Streetlethal

Aubrey Knight #1

by Steven Barnes

Disgusted with his life as enforcer for the Ortegas and their bloody empire of drugs, prostitution, and black market body parts, null-boxer Aubrey Knight realizes that he will have to become a hero if he is to walk away and still survive. Reprint.

Genres: Science Fiction, Cyberpunk, Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Thriller

310 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 1, 1983

About the author

Steven Barnes (born March 1, 1952, Los Angeles, California) is an African American science fiction writer, lecturer, creative consultant, and human performance technician. He has written several episodes of The Outer Limits and Baywatch, as well as the Stargate SG-1 episode "Brief Candle" and the Andromeda episode "The Sum of its Parts". Barnes' first published piece of fiction, the novelette The Locusts (1979), written with Larry Niven, and was a Hugo Award nominee.

Reviews

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice solid SiFi/Cyberpunk story. enjoyable read. Recommended

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

STREETLETHAL is a well-done post-apocalypse martial-arts novel on one level, but it also offers insight into deeper themes of revenge and social responsibility. A worth-while book.

[Stephen Matlock · Rating 4 out of 5]

OK, this is a romp.

Aubry Knight is a null-fighter in, oh, 2020 or so, in a devastated America. He goes through various travails due to betrayals and fights and just because of who he is.

I won't give a summary to spoil the book, but it really is a fun story to follow. There are the usual "space opera" type stuff, with futuristic technology and events, but the essence of the story is not what you'd expect from the opening chapters.

Aubry goes through things and goes through changes. This is not just a wham-bam kapow story about futuristic fighting. This is about the essence of a man: what makes us human, and what joins us as humans. (This last part is significant.)

I'm not sure if this is Mr. Barnes' first work; based on the acknowledgments it is. It has the feel of a first work, but it is an impressive one. While there are times when the characters just advance the plot, the protagonist and his side-kick come across as very real people.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one surprised me. I was expecting it to be gloriously dumb based on the title, the cover image, and some of the, err, colorful language on the first few pages. To the author’s credit, he developed a good story with stakes, high action, and more robust characters than one is lead to expect based on the opening. A lot of cool concepts here, and even some stuff that is a bit ahead of it’s time, such as the use of psychedelics to extinguish the ego. If you are a fan of Bester’s Demolished Man, this is a similar story of a brutish street fighter who learns to make authentic connections with others, and discovers what is truly important to the deepest essence of who he is as a human being.

There are parts that drag, especially in the middle of the book. There is some weird off-color stuff that might give modern readers pause, but ultimately there are a few unexpectedly progressive ideas/themes here, as well as some pretty keen female characters that don’t ultimately feel like accessories for the male lead in the story. Glad I took a chance on this one!

[The Shayne-Train · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at like 75%

I tried to get through it. I tried to LIKE it. There were really good moments, but...I found I was forcing myself to read it, just slogging through. I don't have time fore that.

(Well, I mean, I *DO*, but...you know.)

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

I very much enjoy Barnes' descriptive abilities, especially his technically fluid and realistic fight scenarios, as well as his ability to convey the athleticism of his characters. However, this book, the first in a three part series, is very much a read for those with a staunchly politically correct mindset, imbued as it is with reverse racism and a need to portray America as a failed state. As is usually the case in modern media, people of color play the role of the downtrodden and exploited, but also more emphatically, a self-empowered and soulful moral underground, while a decadent, impotent (with emphasis on impotent) and parasitic White dominant culture controls the nation and the world. And Aubry Knight, former Null Boxer, what we would call an M.M.A. fighter whose arena is a zero-gravity sphere, is (seemingly) presented as the potential of all African Americans and other people of color who were not crushed by the malignant White dominant culture. I know how all this sounds and I'll probably be stoned or burned at the stake for writing all this, but while everyone is free to create their own mythologies, that doesn't mean others are required to subscribe to their beliefs. Like most mythologies, political correctness has a core of truth, but the degree to which it is carried makes it nothing more than attempt to create a new dominant culture, or as some have said, "a new majority," and there's no moral superiority in that, just a naked grab for power and dominance. And this book is just another expression of that, even though I did enjoy reading it.

[J. Finney · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a 21st century Los Angeles that never recovered from a Godzilla-sized quake, Aubry Knight is a zero-gee “null boxer” with dreams of punching his way to the world championship. Too bad Knight’s former employers, the ruthless Ortega cartel, disapprove of his career change. As punishment, the cartel sets Knight up for murder and has him locked away in the most brutal and inescapable prison in the former United States--the Death Valley Maximum Security Penitentiary.

This is the set-up for Steven Barnes’ Streetlethal, and boy does it deliver. Those first chapters within the walls of Death Valley aren’t just some of the finest prose I’ve read in a cyberpunk novel, but in any genre fiction. Knight is established as a man who is intelligent and introspective, yet burdened by a poor education and a bad habit of thinking with his fists. But being the biggest, badest, s.o.b. on the block isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. For too long Knight lived violently and is beginning to lose his humanity…and he knows it.

While in prison he meets an interesting cast of characters—some he befriends, others he beats to a pulp. That is until the Warden subjects him to a severe form of torture that scars him both physically and mentally. Then Knight uncovers the prison’s dirty secret. The reason so many inmates die at Death Valley is it's part of an organ harvesting scheme run by his old employers, the Ortegas. Worse, is the warden is on the mob's payroll and he's Knight is slated to become spare parts. So, when a chance for escape arises, Knight jumps at the opportunity and it nearly kills him. Against all odds, he makes it. Battered, dehydrated, delirious, and half crazy, Knight crawls out of the desert with only one thought in his mind: revenge.

The first 74 pages of the Streetlethal is one heck of a ride. The writing is sharp, the characterization is solid, and there’s an honesty to the prison experience that defies all the usual tropes. If I had to guess, I’d say the author knew felons who had done hard time. Either that, or his research skills are top-notch.

In the second act, Streetlethal has Knight back on the streets of Los Angeles living as a fugitive—which isn’t nearly as dangerous as it sounds. Seems this future LAPD is understaffed and sticks to patrolling only the rich parts of town. Which is good because Knight is a man on a mission. He will stop at nothing until the cartel’s West Coast boss, Luis Ortega, is dead. Along the way Knight crosses paths with Promise, a high-end call girl whose synthetic flesh can project a collidescope of lights. She’s what’s called an exotic, a woman who services rich men who like to “walk on the wild side.”

A classic femme fatale, Promise is the perfect counterpoint to Knight’s animal physicality. She’s all subtlety and grace, passion and sensuality, her deadliest weapons being her angelic voice and stunning feminine curves. Promise forms a tenuous alliance with Knight when she becomes a target of the Ortega though no fault of her own. Together they plot to take down Luis Ortega in wonderfully hardboiled narrative plays like old-school noir.

When Knight’s revenge plot comes to a bloody conclusion on page 114, the story feels as though it should be over. With Luis dead, I was left thinking, “Okay, now what?" Revenge was the only thing driving Knight, and he most certainly got that. When Knight and Promise go down in a flaming hovercar and vanish into the East LA warzone, it struck me as the perfect cliffhanger ending. If this had been the case, Streetlethal would qualify as a “Lost Classic” in my opinion. It’s a near-flawless tale of revenge with a hint of redemption. Unfortunately, Streetlethal doesn’t end there.

It has a third act and that’s where it loses its way. The narrative gets bogged down in multiple subplots that are either dull, confused, or poorly realized. The most interesting of these subplots is with the Ortega Cartel. With Luis dead, a power struggle arises around new the boss, Tomaso—a paranoid little man who has gotten his hands on a cutting-edge drug. With it, Tomaso stands to make a killing—that is if his own family doesn’t kill him first. Meanwhile, with nothing left for Knight and Promise to do but hide, their story descends into relationship drama as they lay low with a colony of subterranean scavengers. During this time, there the couple gets hooked on drugs, then gets clean. Promise becomes pregnant. Knight digs a lot of tunnels. There’s also a subplot about the scavenger’s leader foreseeing his own death. First, though, he must teach Knight how to control his animalistic side. I wish I could say something nice about these chapters but slogging through page after page of these scavengers living underground while our heroes have lovers’ spats doesn’t make for a compelling read.

All the real action is with the Ortegas. Unfortunately, we never see enough of it. Nor are we given a consistent character to follow as we’re guided through the inner machinations of this futuristic drug cartel. Instead, the author makes the odd choice of jumping awkwardly from character to character, never giving us time to really become acquainted with any of them. Ideally, the cartel narrative should have followed Mirabal, a beast of a man who is the personal bodyguard of Tomaso.

In many ways, Mirabal is Knight’s dark reflection—big, mean, living through his fists. Mirabal is everything Knight was before leaving the Cartel. When the two of them fight to the death during the story’s climax, it's as if Knight is fighting his past self. Due to his importance to the plot, Mirabal’s absence from the first half of the book is a serious oversight. Especially when we learn near the end that Knight and Mirabal were once good friends.

Sadly, it isn’t until the last 21 pages that we see just how interesting the cartel plot could have been. As Streetlethal winds to a conclusion, Knight and Promise are captured by the Ortegas and tried in a kangaroo court. Their judge is the cartel’s boss of bosses and oldest living member—a centuries-old woman kept alive by machines and harvested organs. Her appearance hits like a bomb, sending the story spiraling into a wave of conflict, violence, and revelation. She also opens a whole host of plot possibilities, most of which are never realized—the most obvious being, are all those organs being harvested at Death Valley to keep this old corpse of a woman alive? If only we’d gotten more of the cartel and less mucking about with the scavengers, these plot elements could have been explored.

Despite its flaws, Streetlethal is worth reading. As Steve Barnes’ first solo novel it is not a surprise it suffers rough spots. As I said before, the first half of the book is pure brilliance. It also introduces elements that aren’t seen all that much in cyberpunk, such as the inside of a supermax prison, a cartel of the Latin-American variety, and a Los Angeles that’s more Mexico City than it is Blade Runner. Also, it should be noted that there are very few Caucasian characters in this book. Much like the Los Angeles of our era, the city’s population is mostly brown, and has a sizable gay community. Likewise, both Knight and Promise are black. And because Streetlethal was published in 1983, there’s no tokenism, or preaching, or any of the other cringe-worthy garbage that modern genre novels have come to be known for. At no point does the author feel compelled to devote long paragraphs about a character’s race or sexual preference. It's all just part of the tapestry of Barne's futuristic vision.

[Nicholas Whyte · Rating 3 out of 5]

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2596908.html

I'd read several of Barnes' collaborations with Larry Niven, but this was my first time reading a solo novel by him - also I think his own first solo novel, published in 1983. It's a decent techno thriller set in a degenerated California in about 2020, the protagonists a zero-gravity MMA fighter and a dancer, both black in a world that is still ruled by racism. Gangs, dubious technology and medicine, and self-realisation all feature large in the narrative. I have the sequel and will read it.

[Bbrown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading its opening chapters I didn't understand the current obscurity of Steven Barnes's StreetLethal (1983). Sure, the title isn't great, but this is cyberpunk predating even Neuromancer, our body-modded protagonists navigating the far future of 2022 and its crime organizations, drug manufacturers, and the lawless underground tunnels of Los Angeles. Their adventures through this near future are initially entertaining, jumping between different settings that aren't entirely novel but that are unique enough to be intriguing. Unfortunately, StreetLethal is analogous to the first season of a television show where the opening episodes raise your expectations, only for the back half to become aimless and conclude in a strange manner. Taken as a whole it has enough strengths that I don't regret reading StreetLethal, but it certainly doesn't go out on a high note.

You wouldn't guess this lackluster ending based on the book's opening, though. Barnes quickly establishes main character Aubrey Knight, body modified to participate in a zero gravity MMA-esque sport, who is almost inhumanly strong but also insecure beneath his intimidating exterior. It also quickly establishes his motivation: revenge. The book thus starts out with a bang, and the narrative momentum pushes forward the story at a brisk pace in these opening chapters. Barnes shows himself to be a solid writer throughout these first parts, and while I thought his prose was merely fine, he has his own style that others may like even more than I did. The dialogue is often over-the-top, but it's of the schlocky variety that I find enjoyable in 80s action movies and 80s sci-fi books alike.

StreetLethal’s depiction of this future is also impressively prescient at times. Besides Aubrey Knight’s aforementioned expertise in MMA-esque fighting (the book having been written long before that sport became popular), the book describes electronic music (which Barnes amusingly describes as “heartbeat-adjusted synthesizer jazz”), and describes satellite tracking of tracers. In one particularly memorable scene a patient’s medical machine has been sabotaged so that it will administer a lethal overdose, and a doctor across the city attempts to hack into it so as to save the patient’s life. This could easily be a plot point to some modern thriller, but Barnes depicted it forty years ago when this reality was all still science fiction. Impressive stuff, if you care about this sort of thing.

So, solid writing, the story starts out at a decent clip, the sci-fi elements actually predicted the future a decent bit, why isn’t this a well-known cyberpunk book? After all, it’s not as if the subgenre is awash with masterpieces. Well, StreetLethal is at its strongest in what I would call the first three “episodes” of the story, namely the intro, the prison episode, and the revenge on Luis episode. But when those episodes are done we’re not even halfway into the book, and you still have to get through the scavenging episode, the orgy/drug experimentation episode, the addiction and recovery episode, the underground assault episode, and the exotic island finale.

While the first set of episodes has a strong narrative drive, clear stakes, and I was rooting for Knight’s success, these strengths aren’t nearly as pronounced in the book’s back half. In the rest of the episodes the character motivations were more muddled, with Promise’s actions being especially erratic and untethered to any clear drive. There were attempts to justify character actions, but I found them by and large unconvincing, with the story’s main romance ringing especially hollow. There’s also a lot of pseudo-spiritual blather that I assume I wasn’t supposed to engage with seriously since it was all pretty dumb. All this culminates in the series finale, with our protagonists having developed powers that are only weakly justified by the story. The book’s resolution requires the 11th-hour antagonist to behave in an unrealistic way, and I still don’t know how I’m supposed to interpret the book’s magic MacGuffin drug, leaving me largely unsatisfied with StreetLethal’s conclusion. It’s not bad enough to undermine all that came before it, but it did leave me closing the book thinking that it was a bit bizarre.

The strange part is that the pieces for a very strong story were all there, and for a while it seemed like Barnes was building it. Flesh out the introduction a bit, add a little more to the prison section, and then make the revenge section the remainder of the book. The narrative does a good job setting up Knight as the more physically capable character and Promise as the more mentally capable character, and furthermore sets up the simmering conflict of them having competing interests when it came to Maxine Black, but ultimately the story doesn’t do anything with these ideas. The book even reads at times like Promise is using her intelligence and sexuality to manipulate Knight, but apparently Barnes just writes romance very strangely. Oh well, missed opportunities in my opinion.

I’m going to be diving into some lesser-known cyberpunk books for a while in hopes of finding another one or two good books in a subsection of science fiction that unfortunately isn’t known for its quality. In its opening chapters I thought StreetLethal would be one of the rare good books in the subgenre, but unfortunately a decent first half is followed by several less compelling episodes. 3/5, maybe check it out if you want a very early example of cyberpunk, otherwise I wouldn’t recommend it. I won’t be reading the sequels.

[Kevin Findley · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books of the 1980s. Barnes created a world that was part dystopian, part Rollerball and all well done. Aubrey Knight was a man who never wanted to be a hero or a role model unless there was a paycheck in it. Barnes broke him down and brought him back as a leader without peer. The character would have made an excellent vehicle for Steve James back then and would be an incredible role for Michael Jai White today.

Read it!

[I.D. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A boxer gets sent to prison for killing a man then escapes to get revenge on the gangster who set him up. There’s also a new breed of mushroom that makes people have wild orgies and become telepathic.
So this was an odd one because it was nothing like the blurb promised. While there were a few good ideas and the post earthquake LA was well crafted, sometimes it felt like events happened because the author needed them too rather than because the story warranted it. Aubry suddenly deciding to take drugs and become an addict just so there could be a redemption and new training “montage,” the sudden telepathy and psychic powers that emerge, the whole scavenger camp and sacrifice, etc. they were almost stock scenes that the book was tailored too rather than natural outcroppings. I did like the martial arts stuff though.
Not bad, but not amazing either. I will read the sequels out of curiosity.

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars
Aubrey thinks his life is finally starting to look up when he is arrested and framed for murder and sent to prison where his only focus becomes revenge on the two people that put him there until he finds a way out...
Promise is an escort who winds up tangled up in Aubrey's life after his escape, she's an Exotic meaning she's been surgically altered so that half her body is made of plastiskin that she can make light up in all sorts of interesting ways.
Considering when this was published it holds up pretty well and feels like it could have been written more recently than the 80's. Some interesting concepts, Aubrey was interesting but Promise wasn't very interesting until the end of the story.

[Leonel Rojas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Futuristic action and storytelling

Steven Barnes writes the best fight scenes of any medium. His knowledge of martial arts and understanding of the psychology of fighting place him a step above everyone else when it comes to describing hand to hand combat.
There is a lot more here than just great action sequences though. The futuristic landscape is frightening and exciting at the same time. Barnes manages to create a world that is full of danger but makes you wish you lived there.
The characters are real people, with real flaws and motivations. I loved every single one of them including the bad guys.
Fantastic story!

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book. And for the first bit, I did. Then somewhere around the middle, it lost me completely and from then on, finishing it became a struggle, rather than a joy.
Occasionally it'd come back to what caught me in the first place, but would lose it very quickly.
The last thirty pages, which were supposed to be a glorious and action packed ending were a chore.

Steven Barnes can definitely write though and I did enjoy a lot of his language.

[Milo Ewing · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually messaged Steven Barnes, after the book was re-released with accurate cover art for Aubrey Knight. Apparently they wouldn't do the original release depicting a black protagonist on the cover.

[Barry · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first in a series. I read this as a standalone a long time ago and revisited it when I discovered there were more. The book is a bit uneven, but that could have been my copy in some cases, but the characters are compelling and Barnes is a very inventive author.

[Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An action-packed cyberpunk novel with philosophical underpinnings that slowly grow throughout the book.

[Kevin · Rating 2 out of 5]

The plot is all over the place. Never quite came together for me.

[Miles Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read the second book first because I picked it up in a random bookstore due to the cool cover. Only gave it 4 stars because I liked the second book better and knew how it was going to end. Loved it tho, weird sic-fi futuristic dystopia stuff with good action and commentary.

[Eric Shivak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Returning to the world I loved so much as a young adult I found myself once more entranced by the world setting and characters created by Mr. Barnes. I found myself reading with two sets of eyes. The relatively inexperienced and wide eyed youth and my current more critical and judgmental self.

I can honestly say that the story and characters hold up well. The extrapolations about technology, including about battery powered cars were quite sweet. Though we still don't have any flying cars dammit! The inter-connectivity of the world through cell phones and internet were all there as well the use of media to influence politics and every day life.

Aubry and Promise are back in my life and I can only thank Steven for making the series available in an electronic format.

[Anne Gray · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this *after* reading the sequel, Gorgon Child, which I really liked. That meant I already knew about many of the problems and successes that happen in Streetlethal. I think I would have enjoyed it much more without all the spoilers. :)

Still, it's a good book, interesting and consistent future setting. Gender issues, new economy of post-earthquake LA, lots of biomedical advances. And of course action, including martial arts.

The cover is misleading, however. There are no short angry chinese martial artists with red eyes. What there is is a tall gorgeous black man, built and trained to be a "nullboxer", and trying to figure out what he will be since he can no longer be that (framed for a murder that was self-defense, burning with a desire for vengeace - and beyond that, what?), and the gorgeous dancer, half her body covered in plexiskin that can burst with amazing patterns of color, who could be his partner if they both resolve their issues in time.

Recommended.

[Conal · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mostly entertaining novel that seemed a little dated in terms of the technology and culture being used in the story. It did have plenty of action scenes throughout the novel and these were pretty good though the plot line about fighting enduced nausea was pretty irritating. I am not sure about continuing on with other books in this series but leaning towards not continuing at this time.

3.5 Stars for a decent action thriller.

[Charl · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've enjoyed other Barnes works, so I tried this. It wasn't bad, but the idea of how the drug affects people made me too uncomfortable to actually enjoy the story. Sex without full, voluntary consent is rape in my book. But this is presented as a good thing. I won't be reading any more of this series.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was looking at the cover of this book at a used book store, and checking out the chicano Gil Gerard lookalike all oiled up to wrestle on the cover, I would never have guessed in a million years it was good, but it was awesome.

[LaWana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book I read by this author. This guy should be writing movies.

Excellent futuristic super hero with humanistic tendencies and flaws. Action, mystery, thriller with a little love thrown in.

[Alyse · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting futuristic book about a professional athlet who falls in with the wrong people and finds himself fighting for a bigger cause. This is a must read that will keep you wrapped up in the story till the very end.

[Raymond · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aubrey Knight is on a quest for revenge and redemption in the war torn near-future of Los Angeles. Pure paperback plotting and characterizations, but quite good for what it is.

[bluetyson]

isbn,original

[Mish Mosh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this series oh soooo much action and excitement from cover to cover and so visual LOVED IT

[Bryan457 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gritty, cyberpunk, martial arts, science fiction.