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Hotwire
A fast moving cyberpunk thriller set in a world of thinking cities, ruthless corporations and mad orbital AIs. A novel that links the groundbreaking works of William Gibson to the new generation of writers such as Charlie Stross and Hannu Rajaniemi.
Ajay had a future once, birthing intelligent cities for the Haag Agency. First Delhi, then Milan. But then he is seduced into betraying his employers and finds himself working for a city that wishes to become human.
Ajay must steal some rare technology from a long dead wetware expert, a new Frankenstein called Snow, a man now alive in an AI. A man who wants a new toy for his manufactured daughter...
Ajay had a future once, birthing intelligent cities for the Haag Agency. First Delhi, then Milan. But then he is seduced into betraying his employers and finds himself working for a city that wishes to become human.
Ajay must steal some rare technology from a long dead wetware expert, a new Frankenstein called Snow, a man now alive in an AI. A man who wants a new toy for his manufactured daughter...
300 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
4 people are currently reading
143 people want to read
About the author
Simon Ings
43 books147 followersI began by writing science fiction stories, novels and films, before disappearing down various rabbit-holes: perception (The Eye: A Natural History), 20th-century radical politics (The Weight of Numbers), the shipping system (Dead Water) and augmented reality (Wolves). I co-founded and edited Arc magazine, a digital publication about the future, before joining New Scientist magazine as its arts editor. Now I eke out a freelance living in possibly the coldest flat in London, writing arts reviews for the newspapers. My latest non-fiction is Stalin and the Scientists, a history of Soviet science. My latest novel is The Smoke.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 17, 2016
This was a wild, disturbing, bleak but compelling ride through something that might be considered Cyberpunk/Post-Cyberpunk or...something...and reading it was a dark, sensual experience. I first approached this book while knowing nothing of it and from what I'm able to gather it's a followup and possibly an indirect sequel to the novelHot Head which I have yet to read.
We are immediately immersed in a bleak, dark world in which cities are sentient or aspire to sentience: an act with triggers a number of typical sci-fi shenanigans, especially in regard to efforts to stop emerging city-sentience versus efforts to let it happen. We're thrown into the story following two distinctive characters, Ajay--the male protagonist--follows a typical Cyberpunk character template: he betrayed his employers and was forced into a kind of liminal life in which he sells his skills to the highest bidder, who...as it turns out in Hotwire to be the mayor of Rio; Rio wishes to become human and well...it's both more and less complicated than that. We're also introduced to Rosa, the female lead, a young woman who spent her formative life in an orbital environment dominated by an AI she recognizes as her mother; Rosa has her own cyber-trope qualities, including the fact that she's an artificial construct of sorts, but...well...without giving away any spoilers, connects with Ajay, the male lead.
What works against this novel is its unrelentingly grim imagery and quite a lot of sexually tinged blood/gore toward the beginning which didn't bother me, but it might violate more delicate sensibilities. The plot moves along at a brisk pace and the actual style of the writing is something that worked for me. Despite the grim imagery and the overall sense of depression, there were some strangely moving passages: the prose isn't lyrical or flowery or anything like that, but there's a particular sort of grace. Descriptions aren't terse A+B=C descriptions so common in a lot of contemporary literature, but the prose isn't burdened with artifice either.
What works for the novel is the diversity of characters and the fact that Ajay (though never really overtly described) is undeniably a non-white character. He carries the bulk of the novel's narrative thrust, and as a viewpoint character (even in third person limited) isn't shallow or cardboard in any way. He has the expected baggage with his past and with his family, but none of that detracts from the telling of the story. I also found that much of the writing reminds me a lot of other British writers, namely M. John Harrison and China Miéville, but especially Harrison: there's a kind of hallucinogenic quality to Simon Ings' writing and it works well, if a bit bleakly.
In short, I liked this novel immensely and the Gollancz edition is emblazoned with interesting "tribal" illustrations that both convey elements of the story and stand in as very interesting bits of visual excitement. The edition is handsomely produced and the novel itself is a quick, fun (though dark) read. It nods continuously to the cyberpunk genre, and that may be a put-off to many, especially since it doesn't cover much new territory in terms of that particular genre, but it has a particular sense of mood and (for me, at least) wonderful turns of phrase and exceptionally compelling, rather biologically squishy images. A good, solid, decent, kinda decadent read...for me at least.
We are immediately immersed in a bleak, dark world in which cities are sentient or aspire to sentience: an act with triggers a number of typical sci-fi shenanigans, especially in regard to efforts to stop emerging city-sentience versus efforts to let it happen. We're thrown into the story following two distinctive characters, Ajay--the male protagonist--follows a typical Cyberpunk character template: he betrayed his employers and was forced into a kind of liminal life in which he sells his skills to the highest bidder, who...as it turns out in Hotwire to be the mayor of Rio; Rio wishes to become human and well...it's both more and less complicated than that. We're also introduced to Rosa, the female lead, a young woman who spent her formative life in an orbital environment dominated by an AI she recognizes as her mother; Rosa has her own cyber-trope qualities, including the fact that she's an artificial construct of sorts, but...well...without giving away any spoilers, connects with Ajay, the male lead.
What works against this novel is its unrelentingly grim imagery and quite a lot of sexually tinged blood/gore toward the beginning which didn't bother me, but it might violate more delicate sensibilities. The plot moves along at a brisk pace and the actual style of the writing is something that worked for me. Despite the grim imagery and the overall sense of depression, there were some strangely moving passages: the prose isn't lyrical or flowery or anything like that, but there's a particular sort of grace. Descriptions aren't terse A+B=C descriptions so common in a lot of contemporary literature, but the prose isn't burdened with artifice either.
What works for the novel is the diversity of characters and the fact that Ajay (though never really overtly described) is undeniably a non-white character. He carries the bulk of the novel's narrative thrust, and as a viewpoint character (even in third person limited) isn't shallow or cardboard in any way. He has the expected baggage with his past and with his family, but none of that detracts from the telling of the story. I also found that much of the writing reminds me a lot of other British writers, namely M. John Harrison and China Miéville, but especially Harrison: there's a kind of hallucinogenic quality to Simon Ings' writing and it works well, if a bit bleakly.
In short, I liked this novel immensely and the Gollancz edition is emblazoned with interesting "tribal" illustrations that both convey elements of the story and stand in as very interesting bits of visual excitement. The edition is handsomely produced and the novel itself is a quick, fun (though dark) read. It nods continuously to the cyberpunk genre, and that may be a put-off to many, especially since it doesn't cover much new territory in terms of that particular genre, but it has a particular sense of mood and (for me, at least) wonderful turns of phrase and exceptionally compelling, rather biologically squishy images. A good, solid, decent, kinda decadent read...for me at least.
August 17, 2009
Another attempt at William Gibson style cyberpunk fiction centered on AI. Essentially, a love story. But somehow not as original and fresh as Hothead, which I liked much more.
Read
January 19, 2024When snow bones come to life
after humilated leaf
unhuman city wish the halwen
take take the rape life
then float secrets of high
distrubuted to feal
dark
twist as real
fire in the star
how can thee dig in my mind
old solder like me
the moon shin high
deap secret bured in dust
in hard soil
like the rest
they cant tuch the star
the dig far
after humilated leaf
unhuman city wish the halwen
take take the rape life
then float secrets of high
distrubuted to feal
dark
twist as real
fire in the star
how can thee dig in my mind
old solder like me
the moon shin high
deap secret bured in dust
in hard soil
like the rest
they cant tuch the star
the dig far
June 10, 2016
I truly hate to be critical of a book. I do. these people put time and effort in. and I appreciated the effort to introduce a new society.
but the execution was poor. we were given a new world with no context. there were so many made up words I was beginning to feel like I needed a dictionary.
not to mention the multiple explicit sex scenes ( the first of which being a rape )
where is this warning?can children read this book? in my opinion, the somonphilia rape and explicit scenes is enough to make this a possible banned book.
unfortunately I will be giving this one star. the ending was so obvious to me, with the hints being set up I was stuck feeling like all the characters were idiots. nothing actually got accomplished. this is not a book for children or for anyone who has any idea what consent or quality literature is.
but the execution was poor. we were given a new world with no context. there were so many made up words I was beginning to feel like I needed a dictionary.
not to mention the multiple explicit sex scenes ( the first of which being a rape )
where is this warning?can children read this book? in my opinion, the somonphilia rape and explicit scenes is enough to make this a possible banned book.
unfortunately I will be giving this one star. the ending was so obvious to me, with the hints being set up I was stuck feeling like all the characters were idiots. nothing actually got accomplished. this is not a book for children or for anyone who has any idea what consent or quality literature is.
May 12, 2012
Disturbing. The author touches on secret government activity, and builds the story around normal people caught up in crossfire, ie collateral damage - at home in the US. The story is probably pure fiction, written well enough to disturb. Right?
October 2, 2015
Trippy take on biomorphic science. Dystopian
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November 6, 2014It didn't grab me, I gave up on it
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews