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nbuchholz13's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
laureenreads's review against another edition
2.0
This book had next to no world building. The point of view changes were so frequent I felt like I should have whiplash. And I'm not gonna lie, I spent a lot of time confused at what they were talking about and why things were the way they were. The writing isn't nearly as strong as I would have liked. However, I did enjoy this book. I liked the characters and while I had no clue what was going on they managed to keep me entertained.
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songwind's review against another edition
3.0
Wow.
I hadn't heard of Jay Posey or Three until a sale on Audible. I picked it up because it seemed like it could be pretty good, and reminded me of a certain brand of sci-fi movie I loved as a kid in the 80s.
That impression didn't really lead me astray. Three does remind one a lot of those post apocalyptic adventures from the 80s, but only as a starting point. Honestly, it made me wonder if Posey had made a list of all the ways those old movies were silly, clumsy or cringe-worthy and decided to fix it.
Set-Up
Three is the name of a lone bounty hunter. It's not long before he crosses paths with a woman and child in need. He gives them a bit of money and sends them on their way, but quickly notices that they're not just down on their luck - they're being followed by a dangerous man. In spite of himself, Three is drawn to help them, and gets drawn into their trouble.
World Building
Posey's world in decline is an interesting mixture of high tech and low. Some things are clearly just scavenged from what's left of the "old world." Others are still being manufactured. Still more are the results of old gene manipulation.
The environment is barren and dangerous, but takes place entirely within a ruined city. Human settlements take the form of walled, reinforced clusters here and there within the broken cityscape. The world has become very big, despite the ability of people to communicate via a network - the Strand, a completely ruined area considered impassable by most is only 40 miles wide.
The biggest danger, aside from the simple hazards of survival where there are no animals to be hunted or wild edibles to be scavenged, are the Weir. Roaming, dangerous cyborg creatures that come out at night and attack anything they can find.
The people and language are particularly interesting. Posey has developed a robust slang. Some is descended from obvious sources, like "pim" for a direct message between people. Others were less apparent.
No hand-holding
We are thrown into the story in progress, and left to pick up information from context with only a few brief asides about the past or the way things have ended up the way they are. And despite being interesting to think about, those things aren't vital to the enjoyment of the story as it stands. Posey is also quite adept at the "show, don't tell" approach - rather than tell us that people still use electronic funds, we simply see someone's surprise when Three asks for hard currency, etc.
This might be a good or bad thing, depending on what kind of reader you are. I personally mostly loved it.
Reasonable development of personal relationships
I get it - not every book has the time and space for how people change from strangers to friends or lovers or enemies. But too often in the SF genres, those transitions happen extremely quickly and without any apparent motivators.
In Three we see a few different types of relationships develop, change or fall apart between characters. None of them seem to come out of nowhere, and if some of the changes are amplified by the stresses of the situation, you can at least see the motivators behind them.
Little disappointments
No book is perfect, even if it deserves a 5-star rating.
Posey's prose had flashes of poetry and even brilliance, but on the whole was not that inspired.
Maybe a bit too spare on the details - there are a few things that I feel like might have been useful to the story at hand that were never explained. But still, I never felt lost - just curious.
The depiction of women is hard to get a handle on. On the one hand, there are multiple dangerous, powerful and/or important women in the story. They're treated with respect, even fear. At the same time women in the wider world seem to be ridiculed, dismissed, discounted. The two aspects seem almost completely disjointed.
Summary
All in all a great story, great book, with interesting, flawed, believable characters.
I hadn't heard of Jay Posey or Three until a sale on Audible. I picked it up because it seemed like it could be pretty good, and reminded me of a certain brand of sci-fi movie I loved as a kid in the 80s.
That impression didn't really lead me astray. Three does remind one a lot of those post apocalyptic adventures from the 80s, but only as a starting point. Honestly, it made me wonder if Posey had made a list of all the ways those old movies were silly, clumsy or cringe-worthy and decided to fix it.
Set-Up
Three is the name of a lone bounty hunter. It's not long before he crosses paths with a woman and child in need. He gives them a bit of money and sends them on their way, but quickly notices that they're not just down on their luck - they're being followed by a dangerous man. In spite of himself, Three is drawn to help them, and gets drawn into their trouble.
World Building
Posey's world in decline is an interesting mixture of high tech and low. Some things are clearly just scavenged from what's left of the "old world." Others are still being manufactured. Still more are the results of old gene manipulation.
The environment is barren and dangerous, but takes place entirely within a ruined city. Human settlements take the form of walled, reinforced clusters here and there within the broken cityscape. The world has become very big, despite the ability of people to communicate via a network - the Strand, a completely ruined area considered impassable by most is only 40 miles wide.
The biggest danger, aside from the simple hazards of survival where there are no animals to be hunted or wild edibles to be scavenged, are the Weir. Roaming, dangerous cyborg creatures that come out at night and attack anything they can find.
The people and language are particularly interesting. Posey has developed a robust slang. Some is descended from obvious sources, like "pim" for a direct message between people. Others were less apparent.
No hand-holding
We are thrown into the story in progress, and left to pick up information from context with only a few brief asides about the past or the way things have ended up the way they are. And despite being interesting to think about, those things aren't vital to the enjoyment of the story as it stands. Posey is also quite adept at the "show, don't tell" approach - rather than tell us that people still use electronic funds, we simply see someone's surprise when Three asks for hard currency, etc.
This might be a good or bad thing, depending on what kind of reader you are. I personally mostly loved it.
Reasonable development of personal relationships
I get it - not every book has the time and space for how people change from strangers to friends or lovers or enemies. But too often in the SF genres, those transitions happen extremely quickly and without any apparent motivators.
In Three we see a few different types of relationships develop, change or fall apart between characters. None of them seem to come out of nowhere, and if some of the changes are amplified by the stresses of the situation, you can at least see the motivators behind them.
Little disappointments
No book is perfect, even if it deserves a 5-star rating.
Posey's prose had flashes of poetry and even brilliance, but on the whole was not that inspired.
Maybe a bit too spare on the details - there are a few things that I feel like might have been useful to the story at hand that were never explained. But still, I never felt lost - just curious.
The depiction of women is hard to get a handle on. On the one hand, there are multiple dangerous, powerful and/or important women in the story. They're treated with respect, even fear. At the same time women in the wider world seem to be ridiculed, dismissed, discounted. The two aspects seem almost completely disjointed.
Summary
All in all a great story, great book, with interesting, flawed, believable characters.
vendea's review against another edition
4.0
This redeemed itself toward the end. It started out really good, was derailed by an unnecessarily long middle journey part without enough characterization or plot drive to keep it interesting, as well as an oddly forced romance, but the ending brought it back to four stars. I don't think it was quite enough to make me want to read the rest of the series though.
geekwayne's review against another edition
3.0
'Three' by Jay Posey takes place in a strange post-apocalyptic world and has an unlikely hero. I kindof liked it.
When bounty hunter Three accepts the job of protecing a young boy and his ailing mother, he is a bit reluctant about it. The job is to escort them from point A to point B, but of course that's not going to be easy. There are all manner of strange bad guys in this world, like brain-hackers and the Weir, with their glowing eyes and scary nature. This is world where life is cheap, but if you've played your cards right, you might be able to come back, but I'm not sure why you'd want to.
It's an interesting cyberpunk kind of world, so I liked that enough. The main characters are a bit stereotypical: brooding hero, beautiful but tragic mother, smart adorable waif. I liked it well enough, and I'd like to see where the story goes. I definitely enjoyed the world more than the characters so far.
I received a review copy of this ebook from Angry Robot Ltd. and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.
When bounty hunter Three accepts the job of protecing a young boy and his ailing mother, he is a bit reluctant about it. The job is to escort them from point A to point B, but of course that's not going to be easy. There are all manner of strange bad guys in this world, like brain-hackers and the Weir, with their glowing eyes and scary nature. This is world where life is cheap, but if you've played your cards right, you might be able to come back, but I'm not sure why you'd want to.
It's an interesting cyberpunk kind of world, so I liked that enough. The main characters are a bit stereotypical: brooding hero, beautiful but tragic mother, smart adorable waif. I liked it well enough, and I'd like to see where the story goes. I definitely enjoyed the world more than the characters so far.
I received a review copy of this ebook from Angry Robot Ltd. and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.
amybraunauthor's review against another edition
4.0
It had been a long time since I put this book on my TBR, so I basically went into it blind. It had a lot of post-apocalyptic cliches, but there were also inventive ideas and creatures. That said, this story was primarily focused on the main characters of Three, Cass, and Wren. I really liked Three, he was mysterious and intense and surprisingly warm-hearted. Cass is a tough woman with a deep and complex past. Wren is going to be an interesting character going forward and have a lot of potential. The action is plentiful and visceral, and the story is well paced and original. The one major complaint I have is the ending. It's not bad and is very surprising, but I don't think it worked. There are a lot of questions and I felt a certain character was unresolved. That said, I did enjoy this book and am glad I got to read it. Can't wait to check out the sequel!
meme_too2's review against another edition
3.0
This is better than I thought it was going to be. The hero was a true hero and performed just how you wanted him to, but the end? Really?
dantastic's review against another edition
4.0
When he runs into a woman and child on the run, gun-toting bounty hunter Three finds himself escorting them across a post-apocalyptic wasteland and protecting them from genetically altered warriors, brain-hackers, and the Weir, glowing-eyed ghoul-like creatures that stalk the night. Can Three stop the people following Wren and his mother and get them to safety or will they join the ranks of the undead?
Official Business: I got this print ARC from Angry Robot in exchange for reviewing it. Thank you, Angry Robot!
When I first saw the cover of Three and read the description, I knew I had to read it and I was not disappointed. Three is a post-apocalyptic adventure tale in the vein of The Road Warrior, only with fewer vehicles and a higher tech level and body count. Actually, it feels more like a Western than anything else, despite cybernetics, mutants, and things of that nature.
Three, the hero of the tale, is cast from the Man with No Name mold, a deadly man hiding a secret. Cass, is a chemic, a drug-dependent fighter who is running on fumes. Wren, her son, is a six year old with some pretty amazing abilities. The men hunting them, Asher and his crew, are a power-hungry bunch of brainhackers and fairly colorful to boot. Dagon was by far the most interesting and well rounded of the antagonists. The lesser characters like jCharles, Mol, and Jackson were memorable enough for me to remember their names and mannerisms, long after there time in the story had passed.
The story goes from wasteland to wasteland, ruined city to ruined city, and the world is revealed gradually with not an infodump in sight. There are enough twists and secrets to keep things interesting, even when the good guys aren't hiding in the dark or getting into bloody battles. The world feels lived in, not like a collection of movie sets strung together.
The writing is a notch above what I expected when I picked up the book, a step beyond the workmanlike prose one normally gets in genre fiction like this. Posey knows how to pour on the tension, what with the Weir wandering the night and bad guys always on Three and gang's heels.
I may sound like an old softie but my favorite part of the book was Three's relationship with Wren, going from uncaring loner to a surrogate father figure to the boy over the course of the book. There were a few touching moments between the two.
4.5 stars. Now I'll twiddle my thumbs until the next Legends of the Duskwalker book comes out.
Official Business: I got this print ARC from Angry Robot in exchange for reviewing it. Thank you, Angry Robot!
When I first saw the cover of Three and read the description, I knew I had to read it and I was not disappointed. Three is a post-apocalyptic adventure tale in the vein of The Road Warrior, only with fewer vehicles and a higher tech level and body count. Actually, it feels more like a Western than anything else, despite cybernetics, mutants, and things of that nature.
Three, the hero of the tale, is cast from the Man with No Name mold, a deadly man hiding a secret. Cass, is a chemic, a drug-dependent fighter who is running on fumes. Wren, her son, is a six year old with some pretty amazing abilities. The men hunting them, Asher and his crew, are a power-hungry bunch of brainhackers and fairly colorful to boot. Dagon was by far the most interesting and well rounded of the antagonists. The lesser characters like jCharles, Mol, and Jackson were memorable enough for me to remember their names and mannerisms, long after there time in the story had passed.
The story goes from wasteland to wasteland, ruined city to ruined city, and the world is revealed gradually with not an infodump in sight. There are enough twists and secrets to keep things interesting, even when the good guys aren't hiding in the dark or getting into bloody battles. The world feels lived in, not like a collection of movie sets strung together.
The writing is a notch above what I expected when I picked up the book, a step beyond the workmanlike prose one normally gets in genre fiction like this. Posey knows how to pour on the tension, what with the Weir wandering the night and bad guys always on Three and gang's heels.
I may sound like an old softie but my favorite part of the book was Three's relationship with Wren, going from uncaring loner to a surrogate father figure to the boy over the course of the book. There were a few touching moments between the two.
4.5 stars. Now I'll twiddle my thumbs until the next Legends of the Duskwalker book comes out.
mxsallybend's review against another edition
4.0
What would happen if Mad Max were to step into the world of The Dark Tower, aided and abetted on his journey by the likes of William Gibson and Richard Matheson? Well, you'd get something very much like Jay Posey's post-apocalyptic cyberpunk thriller, simply titled Three.
This is a book that demands a lot of the reader - a lot of patience, a lot of imagination, and a lot of faith that Posey knows where he's going with it all. He simply drops us into the middle of his world and expects us to catch up. Not only isn't there a lot of narrative exposition, there's not a lot of background or explanation provided. Terms and concepts are casually tossed around by characters who clearly know what they're talking about, but we're expected to read between the lines and pay attention to the snippets of information to figure out the larger picture. It's likely to be frustrating for some readers, especially since we never do get all the answers, but it really immerses you in Posey's world, with the mystery and the suspense a large part of the book's appeal.
In terms of characters, Three, Cass, and Wren make for a solid trio to guide us on our journey through this barren landscape. Equal parts Mad Max and Roland Deschain, Three is the mysterious loner who stands apart from everyone and everything around him. He's as coldly arrogant as he is fiercely independent, but he's also unshakably loyal, morally grounded, and altogether human beneath that harsh exterior. Cass is a complex character - damaged, addicted, and on the run. She sacrificed her own future long ago, but is desperate to preserve that of her son, while she still can. Wren is somewhat problematic, a little too perfect and precocious, but he has potential. Here is a young boy, on the cusp of something amazing, who holds a mysterious power that certain people would kill to understand.
As for the primary villains - Asher and his villainous gang of henchmen - they don't seem like much more than thugs originally, but as we learn more about who and what they are, they take on a life of their own. By the end of the story, they're not just a serviceable threat, but legitimate foils. More importantly, they're developed as characters with drives and motivations, as unsavory as those may be, and even deserving of some small dose of sympathy. Actually, they probably develop a bit better than the protagonists in that their changes are more gradual, and far less remarkable, than of Three in particular.
The world of Three is largely your typical post-apocalyptic landscape, a barren wasteland broken here and there by remnants of civilization. Much of what's left is literally underground (sewers, bunkers, tunnels, etc.), and the only safe refuge from the Weir once the sun goes down. Despite all that's been lost or destroyed, however, there remains a complex cyberpunk-type element to the world, with characters 'wired' into some sort of network that allows them to do everything from check the time to map their GPS coordinates, and others mechanically augmented with varying degrees of technology. As for the Weir, some readers will definitely be left frustrated by the lack of information regarding their true nature, but Posey seems to understand that monsters are at their most frightening when left with a little mystery. Think fast zombies with a sort of collective cyberpunk consciousness, and you get enough of an idea to truly fear when darkness falls.
It's not a perfect book, but it's damn-near. Yes, we'd all like more information and more answers, but so long as Posey delves deeper into how and why the world works in subsequent volumes, I'm quite fine with that. There's definitely a little emotional manipulation going on here that may strike some readers as a cheap ploy, particularly with Cass and Wren, but it worked for me because their relationship seemed natural/normal, and served to ground the story. The pacing is excellent and the narrative sharp, and even if the conclusion leaves us a little frustrated, it also leaves us demanding more.
Originally reviewed at Beauty in Ruins
This is a book that demands a lot of the reader - a lot of patience, a lot of imagination, and a lot of faith that Posey knows where he's going with it all. He simply drops us into the middle of his world and expects us to catch up. Not only isn't there a lot of narrative exposition, there's not a lot of background or explanation provided. Terms and concepts are casually tossed around by characters who clearly know what they're talking about, but we're expected to read between the lines and pay attention to the snippets of information to figure out the larger picture. It's likely to be frustrating for some readers, especially since we never do get all the answers, but it really immerses you in Posey's world, with the mystery and the suspense a large part of the book's appeal.
In terms of characters, Three, Cass, and Wren make for a solid trio to guide us on our journey through this barren landscape. Equal parts Mad Max and Roland Deschain, Three is the mysterious loner who stands apart from everyone and everything around him. He's as coldly arrogant as he is fiercely independent, but he's also unshakably loyal, morally grounded, and altogether human beneath that harsh exterior. Cass is a complex character - damaged, addicted, and on the run. She sacrificed her own future long ago, but is desperate to preserve that of her son, while she still can. Wren is somewhat problematic, a little too perfect and precocious, but he has potential. Here is a young boy, on the cusp of something amazing, who holds a mysterious power that certain people would kill to understand.
As for the primary villains - Asher and his villainous gang of henchmen - they don't seem like much more than thugs originally, but as we learn more about who and what they are, they take on a life of their own. By the end of the story, they're not just a serviceable threat, but legitimate foils. More importantly, they're developed as characters with drives and motivations, as unsavory as those may be, and even deserving of some small dose of sympathy. Actually, they probably develop a bit better than the protagonists in that their changes are more gradual, and far less remarkable, than of Three in particular.
The world of Three is largely your typical post-apocalyptic landscape, a barren wasteland broken here and there by remnants of civilization. Much of what's left is literally underground (sewers, bunkers, tunnels, etc.), and the only safe refuge from the Weir once the sun goes down. Despite all that's been lost or destroyed, however, there remains a complex cyberpunk-type element to the world, with characters 'wired' into some sort of network that allows them to do everything from check the time to map their GPS coordinates, and others mechanically augmented with varying degrees of technology. As for the Weir, some readers will definitely be left frustrated by the lack of information regarding their true nature, but Posey seems to understand that monsters are at their most frightening when left with a little mystery. Think fast zombies with a sort of collective cyberpunk consciousness, and you get enough of an idea to truly fear when darkness falls.
It's not a perfect book, but it's damn-near. Yes, we'd all like more information and more answers, but so long as Posey delves deeper into how and why the world works in subsequent volumes, I'm quite fine with that. There's definitely a little emotional manipulation going on here that may strike some readers as a cheap ploy, particularly with Cass and Wren, but it worked for me because their relationship seemed natural/normal, and served to ground the story. The pacing is excellent and the narrative sharp, and even if the conclusion leaves us a little frustrated, it also leaves us demanding more.
Originally reviewed at Beauty in Ruins
fantasyfunk's review against another edition
4.0
This easily could have been a 5 star book for me. I don't mind being thrown head-first into a world and expected to pick it up as you go along. The only problem is that the clues in this book come so slowly and then in such a rush. I think I would have been happier if this book had stayed with what it started out as and the big rush at the end was saved for another book. Either that, or a few more clues early on, would have really helped me come to expect the more dramatic/world-shaping plot at the end.
I think this is a really interesting approach to a post-apocalyptic/zombie-esque story. I'm assuming this was Earth as there are hints of an event taking place. I don't mind not knowing the particulars of what happened and thought it was really interesting to see where humanity has gone from there. I will say that I hope the later books continue to open up and show more of the world after this first look. I don't need info dumps, more of an exploration into what people are capable of with their technology and implants.
The characters were great. I loved Three! I really wished there was more on his backstory because I'm guessing it was the spark that caused him to help Cass and Wren in the first place. I also wish there were more of jCharles and Mol. I really loved them in the short time we got to see them. I could have used a bit more of the bad-assery that caused Cass to fall in with the wrong sorts of people in the first place. She didn't seem quite as resourceful as maybe she should have been, but she's been on the run and alone for a long time so needing some help while managing a 5 yr old is plausible.
I think some flashback scenes between Cass and the bad guys after them would have been amazing. Asher, Dagon, and all the rest could have really had depth added to their character and it could have added more to the world as well. But ahh what could have been. =) It's not like the book lacks for action.
If you want everything about a world handed to you then this definitely isn't the book for you, but I don't mind being handed a story that pushes me to engage and think about the world. I don't need to know every tiny detail about what happened to humanity or the technology still in the world in order to be interested in seeing how characters survive and interact with the world. The story wraps pretty neatly in this book so we'll see where the sequels take it.
I think this is a really interesting approach to a post-apocalyptic/zombie-esque story. I'm assuming this was Earth as there are hints of an event taking place. I don't mind not knowing the particulars of what happened and thought it was really interesting to see where humanity has gone from there. I will say that I hope the later books continue to open up and show more of the world after this first look. I don't need info dumps, more of an exploration into what people are capable of with their technology and implants.
The characters were great. I loved Three! I really wished there was more on his backstory because I'm guessing it was the spark that caused him to help Cass and Wren in the first place. I also wish there were more of jCharles and Mol. I really loved them in the short time we got to see them. I could have used a bit more of the bad-assery that caused Cass to fall in with the wrong sorts of people in the first place. She didn't seem quite as resourceful as maybe she should have been, but she's been on the run and alone for a long time so needing some help while managing a 5 yr old is plausible.
I think some flashback scenes between Cass and the bad guys after them would have been amazing. Asher, Dagon, and all the rest could have really had depth added to their character and it could have added more to the world as well. But ahh what could have been. =) It's not like the book lacks for action.
If you want everything about a world handed to you then this definitely isn't the book for you, but I don't mind being handed a story that pushes me to engage and think about the world. I don't need to know every tiny detail about what happened to humanity or the technology still in the world in order to be interested in seeing how characters survive and interact with the world. The story wraps pretty neatly in this book so we'll see where the sequels take it.