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Netherwood
While on a mission to capture the cyber-outlaw, Kovner, sheriff Talia Fortune, armed with the power to punish, is sent to Fresh Havens, a colony rife with danger, sabotage, deception, and destruction, where she falls into the sensual clutches of her quarry. Original.
303 pages, Paperback
First published February 26, 2008
76 people want to read
About the author
Michele Lang
57 books41 followersMichele Lang writes supernatural stories set in futuristic places: the stories of witches, lawyers, goddesses, cops, bankers, demons, and other magical creatures hidden in plain sight.
Visit Michele on the web: www.michelelang.com"
Visit Michele on the web: www.michelelang.com"
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
March 15, 2009
I really liked the premise but the execution did not work. There were too many ideas going on which weren't very well thought out. Everything sort of sounded cool and interesting but were so vague that my suspension of disbelief wouldn't stay suspended.
On top of that - while the hero and heroine were interesting, they began to annoy me. Kovner's zen know-it-all attitude and smiles in spite of bad news was annoying. Talia going from a gung-ho, confident young thing, to realizing she doesn't know it all, to martyr annoyed me.
What that didn't make this book a complete failure for me was that the writing itself was okay. Despite a couple of typos (FourtuneCorp, fingr), it flowed well (it was a first person past tense point of view in case people wanted to know). There were some interesting ideas in there, I just wish there was less. So in the end this became an average to below average read to me rather than a good read. I would not completely close the door on reading something else from this author because I think there's potential, but I'd prefer a tighter plot next time.
More of my review: http://janicu.livejournal.com/55505.html
On top of that - while the hero and heroine were interesting, they began to annoy me. Kovner's zen know-it-all attitude and smiles in spite of bad news was annoying. Talia going from a gung-ho, confident young thing, to realizing she doesn't know it all, to martyr annoyed me.
What that didn't make this book a complete failure for me was that the writing itself was okay. Despite a couple of typos (FourtuneCorp, fingr), it flowed well (it was a first person past tense point of view in case people wanted to know). There were some interesting ideas in there, I just wish there was less. So in the end this became an average to below average read to me rather than a good read. I would not completely close the door on reading something else from this author because I think there's potential, but I'd prefer a tighter plot next time.
More of my review: http://janicu.livejournal.com/55505.html
March 12, 2018
So this sounded interesting. But, it was just weird, and not in a good way. In the future, it's all corp owned. There's the very popular "the Grid" (virtual reality) and the (boring) "Real" world. There's AI, different robotics, and "carbon-based" (that would be humanity). The rich don't need to die and can live forever by having their consciousness uploaded to the Grid.
This just didn't work for me. I wasn't invested in the story. I could have cared less about Talia and Kovner. Maybe I would have liked it a little more if there was less tech. (Or been less moody).
This just didn't work for me. I wasn't invested in the story. I could have cared less about Talia and Kovner. Maybe I would have liked it a little more if there was less tech. (Or been less moody).
September 16, 2008
Corporations own colonies in Michele Lang's fabulously futuristic Netherwood.
Talia Fortune's uncle is in charge of running the off-world Fresh Havens, but he's no longer a competent manager. Thus Talia is sent to sheriff the place, and punish the outlaw who screwed up the interface. However, Robert Kovner is also Talia's cyber-lover, and he knows more about FortuneCorp than she does. As the revelations come to light, Talia has to figure out how to save the colony from a conglomerate owner gone mad.
The first 100 pages are outstanding, a true example of fabulous world-building. The strength is in the details, though I did have a little difficulty keeping track of life on the grid and in the Real. Even just the names of places - such as the Glass Desert - evoke such rich imagery, and there's other gorgeous descriptions demonstrating good writing.
As the story got more complicated, I had trouble keeping up, and so the novel seemed to lose some of its greatness. With enough focus and attention, however, other readers shouldn't have this problem. I didn't quite connect with the characters, but if you're looking for an ace setting with vivid detail, you've come to the right book.
Talia Fortune's uncle is in charge of running the off-world Fresh Havens, but he's no longer a competent manager. Thus Talia is sent to sheriff the place, and punish the outlaw who screwed up the interface. However, Robert Kovner is also Talia's cyber-lover, and he knows more about FortuneCorp than she does. As the revelations come to light, Talia has to figure out how to save the colony from a conglomerate owner gone mad.
The first 100 pages are outstanding, a true example of fabulous world-building. The strength is in the details, though I did have a little difficulty keeping track of life on the grid and in the Real. Even just the names of places - such as the Glass Desert - evoke such rich imagery, and there's other gorgeous descriptions demonstrating good writing.
As the story got more complicated, I had trouble keeping up, and so the novel seemed to lose some of its greatness. With enough focus and attention, however, other readers shouldn't have this problem. I didn't quite connect with the characters, but if you're looking for an ace setting with vivid detail, you've come to the right book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 24, 2010
In the future our reality is more plugged into the virtual than the real. Talia is the chosen sucessor to her grandmother - the CEO of FortuneCorp, one of the six worldwide (universe-wide?) conglomerates. Though, her grandmother has "descended" a term used for someone who cheats death by having their consciousness uploaded to the net.
Talia is sent to a FortuneCorp owned planet to discover and detain a saboteur who had cut the planet's access to the internet thereby cutting them off from all interplanetary contact. What she discovers upon arrival is a truth far more sinister than sabotage.
Netherwood is a weird, but scary little story that could almost be a prequel to Battlestar Galactica. It gets kinda techie in its language and might be hard to follow at some times, but as someone who has worked in the tech industry I didn't have any trouble following it. Any Luddites out there will find themselves completely lost.
Talia is sent to a FortuneCorp owned planet to discover and detain a saboteur who had cut the planet's access to the internet thereby cutting them off from all interplanetary contact. What she discovers upon arrival is a truth far more sinister than sabotage.
Netherwood is a weird, but scary little story that could almost be a prequel to Battlestar Galactica. It gets kinda techie in its language and might be hard to follow at some times, but as someone who has worked in the tech industry I didn't have any trouble following it. Any Luddites out there will find themselves completely lost.
November 28, 2017
Someone who loves video games might feel differently but I found this book to be silly, inexplicable at parts and poorly written. Definitely not a good read.
October 28, 2015
"I strode forward, feeling the glint of the hot cybersunlight on my bare scalp, along my long, muscle-packed thighs... I'm a sheriff, Talia Fortune by name, and tracking down and deactivating lawbreakers is my job ... The Netherwood started out as an ordinary virtual landscape, founded by a gaming guru, Geoff Provocateur ... in the Amphitheatre, illegal and dastardly acts were committed on a regular basis. And crime was my drug. I was sworn to smell it out and obliterate it."
Chapter one is amazing for all the wrong reasons, but unfortunately the book just gets boring after that. If it had kept up the full-tilt dumb-as-hell insanity of that first chapter I'd probably have finished it, but although it definitely stays dumb it stops being funny pretty quickly. Basically, this book is just really badly written.
Chapter one is amazing for all the wrong reasons, but unfortunately the book just gets boring after that. If it had kept up the full-tilt dumb-as-hell insanity of that first chapter I'd probably have finished it, but although it definitely stays dumb it stops being funny pretty quickly. Basically, this book is just really badly written.
September 29, 2011
Eh, another SHOMI title that had loads of possibilities but lacked plot cohesiveness. Other reviewers have given you their summary so I won't dwell on the mechanics. Just say that I was put off by the heroine of the story- she was suppose to be a sheriff and smart but she was clueless through most of the book about identifying who were the good guys and who were the bad guys. Also, I didn't think she really deserved the Avenger, aka Kovner. Besides the fact that she enjoyed having sex with him, why Kovner liked her so much was beyond me...
DRIVEN by Eve Kenin aka Eve Silver and COUNTDOWN by Michelle Maddox are SHOMI titles that I really enjoyed. Try them for a blend of great action and romance.
DRIVEN by Eve Kenin aka Eve Silver and COUNTDOWN by Michelle Maddox are SHOMI titles that I really enjoyed. Try them for a blend of great action and romance.
February 21, 2008
I liked this book. At first I was in way over my head too much technology to comprehend but as the book progressed I began to understand it better and realized what was going on. My only complaint is the heroine she is too pity party for me, doesn't really except things... on that thought I guess she is more like me then I thought maybe that's why I didn't really connect with her.
All and all a good book and had a wonderful romance story woven in.
All and all a good book and had a wonderful romance story woven in.
January 3, 2016
Biggest gripe, always, is poor grammar and/or spelling. These things can change meanings as you read. The story was hard going in the beginning but if you can get through that, the story has interesting concepts and ideas. This book will appeal more to the sci fi readers than the dystopian ones. Thankfully I like both ;) I am going to read the next book and see where it goes, I am hoping for some open story lines to complete!
June 9, 2015
I'm a sucker for cyberpunk and this book had some interesting flashes of commentary on canonical cyberpunk. On the whole, however, it felt like a mashup of cyberpunk cliches and romance novel cliches (and not in a good way). I read it and didn't mind it, but I probably wouldn't recommend it unless you like cyberpunk.
June 1, 2015
Overall plot was compelling, but the writing wad too choppy, and the book felt like a long awaited sequel, where there's an abrupt reminder of the world, with tons of pre-established history/relationships, then the world changes. Would have had more of an impact if there had been a whole first book to establish the world.
August 25, 2008
While interesting at times, Netherwood is unfortunately not a pleasure to read. The truly interesting ideas are left hanging (psychic children, mutant spiders, living forest, clone soldiers, digital afterlife, etc.) in favor of living up a theme of love and god over adversity.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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September 25, 2012This book was fairly entertaining once I got into the story - I just didn't like the ending.
It was somewhat outside of any of my usual genres so I was surprised that I liked it as much as I did.
It was somewhat outside of any of my usual genres so I was surprised that I liked it as much as I did.
Read
August 12, 2017This book manages the amazing feat of tackling some core scifi concepts like the Singularity while also presenting a very human story.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews