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The Clar1ty Wars (1) One Bad Apple
WAR IS COMING TO THE STREETS OF DROP CITY
Part One of The Clar1ty Wars. One Bad Apple
For nearly a century the Orbital Corporation Pfizer-Teva has supplied the leading citizens of Drop City with Clar1ty: a potent and effective cerebral enhancer. Hailed as a miracle of modern science, its use has catapulted the planet to untold heights of wealth and power.
There is a dark side to the wonders. Behind the scenes, Pfizer-Teva leverages the supply to influence government policy and manipulate financial markets, and ruthlessly eliminate dissent. Clar1ty insures the entire Kepler22 system remains dominated by the Orbital Corporations.
There are those who believe its hold must be broken. At all cost.
This morning, seven Clar1ty addicts were found bled out in an abandoned warehouse, the beautiful fence who handled the black market shipment woke up framed for murder, and somebody tried to assassinate fifteen government officials.
War is coming, and these are snapshots from the crossfire.
Part One of The Clar1ty Wars. One Bad Apple
For nearly a century the Orbital Corporation Pfizer-Teva has supplied the leading citizens of Drop City with Clar1ty: a potent and effective cerebral enhancer. Hailed as a miracle of modern science, its use has catapulted the planet to untold heights of wealth and power.
There is a dark side to the wonders. Behind the scenes, Pfizer-Teva leverages the supply to influence government policy and manipulate financial markets, and ruthlessly eliminate dissent. Clar1ty insures the entire Kepler22 system remains dominated by the Orbital Corporations.
There are those who believe its hold must be broken. At all cost.
This morning, seven Clar1ty addicts were found bled out in an abandoned warehouse, the beautiful fence who handled the black market shipment woke up framed for murder, and somebody tried to assassinate fifteen government officials.
War is coming, and these are snapshots from the crossfire.
- GenresScience FictionCyberpunk
108 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 1, 2012
4 people are currently reading
37 people want to read
About the author
Patrick Todoroff
37 books49 followersMy interest in books started when I was nine, the year my baby brother shoved a pretzel down into the back of the television set and my parents didn't get it fixed.
My first novel, "Running Black" was a 'put up or shut up' project during the 2008 recession. The sequel "Shift Tense" rolled out two years later.
Other titles include the cyberpunk/technoir novella, 'Soul Cache'; a Celtic-flavored ghost story, 'The Barrow Lover'; three tales from the Exclusion Zone - 'A Prayer to Saint Strelok', 'Strange Treasure', and 'Gopnik Blues', and a handful of stand-alone near-future shorts.
As a table top war game designer, I've written 'Zona Alfa' and 'When Nightmares Come' for Osprey Wargames, several best selling indie games: 'Exploit Zero', its monster-hunting fantasy cousin, 'Nightwatch', and the alien-invasion 'Insurgent Earth.'
Current projects include the post-apocalyptic fantasy 'Shattered Worlds' duology, and a gritty dungeon crawl series, 'Shiver and Funk."
I can be found online at Stalker7.com.
A thousand thanks.
My first novel, "Running Black" was a 'put up or shut up' project during the 2008 recession. The sequel "Shift Tense" rolled out two years later.
Other titles include the cyberpunk/technoir novella, 'Soul Cache'; a Celtic-flavored ghost story, 'The Barrow Lover'; three tales from the Exclusion Zone - 'A Prayer to Saint Strelok', 'Strange Treasure', and 'Gopnik Blues', and a handful of stand-alone near-future shorts.
As a table top war game designer, I've written 'Zona Alfa' and 'When Nightmares Come' for Osprey Wargames, several best selling indie games: 'Exploit Zero', its monster-hunting fantasy cousin, 'Nightwatch', and the alien-invasion 'Insurgent Earth.'
Current projects include the post-apocalyptic fantasy 'Shattered Worlds' duology, and a gritty dungeon crawl series, 'Shiver and Funk."
I can be found online at Stalker7.com.
A thousand thanks.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
August 12, 2012
3.5 stars. It's a good start to a hard, classic cyberpunk universe, and it scratches a lot of my itches. However this is the introduction to a series, and the multiple viewpoints might clash with the novella length for some people.
A girl named Seeb gets involved with fencing a batch of the drug Clar1ty, which is one of the most popular drugs around. However the deal goes sour fast, as she wakes up alone and disoriented, with her virtual wallet stolen. Something is up with Clar1ty, and Seeb might be the key to something. If she can survive long enough to find out what, that is.
I enjoyed Pat's prior novel, Running Black. Pat writes cyberpunk in the old style, and this book is no different. It's good, hard-edged science fiction with plenty of grit and grime, and hip deep with gangs, exotic designer drugs, and squalid slums. I think he really gets the classic cyberpunk ethos and for fans of it it will be tasty brain candy. Pat to me feels like Bruce Sterling at times because of his multi-ethnic focus although he places his world farther in the future.
He writes well, too. Part of what makes cyberpunk fun is the patois-the sharp, slangy future dialogue that is unique to that subgenre, and he doesn't disappoint.
There was a single issue, however. He uses multiple viewpoints a bit too much for the length of the book. None of them are out of place, and each sheds light on the culture of the world and the plot. However, Seeb's story to me felt like the main focus of the book, and the other viewpoints made the novella a little disjointed. One viewpoint was written first person, which was unusual since the rest of the book is in third. There's also some viewpoint switching mid chapter. It's a minor issue because this book is the start of a series and I think he's setting up characters who will play a future part, but the novella's length makes it feel disorienting.
Other than that, it's well-written genre fiction. I'm looking forwards to seeing how the series progresses. It's definitely worth checking out.
A girl named Seeb gets involved with fencing a batch of the drug Clar1ty, which is one of the most popular drugs around. However the deal goes sour fast, as she wakes up alone and disoriented, with her virtual wallet stolen. Something is up with Clar1ty, and Seeb might be the key to something. If she can survive long enough to find out what, that is.
I enjoyed Pat's prior novel, Running Black. Pat writes cyberpunk in the old style, and this book is no different. It's good, hard-edged science fiction with plenty of grit and grime, and hip deep with gangs, exotic designer drugs, and squalid slums. I think he really gets the classic cyberpunk ethos and for fans of it it will be tasty brain candy. Pat to me feels like Bruce Sterling at times because of his multi-ethnic focus although he places his world farther in the future.
He writes well, too. Part of what makes cyberpunk fun is the patois-the sharp, slangy future dialogue that is unique to that subgenre, and he doesn't disappoint.
There was a single issue, however. He uses multiple viewpoints a bit too much for the length of the book. None of them are out of place, and each sheds light on the culture of the world and the plot. However, Seeb's story to me felt like the main focus of the book, and the other viewpoints made the novella a little disjointed. One viewpoint was written first person, which was unusual since the rest of the book is in third. There's also some viewpoint switching mid chapter. It's a minor issue because this book is the start of a series and I think he's setting up characters who will play a future part, but the novella's length makes it feel disorienting.
Other than that, it's well-written genre fiction. I'm looking forwards to seeing how the series progresses. It's definitely worth checking out.
August 19, 2012
In the style that the author introduced in Eshu International, the story takes off without you and doesn't really care. You are violently thrown into the world with the characters who come in all shapes and sizes. This causes some confusion at first as you try to grasp for breath as the story begins to unfold and you meet many faces within the short 76 pages. These are things I loved about Eshu International, and something I loved about this book, but many could find it a turn-off if they prefer a more traditional reading experience.
Todoroff creates a techno film-noir esque world of Drop City, where you can almost feel the grime, hear the harmonica and smell the toasting plastic of computers and technology with dark characters and violence. It takes a bit to really sink your teeth into the plot and the world, but the author really has his way of bringing us mere readers to light in the world and characters he's created. The book seemed very well developed and very well written. Too shot to tell, but it feels like something big is going to go down as there is quiet a bit of tension on every page and it only grows. Clar1ty is a drug that enhances your brain, but has extremely deadly side effects if you do not take your dose once you've had it. Seeb is later the main character, but we meet many through out the beginning of the book, which kind of threw me off personally, but by the end, I excepted it and liked it. She comes with many personal problems and isn't so much a likeable character as much as she is interesting, which I think gives the story a more film-noir feel.
Plus, the book contains one of the coolest descriptions of a character. Ever:
"His ghost-self was austere; strict features under dark, coiffed hair, the taut calligraphy of eyebrows over iron blue eyes, a firl slash of a mouth capable of precise execution."
A couple things I didn't like:
Some spelling/grammer issues. These are very minor but even to a non-grammer nazi like myself, they seemed a bit obvious.
Too short. I know it's a pulp style release, but I think maybe expounding on some of the situations would have made it easier to dig into. Especially toward the beginning. Maybe give us some more insight into Seeb so she would feel more like the main character.
Still, solid 4 stars. Very fun, very fast, sit-down-shut-up ride of well written and creative characters and universe.
Todoroff creates a techno film-noir esque world of Drop City, where you can almost feel the grime, hear the harmonica and smell the toasting plastic of computers and technology with dark characters and violence. It takes a bit to really sink your teeth into the plot and the world, but the author really has his way of bringing us mere readers to light in the world and characters he's created. The book seemed very well developed and very well written. Too shot to tell, but it feels like something big is going to go down as there is quiet a bit of tension on every page and it only grows. Clar1ty is a drug that enhances your brain, but has extremely deadly side effects if you do not take your dose once you've had it. Seeb is later the main character, but we meet many through out the beginning of the book, which kind of threw me off personally, but by the end, I excepted it and liked it. She comes with many personal problems and isn't so much a likeable character as much as she is interesting, which I think gives the story a more film-noir feel.
Plus, the book contains one of the coolest descriptions of a character. Ever:
"His ghost-self was austere; strict features under dark, coiffed hair, the taut calligraphy of eyebrows over iron blue eyes, a firl slash of a mouth capable of precise execution."
A couple things I didn't like:
Some spelling/grammer issues. These are very minor but even to a non-grammer nazi like myself, they seemed a bit obvious.
Too short. I know it's a pulp style release, but I think maybe expounding on some of the situations would have made it easier to dig into. Especially toward the beginning. Maybe give us some more insight into Seeb so she would feel more like the main character.
Still, solid 4 stars. Very fun, very fast, sit-down-shut-up ride of well written and creative characters and universe.
November 20, 2012
The Clar1ty Wars (1) One Bad Apple is an introductory book into Patrick Todoroff's new series. For those familiar with his other book, Running Black, you will recognize the general feel of the book. The dark gritty futuristic cyber punk aspect is the same even though the series (as far as I know) is unrelated.
The book primarily follow Seeb a young lady who fences shipments of illegal goods, including the black market designer pharmaceuticals which are a huge deal. She wakes up one day with no memory of what happened top her the night before, but her contact is dead with her knife in his back. There are several other characters that are introduced and the view of the book switches back and forth to follow some of these. It can seem a little overwhelming considering the relatively short nature of the book, but I think it does a great job of getting the characters ready for the hopefully longer follow up book(s).
This has peaked my interest for the rest of the series and I'm looking forward to seeing more of the futuristic world that Patrick has envisioned.
The book primarily follow Seeb a young lady who fences shipments of illegal goods, including the black market designer pharmaceuticals which are a huge deal. She wakes up one day with no memory of what happened top her the night before, but her contact is dead with her knife in his back. There are several other characters that are introduced and the view of the book switches back and forth to follow some of these. It can seem a little overwhelming considering the relatively short nature of the book, but I think it does a great job of getting the characters ready for the hopefully longer follow up book(s).
This has peaked my interest for the rest of the series and I'm looking forward to seeing more of the futuristic world that Patrick has envisioned.
August 10, 2012
"One Bad Apple" is the first installment of The Clar1ty Wars series.
Cyberpunk fiction told in an immersive, mosaic style, it captures the struggles of individuals caught in the crossfire of a vicious civil war.
"One Bad Apple" details the opening shots of the conflict, and provides a glimpse at the powerful forces readying for war.
More information is available here:
http://www.amazon.com/Clar1ty-Wars-Pa...
Cyberpunk fiction told in an immersive, mosaic style, it captures the struggles of individuals caught in the crossfire of a vicious civil war.
"One Bad Apple" details the opening shots of the conflict, and provides a glimpse at the powerful forces readying for war.
More information is available here:
http://www.amazon.com/Clar1ty-Wars-Pa...
September 7, 2012
I noticed quite a few typos in this but typos can be fixed. There was also more foul language than I prefer, but that's another minor gripe. All in all, well done. The author has created an interesting world and he drops the reader right into the middle of it. (Pun intended.)
January 6, 2013
Excellent & suspenseful. This book opens with a careful buildup,. seemingly unrelated events that begin to stitch together a bigger picture. Outstanding read, cant wait to see the next installment!
January 6, 2013
Excellent & suspenseful. This book opens with a careful buildup,. seemingly unrelated events that begin to stitch together a bigger picture. Outstanding read, cant wait to see the next installment!
September 2, 2013
My only disappointment is the brevity of this tome. Of course, I can't wait for more Eshu, but this was a pleasant diversion. Now, quit reading your reviews and give us more Eshu Int'l!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews