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kimthezombie's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Torture, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, and Kidnapping
vinjii's review against another edition
3.75
"Louise Carey's dystopian future is chillingly plausible." - Claire North.
That's the blurb on the cover, and Claire North is one of my favourite authors, which is why I wanted to review a copy of Inscape. As always I thank the publisher, Gollancz, for the opportunity.
This is Louise Carey's first solo book, and I must say, I hope she'll write more.
I wasn't sold at first. Especially the main character, Tanta, rubbed me the wrong way, mostly because it felt like she was incredibly meek and submissive. Her reaction to her mentor's praise made me cringe. I didn't think she could carry the story.
Turns out, this is all part of the plot. I can't say more without revealing too much, but I enjoyed Tanta's development a lot. Carey digs deep into developmental psychology, and the story is utterly fascinating because of that aspect alone.
The book deals with important themes such as loyalty and, more importantly, how to manipulate and abuse said loyalty in a world where corporations and money matter more than anything else. "You care about them, but they don't care about you."
But Inscape isn't just about Tatana, it's a page-turning cyberpunk thriller, painting a horrific future. Carey's prose is smooth and reads well. Despite a future dominated by tech, the author uses neither technobabble nor infodumps. The reader's knowledge develops alongside Tatana's, each page revealing another piece of the puzzle.
I really liked this book. The pacing is somewhat slower in the first half but quickly picks up, and the story is immersive with excellent action scenes, and I recommend Inscape to fans of Deus Ex and Cyberpunk, and books like Gibson's Neuromancer.
That's the blurb on the cover, and Claire North is one of my favourite authors, which is why I wanted to review a copy of Inscape. As always I thank the publisher, Gollancz, for the opportunity.
This is Louise Carey's first solo book, and I must say, I hope she'll write more.
I wasn't sold at first. Especially the main character, Tanta, rubbed me the wrong way, mostly because it felt like she was incredibly meek and submissive. Her reaction to her mentor's praise made me cringe. I didn't think she could carry the story.
Turns out, this is all part of the plot. I can't say more without revealing too much, but I enjoyed Tanta's development a lot. Carey digs deep into developmental psychology, and the story is utterly fascinating because of that aspect alone.
The book deals with important themes such as loyalty and, more importantly, how to manipulate and abuse said loyalty in a world where corporations and money matter more than anything else. "You care about them, but they don't care about you."
But Inscape isn't just about Tatana, it's a page-turning cyberpunk thriller, painting a horrific future. Carey's prose is smooth and reads well. Despite a future dominated by tech, the author uses neither technobabble nor infodumps. The reader's knowledge develops alongside Tatana's, each page revealing another piece of the puzzle.
I really liked this book. The pacing is somewhat slower in the first half but quickly picks up, and the story is immersive with excellent action scenes, and I recommend Inscape to fans of Deus Ex and Cyberpunk, and books like Gibson's Neuromancer.
trackofwords's review
4.0
Louise Carey’s debut novel Inscape is a smart, modern sci-fi thriller, a dystopian tale exploring a worryingly realistic future in which corporations dominate every aspect of life, and London is held on a knife-edge between two all-powerful tech behemoths. Tanta is a Corporate Ward of InTech, raised to be utterly loyal to the company which has given her everything, and trained to be the consummate agent. When her first full mission ends in blood and loss, she throws herself into hunting down the source of leaked corporate data alongside a partner whose chequered history and weary worldview couldn’t be more different to her own. Tanta is desperate to succeed and prove her value to InTech, but as her investigation proceeds she’s forced to confront some difficult truths about the company and her life up to this point.
It’s a pacy, action-packed story that’s full of excitement, thrills and more than a few moments of genuine (in some cases stomach-churning) darkness, but its real strength lies in its characters and the emotional journey that Carey puts them through. Combined with excellent world building and fast-paced plot, it's a gripping, characterful novel which hits all the right notes for a breathless modern SF thriller. As the first volume in a planned trilogy there are a few arcs left deliberately hanging by the end, but the core narrative resolves in a suitably satisfying manner for it to stand on its own as a strong, entertaining novel that’s genuinely difficult to put down.
Many thanks to Gollancz and Louise Carey for providing me with an advance copy of Inscape in exchange for my honest review.
Read the full review at https://www.trackofwords.com/2021/01/26/inscape-louise-carey/
It’s a pacy, action-packed story that’s full of excitement, thrills and more than a few moments of genuine (in some cases stomach-churning) darkness, but its real strength lies in its characters and the emotional journey that Carey puts them through. Combined with excellent world building and fast-paced plot, it's a gripping, characterful novel which hits all the right notes for a breathless modern SF thriller. As the first volume in a planned trilogy there are a few arcs left deliberately hanging by the end, but the core narrative resolves in a suitably satisfying manner for it to stand on its own as a strong, entertaining novel that’s genuinely difficult to put down.
Many thanks to Gollancz and Louise Carey for providing me with an advance copy of Inscape in exchange for my honest review.
Read the full review at https://www.trackofwords.com/2021/01/26/inscape-louise-carey/
markyon's review
4.0
“We live in strange times..” – how often have you heard that lately? As I type this, many workers are in lockdown here, with occasional excursions allowed for essentials like food and exercise.
It is getting to the point where many can’t remember a world outside their own walls, their last journey to work – or indeed their last visit to a city. I was reminded of this whilst reading Inscape – a novel set in some sort of corporation-led future London. It really is set in what feels like a different world – one where people are surrounded by tall buildings of glass and steel, go outside, go to bars and restaurants, even talk to one another in close contact – all those things people vaguely remember doing a year ago.
It is a world of cities divided up by corporate gates, each with its own culture and ambience. The two biggest companies here are InTech and Thoughtfront, who are entwined in an ongoing corporate battle for supremacy. In the future it seems that wars are caused less by military actions and more by corporate ones. The world outside the corporate zones, though briefly glimpsed, sound like what I remember East Germany was like before the fall of the Berlin Wall.
The businesses however reign supreme, with skyscrapers of glass and ultra-modern architecture towering over all of the city. Think The Shard or the Freedom Tower, but bigger.
Our story is very much focused around Tanta, a newly-qualified Corporate Ward. Having being brought up by InTech from a baby in a Ward House - some sort of corporate creche - she is extremely well-trained and perhaps unsurprisingly supremely loyal to the company – some would say perhaps too loyal. She is deliriously happy when praised for her work, usually by her boss Jennifer Ash, and mortified when she is criticised for doing something below her optimum level.
Her first mission seems fairly simple and straightforward – to go outside InTech’s zone and retrieve a stolen hard drive. However, when she takes her team into the field of action two of them are unexpectedly killed. It seems that there is more to this than Tanta expected. Some sort of cybervirus seems to have attacked InTech, probably because of the information on the hard drive Tanta and her team went to collect.
Instead of being reprimanded, Tanta is asked to discover who leaked the data. She is then given a new colleague to work with – a middle-aged cyber-expert named Cole who was in some sort of strange accident that has left him with a mysterious past that he cannot remember.
Together they both uncover secrets that involve their pasts and lead to them questioning everything they know.
Inscape is a great fast-paced read. It’s an intriguing premise, that deals with corporate high-jinks in a place where businesses rule the world. Typing it like that, it’s not too far a stretch of the imagination to see companies like Amazon or Microsoft covertly behaving like what we read here in a world where the stakes for success are so high. (but please note that I’m not saying those companies are doing this!)
As this is a future-novel, there’s a certain degree of poetic licence with future technology involved – self-driving vehicles, top-secret adaptations of the brain, the ability to mind-wipe, and so on. And whilst the corporate shenanigans are ramped up to the ninth in some sort of Big Brother world where surveillance is normal, loyalty is paramount and you can be killed for not doing your job properly, there are some aspects that are pleasant and likeable. The main characters in particular are nicely paired, with Cole becoming a father-figure to Tanta, which is needed when some home truths are revealed to her. Tanta herself is intriguing as some sort of corporate super-soldier who eventually questions everything.
Although Louise has co-authored two books already for Gollancz, this is her first solo effort. As the Acknowledgements at the end of the book show, it’s been in the making for nearly five years, and it shows. It’s a good solid page turner, which sets off at a fast pace, creates an intriguing world (even if it’s not one I’d personally like to live in) and some characters who are worthy of your attention. The end clearly leaves room for a sequel, which would not be unread by me. Though we live in strange times, Inscape shows that they could be stranger.
It is getting to the point where many can’t remember a world outside their own walls, their last journey to work – or indeed their last visit to a city. I was reminded of this whilst reading Inscape – a novel set in some sort of corporation-led future London. It really is set in what feels like a different world – one where people are surrounded by tall buildings of glass and steel, go outside, go to bars and restaurants, even talk to one another in close contact – all those things people vaguely remember doing a year ago.
It is a world of cities divided up by corporate gates, each with its own culture and ambience. The two biggest companies here are InTech and Thoughtfront, who are entwined in an ongoing corporate battle for supremacy. In the future it seems that wars are caused less by military actions and more by corporate ones. The world outside the corporate zones, though briefly glimpsed, sound like what I remember East Germany was like before the fall of the Berlin Wall.
The businesses however reign supreme, with skyscrapers of glass and ultra-modern architecture towering over all of the city. Think The Shard or the Freedom Tower, but bigger.
Our story is very much focused around Tanta, a newly-qualified Corporate Ward. Having being brought up by InTech from a baby in a Ward House - some sort of corporate creche - she is extremely well-trained and perhaps unsurprisingly supremely loyal to the company – some would say perhaps too loyal. She is deliriously happy when praised for her work, usually by her boss Jennifer Ash, and mortified when she is criticised for doing something below her optimum level.
Her first mission seems fairly simple and straightforward – to go outside InTech’s zone and retrieve a stolen hard drive. However, when she takes her team into the field of action two of them are unexpectedly killed. It seems that there is more to this than Tanta expected. Some sort of cybervirus seems to have attacked InTech, probably because of the information on the hard drive Tanta and her team went to collect.
Instead of being reprimanded, Tanta is asked to discover who leaked the data. She is then given a new colleague to work with – a middle-aged cyber-expert named Cole who was in some sort of strange accident that has left him with a mysterious past that he cannot remember.
Together they both uncover secrets that involve their pasts and lead to them questioning everything they know.
Inscape is a great fast-paced read. It’s an intriguing premise, that deals with corporate high-jinks in a place where businesses rule the world. Typing it like that, it’s not too far a stretch of the imagination to see companies like Amazon or Microsoft covertly behaving like what we read here in a world where the stakes for success are so high. (but please note that I’m not saying those companies are doing this!)
As this is a future-novel, there’s a certain degree of poetic licence with future technology involved – self-driving vehicles, top-secret adaptations of the brain, the ability to mind-wipe, and so on. And whilst the corporate shenanigans are ramped up to the ninth in some sort of Big Brother world where surveillance is normal, loyalty is paramount and you can be killed for not doing your job properly, there are some aspects that are pleasant and likeable. The main characters in particular are nicely paired, with Cole becoming a father-figure to Tanta, which is needed when some home truths are revealed to her. Tanta herself is intriguing as some sort of corporate super-soldier who eventually questions everything.
Although Louise has co-authored two books already for Gollancz, this is her first solo effort. As the Acknowledgements at the end of the book show, it’s been in the making for nearly five years, and it shows. It’s a good solid page turner, which sets off at a fast pace, creates an intriguing world (even if it’s not one I’d personally like to live in) and some characters who are worthy of your attention. The end clearly leaves room for a sequel, which would not be unread by me. Though we live in strange times, Inscape shows that they could be stranger.
fantasybooknerd01's review
5.0
Louise Carey’s stylish and sleek first book is a sci fi thriller set in a post - apocalyptic London.
Following a cataclysmic event called The Meltdown, the world has been taken over by Corporations, run by boards and CEO’s. These Corporations are warring factions that dominate the people of the world and the story revolves the cold war between Intech and the breakaway corporation Thoughtfront, who have both taken control of London, dividing it equally on each side of the Thames.
The story starts with a mission to retrieve some stolen data files that have been taken to a place that has no allegiance to either of the two Corporations called the ‘Unaffiliated Zone’. And it is here that we meet Tanta. A rookie agent for the Intech Corporation who has been given the task by her mentor ‘Jen’ to retrieve the stolen files. However, the mission is a disaster and the squad is attacked by an enemy agent.
After returning to Headquarters, Tanta is debriefed and despite her first field assignment not going to plan, she is given the task of finding out what was on the stolen files. She is quickly promoted from rookie to Agent and later in the story, introduced to her ‘partner’ Cole. A neuro engineer that has been involved in a corporate accident, that whilst leaving him incapable of carrying out his original job, he is still a valuable asset, particularly in relation to this case.
As we move through the story, we are introduced to the world of Inscape. From the very beginning of the book, Louise Carey carefully starts introducing to the world and the technology that is predominant in the book. We are shown that the Inscape is a piece of biotech that overlays the world that the protagonists live in with an Augmented Reality. I really like this idea of the Inscape, and Louise Carey does a fantastic job of showing the reader how the it affects the characters and those around them.
One of the strengths of the book, is that Louise Carey does not info dump the world on you but unfurls the environment as the story progresses and we are always learning some new nugget of information about the city. She carefully adds layer upon layer of information showing how the environment, monetary systems, political systems and technology impact on those living in this world and it organically feels part of the story rather than one big info dump which you can get in both sci – fi and fantasy novels.
Inscape mainly revolves around the two main characters, Tanta and Cole. These are the two that have to hold the weight of the story on their shoulders. So, it is a good job that they are solid, believable and relatable characters. Especially Tanta!
When we first meet Tanta, I didn't wholly gel with her. She’s a little too quick to please the commands of her mentor Jen, and the corporation as a whole. It almost seems to border on subservience. We learn that she is a Corpsward, an orphan who has been brought up by Intech and we know that there is something a little off about Tanta (I am not going to elaborate too much as this is part of the plot). As the plot moves on and events come into play. Tanta changes and you warm to her more. Particularly in the second part of the book! This is when Tanta starts to learn and experiences things about those she works with and herself. As she realises the impact of the thing she discovers, she changes, and we get to share that change with her.
Cole is a little different. As I said earlier, he has been involved in an accident that has rendered him unfit to complete his original job. In some ways, when they first meet it reminded me of the traditional pairing story in a police procedural. One cop does it strictly by the book and is teamed with the maverick who breaks all the rules. However, the relationship between the two grows throughout the book, and again, Carey cleverly layers this growing relationship and we learn that this friendship doesn’t come out of the blue. As the story progresses we can see that there are reasons for this relationship and that Cole has some latent feelings for Tanta.
From the very first chapter, Louise Carey immerses you in the story from the outset. And, even though initially you are a little disorientated with the world of Inscape, trying to work out what this does, why this works the way it does etc.go with the flow and you will find that all is revealed one way or another.
It took me a little bit to get used to the book at first as it is written in the present tense. I have always found that I have a bit of a difficulty getting into books that are written in the present tense, for some reason. I don’t know why, but I need a period of adjustment. However, it didn’t take me long and then I was fine, happily immersed in the world of Inscape.
Obviously, as a thriller, you need to be able to write good action sequences. And Louise Carey certainly can write good action sequences. The hand to hand combat sequence with the enemy agent for instance is cracking. The visual aesthetics of it really worked and I felt that I was actually watching this on a screen in my head rather than it being a sequence of letters on a page.
On the whole, I enjoyed this book. The pace is cracking, the writing immersive, the action sequences excellently visual, and the characters are solid and relatable. http://www.fantasybooknerd.com/2020/12/some-information-about-book-title-we.html Apparently, this is the first one of a series. So I cannot wait to see what happens next.
I initially received an advanced reading copy for Inscape from Netgalley and the Publishers. My thanks go to them for this opportunity to read this ARC.
The book will be released on
21st January 2020
Following a cataclysmic event called The Meltdown, the world has been taken over by Corporations, run by boards and CEO’s. These Corporations are warring factions that dominate the people of the world and the story revolves the cold war between Intech and the breakaway corporation Thoughtfront, who have both taken control of London, dividing it equally on each side of the Thames.
The story starts with a mission to retrieve some stolen data files that have been taken to a place that has no allegiance to either of the two Corporations called the ‘Unaffiliated Zone’. And it is here that we meet Tanta. A rookie agent for the Intech Corporation who has been given the task by her mentor ‘Jen’ to retrieve the stolen files. However, the mission is a disaster and the squad is attacked by an enemy agent.
After returning to Headquarters, Tanta is debriefed and despite her first field assignment not going to plan, she is given the task of finding out what was on the stolen files. She is quickly promoted from rookie to Agent and later in the story, introduced to her ‘partner’ Cole. A neuro engineer that has been involved in a corporate accident, that whilst leaving him incapable of carrying out his original job, he is still a valuable asset, particularly in relation to this case.
As we move through the story, we are introduced to the world of Inscape. From the very beginning of the book, Louise Carey carefully starts introducing to the world and the technology that is predominant in the book. We are shown that the Inscape is a piece of biotech that overlays the world that the protagonists live in with an Augmented Reality. I really like this idea of the Inscape, and Louise Carey does a fantastic job of showing the reader how the it affects the characters and those around them.
One of the strengths of the book, is that Louise Carey does not info dump the world on you but unfurls the environment as the story progresses and we are always learning some new nugget of information about the city. She carefully adds layer upon layer of information showing how the environment, monetary systems, political systems and technology impact on those living in this world and it organically feels part of the story rather than one big info dump which you can get in both sci – fi and fantasy novels.
Inscape mainly revolves around the two main characters, Tanta and Cole. These are the two that have to hold the weight of the story on their shoulders. So, it is a good job that they are solid, believable and relatable characters. Especially Tanta!
When we first meet Tanta, I didn't wholly gel with her. She’s a little too quick to please the commands of her mentor Jen, and the corporation as a whole. It almost seems to border on subservience. We learn that she is a Corpsward, an orphan who has been brought up by Intech and we know that there is something a little off about Tanta (I am not going to elaborate too much as this is part of the plot). As the plot moves on and events come into play. Tanta changes and you warm to her more. Particularly in the second part of the book! This is when Tanta starts to learn and experiences things about those she works with and herself. As she realises the impact of the thing she discovers, she changes, and we get to share that change with her.
Cole is a little different. As I said earlier, he has been involved in an accident that has rendered him unfit to complete his original job. In some ways, when they first meet it reminded me of the traditional pairing story in a police procedural. One cop does it strictly by the book and is teamed with the maverick who breaks all the rules. However, the relationship between the two grows throughout the book, and again, Carey cleverly layers this growing relationship and we learn that this friendship doesn’t come out of the blue. As the story progresses we can see that there are reasons for this relationship and that Cole has some latent feelings for Tanta.
From the very first chapter, Louise Carey immerses you in the story from the outset. And, even though initially you are a little disorientated with the world of Inscape, trying to work out what this does, why this works the way it does etc.go with the flow and you will find that all is revealed one way or another.
It took me a little bit to get used to the book at first as it is written in the present tense. I have always found that I have a bit of a difficulty getting into books that are written in the present tense, for some reason. I don’t know why, but I need a period of adjustment. However, it didn’t take me long and then I was fine, happily immersed in the world of Inscape.
Obviously, as a thriller, you need to be able to write good action sequences. And Louise Carey certainly can write good action sequences. The hand to hand combat sequence with the enemy agent for instance is cracking. The visual aesthetics of it really worked and I felt that I was actually watching this on a screen in my head rather than it being a sequence of letters on a page.
On the whole, I enjoyed this book. The pace is cracking, the writing immersive, the action sequences excellently visual, and the characters are solid and relatable. http://www.fantasybooknerd.com/2020/12/some-information-about-book-title-we.html Apparently, this is the first one of a series. So I cannot wait to see what happens next.
I initially received an advanced reading copy for Inscape from Netgalley and the Publishers. My thanks go to them for this opportunity to read this ARC.
The book will be released on
21st January 2020
mrsmeganrose's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
imyril's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
A fast-paced cyberpunk thriller of hardwired loyalty & corporate conspiracy. Well executed if fairly predictable, altho the broader world-building left me with a lot of questions and the overall package doesn’t entice me to investigate the sequel. However, that mostly confirms I’m not currently enjoying near-future dystopian novels or AR/VR worldbuilding. If you do, this is definitely worth a look.
Content Warnings
Minor: Dementia, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Torture
nanothread's review
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
4.0
A sci-fi dystopian future told from the perspective of someone working for one of the big corporations. It's a tense corporate-espionage-filled story with a neat, satisfying conclusion. For me, the story got better the longer I read. Although the writing style wasn't particularly notable, the plot and story were certainly entertaining, and I'll read the sequel when it's available.
unevendays's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
4.25
I had previously read and very much enjoyed The City of Steel and Silk and The House of War and Witness, co-written by Louise Carey, so when a solo novel popped up for preorder I didn't look too hard at it - just hit the pre-order button. It wasn't at all what I was expecting - Inscape is a smart, near future thriller set after a post-apocalyptic event that have left London controlled by corporations, with their own territories and law enforcement.
Tanta is a ward of InTech, one of these corporations, and she lives to provide value to her corp as an Agent of their enforcement agency, until a mission takes her into hostile territory. She's assigned a partner, an older, brilliant engineer called Cole who has had an accident with a memory wipe machine and doesn't remember a lot of his recent past. The two of them together are the only people who can solve this particular problem.
Tanta and Cole are both engaging characters, and Cole's more cynical outlook plays well with Tanta's internalisation of the corporation values. Definitely keen to pick up the next book in this series to find out what happens next!
Tanta is a ward of InTech, one of these corporations, and she lives to provide value to her corp as an Agent of their enforcement agency, until a mission takes her into hostile territory. She's assigned a partner, an older, brilliant engineer called Cole who has had an accident with a memory wipe machine and doesn't remember a lot of his recent past. The two of them together are the only people who can solve this particular problem.
Tanta and Cole are both engaging characters, and Cole's more cynical outlook plays well with Tanta's internalisation of the corporation values. Definitely keen to pick up the next book in this series to find out what happens next!
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