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Noir
by
In his acclaimed novels Dr. Adder, The Glass Hammer, and the Blade Runner books, K.W. Jeter masterfully re-created the grim and gritty world of Ridley Scott's classic science fiction film masterpiece. Now Jeter returns with a startling and stylish new vision of the future as only he could imagine it, a dark and disturbing universe that can be described with one word...
W ...more
W ...more
Paperback, 496 pages
Published
September 1st 1999
by Spectra
(first published 1998)
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Remember when cyberpunk was edgy and provocative? I'm talking pre-"Matrix" cyberpunk, the cyberpunk of writers like William Gibson and Bruce Sterling. Back then it was dangerous. Today it's... uh... well, reality. I mean, seriously, who knew that this Internet thing would be so popular? (Besides Gibson et al...) Jeter's novel "Noir" was written near the end of the cyberpunk movement, just before the Internet explosion. Set in a near (enough) future, "Noir" follows an investigator named McNihil (
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Apr 01, 2014
Alan
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Burning corpses...
Recommended to Alan by:
Those Bette Davis eyes
Back at DynaZauber headquarters, he knew, some computer in the accounting department was humming almost silently to itself, deducting the minor cost of the girl's death from the corporation's stock of pollution credits, specifically on the urban misery index. Every year, DZ's PR division planted along the roads enough seedlings—most of which died or grew into no more than toxin-stunted weeds—to more than counterbalance necessary operating deaths. Which proved that the system worked, if you let i...more
Here is a quick and easy litmus test to see if you would be interested in reading this book- Could you take seriously a world where "connect" is used as an all purpose stand in for "fuck"? Example: "Connect you, you connecting connect-head!"
I didn't know if I could at first. The first chapter and even the second are enough of an intellectual fire wall to block out most casual science fiction fans, since it throws so much at the reader with its nightmarish future featuring wage slaves who are rea ...more
I didn't know if I could at first. The first chapter and even the second are enough of an intellectual fire wall to block out most casual science fiction fans, since it throws so much at the reader with its nightmarish future featuring wage slaves who are rea ...more
I fell behind in my reviews thanks to the impending end of SY2017-'18. I am currently working as a day-to-day substitute teacher & I get some of my best reading done at work. There is usually 30 minutes of independent reading time built into each school day & so I indulge while the children are reading. As the end of the school year approached, I found myself wanting to read more & type less before the opportunity closed.
I bought this on BetterWorldBooks.com simply based on its title, but unlike ...more
I bought this on BetterWorldBooks.com simply based on its title, but unlike ...more
"Tell me a story," said the professional child. This is one dark twisted story. McNihil is an ex-cop known as an "asp head" who is sent into The Wedge the dangerous underbelly of a future Greater Los Angeles (the GLOSS) to seek out a prowler, an android like creation, which it appears is responsible for the death of an executive of the DynaZauber Corporation. But nothing is what it seems in this very dark world. The noir of the title is a reference to McNihil's vision, his eyes have been surgica
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Noir by K.W. Jeter is a fantastic literary cyberpunk novel rife with metaphor about sex, violence, capitalism, nihilism and everything between those sheets. Fantastic work that ensures people will continue to take cyberpunk as a serious literary movement.
K.W. Jeter has a really cool, edgy writing style that makes this cyberpunk tale read like electric poetry. McNihil, the story's main character, has implants in his brain that cause him to see the postmodern world and its inhabitants in the dark and rainy night of a noir movie. I watched the Matrix again while reading this and really noticed the Noir scenes in that movie. This book was published right around the time the Matrix came out. While the stories are quite different, there are similariti
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I will start by saying it's been several years since I read this book but I find the concepts introduced have stuck with me. It's interesting that I can't remember much about the protagonist or the overall story but I still think about the ideas from the book fairly regularly.
One of the big items is the enforcement of copyright infringement through capital punishment. While it's absurd to think of in today's terms, I've grown to believe absurd things can happen in government.
As a whole, the fut ...more
One of the big items is the enforcement of copyright infringement through capital punishment. While it's absurd to think of in today's terms, I've grown to believe absurd things can happen in government.
As a whole, the fut ...more
That's the essence of Noir-- someone's always getting screwed over
-Turbiner
There's a delicate balance that needs to be struck between style and substance, especially in genre fiction. Most authors decide to pack their books full of cool ideas and then skimp on the plot, leaving us drawn into their world but with nowhere to go in it*. Others decide to give their plot a few cool details here and there, but most of these small touches are better-remembered than the actual plot of the novel. Noir b ...more
-Turbiner
There's a delicate balance that needs to be struck between style and substance, especially in genre fiction. Most authors decide to pack their books full of cool ideas and then skimp on the plot, leaving us drawn into their world but with nowhere to go in it*. Others decide to give their plot a few cool details here and there, but most of these small touches are better-remembered than the actual plot of the novel. Noir b ...more
In a collection of academic essays on steampunk, " Like Clockwork," a number of the authors praised Jeter's "Noir." Perhaps it is the rapture of the deep some academic post-modernists hold for the abyss (which is where this book dwells) or the frequent dislike of the business community prevalent on many campuses (this book offers a grossly distorted image of that economic sector) that brings forth such support. He writes, for instance, "What the human-resource managers and company psychs called
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This is a difficult book for me to review. You could call it an important book, a literary book, Art with the capital A perhaps. There's no arguing that it kept me turning the pages, that Jeter has an imagination that is both provocative and evocative, and that it deserves its place as one of the seminal books of the Cyberpunk genre.
So, why only three stars?
There are some flaws with the book. It's not a tightly plotted book but rather a book of ideas. Unlike say, Neuromancer, which fits its ide ...more
So, why only three stars?
There are some flaws with the book. It's not a tightly plotted book but rather a book of ideas. Unlike say, Neuromancer, which fits its ide ...more
Jeter’s Noir is a fascinating look into a dystopian cyberpunk future of enhanced technology and rampant capitalism full of mystery and striking scenery.
Noir follows detective McNihil as he investigates the death of a corporate executive, and, along with November, explores the dystopian world around him in the hopes to unearth darker secrets.
A fascinating thing about Noir is the main characters eyes that he has altered to see the world in black and white like an old Noir style film, which is uniq ...more
Noir follows detective McNihil as he investigates the death of a corporate executive, and, along with November, explores the dystopian world around him in the hopes to unearth darker secrets.
A fascinating thing about Noir is the main characters eyes that he has altered to see the world in black and white like an old Noir style film, which is uniq ...more
I don't get the focus of this book's narrative. On one hand, it's a bit too on the noise with it's title of Noir. There's the hardboiled detective who literally sees the world like a noir movie. And he has a buddy who is an actual author of noir books. They even discuss how things are going to play out according to a formula set up in noir literature.
On the other hand, this is written in a late 90s style. The first chapter is especially difficult to read. It's like the book is so full of itself ...more
On the other hand, this is written in a late 90s style. The first chapter is especially difficult to read. It's like the book is so full of itself ...more
"Noir" is a science fiction novel that can generally be classified as cyberpunk. The author tries to ram a lot of different ideas into the book, many of which are really good and are intentionally dark and horrifying. Unfortunately, many of these ideas, along with the characters and key plot elements, do not get fully developed. I can't decide if the book should have been edited down to be 100 pages shorter or expanded to be 100 pages longer. The story as a whole is simply inconsistent and sever
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May 12, 2020
Jacob
rated it
liked it
Recommends it for:
Cyberpunk fans, grimdark fans, anyone who wants a downer of a story, noir fans
Damn. Tough one to rate, this one.
It's kinda not great to read for long stretches of time, mainly because it is the single most depressing and bleak cyberpunk future I've ever read about. People are killed by email stress, for gods sake.
But the cyberpunk ideas also make it one of the best sci-fi books I've had the pleasure of reading. It's not a universal recommendation. It suffers from being too grim-dark. That is, it's bleak mostly for the sake of being bleak. As such, I could only read litt ...more
It's kinda not great to read for long stretches of time, mainly because it is the single most depressing and bleak cyberpunk future I've ever read about. People are killed by email stress, for gods sake.
But the cyberpunk ideas also make it one of the best sci-fi books I've had the pleasure of reading. It's not a universal recommendation. It suffers from being too grim-dark. That is, it's bleak mostly for the sake of being bleak. As such, I could only read litt ...more
Entertaining, but cluttered.
I just couldn't finish this. First book in many years I have given up on.
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I tried to get into this, I tried to like it, and I failed miserably. It's a dark future science fiction novel, where the protagonist - and I use the term lightly - is basically a kind of corporate assassin who had a surgical job done on his eyes so that he could "see" everything the way a black and white 20s gumshoe movie would appear. On that level - the world building is fascinating, and you get this strange "half-seen" view of this dystopic future.
The plot is confusing and confounding but no ...more
The plot is confusing and confounding but no ...more
Very dark, as the title suggests. If you don't know the meaning of noir don't bother with the book. It follows a story line very similar to the plot of most noir movie thrillers, the detective even sees in black and white with a 50's style visual overlay. Tattoos that spread like viruses, companies that sell and market junk, credit count-downs on our hands, etc... are we there yet? I don't know but we are surely headed in that direction and visa/mastercard/amex executives could find a lot to lik
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I wanted to like this book. I dearly love so many things that this book was trying to be: a gritty, hard-boiled detective story set in a dark and unforgiving cyberpunk world. I know it can be done. I've read other books that did it well. But this one seemed to be trying so damn hard to make sure I knew throughout every single sentence that it was what it so desperately wanted to be, that instead it felt like a story wearing an ill-fitting, cartoonish noir costume. In retrospect the title alone s
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Perhaps I should write a full review of this book as it elicited strong emotions in me, both good and bad, but it's late and tomorrow I'm off to the Royal Observatory to try and pretend I'm as smart as a bunch of far more interesting people ... plus I'm lazy.
In short: his writing is as amazing as I remember it, his world-building is breathtaking, but the characters were little more than ciphers (perhaps deliberately) and the plot turned on a nasty outbreak of 'unreliable narrator'. And there was ...more
In short: his writing is as amazing as I remember it, his world-building is breathtaking, but the characters were little more than ciphers (perhaps deliberately) and the plot turned on a nasty outbreak of 'unreliable narrator'. And there was ...more
I really did not enjoy this book (guess the 1 star makes that clear enough).
There is a fair probability that I am not intellectual enough to enjoy the many subtexts here. If you can call them subtexts. The plot feels like it exists just to exhibit outrageous things masquerading as intelligent comment on issues.
I would only recommend this for people who already know they like Jeter.
There is a fair probability that I am not intellectual enough to enjoy the many subtexts here. If you can call them subtexts. The plot feels like it exists just to exhibit outrageous things masquerading as intelligent comment on issues.
I would only recommend this for people who already know they like Jeter.
I finished it, but....
This is a pretty wierd thriller, out there with some of the Phillip K. Dick stuff - after reading this I actually wonder if Blade Runner 2 is not just commercial schlock.
Still, unless you really like the surreal I would skip this. The noir thriller wrapped up in the surrealism is not bad but also not great.
This is a pretty wierd thriller, out there with some of the Phillip K. Dick stuff - after reading this I actually wonder if Blade Runner 2 is not just commercial schlock.
Still, unless you really like the surreal I would skip this. The noir thriller wrapped up in the surrealism is not bad but also not great.
Per PKD's definition of science fiction as something with "the new idea", this book has it in spades. Jeter's presented so many new ideas, all cleverly intermeshed, that it almost boggles the mind yet doesn't descend in to confusing or coming off as overly complicated. There are two books I try to make room to read every other year, American Gods and Noir.
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I enjoyed Noir but felt like it did not exactly have the most focused final act. Jeter builds an interesting world, then wraps everything up in an ultimately dissatisfying way. I am going to read more of his works soon.
This one was effectively disturbing, but I didn't feel like it had anything else. Unlike, say, "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" it didn't have the characters or plot necessary to hold my interest. I often enjoy dark novels and stories, but JUST being dark isn't enough.
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Apr 16, 2008
Jday
marked it as books-i-couldn-t-finish
Not sure if I'm going to be able to finish this one. Can't quite get into it. I'll keep it on my reading shelf for a little while longer, but I don't have a lot of hope.
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Pretty decent ending. Most times when you're not enjoying the book, its the book's fault. This novel had a lot going on and may get better with a second read. Gonna have to try other books by Jeter.
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Amazing use of language, but this is very bleak and dark... and it could use at tightening of plot; there is occasional repetition of phrases too.
God, the future looks awful....
God, the future looks awful....
A great read once you begin to understand the world in which it takes place, The Science Fiction Future of Blade Runner
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Kevin Wayne Jeter (born 1950) is an American science fiction and horror author known for his literary writing style, dark themes, and paranoid, unsympathetic characters. He is also credited with the coining of the term "Steampunk." K. W. has written novels set in the Star Trek and Star Wars universe, and has written three (to date) sequels to Blade Runner.
Series:
* Doctor Adder
Series contributed to ...more
Series:
* Doctor Adder
Series contributed to ...more
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“That was McNihil’s own personal theory of how dead knowledge, the knowingness of the dead, worked: they had given up the useless distinctions between themselves and any other thing, so they were open to all the information, raw and unfiltered, in the dead world and the living. A salvageable gum wrapper buried in street muck was as evident to their percept systems as the prick of a knifepoint against their cold skin. It was a characteristic of the dead, to be so well connected, to be wired into everything. Only the living maintained defenses and filters and immune systems, tried to unhook and disconnect themselves from the world; an attempt that was doomed to failure, inasmuch as they would all wind up as ashes or worm food eventually, or at least if they were lucky. But a brave and necessary attempt, regardless.”
—
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