Review #1 – The Escher Man by T.R. Napper

Oh boy! I just love this novel!
In the best traditions of cyberpunk this novel drags us through the high tech low life in Macau and bordered regions. How one of the reviewers said, it’s a complete mindfuck. The book starts as a usual criminal thriller, but then… I’ll provide you no spoilers. Because this book is a treasure for an engaged reader.
Characters are well-fleshed, with understandable motivation, goals and flaws. Endgame is a beast.
World-building is exquisite. The novel doesn’t give you any exposition, just throws you into the action and doesn’t care if you get it or not. The world is vivid, alive and believable.
And the prose, prose is magnificent! Harsh, cruel, but limited vocabulary of thugs intervenes with sophisticated word combinations of scientists and educated people. Moments with memory flashes are written thoroughly and very realistically. T.R. Napper has just bulldozed his place in my Top-5 of favourite authors.
But, there are some flaws as well. Nothing is perfect, you know. But here they are minor. In some chapters, the pace was sluggishly slow, I crawled through the book, waiting for some development. Especially in the Golden Dragon casino chapters… I understand that they are important for plot, but those chapters were painfully slow.
So, the conclusion. If you love cyberpunk, just read it and you’ll like it. If you love criminal thrillers with memory manipulation, just read it and you’ll love it. If you like well-written characters and great world-building… you got it. So, I’ve got nothing more to say, just read the fucking book!