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david_agranoff's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting book, but didn't like as much as I hoped. Dystopic punk themed crime novel.
tregina's review against another edition
2.0
There was a relentless kind of momentum to this story, but it was constantly spinning its wheels rather than actually going anywhere. The narrative steps and backsteps in circles around the action, bouncing from actor to actor until it all comes together in the climax, but when you get there nothing's really happened. The most interesting part is the setting, but we don't get to see or understand enough of it, really. There's so much potential that doesn't feel realised. I can see why this might be some people's thing because it goes full out and non-stop from start to finish, but for me I needed some more substance.
tregina's review
2.0
There was a relentless kind of momentum to this story, but it was constantly spinning its wheels rather than actually going anywhere. The narrative steps and backsteps in circles around the action, bouncing from actor to actor until it all comes together in the climax, but when you get there nothing's really happened. The most interesting part is the setting, but we don't get to see or understand enough of it, really. There's so much potential that doesn't feel realised. I can see why this might be some people's thing because it goes full out and non-stop from start to finish, but for me I needed some more substance.
the_original_shelf_monkey's review
4.0
You want weird? Katja is Elmore Leonard via William Gibson, a fast-paced cyberpunk thriller that commands attention with great dialogue, twisted characters, and a fine sense of place. Set on an unnamed urban island and following a woman delivering an unnamed vial of something, Logan traipses back and forth through time and POVs, keeping the reader off-balance and filling in the blanks later with a precision that would do Christopher Nolan proud. This is a grimy, gritty, terribly unpleasant world, and I'd go back in a second.
Read the full review at Shelf Monkey
Read the full review at Shelf Monkey
mxtiffanyleigh's review
5.0
I was intrigued by Simon Logan's KATJA FROM THE PUNK BAND, reading about it on his "coldandalone" author website about a year before it was published. I was re-reminded of the book via Spinetingler, who short-listed it on their list of 2010 Best Opening Lines.
I finally picked up a Kindle copy, couldn't put it down, read it furiously like I was sweating out a fever dream, and subsequently picked up Mr. Logan's entire bibliography. KATJA is a strong intro to his unique vision and worldbuilding, and is above all a fantastic novel - a fast, tight read that straddles sci-fi dystopia and hard-boiled crime noir.
The story takes place over the course of roughly 24 hours on an unnamed Russian "island" - a landscape that resembles a ROBOCOP New Detroit shantytown, without hope or cybernetic heroes. We are introduced to Katja, the titular punk rocker, armed with a mean survivalist streak, a guitar that doubles as a battleaxe, and a drug vial that is her ticket off the island - if she can live that long.
Chapter to chapter the point-of-view changes between several characters that have connections to either Katja or the vial, knowingly or unknowingly. Mr. Logan jumps-starts their backstories and staggers their POV's so that they overlap, giving us multiple perspectives on the same events and set-pieces while creating suspense and surprise.
The book is like looking at an industrial Escher print, and Mr. Logan writes with expert skill. The characters hurtle through the narrative, which is strewn with double-crosses, near-misses, and violent, extreme collisions.
Though it has elements of a "day after tomorrow" sci-fi and hard-boiled crime fiction, in KATJA Mr. Logan has created his own unique genre - apunkalyptic noir, maybe. His prose is cinematic, and white- or bloody-knuckled in equal measure. KATJA FROM THE PUNK BAND plays out like a Coen Brothers' movie set in Mad Max's universe. I look forward to reading more from Simon Logan in the future.
I finally picked up a Kindle copy, couldn't put it down, read it furiously like I was sweating out a fever dream, and subsequently picked up Mr. Logan's entire bibliography. KATJA is a strong intro to his unique vision and worldbuilding, and is above all a fantastic novel - a fast, tight read that straddles sci-fi dystopia and hard-boiled crime noir.
The story takes place over the course of roughly 24 hours on an unnamed Russian "island" - a landscape that resembles a ROBOCOP New Detroit shantytown, without hope or cybernetic heroes. We are introduced to Katja, the titular punk rocker, armed with a mean survivalist streak, a guitar that doubles as a battleaxe, and a drug vial that is her ticket off the island - if she can live that long.
Chapter to chapter the point-of-view changes between several characters that have connections to either Katja or the vial, knowingly or unknowingly. Mr. Logan jumps-starts their backstories and staggers their POV's so that they overlap, giving us multiple perspectives on the same events and set-pieces while creating suspense and surprise.
The book is like looking at an industrial Escher print, and Mr. Logan writes with expert skill. The characters hurtle through the narrative, which is strewn with double-crosses, near-misses, and violent, extreme collisions.
Though it has elements of a "day after tomorrow" sci-fi and hard-boiled crime fiction, in KATJA Mr. Logan has created his own unique genre - apunkalyptic noir, maybe. His prose is cinematic, and white- or bloody-knuckled in equal measure. KATJA FROM THE PUNK BAND plays out like a Coen Brothers' movie set in Mad Max's universe. I look forward to reading more from Simon Logan in the future.
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