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Black Man (Hardcover)

by Richard Morgan (Author)
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
Price: CDN$ 37.95 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over CDN$ 39. Details
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Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. This stellar new stand-alone from Morgan, known for his compelling future noir thrillers (Altered Carbon, etc.), raises tantalizing questions about the nature of humanity. Future governments have used genetic manipulation to create subhumans twisted to fit specialized tasks. Normal people are intrigued as well as repulsed, but they instinctively dread variation thirteen, an aggressive, ruthless throwback to a time before civilization. When a thirteen escapes from exile on Mars and apparently goes on an insane killing spree, Carl Marsalis, a soul-weary freelance thirteen hit man, is hired to help track him down. Morgan goes beyond the SF cliché of the genetically enhanced superman to examine how personality is shaped by nature and experience. Marsalis is more empathetic than the normal people around him, but they can see him only as an untrustworthy killer. At the same time, surveying corrupt, fractured normal society, the novel questions whether the thirteens are just less successful at hiding their motives. Without slowing down the headlong rush of the action, the complex, looping plot suggests that all people may be less—or more—than they seem. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From AudioFile

Human-breeding experiments gone awry, faith-based prisons, cannibalism, and huge corporations controlling shadow governments. It's all taking place 100 years into the future in Morgan's darkly imagined, far-reaching, insightful novel. In this genre stew of science fiction, adventure, murder mystery, and noir, Simon Vance reads with commanding sureness, keeps the many English and Third-World accents distinct and listenable, and displays a wonderful vocal naturalism as he navigates through Morgan's inventive terms of the future. The bounty-hunting, genetically altered, brooding antihero, Carl Marsalis, takes on corrupt agencies and broken promises in graphic style. Further, Vance's poignant handling of Morgan's moving discussions of faith and mortality makes this book a one-of-a-kind experience. B.P. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.
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Customer Reviews

3 Reviews
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4.7 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent scifi work!, May 27 2007
By Patrick St-Denis (Laval, Quebec Canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
Carl Marsalis is a variant Thirteen -- one of the genetically engineered subjects of a failed government/military program to create the deadliest of soldiers. He is now a hit man with a UN mandate to find and dispatch rogue Thirteens. The problem is that Carl has lost the will to kill. When a job takes a turn for the worse and he's arrested in Miami, Carl believes that he can now leave his troubled past behind him. Unbeknownst to him, what appears to be a mentally unstable Thirteen returns from Mars and crashes the ship he's on in the Pacific, only to reappear later and leave a trail of corpses in his wake for no apparent reason. Soon afterward, government officials show up to bail Carl out of jail. In exchange, they want his expertise to help them deal what those seemingly random murders. Unfortunately, it won't take long for him to realize that there is much more to this than meets the eye.

Morgan's writing style and his fine eye for details make the narrative leap off the pages. The author truly knows how to make the story come alive, and I found the imagery quite compelling.

The worldbuilding is interesting, though Morgan doesn't delve too much on how it all came to pass. The USA have imploded and the country has split into three separate States: the Pacific Rim, the North Atlantic Union, and the Republic, also known as Jesusland. China is now a superpower and the rest of the world appears hard-pressed to keep up with them. It is a fascinating backdrop, to be sure, and it's too bad Richard Morgan didn't spend a bit more time explaining how it all unfolded.

The characterizations are well-done, the dialogues gritty. The author knows how to keep the readers interested by allowing us to learn more about the characters by increments. The Carl Marsalis/Sevgi Ertekin tandem provides a nice balance between the Thirteen and the COLIN agent. The supporting cast is comprised of a good bunch of characters, including the Norton brothers and Carmen Ren.

The pace is great -- Black Man/Thirteen is a veritable page-turner! However, the storytelling is at times a bit uneven. Nothing that really takes anything away from the novel, mind you. But Morgan sometimes takes the "easy" route, and Marsalis' hunches prove to be on target, though they're coming from way out of left field. With such a absorbing and convoluted plot, I felt decidedly short-changed when that happened.

My only true complaint in what is an otherwise nearly flawless work of science fiction lies in Morgan's depiction of Jesusland. I am well aware that the southern States of the USA are a land of contradictions, not easily understood by outsiders. But to portray the majority of their inhabitants as God-fearing, Bible-waving, racist dumbasses is quite a stretch, in my humble opinion. As I mentioned, Richard Morgan's backdrop is an interesting extrapolation of a possible future for the United States of America. Yet his depiction of the Republic goes a bit too far -- as if there's not a single soul in those States with a single shred of common sense and judgement. I mean, when it comes to human rights, they have as much moral celirity as countries like Libya. Again, that's pushing the envelope a bit too far. Honestly, there is a lot more to those States and their citizens, and the differences between the north and the south are a bit more complex than that. Hence, although most people likely will not even notice this (it doesn't particularly have much of an impact on the tale), it made me grit my teeth on more than one occasion. I guess I'm just tired of what has become a somewhat Western European misconception about the southern States, namely that religious fundamentalism is the norm everywhere. Heck, not everyone born there is a traditionalist right-wing inbred hillbilly idiot! I figure it irked me to such an extent because everything else is so well-crafted that it appears that Morgan let his Leftist side take over for just that facet of his creation. As I said, this doesn't affect the overall quality of this novel, but it left something to be desired.

Black Man/Thirteen is a high-octane, action-packed and violent book. It is also an intelligent and thought-provoking thriller, one that will even satisfy readers from outside the genre.

Like Ian McDonald's Brasyl, Morgan's latest is a sure nomination for a Hugo Award. Moreover, despite its flaws, Black Man/Thirteen might well be the book of the year!:-) I commend this one to your attention, as it is one of the books to read in 2007.
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5.0 out of 5 stars 3 X C 3 L L 3 N T !!, Aug 9 2008
By NeuroSplicer (Freeside, in geosynchronous orbit) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)   
This review is from: Black Man (Paperback)
This dark cyberpunk novel is another proof that RICHARD MORGAN is the cutting edge of the genre. In a not so distant future, Mars has been colonized and genetic altered humans have been created, used up and then discarded into the margins of society - with prejudice. Hunting down renegade Thirteens (augmented alpha-males that should only choose between exile to Mars or never leaving their reservation) is Carl Marsalis, another Thirteen with an agenda of his own.
In the backdrop of a dystopic yet all too human society several paradigm shifts away, this roller-coater ride starts off with a bang and never slows down.

Ever since his first novel (ALTERED CARBON), Richard Morgan has conjured up a rich world full of images, sounds, scents and tastes that, although is science fiction, it never ceases to be recognizably and timelessly human. His imagination has given this future such depth that allows him to move effortlessly back and forth in time between books. I can only compare him to another titan of the genre : FRANK HERBERT of DUNE fame.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!

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[NOTE: BLACK MAN is the original title but you may also encounter this book as TH1RTE3N, as it got repackaged for the American market]
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4.0 out of 5 stars Great book - possibly a little too long, Jun 21 2007
By Robert Edwards "readerman" (Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Black Man (Paperback)
Great story. It seemed to drag after chapter 40 and could have been abreiviated. Bit too much philosophizing about male/female/macho stuff. The Jesusland, anti-abortion part is remarkably timely given the current American red-necked mentality. This was not as much fun to read as 'Altered Carbon' but very few books are.
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