Hello, my lovely peeps 🐣! Happy Monday!
I had a phenomenal weekend full of good food, some light shopping, reading, writing reviews, and even a bit of Sims 3-ing and born from that came a new character that I've been writing in my creative journal about.
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It's April 29th and you know what that means? It's the last day of the Cyberpunk-Filled April month where I featured authors and works from the Cyberpunk genre and in continuation from last week's review of Hamlet: Prince of Robots, today, I'll be sharing a review for Into Neon, the first book in the Cyberpunk Saga by Matthew A. Goodwin. It's currently 12:55am, Monday, as I'm drafting this post, and I finished this book around the afternoon of Sunday, and I'm still reeling. I'm drunk of books and worldbuilding and still a little shaky after that ending.
So...a pretty enjoyable book! I actually started reading this as an audiobook (from the 2023 Cyberpunk bundle by Fanatical), before remembering that my brother had gifted me the [3-in-1 books] paperback version a while back and ended up reading both versions: paperback when I wanted to write down notes and back to the audiobook when I wanted to listen while playing Sims. A good thing too, that I had the paperback version, because, as it turns out, the version that came with Fanatical 2023, was actually missing an epilogue which was more of a sneak peek at a whole other party's/side's POV.
Anyway, without further ado, let me share my thoughts and review for Into Neon by Matthew A. Goodwin!
A Cyberpunk-Filled April
With how much I've grown to love this genre, I decided to dedicate an entire month to cyberpunk. Having been introduced to many amazing authors, including some hidden gems in the indie community, I wanted to spend my favorite month getting to share this genre via interviews and book reviews. Initially, having only a genre-themed TBR, I ended up getting to work with Fanatical (with help and thanks to Charlotte) in featuring their Cyberpunk Stories: Build-Your-Own bundle and from there, was able to also work with a few authors to pull together some interviews.
So sit tight and grab a bucket of popcorn as I introduce a handful of lovely authors and titles!
BOOK DESCRIPTION
Title: Into Neon
Author: Matthew A. Goodwin
Genre: Fiction, Science Fiction, Cyberpunk, Action
Length: 189 Pages [paperback]
Published: 4 July 2019
LINKS:
Goodreads: [LINK]
Amazon: [LINK]
Disclaimer: Thank you Fanatical, my contact, Charlotte, and the author for participating in this bundle. An e-copy of this book was provided to me as part of helping feature the entire bundle and so, by connection, I'll be extending the disclaimer to this book review as well. However, no free copy of either the bundle or the books affects my thoughts for this book and all opinions are my own.
Additional Disclaimer: Please note that the Fanatical version of the audiobook (I'm not sure about other versions) seems to be missing an epilogue chapter, which is present in the paperback version.
BLURB
"Star Wars Meets Blade Runner In An Awesome Adventure!" -Amazon Review (5 Stars) Moss' life is going nowhere until a mysterious woman knocks on his door and leaves him with the key to take down one of the world's largest corporations. When he discovers a familial connection to the stranger, Moss leaves the comfort of his home with his best friend for the sprawling megacity. There, he joins a group of ruffians dedicated to freeing people from the yoke of the evil companies. Police-for-hire, motorcycle gangs and betrayal threaten them at every turn. Can Moss help this small group of rebels fight the power before it's too late? Find out in Into Neon: A Cyberpunk Saga.
REVIEW
One moment he was just an engineer making repairs, his greatest frustration in life being that his jobs were constantly being stolen by people like Ira. One small cog in a giant machine. A corporate employee where Moss was just one number amongst many. Next, he's fighting for his life. His friends' lives. Fighting for a cause, the same cause that his parents had passed on to him: to free the employees of ThutoCo, to save lives. To expose this evil corporation.
This was a pretty good book. The writing was fast-paced and there's hardly room for anyone to breathe. From the moment the strange woman, Ynna (pr: Inna) showed up in Moss' hex (room/apartment), there had been endless dangers. Chip in hand followed by "unlocking" Moss to show how truly evil his corporation and employer is, Ynna presents Moss with a task and it's up to him if he wishes to turn her in by calling security on her, or to meet her first task. He makes the choice to trust Ynna, and, with his best friend Gibbs tagging along, the two make their way into the city to meet up with Ynna (and her team). From the moment these two make their way into the city, the action and danger doesn't end. In the city, they are met with Ynna's teammates and slowly but surely, Gibbs and Moss find themselves in a brand new world, putting their lives in the hands of his new friends to accomplish a goal that he still, by the end, only just started to understand. Eyes open to the deeds of their old company, there's no turning back now. And, once Moss learned the real truth, one that his father had dug up, he'd be insane to willingly return anyway.
I'm was a little iffy on the dialogue. Some of the lines felt a little "superhero-y". There were a couple of times when a character brings up an idea and someone would push it right down with, this ain't the movies, kid. And yeah, that basically describes how I felt. Some of the dialogue indeed made it feel like I was watching a YA action film except with adult language, themes, and some gnarly graphic content. It sure feels like the movies. Still, I can't complain too much. With the exception of a few errors (I think I saw a handful of random underscores), everything felt clean. The dialogue, for all I mention above, is easy to read and follow, easy to digest. Emotions come off strong and the narration helps a lot. I maybe got a little teary-eyed at the end and you know me. I always give bonus points for "if a book makes me feel something." By the end, the writing didn't stop me from being ready to pounce into the next book.
The plot was good as well. It flew by, with the length of the book (~189 pages) helping a lot. Everything just kept happening and I quite liked not being able to breathe (ahha). It made it feel exhilarating to experience [from the safety of my home that isn't part of a futuristic dystopian world of monopolies and doom]. There's a big mega corp, it's doing bad, and a band of heroes goes to expose them. It felt a lot like a video game. There's a major cause to fulfill, our [clueless] protagonist comes out as an amateur to the street life, had to adapt and learn VERY fast, gets thrown out into some wild handful of experiences where he gets a few upgrades, learns a few lessons, and then suddenly we're already at the end, ready to face the big last round of the dungeon. And that climax with the whole infiltration, and expose the company, mission was on fire. It's was so explosive and so much was at stake. If caught, death would be a mercy.
Moss, let's talk about Moss. I have a lot of notes on our little protagonist here. At first, I wrote in several margins that his naivety was painful to read. "This ain't the movies" kind of innocent. And it fits about right. He has only known the corporate life for as long as he could remember, being an orphan and basically raised to be another gear to the company's machine. Sure, he says that his hex is sad and poor (compared to the richer employees who know how to steal jobs to move up the ladder), but to my modern pea brain…his food machine, his clothes machine, his drudge, the beach simulation in his hex…It feels so high tech, even if his high tech is amongst the lower "poor" side. He's only known his job, his hex, his friends and supervisor, his enemies who steal his jobs, and his company. No outside experience, and so his portrayal was deliberate that way. A satisfied employee who has everything he needs, right there within reach, does not need the outside world. Does not need to venture where there are no support. Does not need to know further truth and therefore, does not question the company.
So when he ventures out into the big new world, danger in all forms around every corner, it's terrifying. He can't fight, the ideas he does bring to the table are chuckled at and brushed off as stuff that only works in the movies, and it feels so…real! He starts as a nobody and is thrown into the world as [basically] a sheltered guy with no street skills, of course he won't have street knowledge by the end of the first few days. Now, whether his exponential growth from that same innocent guy to that strong leader, by the end of the book, feels realistic…eh, that could be questionable. But, the guy's just trying to make his parents proud (Mossy, you made me proud though). I will say however…combined with the YA-esque dialogue (in places), I could never place Moss and his [old] friends' (from the Burb) age. They feel like teenagers, but also young adults.
In conclusion, a good book with a few small flaws in my opinion. The dialogue in places felt like a YA movie and, as with any short (<200 page) fiction with lots of action, the story really flew by. It went so quickly that some of the characters don't get a lot of screentime. I hardly got to know Grimey (though, I suppose it makes sense as he's the doc/support who stays on base). I have the collection of the first three books (3-in-1; a gift from my brother) so I can't wait to eventually get back in. The ending was nice (like I said, I might've shed a tear or two) and I'm invested in this rag-tag group enough to come back. What flaws there were, wasn't enough to stop me from inhaling the book and the pages practically turned themselves. It has been an enjoyable time and I now have a hint of that familiar bookish hangover, so off I run. If you enjoy a classic cyberpunk book of high tech, low life, rag-tag group of few [and their allies] against a massive and evil monopoly of corporations, check out this series and start here in Into Neon. It's short length and fast-pacing is the perfect place to start and see if you'll jump into book 2, with. I sure will!
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And that's that! It's been such a pleasure getting to feature the authors in their respective interviews and sharing my thoughts on some select reads as well. This has been a wildly fun month and I surely hope you may have enjoyed it as well, maybe adding a title and two to your TBRs!
A reminder that the bundle is ending in a few days, so if you're still interested in the Cyberpunk Stories: Build Your Own Bundle, there is still some time left!
As for this month's posts, I'll be compiling them into a single thread over on Twitter/X. With that, thanks a lot for sticking around everyone! It's been a joy!
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