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Jack: Cyberpunk #1
Into the BeanStalk
Winner of the 2023 Best Indie Book Award in Cyberpunk!
Winner of the 2023 American Fiction Award in Sci-Fi / Cyberpunk!
A corrupt megacity. A broken world. A girl who can no longer afford to hide from her past.
Jack is a techie and long-time shut-in, driven to save her father from corporate servitude. That means getting her hands on scrip, and lots of it. Going into debt with the most violent bikers in Hope Megacity will get her the cybernetic limbs she needs to overcome her disabilities, but that's only the beginning.
A vicious betrayal, a lethal cyberattack, and some broken neural hardware has Jack seeing things -- namely a huge column of light climbing all the way to the Global Corporations' city in the clouds. She'll need to join up with the city's most notorious hacker to find out what the elite are hiding from the millions of people living under their feet.
Action, suspense, and wit, presented in an accessible take on the genre. If you like complex worlds of near-future tech, dystopian struggle, and memorable characters, you'll love Into the BeanStalk!
"Fully fleshed-out characters that are both interesting and unique drew me into this thrill-a-minute, absorbing read. J. Paul Roe’s plotting is razor-sharp and ingenious...I am sure we will see lots more from this highly talented author." - Tracy Traynor
Winner of the 2023 American Fiction Award in Sci-Fi / Cyberpunk!
A corrupt megacity. A broken world. A girl who can no longer afford to hide from her past.
Jack is a techie and long-time shut-in, driven to save her father from corporate servitude. That means getting her hands on scrip, and lots of it. Going into debt with the most violent bikers in Hope Megacity will get her the cybernetic limbs she needs to overcome her disabilities, but that's only the beginning.
A vicious betrayal, a lethal cyberattack, and some broken neural hardware has Jack seeing things -- namely a huge column of light climbing all the way to the Global Corporations' city in the clouds. She'll need to join up with the city's most notorious hacker to find out what the elite are hiding from the millions of people living under their feet.
Action, suspense, and wit, presented in an accessible take on the genre. If you like complex worlds of near-future tech, dystopian struggle, and memorable characters, you'll love Into the BeanStalk!
"Fully fleshed-out characters that are both interesting and unique drew me into this thrill-a-minute, absorbing read. J. Paul Roe’s plotting is razor-sharp and ingenious...I am sure we will see lots more from this highly talented author." - Tracy Traynor
- GenresCyberpunkScience Fiction
237 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 4, 2023
40 people are currently reading
66 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
July 24, 2024
Just tooo much
I thought I was in for something “new” but it seemed like revamped sci-fi with a few new “terms”…characters were all cookie cutter…
I thought I was in for something “new” but it seemed like revamped sci-fi with a few new “terms”…characters were all cookie cutter…
October 18, 2023
I received an advance reader copy of Into the BeanStalk for free, and am leaving this review voluntarily.
High concept stories are great at providing readers with something they don’t often see. When they infuse disparate elements that ordinarily wouldn’t go together, they yield intriguing results. It's these disparate elements that led me to Into the BeanStalk; I’m a fan of both cyberpunk and fairy tales. This book is an interesting blend of both cyberpunk and Jack and the Beanstalk.
With the original story being a fairy tale thought to have been penned more than a thousand years ago, it naturally leans on fantasy elements. Rather than writing a straight adaptation of the story, the author has opted to let the original story serve as an influence. There's a character named Jack (albeit gender-flipped), a beanstalk (or “BeanStalk” as the book calls it) and a version of a giant. While the differences serve this cyberpunk story well, they may disappoint devotees of the original fable.
Although loosely based on Jack and the Beanstalk, the elements get lost in the shuffle, requiring the reader to look to find them. As a cyberpunk story, it features many of the hallmarks fans are familiar with, like an over-reliance on technology and corporations willing to sacrifice the good of the people in the name of profits. The book touches upon these themes lightly, with only Jack’s disability, and the price her father paid for her cybernetic enhancements. Other than the protagonist telling the reader that corporations are evil, it doesn’t do much to back it up.
The book is a brisk read that maintains a quick pace from beginning to end. The prose is easy to follow, thanks to the clean style. Aside from the first chapter, it’s more simplistic than I would have liked, describing events without much flourish. At various points, there are minor errors and typos. While these aren’t major, they pulled me out of the book.
As the protagonist, and sole POV character, Jack narrates the book. She’s an entertaining character, but fairly two-dimensional outside her backstory. The characters surrounding her are also flat, with no development of their own. The supporting characters feel as though they're included for the sake of the plot.
The dialogue throughout lacks realism. While there’s variation between characters, it’s limited to their demographic and background. The dialogue hits cliches often, and although the book takes place in a heightened reality, this dampens the world's realism. While cyberpunk is a great medium for satire, if this was the intent, the book doesn’t lean into it as far as it could.
The novel includes a number of entertaining sci-fi elements, and an excellent setting plays into the book’s plot well. The world is presented as larger than life, conveying the feeling of an overcrowded megacity corrupted by corporate greed. The future technology feels retrofuturitic as in our technology has already moved past this future in some ways, which brought me out of the story. With that said, the feel of the world is reminiscent of 1980s cyberpunk.
While this is the first book in a series, it stands perfectly alone. The story is self-contained to the point where it doesn’t feel like there’s any more story to come (there is, however, with the second book, Into the Looking Glass, out now).
Into the BeanStalk tells an entertaining story set in a fantastic world. While the characters lack depth and the dialogue doesn’t work for me, it remains an engaging read.
My full review is available on my website. To read it, and a host of other reviews, click here.
High concept stories are great at providing readers with something they don’t often see. When they infuse disparate elements that ordinarily wouldn’t go together, they yield intriguing results. It's these disparate elements that led me to Into the BeanStalk; I’m a fan of both cyberpunk and fairy tales. This book is an interesting blend of both cyberpunk and Jack and the Beanstalk.
With the original story being a fairy tale thought to have been penned more than a thousand years ago, it naturally leans on fantasy elements. Rather than writing a straight adaptation of the story, the author has opted to let the original story serve as an influence. There's a character named Jack (albeit gender-flipped), a beanstalk (or “BeanStalk” as the book calls it) and a version of a giant. While the differences serve this cyberpunk story well, they may disappoint devotees of the original fable.
Although loosely based on Jack and the Beanstalk, the elements get lost in the shuffle, requiring the reader to look to find them. As a cyberpunk story, it features many of the hallmarks fans are familiar with, like an over-reliance on technology and corporations willing to sacrifice the good of the people in the name of profits. The book touches upon these themes lightly, with only Jack’s disability, and the price her father paid for her cybernetic enhancements. Other than the protagonist telling the reader that corporations are evil, it doesn’t do much to back it up.
The book is a brisk read that maintains a quick pace from beginning to end. The prose is easy to follow, thanks to the clean style. Aside from the first chapter, it’s more simplistic than I would have liked, describing events without much flourish. At various points, there are minor errors and typos. While these aren’t major, they pulled me out of the book.
As the protagonist, and sole POV character, Jack narrates the book. She’s an entertaining character, but fairly two-dimensional outside her backstory. The characters surrounding her are also flat, with no development of their own. The supporting characters feel as though they're included for the sake of the plot.
The dialogue throughout lacks realism. While there’s variation between characters, it’s limited to their demographic and background. The dialogue hits cliches often, and although the book takes place in a heightened reality, this dampens the world's realism. While cyberpunk is a great medium for satire, if this was the intent, the book doesn’t lean into it as far as it could.
The novel includes a number of entertaining sci-fi elements, and an excellent setting plays into the book’s plot well. The world is presented as larger than life, conveying the feeling of an overcrowded megacity corrupted by corporate greed. The future technology feels retrofuturitic as in our technology has already moved past this future in some ways, which brought me out of the story. With that said, the feel of the world is reminiscent of 1980s cyberpunk.
While this is the first book in a series, it stands perfectly alone. The story is self-contained to the point where it doesn’t feel like there’s any more story to come (there is, however, with the second book, Into the Looking Glass, out now).
Into the BeanStalk tells an entertaining story set in a fantastic world. While the characters lack depth and the dialogue doesn’t work for me, it remains an engaging read.
My full review is available on my website. To read it, and a host of other reviews, click here.
June 19, 2023
This fab dystopian cyberpunk retelling of Jack & the Beanstalk is like nothing you’ve read before & fresh off the press - I loved it, you gotta read it!
The plot. Since birth 20yo Jack has been missing her left arm and right leg, which forced her parents to take on & never recover from debt before BioDyne. From her dad she’s learnt 2 things: to figure out machines and sign shitty deals. Jack takes on debt with vicious mafia bikers called the Luckies to buy prosthetic limbs so that in time she could earn enough to rescue her dad from corporate servitude. She gets an offer to zero her points…for one last job. A simple delivery job. Yeah, as if.
The feels. Honestly, like nothing I’ve read before - techy, gritty, an amazing world, a disabled techsavvy heroine, breadcrumbs to other retellings galore and I’m still guessing who the villain is. I admit, I don’t read enough cyberpunk, but this one’s well worth your time, so I’ll try to describe what images popped up for me. Tech-wise, I sensed similarities to Ready Player One (except it’s survival instead of games and no romance); for me, the originality of this book equals to The Matrix (except Neo’s a girl going down the rabbit hole); the underground tech city and FMC being kitted out by another female bad-ass fighter reminded me of the Wanted movie (shooting around corners 😉); the 3D copying yourself tech echoed a recent read - the Aura Jax series by RJ Wade. The feels at the end of the book are like at the end of The Matrix - if Jack can do what I think she can do, I want more! I need to know what happens in the next one, gimme!!!
I loved the steampunk vibe of Hope Megacity, named after the biggest resource the corporate world wanted to mine out of it. The book was gritty, fast-paced and that awesome dry dark humour, ahh! Loved the world-building, nach. Jack’s ability to get herself from trouble to more trouble is just life. I adored that the author kept me guessing which one out of the two main baddies was the real villain. I still don’t know. Also, I can easily see this being made into a blockbuster movie.
To exemplify the tone of the book: “Thank you for using LucidSleep! This dream was sponsored by NuBurrito! Grab breakfast - then grab today by the balls!”
Recommended for lovers of actioney NA scifi dystopian cyberpunk books; if you like Marissa Meyer’s Cinder, or Ready Player One or The Matrix AND futuristic fairytale retellings, you’ll love this one.
The plot. Since birth 20yo Jack has been missing her left arm and right leg, which forced her parents to take on & never recover from debt before BioDyne. From her dad she’s learnt 2 things: to figure out machines and sign shitty deals. Jack takes on debt with vicious mafia bikers called the Luckies to buy prosthetic limbs so that in time she could earn enough to rescue her dad from corporate servitude. She gets an offer to zero her points…for one last job. A simple delivery job. Yeah, as if.
The feels. Honestly, like nothing I’ve read before - techy, gritty, an amazing world, a disabled techsavvy heroine, breadcrumbs to other retellings galore and I’m still guessing who the villain is. I admit, I don’t read enough cyberpunk, but this one’s well worth your time, so I’ll try to describe what images popped up for me. Tech-wise, I sensed similarities to Ready Player One (except it’s survival instead of games and no romance); for me, the originality of this book equals to The Matrix (except Neo’s a girl going down the rabbit hole); the underground tech city and FMC being kitted out by another female bad-ass fighter reminded me of the Wanted movie (shooting around corners 😉); the 3D copying yourself tech echoed a recent read - the Aura Jax series by RJ Wade. The feels at the end of the book are like at the end of The Matrix - if Jack can do what I think she can do, I want more! I need to know what happens in the next one, gimme!!!
I loved the steampunk vibe of Hope Megacity, named after the biggest resource the corporate world wanted to mine out of it. The book was gritty, fast-paced and that awesome dry dark humour, ahh! Loved the world-building, nach. Jack’s ability to get herself from trouble to more trouble is just life. I adored that the author kept me guessing which one out of the two main baddies was the real villain. I still don’t know. Also, I can easily see this being made into a blockbuster movie.
To exemplify the tone of the book: “Thank you for using LucidSleep! This dream was sponsored by NuBurrito! Grab breakfast - then grab today by the balls!”
Recommended for lovers of actioney NA scifi dystopian cyberpunk books; if you like Marissa Meyer’s Cinder, or Ready Player One or The Matrix AND futuristic fairytale retellings, you’ll love this one.
June 24, 2024
This book was entered in The Wishing Shelf Book Awards. This is what our readers thought:
Title: Into the BeanStalk
Author: J. Paul Roe
Star Rating: 4 Stars
Number of Readers: 15
Stats
Editing: 7/10
Writing Style: 7/10
Content: 7/10
Cover: 5/5
Of the 15 readers:
13 would read another book by this author.
15 thought the cover was good or excellent.
15 felt it was easy to follow.
13 would recommend this book to another reader to try.
Of all the readers, 7 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘plotting a story’.
Of all the readers, 1 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘developing the characters’.
Of all the readers, 7 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘writing style’.
15 felt the pacing was good or excellent.
13 thought the author understood the readership and what they wanted.
Readers’ Comments
“I enjoyed this futuristic thriller. I think Jack (girl, by the way), the protagonist, is fun to root for. It has a cyberpunk feel to it which I liked too. Possibly it’d go down best with older YAs, but it’s still a strong novel for adults too.” Female reader, aged 25
“Cool cover! Very Matrix-looking! Liked the story too. Admittedly, character development isn’t the best, and the speech is a little wooden, but there’s plenty happening, the MC is likeable (and relatable) and there’s lots of futuristic elements to the plot/setting which sci-fi readers will enjoy.” Male reader, aged 36
“ I loved the Jack and the Beanstalk premise and how the author’s altered it to sci-fi. MEGA-clever! Cool story, a bit short for me (I like big bricks) but I will be hunting out book two.” Female reader, age 19
“If you enjoy tech-novels with fast pacing, this is for you. I have never read a cyberpunk novel based loosely on a fairy tale before! Good writer, possibly needs to develop the secondary characters more. Overall, exciting read.” Female reader, aged 21
To Sum It Up:
‘A fast-paced, thrill-a-page, dystopian thriller. Perfect for readers looking for a gripping read. A FINALIST and highly recommended!’ The Wishing Shelf Book Awards
Title: Into the BeanStalk
Author: J. Paul Roe
Star Rating: 4 Stars
Number of Readers: 15
Stats
Editing: 7/10
Writing Style: 7/10
Content: 7/10
Cover: 5/5
Of the 15 readers:
13 would read another book by this author.
15 thought the cover was good or excellent.
15 felt it was easy to follow.
13 would recommend this book to another reader to try.
Of all the readers, 7 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘plotting a story’.
Of all the readers, 1 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘developing the characters’.
Of all the readers, 7 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘writing style’.
15 felt the pacing was good or excellent.
13 thought the author understood the readership and what they wanted.
Readers’ Comments
“I enjoyed this futuristic thriller. I think Jack (girl, by the way), the protagonist, is fun to root for. It has a cyberpunk feel to it which I liked too. Possibly it’d go down best with older YAs, but it’s still a strong novel for adults too.” Female reader, aged 25
“Cool cover! Very Matrix-looking! Liked the story too. Admittedly, character development isn’t the best, and the speech is a little wooden, but there’s plenty happening, the MC is likeable (and relatable) and there’s lots of futuristic elements to the plot/setting which sci-fi readers will enjoy.” Male reader, aged 36
“ I loved the Jack and the Beanstalk premise and how the author’s altered it to sci-fi. MEGA-clever! Cool story, a bit short for me (I like big bricks) but I will be hunting out book two.” Female reader, age 19
“If you enjoy tech-novels with fast pacing, this is for you. I have never read a cyberpunk novel based loosely on a fairy tale before! Good writer, possibly needs to develop the secondary characters more. Overall, exciting read.” Female reader, aged 21
To Sum It Up:
‘A fast-paced, thrill-a-page, dystopian thriller. Perfect for readers looking for a gripping read. A FINALIST and highly recommended!’ The Wishing Shelf Book Awards
February 11, 2024
Into the Beanstalk, by J. Paul Roe, offers a cyberpunk reimagining of the classic tale Jack and the Beanstalk, blending action and a quest for justice. Set in a futuristic world, the protagonist Jack is confronted with the challenges of a birth defect, leading to her family's overwhelming medical debt. This financial burden results in her father's peonage after her mother's demise. To rescue her father, Jack delves into the underworld of freelance crime, aligning herself with a local gang.
Roe's narrative is an exploration of corporate tyranny and individual rebellion, as Jack's intelligence and anger towards the corporate kleptocracy draw her to a group determined to liberate the oppressed. The story poignantly highlights the steep price of freedom. The novel successfully bridges a classic fantasy narrative with contemporary themes, reflecting the timeless nature of the struggle against formidable forces, here represented by a corporate "giant."
The world-building in Into the Beanstalk is particularly noteworthy, creating a vivid and dynamic setting. Roe skillfully balances detailed explanations with narrative progression, avoiding any drag from excessive exposition. This balance aids in immersing the reader in Jack's world, further enriched by her introspective thoughts on societal issues. The dialogue occasionally adopts a formal tone, as in a conversation between Jack and an old friend, this choice adds a unique instructional layer to their interactions, enhancing the depth of the characters' communication.
Into the Beanstalk, by J. Paul Roe, is a compelling choice for enthusiasts of science fiction and fantasy reimaginings. Roe's reinterpretation of a folklore classic through a modern lens is both engaging and thought-provoking. Into the Beanstalk promises to be an enriching addition to the genre, and its continuation in a series is something to anticipate with enthusiasm.
Roe's narrative is an exploration of corporate tyranny and individual rebellion, as Jack's intelligence and anger towards the corporate kleptocracy draw her to a group determined to liberate the oppressed. The story poignantly highlights the steep price of freedom. The novel successfully bridges a classic fantasy narrative with contemporary themes, reflecting the timeless nature of the struggle against formidable forces, here represented by a corporate "giant."
The world-building in Into the Beanstalk is particularly noteworthy, creating a vivid and dynamic setting. Roe skillfully balances detailed explanations with narrative progression, avoiding any drag from excessive exposition. This balance aids in immersing the reader in Jack's world, further enriched by her introspective thoughts on societal issues. The dialogue occasionally adopts a formal tone, as in a conversation between Jack and an old friend, this choice adds a unique instructional layer to their interactions, enhancing the depth of the characters' communication.
Into the Beanstalk, by J. Paul Roe, is a compelling choice for enthusiasts of science fiction and fantasy reimaginings. Roe's reinterpretation of a folklore classic through a modern lens is both engaging and thought-provoking. Into the Beanstalk promises to be an enriching addition to the genre, and its continuation in a series is something to anticipate with enthusiasm.
December 14, 2025
By any metric, it’s a good story, with the potential to be brilliant. So close!
I am conflicted here. At the start of the book, the writing was a mess .. missing and incorrect punctuation, dropped words. It read like the author was a new writer without an editor.
However, at some point, it switched … the writing became tight, the action ratcheted, and the plot spiralled out into the dark spaces of a paranoid, dark cybercity. In other words, it became worthy of those awards it won.
There is a huge whodunnit factor here; you’re not sure who to trust. With the good guys betraying her, our girl Jack is hard-pressed to figure out things as the overlord corporations press close. So far, her on-the-fly solutions to problems have simply created more danger for everyone.
The plot is really terrific, and the people feel like they’re in the right place (even if they’re doing things they shouldn’t). They feel like real folks, not just contrived for the book.
Now let’s talk about world-building. The physical world is sketched out well. There are some empty spots in the interior world ... questions unasked and unanswered, things that seem to happen too quickly, and tricky situations just ‘accepted.’ It felt a little unfinished, like it needed another splash of colour thrown at it - another pass to fine-tune the story.
Still, this line caught my attention because of the creative phrase: “You’ll be fine,” Eli smiled without taking his eyes off of the pigtail of cables he was fiddling with.”
I’ll enjoy the next book even more, I think.
I am conflicted here. At the start of the book, the writing was a mess .. missing and incorrect punctuation, dropped words. It read like the author was a new writer without an editor.
However, at some point, it switched … the writing became tight, the action ratcheted, and the plot spiralled out into the dark spaces of a paranoid, dark cybercity. In other words, it became worthy of those awards it won.
There is a huge whodunnit factor here; you’re not sure who to trust. With the good guys betraying her, our girl Jack is hard-pressed to figure out things as the overlord corporations press close. So far, her on-the-fly solutions to problems have simply created more danger for everyone.
The plot is really terrific, and the people feel like they’re in the right place (even if they’re doing things they shouldn’t). They feel like real folks, not just contrived for the book.
Now let’s talk about world-building. The physical world is sketched out well. There are some empty spots in the interior world ... questions unasked and unanswered, things that seem to happen too quickly, and tricky situations just ‘accepted.’ It felt a little unfinished, like it needed another splash of colour thrown at it - another pass to fine-tune the story.
Still, this line caught my attention because of the creative phrase: “You’ll be fine,” Eli smiled without taking his eyes off of the pigtail of cables he was fiddling with.”
I’ll enjoy the next book even more, I think.
July 24, 2023
This was a fun one. Classic cyberpunk feel - technology, dehumanization, fast-moving action.
Our Jack is an interesting girl. Born missing limbs and with other health problems, her parents made a deal with the devil - and by that, I mean a megacorporation - to provide her with prosthetic/cybernetic limbs and other gear to give her a life. Jack takes on questionable jobs with sketchy employers to raise the money to buy her father's freedom from the contracts he signed.
Look, if you know cyberpunk and its siblings, you know that things rapidly get harder for our protagonists.
Roe tells a good story, with real skill. I think the book could have used one more editing pass, but that's a minor quibble. This one is worth your time.
Gaming value: Really high. I'm pretty sure Jack is going to show up in my Cyberpunk Red game.
Our Jack is an interesting girl. Born missing limbs and with other health problems, her parents made a deal with the devil - and by that, I mean a megacorporation - to provide her with prosthetic/cybernetic limbs and other gear to give her a life. Jack takes on questionable jobs with sketchy employers to raise the money to buy her father's freedom from the contracts he signed.
Look, if you know cyberpunk and its siblings, you know that things rapidly get harder for our protagonists.
Roe tells a good story, with real skill. I think the book could have used one more editing pass, but that's a minor quibble. This one is worth your time.
Gaming value: Really high. I'm pretty sure Jack is going to show up in my Cyberpunk Red game.
August 12, 2023
Here is a new SF writer who will be a force in the field. He has created a world of the future with incredible tech. A young girl is born with only one leg and one arm. People can buy new legs and arm that are high tec. But she grows up in this world without enough money. So she joins a shady bikers gang to pay for the limbs. But there are many levels of power and money. And for some reason, the upper class are looking for her. I wish I could write how exciting this book is. It took me into a strange world which made me feel like I did when I discover The Foundation series, Dune series, and many others. Find this book and you will be please you did.
June 30, 2023
Can I give more than five stars? This book was amazing, so much so that when it ended I wanted to read the next one. This is some A+ world-building that made me think of all the games of Shadowrun I used to play.
Jack is exquisite and I was rooting for here from beginning to end. I'm officially a fan.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Jack is exquisite and I was rooting for here from beginning to end. I'm officially a fan.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
June 13, 2023
Tech violence in the future.
March 22, 2024
Really enjoyed this gritty cyberpunk book, bought the sequel yet to read.
December 18, 2024
A really outstanding book.
Great characters, outstanding tech and a vibrant, compelling world.
I'll be back for more.
Great characters, outstanding tech and a vibrant, compelling world.
I'll be back for more.
February 1, 2024
Pleasantly Surprised and Quickly Addicted.
Great for fans of the cyberpunk aesthetic! I loved the quick wit and banter (internal and external). Great cast of characters and engaging plot. The world dynamics and politics were easy to comprehend. The book wasn't bogged down with exposition. J. Paul Roe did a great job of crafting an interesting and deep background while keeping great pace.
It felt like it was just the right length for a fairytale retelling in a cyberpunk setting. Some scenes felt short but I realize that the book is rightfully bite sized and omitted unnecessary fluff.
Book 2
Awesome character lead plots, Real character emotion, wit, and escalating stakes. I'm loving this series so far. There are parallels to the original Jack and the Beanstalk/Alice in Wonderland stories but the Jack: Cyberpunk Series certainly has its own identity and twists.
Great for fans of the cyberpunk aesthetic! I loved the quick wit and banter (internal and external). Great cast of characters and engaging plot. The world dynamics and politics were easy to comprehend. The book wasn't bogged down with exposition. J. Paul Roe did a great job of crafting an interesting and deep background while keeping great pace.
It felt like it was just the right length for a fairytale retelling in a cyberpunk setting. Some scenes felt short but I realize that the book is rightfully bite sized and omitted unnecessary fluff.
Book 2
Awesome character lead plots, Real character emotion, wit, and escalating stakes. I'm loving this series so far. There are parallels to the original Jack and the Beanstalk/Alice in Wonderland stories but the Jack: Cyberpunk Series certainly has its own identity and twists.
June 21, 2023
Fast read. Too short. When is book two out??😉😁👍👍
October 9, 2024
This is an alternate take on Jack and the Beanstalk. Here, Jack is a young disabled girl who has been enhanced with "wet gear," which has given her limbs that work as well as fantastic abilities that make her a threat to certain powers that be. In exchanged for these enhancements, Jack needs to go on military missions with other powers that be. There are also alien elements which appear to possibly be running the whole show. It is a cool premise.
For me, the execution was a bit choppy. I felt lost a great deal of the time. PART of that may be that I read the introductory book in the series, but did not read the book just prior to this one. It appears that might have helped me to keep up. It is possible to read this without reading any prior installments. It does have a beginning and ending and can be enjoyed as a standalone. I think reading the other books would likely cut through some of the confusion I experienced.
This is a very dark and violent vision of dystopian future. You are not going to get many warm fuzzies from reading this. Any resemblance to the original fairy tale is almost purely coincidental.
For me, the execution was a bit choppy. I felt lost a great deal of the time. PART of that may be that I read the introductory book in the series, but did not read the book just prior to this one. It appears that might have helped me to keep up. It is possible to read this without reading any prior installments. It does have a beginning and ending and can be enjoyed as a standalone. I think reading the other books would likely cut through some of the confusion I experienced.
This is a very dark and violent vision of dystopian future. You are not going to get many warm fuzzies from reading this. Any resemblance to the original fairy tale is almost purely coincidental.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews