history and culture and speculation, stirred and twisted into night-shapes of surpassing exoticism. And the basic concept! (Possibly the only zombie novel I will ever recommend, though it isn't quite that, no...)

A feast. Sit down, bring you steely knives, and check in.

[Blake · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is it bad that I had almost no idea what was going on until the last hundred pages?

The text is a treasure to read, but the ratio of "plot to lavish descriptions of an nigh-insane future" is tipped pretty high in the direction of the latter. Oddly enough (for an Ian McDonald book), I think it's this ratio that would allow it to be adapted into a really excellent and bizarre movie.

[Bill]

Terminal Café by Ian McDonald is my first exposure to his Sci-Fi stories. Maybe it shouldn't have been the first one that I tried... It was published in the UK under the title, Necroville. (Ed Note: I did not finish, basically completing 200 pages so will not provide a rating and just a few thoughts)

Here's the scenario as I got it..... 5 friends head to the Terminal Cafe, 4 of them invited by Santiago Columbar, on the eve of Day of the Dead. On the way they will be involved in countless adventures and look at their lives???

Everything and the kitchen sink takes place. You've got nano-technology, an invasion of Earth by zombies? that have been sent to populate and industrialize outer space. They battle living humans, aka Meat. One character is a lawyer and is fighting a case and for her life... well, they are all fighting for their lives, it seems... Drugs.. um... Pale Riders...

It's all a bit too much for me to follow and gradually, despite my best efforts, I have just given up. Philip K. Dick on really, really good drugs... I like strange stories but I do like there to be some sense to them. And this really didn't make any sense to me, whatsoever. I'm sure there are others who loved the story and could explain it to me, but I give up...

McDonald has written many Sci-Fi novels, including a Desolation Road trilogy set on Mars.. Maybe someday I'll try it, but not for awhile.. (No Rating)

[Steve Scanlan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An at times confusing, always frenetic, action-packed journey through a near future where nanotechnology has enabled the resurrection of the dead. A group of friends are making their way to a reunion at the Terminal Café located in Necroville. Along the way they find themselves caught up in all manner of strange and dangerous pursuits.

Toussaint is the son of Adam Tesler, inventor of the technology that resurrects the dead. He becomes involved in a plot to overthrow his father.

Trinidad finds herself on the trail to the secret of deathless immortality.

YoYo Mok is a lawyer who is followed around by a Carmen Miranda avatar. She is hired by a dead woman whose memories have been erased and becomes mixed up in a scheme that may result in the dead becoming legally recognised citizens.

Santiago, supplier of illicit technology/drugs, is caught up in a hunt in Dead Town that sees him chased by hunters mounted on Allosaurus-like creatures.

Camaguey becomes infected with a nanotech virus after falling in love with a dead woman. He meets up with Nute, a shape-shifting whore who will help him get through his final days.

Their pursuits are played out against a background in which the Freedead, the dead who live off planet, go to war with the Earth over their right to exist.

There was so much going on in this story that I found it difficult at times to keep up. Before shifting from the adventures of one character to the next, I'd have to flick back to remind myself what was last happening to that character. Definitely a book that can be re-read without fear of its losing impact.

[Peter Tillman]

See https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... for my decidedly mixed experience with this author. Picked off the TBR shelf and read the first couple paragraphs: immediate turn-off. Not a good sign. I'll try a few chapters in due time, but, Wow. Time will tell. Back to the TBR shellf it goes for now.....

[Adam · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF/2,5
J'ai triché, à partir de 250 pages j'ai sauté jusqu'aux vingt dernières. La première partie avec l'installation de l'action, du monde et des personnages est super cool mais après les actions sont tellement lentes que ça devient difficile à lire.

[William · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has an intriguing premise - revolutionary nanotechnology has enabled the dead to be resurrected with their memories and skills intact and without some of the physical limits they had before death. However, due to the law not regarding them as citizens and due to have to pay off the costs of their resurrection to the corporations they largely form an underclass. Despite the dead being the main focus of much of the plot the five protagonists are still among the living, five (somewhat estranged) friends whose plan to meet up in Los Angeles' dead enclave during Day of the Dead celebrations gets sidetracked by growing unrest.

I think the biggest problem I had with the story is that the five main characters are all fairly insufferable. They almost all come from very privileged backgrounds but seem to excel at feeling sorry for themselves, I found Santiago and Camaguey to be particularly annoying and self-centred. It also takes a long time in the book for the plot to take shape, it's difficult to follow at first and although it does come together towards the end and become a more interesting story it felt like some of the plot threads were redundant and in some cases got forgotten about along the way. This is a pity because there is a fascinating world here with a lot of potential for interesting stories and at times it realises some of that potential but it felt a lot less than the sum of its parts. I think Ian McDonald is always an interesting author but he's written much better books.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

If people could come back from the dead, corporations would lobby to have the dead declared unpersons and then use them as free labor. Ah, Cyberpunk! I absolutely loved McDonald's RIVER OF GODS, and while this book isn't quite as good, I definitely enjoyed it. McDonald's m.o. involves near-future scifi in foreign lands, and the cyberpunk Los Angeles-that-is-practically-Mexico of Terminal Cafe qualifies. McDonald builds a richly detailed, almost-believable world. Like all good Cyberpunk, the book hits on the themes of corporate excess, rebellion against the machine, what is identity/privacy/humanity in an information economy, etc. While none of the characters really thrilled me (everyone seemed to be looking for some "high" or "fix" to kill the pain and angst, I get it, I get it), I was really engaged with the meditations on mortality, human destiny, etc...and if the plot and characters sometimes just seemed little more than a vehicle for dealing with those issues, ok, that's par for the course in scifi sometimes. A worthwhile read, as long as body horror doesn't gross you out too much (and I can't get the word "tectoplasm" out of my head now!)

[Althea Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book reminded me of a cross between JG Ballard and Bruce Sterling. In a future LA, nanotechnology has allowed for the resurrection of the dead. This has resulted in a huge shift in social mores - life has become cheaper, and the living are playboys, experimenting with designer drugs and thrill games, served by the dead, who are essentially human but have no legal status. However, out in space, freedead revolutionaries fight for their rights.
The story centers loosely on a group of old friends who, traditionally, meet up at the Terminal Cafe annually. However, they really don't all like each other, and each has their own thing going on... emotional ambivalence and violent trouble surround them, variously...
The book is really more a "slice of life" in McDonald's postulated future than a plot-driven novel. At times I liked it, at others, I found it a bit hard to follow and to maintain interest.

[Kyle · Rating 2 out of 5]

OMG, Ian Mcdonald, stop trying to teach me Spanish. If 4 years of college couldn't do it, none of your books will. I've been following Mcdonald since Evolution's Shore, which I loved, but all his books are bogged down with this dumb gimmick in which he thinks that saying something first in Spanish before translating it gives it some extra weight and mystery. Nope, it's just annoying. I know TONS of bilingual people who manage not to remind me of it every other sentence. It would be refreshing if Mcdonald tried becoming one of those people, and realized that knowing a foreign language is waaaay lower in the pecking order of human accomplishment than writing a good book.

[Parthena · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was hard for me not to rate this book higher, because the author had a pretty amazing idea going on with this novel, but I had to rate it the way I did because certain parts were simply a bit too confusing. Towards the middle of the book, lots of characters' purposes come clear and the action really picks up, and somewhere in there I think it just got a little too chaotic, disjointed, and hard to follow.

I found myself a bit lost at points, but overall, the novel is based on a very mind-blowing concept...

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am almost through my third reading of this in five years. My increased grasp of the tech made this an even better book each time. The sheer density of the book made it a different book each time.
This is not a book to simply breeze through. At all. It requires work of the reader. Pausing frequently to reread and visualize what he is showing you is invaluable and rewarding. Many of his descriptive scenes are very tersely written but incredibly effective.
I also think he assumes a certain familiarity on the part of the reader, with the basics of much of the tech extrapolated in this book.

[Milan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I give up. I tried to read it multiple times but failed every time after few pages. It is so complicated to follow the story.

[Sue Chant · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't enjoy it. A bunch of thrill-seeking yuppies running around aimlessly, and the whole "resurrection of the dead" thing just didn't seem plausible. Couldn't be bothered to finish it.

[Socrate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dimineaţă, un mort se topise, făcându-se una cu zidul de la stradă al casei lui Santiago.
Trezită de primele convulsii ale cer-conceptului aflat la cincizeci de kilometri deasupra oraşului, corpomănuşa îl azvârli pe Santiago în lumina palidă a zorilor, în vânzoleală şi ură. Visurile virtualităţii se dezlipiră neuron cu neuron. Cârceii din tectoplastic intim se descolăciră din melcul urechii, din emisfere şi din tuburile lui Eustache, se eliberară de nervii optici. Circuitele peliculare ale corpomănuşii se desprinseră de ţeastă, de coloana vertebrală, de organele genitale, îi curseră pe piele precum un fluid amniotic, apoi pe braţe, reformându-se, în palmele ţinute căuş, ca o sferă tremurătoare de nanopolimer semiinteligent. Introibo ad altare. Focul chimic ce-i arsese toată noaptea prin sistemul sanguin se depusese în fulgi de cenuşă narcotică pe pereţii venelor.
Cer-conceptul devenise acum o zbatere torturată de focuri stacojii, o auroră artificială de tectori microscopici, emiţători de lumină, întinşi de-a curmezişul tropopauzei şi incendiaţi sub atingerea primelor raze ale soarelui aflat încă dincolo de munţii dinspre răsărit. Pătrunzând prin acoperişul transparent al studioului, lumina se răsfrânse asupra trupurilor tovarăşilor săi, zăcând pe podea cu braţele larg întinse în lături. Mici crucifixuri înfiorătoare. Golgote de jucărie. Sfinţi şi martiri…
Santiago colecţiona sfinţi şi martiri.
Aşeză corpomănuşa somnolentă în urna funerară din lemn sculptat pe care o cumpărase în îmbulzeala unui nectoville din Viejo Mexico. Surprinsă într-una dintre oglinzile care se întindeau cât ţinea peretele, propria imagine nu i se mai păru aceea a unui înger înveşmântat în nanocircuite argintii ca un filigran, Stăpân al Reţelei. Rămânea doar Santiago Columbar, de douăzeci şi şapte de ani. Doi metri şi ceva. Robust. Masiv. Păr negru adunat într-o coadă simplă, care îi scotea în evidenţă soliditatea geomorfologică a trăsăturilor. Artist neurochimic, Virtualisto. Cândva, asta îi fusese prea de ajuns. Nu mai mergea. Acum era Santiago Columbar. Decăzut. Înfrigurat. Dezgolit. Însingurat. Dezgustat. Muritor.
Balconul reprezenta una dintre numeroasele excentricităţi arhitecturale moştenite de Santiago de la fostul proprietar al acestei desidencia. Doar el supravieţuise transformărilor pe care le suferiseră toate încăperile cu ajutorul tectorilor reconstructivi. Balconul fiind orientat spre apus, creatorul original îl destinase petrecerilor ce se desfăşurau într-o lumină crepusculară, cu prieteni intimi, contemplând soarele ce apunea printre dealurile acoperite de vegetaţia luxuriantă a Copanangăi. Santiago îl folosea pentru a urmări sosirea armatei de morţi.

[Ariel Fiona · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The first thing we get with nanotechnology is the resurrection of the dead." (The second thing is dinosaurs.) Resurrection is not free: the price for most is an eternal second life of indentured servitude to the corporation responsible for resurrection, and the dead, as you might guess, are not happy about it. This forms the core premise of the story, which spins out in all sorts of ways that lend themselves to fascinating ruminations on mortality. This might be said to be the best zombie novel ever written, although the nanotech undead here are not mindless insensate cannibals but rather people with the weight of having died behind them and the future of an infinite life before them.

There are over a dozen memorable, thorny, well-written characters and an expansive vision for humanity presented in less than 300 densely packed and meticulously plotted pages in which not a word is wasted. It reads like a movie: the writing is intensely visual, the structure follows the logic of film editing, the dialogue is excellent though highly stylized, with characters prone to grandiose monologuing. None of this is accidental or, I think, a result of me reading too much into it; the book is set in Los Angeles and consciously riffs on film tropes and movie references and classic Hollywood lore quite often. Spanish slang and tech jargon are as freely incorporated into the texture of the novel as are religious and literary allusions. There is horror, and wit, and even a surprisingly hopeful light at the end of a long and dark tunnel.

[Dan Chapman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Phew, I finally finished it!

This was one heavy read, massively descriptive and full of jargon and peppering in a smattering of Spanish to keep me on my toes!

Despite this I really enjoyed it; the story was different and interesting, tracking five friends who's paths crossed and and stories intertwined over the course of the night of the dead.

Considering cyberpunk authors these days are struggling to keep up with futuristic advances, and this being written in 1994, I can only expect it to be reality in the near future.

Just one peev, one of the main characters is called Santiago but there is also a minor character called Iago and I spent a while thinking they were the same person 😆

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book which takes place over the course of the 24 hours of Halloween into the Day of the Dead in a Los Angeles which has been divided into the area occupied by Meat (the Living) and Necroville (the home of the Resurrected) to which the Dead must return at night. The Dead have memories of living, they play, love, and can rebel. Interesting, but I had trouble concentrating on it because I was traveling and at a reunion.

[Kyri Freeman]

On the one hand, I can understand why this is considered a seminal work... on the other hand, I found it something I couldn't relate to. Too much exotic/baroque/decadent description, too little emotional connection.

[Alec · Rating 5 out of 5]

God I love Ian so fucking much. The most dazzlingly dense prose I’ve seen from one of his books yet, begging for a reread. I spent the entire time thinking about how to adapt this into some form of visual media. Basically every single page.

No one does it like you, Ian.

[EmBe · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5

[Macha]

3 and a half stars.