AP Gaines

If you're looking at the reviews it's likely that you're interested in sci-fi and have probably heard of this book already. I will add my voice to the cacophony of voices insisting that “you've got to read this book.” It's phenomenal.

Should be required reading for anyone entering into criminal justice at any level, from beat cop to supreme court justice.

The dialogue is superb. The thoughts of the protagonists felt so familiar I squirmed. The tone/theme/action congruence was so fluid I forgot that I was actually reading and not just seeing what was happening.

Techno-black-chaos magic realism in a syringe.

As great as Star Wars is The Empire Strikes Back is better. Godfather or Godfather part II? Part II. The Well of Ascension is yet another example of the sequel outperforming its precursor.

Espionage and political intrigue drive the plot as a city anticipates its demise. Throw in a love story between an assassin and a king; another love story between a eunuch and a matron who had been forced to breed babies throughout most of her life; then add an insane man who allows his father to believe he is trying to kill him.

The layers of intrigue and deceit spliced into an exceptionally well detailed world reverberate throughout the first person narrative. Instances of combat, sex, and torture are as lurid and explosive as the psychological/political manipulations are introspective and illuminating. The cyberpunk setting is not overly analyzed but gives enough detail to satisfy imagination, but you'd think with the pharmaceutical know-how and the advanced technology to transfer consciousness and simulate death someone would have found a cure for the common hangover.