Book Review - NEON LEVIATHAN by T.R. Napper

(Title: Neon Leviathan / Author: T.R. Napper / Publisher: Grimdark Magazine / Publication Date: February 15, 2020)

Sometimes you just happen to log in to Twitter at exactly the right time.  That was the case a few weeks ago when I hopped on and saw a tweet from James of Grimdark Magazine.  He was touting this new SF book that he was reading and asked if any bloggers would be interested in checking it out.  The first thing that grabbed me was the incredibly cool cover.  It spurred me to reach out to James to get a little more info about the book.  Once I was satisfied that it was something that definitely would be of interest, Adrian from GDM was gracious enough to provide me an advance copy of NEON LEVIATHAN by T.R. Napper in exchange for an honest review.

NEON LEVIATHAN is a collection of 12 Cyberpunk stories that all take place in the same world, but at varying chronologies and introducing different characters each time.  All of the stories are separate and self-contained, yet they also fit together to formulate an overall tale about a future world gone haywire.  The majority of the stories take place roughly (give or take 10-20 years) around the year 2090.  During this time Vietnam and Australia have formed a military coalition and are engaged in a brutal war with the kingdom of China.  It is really an all-out chaotic situation and we aren't initially sure why this is taking place, but as the stories are told, things get a bit more clear shall we say.

There's also quite a good deal of amazing ideas within these stories, very reminiscent of the likes of William Gibson and Richard K. Morgan.  I couldn't help but draw parallels as I was moving through each chapter, but that's not to say that Napper just took these authors' themes and ran with them.  This is a universe that is very well thought out, original, and some of the stories totally blew my mind.  Suffice it to say I'd be hard-pressed to come up with another book that rivals NEON LEVIATHAN when it comes to mind-blowing concepts, shocking storylines, and insane futuristic drugs and technology.

Within the 12 chapters of this book, you will come across stories that run the gamut of unrelenting SF goodness.  One is about a character who is forced to undergo "memory reassignment surgery" because their PTSD from the war is so intense that they have become a violent threat to the public and the local authorities.  You'll also read about a man who is addicted to selling his memories for profit to a business that resells those same memories to the ruling class.  He ultimately sells so many of his most significant memories that it threatens any chance that he has of reconnecting with his estranged wife and daughter, which is what he wants more than anything.  Problem is he can't remember much of what life was like when he was part of their lives.

Then there's the story of a commander of the Vietnam/Australian forces who isn't sure whether or not his team is being stalked by an assassin as they are about to carry out a vital mission against the Chinese forces.  As he becomes more and more paranoid, it's not clear whether or not these are delusions brought on by his addiction to a drug called Ice Seven or whether his troop is really being hunted by a stealthy executioner.

I had an enormous amount of fun reading NEON LEVIATHAN.  It's a book that I had no idea I needed to read until I fully immersed myself in it.  A word of warning, this book is not for the faint of heart as there is very profane language, uber-violence, and pretty seedy people doing really bad things to themselves and others.  It's definitely a grownup book with some very grim subject matter.  That being said, it's also a book that delivers some amazingly cool moments of Cyberpunk bliss and really fantastic world-building to boot.

If you are searching for a read that harkens back to some of the great Cyberpunk works of our time, then you should definitely pick up a copy of NEON LEVIATHAN by T.R. Napper.  It will horrify you at times, make you laugh at others, but always succeeds in entertaining you in the process.  I enjoyed it a lot and can't wait to read more from this author.  Just as a heads-up, this book will be released on February 15th, 2020 but you can preorder it on Amazon right now.  I would recommend doing so because this is a wild ride that you are not going to want to miss!

(My rating: 9/10)