Irontown Blues
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Average rating4
From a master of science fiction comes a brand-new noir novel set in the Eight Worlds universe, where a detective hunts for the biohackers who have created a dangerous new disease. Christopher Bach was a policeman in one of the largest Lunar cities when the A.I. Lunar Central Computer had a breakdown. Known as the Big Glitch, the problem turned out to be a larger war than anyone expected. When order was restored, Chris's life could never be the same. Now he's a private detective, assisted by his genetically altered dog Sherlock, and emulates the tough guys in the noir books and movies that he loves. When Bach takes the case of a woman involuntarily infected with an engineered virus, he is on the hunt to track down the biohackers in the infamous district of Irontown. But if he wants to save humanity, he'll have to confront his own demons.
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2 primary books3 released books#3 in Eight Worlds
Eight Worlds is a 3-book series with 3 released primary works first released in 1977 with contributions by John Varley.
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3 stars, Metaphorosis Reviews
Summary:
On the moon, a
hard-boiled detective and his dog are hired to find justice for a mysterious woman nefariously infected with a virus. Naturally, they find more than they anticipated.
Review:
I'm a fan of some of John Varley's work. The Gaea Trilogy was an eye opener for me, but I also loved The Golden Globe. I liked The Ophiuchi Hotline and the Thunder and Lightning series but wasn't bowled over by them. Still, Varley doesn't write a lot, so when I saw this on NetGalley, I picked it up. It fits fairly well in the ‘liked, but didn't love' box.
Irontown is listed as an Eight Worlds novel, which is apparently a shared universe including The Golden Globe and Steel Beach, though I hadn't known it. Despite having read one (perhaps both) of those books, this felt very much like a sequel – heavy on references to the backstory. It was well presented and not confusing, but it often felt like an inside joke.
The story is told in part from the viewpoint of the dog, and, rather to my surprise, that worked fairly well, as does the narrator's own self-deprecating humor. The society is reasonably credible, if thinly sketched. Unfortunately, the plot is just as thin. A good part of it is told in flashbacks, and significant portions are told only by implication. There's quite a bit of reliance on happy coincidence. Overall, it was mildly amusing, but I didn't really come away with anything. It was effective time filler, but a story that will vanish from memory almost immediately.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
