The future isn't what it used to be since Richard K. Morgan arrived on the scene. He unleashed Takeshi Kovacs-private eye, soldier of fortune, and all-purpose antihero-into the body-swapping, hard-boiled, urban jungle of tomorrow in Altered Carbon, Broken Angels, and Woken Furies, winning the Philip K. Dick Award in the process. In Market Forces, he launched corporate gladiator Chris Faulkner into the brave new business of war-for-profit. Now, in Thirteen, Morgan radically reshapes and recharges science fiction yet again, with a new and unforgettable hero in Carl Marsalis: hybrid, hired gun, and a man without a country . . . or a planet. Marsalis is one of a new breed. Literally. Genetically engineered by the U.S. government to embody the naked aggression and primal survival skills that centuries of civilization have erased from humankind, Thirteens were intended to be the ultimate military fighting force. The project was scuttled, however, when a fearful public branded the supersoldiers dangerous mutants, dooming the Thirteens to forced exile on Earth's distant, desolate Mars colony. But Marsalis found a way to slip back-and into a lucrative living as a bounty hunter and hit man before a police sting landed him in prison-a fate worse than Mars, and much more dangerous. Luckily, his "enhanced" life also seems to be a charmed one. A new chance at freedom beckons, courtesy of the government. All Marsalis has to do is use his superior skills to bring in another fugitive. But this one is no common criminal. He's another Thirteen-one who's already shanghaied a space shuttle, butchered its crew, and left a trail of bodies in his wake on a bloody cross-country spree. And like his pursuer, he was bred to fight to the death. Still, there's no question Marsalis will take the job. Though it will draw him deep into violence, treachery, corruption, and painful confrontation with himself, anything is better than remaining a prisoner. The real question is: can he remain sane-and alive-long enough to succeed? From the Hardcover edition.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 3.5 / 5.0
Vintage Morgan:
I don't like giving any of the plot away to so I have a hard time reviewing. Let's say if you like Morgan, Hamilton, Sterling, Gibson, early Stephenson, Cherryh's hard SF (although her fantasy is almost a genre in itself), Charlie Stross, Noon, Walter Jon Williams, Verner Vinge, Scalzi, some Greg Bear (Darwin's Radio and sequel), you should like this. I other hand, if you lean more towards Bujold, Turtledove, and McCaffrey, you might not. This author is on my list of buy everything he writes. BTW, William... more info
Thr1te3n; great sci-fi:
I enjoyed thirteen a lot. Morgan threw in some mystery and technology ideas that added spark to the building plot. There were surprises that kept me interested through the whole book. It was a little week on explaining some of the technology. I felt it would be a better story if he had delved into how thirteen genetic materials were acquired. And there is something called "mesh" that I was interested in but it was never explained. The graphic descriptions of crime scenes were a little too raw for my taste,... more info
delightful, fun and interesting:
I loved this book. Even towards the end it was interesting and exciting. Very good character development AND story/plot line AND ideas. Highly recomended!
Show me, don't tell me:
Very exciting premise here - in the not so distant future America has split along conservative and liberal lines into 2 separate countries and genetic experimentation has created a race of "super men" called 13's (genetic variation #13) who have either been locked up or exiled to the Mars colony. These guys are genetic throwbacks to the caveman and serious alpha males that used to run the tribes and groups of stone aged hunters. They were created to fight in wars but afterwards, were killed, locked up, or... more info
