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Graft
It’s Under the Skin meets The Handmaid’s Tale meets The Fifth Element… with extra limbs.
Manchester, 2025. Local mechanic Sol steals old vehicles to meet the demand for spares. But when Sol’s partner impulsively jacks a luxury model, Sol finds himself caught up in a nightmarish trans-dimensional human trafficking conspiracy.
Hidden in the stolen car is a voiceless, three-armed woman called Y. She’s had her memory removed and undertaken a harrowing journey into a world she only vaguely recognises. And someone waiting in the UK expects her delivery at all costs.
Now Sol and Y are on the run from both Y’s traffickers and the organisation’s faithful products. With the help of a dangerous triggerman and Sol’s ex, they must uncover the true, terrifying extent of the trafficking operation, or it’s all over.
Not that there was much hope to start with.
A novel about the horror of exploitation and the weight of love, Graft imagines a country in which too many people are only worth what’s on their price tag.
Manchester, 2025. Local mechanic Sol steals old vehicles to meet the demand for spares. But when Sol’s partner impulsively jacks a luxury model, Sol finds himself caught up in a nightmarish trans-dimensional human trafficking conspiracy.
Hidden in the stolen car is a voiceless, three-armed woman called Y. She’s had her memory removed and undertaken a harrowing journey into a world she only vaguely recognises. And someone waiting in the UK expects her delivery at all costs.
Now Sol and Y are on the run from both Y’s traffickers and the organisation’s faithful products. With the help of a dangerous triggerman and Sol’s ex, they must uncover the true, terrifying extent of the trafficking operation, or it’s all over.
Not that there was much hope to start with.
A novel about the horror of exploitation and the weight of love, Graft imagines a country in which too many people are only worth what’s on their price tag.
448 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published February 2, 2016
20 people are currently reading
1123 people want to read
About the author
Matt Hill
6 books66 followersMatt Hill grew up in Tameside, Greater Manchester.
He is the author of five novels including Philip K. Dick Award nominee Graft (Angry Robot, 2016) and The Breach (Titan Books, 2020).
His most recent novel Lamb (Dead Ink Books) was a Times best SF novel of 2023.
Instagram: @matthillwriter
He is the author of five novels including Philip K. Dick Award nominee Graft (Angry Robot, 2016) and The Breach (Titan Books, 2020).
His most recent novel Lamb (Dead Ink Books) was a Times best SF novel of 2023.
Instagram: @matthillwriter
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews
March 1, 2016
Review from Tenacious Reader: http://www.tenaciousreader.com/2016/0...
Graft by Matt Hill is a vivid, visceral dystopia. This futuristic world is dark and dangerous and Hill does not hold back on showing us just how dismal things can get.
Sol is a mechanic who steals cars. But on this latest run, the car he acquires has a little more than he bargained for. Inside the trunk is a woman. She can not speak and her mouth is stapled shut. Oh, and she has a third arm. We come to know her as Y. It turns out that Y is quite valuable to someone and is goods for a trafficking ring. This puts her and Sol in way more danger than if he had just stolen a car. But in this dark and damaged world, Sol is quick to try and protect Y, so rather than just hand her over or ditch her some where, he tries to help her.
There are some interesting things going on in this book. Body augmentation, trafficking, a dark underworld, hijacking cars, etc. etc. It’s interesting, but I think some aspects of it crossed what I refer to as my “weird threshold” (yeah, OK. I am pathetic, but oh well). I read this book, and could definitely see how some others would appreciate it more than I did, but I can’t help that my enjoyment was not where I had hoped it would be.
I think there’s probably the possibility to read some deeper themes in this one, which I normally enjoy. But honestly I don’t think I connected enough to get there.
Graft by Matt Hill is a vivid, visceral dystopia. This futuristic world is dark and dangerous and Hill does not hold back on showing us just how dismal things can get.
Sol is a mechanic who steals cars. But on this latest run, the car he acquires has a little more than he bargained for. Inside the trunk is a woman. She can not speak and her mouth is stapled shut. Oh, and she has a third arm. We come to know her as Y. It turns out that Y is quite valuable to someone and is goods for a trafficking ring. This puts her and Sol in way more danger than if he had just stolen a car. But in this dark and damaged world, Sol is quick to try and protect Y, so rather than just hand her over or ditch her some where, he tries to help her.
There are some interesting things going on in this book. Body augmentation, trafficking, a dark underworld, hijacking cars, etc. etc. It’s interesting, but I think some aspects of it crossed what I refer to as my “weird threshold” (yeah, OK. I am pathetic, but oh well). I read this book, and could definitely see how some others would appreciate it more than I did, but I can’t help that my enjoyment was not where I had hoped it would be.
I think there’s probably the possibility to read some deeper themes in this one, which I normally enjoy. But honestly I don’t think I connected enough to get there.
February 3, 2016
I'm grateful for an advance copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.
This novel is set in a near future, decaying Manchester which is both familiar and strange. While I wouldn't use the term "post apocalyptic" there is more than a hint of Mad Max here. (Or perhaps: this is what you might get if JG Ballard and Philip K Dick rewrote The Island of Doctor Moreau).
Clearly, something has gone very wrong: the economy is on its uppers, public services are non-existent and the only authority seems to be a vaguely mentioned "council". Nothing works, the city is run by gangsters ("Has he heard the rumour, they ask, that a gang of orphans living in the old city tunnels have turned bandit?") and those who can survive just have to graft to keep going - whether that means dodgy work for a scary self-styled Reverent who lives in a refugee camp in an old football stadium, working in the oldest profession or thieving.
The South, it is implied, is pretty much under water (for the Northerners described here that leads to lots of humorous asides: "You can do one back to your floods") but perhaps not subject to the same degree of gang rule, separatism and lawlessness as the North (though even there enough cohesion remains for Sellafield to remain guarded by its nuclear police and for "state" drones to wreak havoc from the sky on wrongdoers/ unfortunate bystanders. And the rivalry between Manchester and Liverpool is as strong as ever).
We never learn exactly what caused all this (global warming? disease?) although one flashback account seems to describe the moment when things went from bad to much worse. Rather the book is about the consequences for a small group of survivors - Roy, a hitman and enforcer; Sol, who makes a living pinching cars and breaking them up for part; Mel, Sol's ex, who runs a brothel - but most of all, a woman known only as Y.
Y exemplifies the fate of many subject to trafficking between this decaying Manchester and an even worse - and even stranger - place, where she is subject to barbaric experiments alongside many "brothers" and "sisters". While only one of many imprisoned in "The Mansion" she seems particularly important: again, we never learn why - just as we don't really find out what the point is of what is done there. At first sight it's just done for profit, but the sophistication of the setup seems to suggest there may be more going on?
Hill is particularly good when evoking the strange parallel world surrounding The Mansion or the grimy, dying North West - whether a shattered Manchester ("Ahead, the sky's shod in black-blue bruise"; "Everywhere she looked she found blackened spires: chimneys, pipes, cable, gantries") , a decaying Knutsford services or the wreck of a car ("a Ford, possibly") whose fate - driven beyond ruin yet still somehow carrying on - seems to stand for an entire country (world? but MSF is operating in Manchester so perhaps this fate has only overtaken the UK) teetering on the brink of Hell but never quite tipping over. At the same time he has great delicacy of touch, and alongside the action filled plot - all fights, killings, explosions and car chases - there is a real tenderness to the story of Sol, Mel and Y.
Sol has done bad things, unforgivable things. He knows how far he has fallen and can't face it. He still has a connection with Mel and seeks her help - or is he seeking her forgiveness? If so that's doubly ironic as he will be bringing down real danger on her and what she's built. But then Sol is not a good man, even if he's an interesting hero.
It is though Y who is really the centre of this book: robbed of her name, voice and memories, she needs to discover a place in this new world - apart from the fate - never spelled out clearly but certainly not nice - willed for her by her makers. She'll use anyone to achieve this but, in the end, she has to do it for herself, face the Manor Lord, whatever - whoever - he is.
A searing book, but an excellent, cracking read.
This novel is set in a near future, decaying Manchester which is both familiar and strange. While I wouldn't use the term "post apocalyptic" there is more than a hint of Mad Max here. (Or perhaps: this is what you might get if JG Ballard and Philip K Dick rewrote The Island of Doctor Moreau).
Clearly, something has gone very wrong: the economy is on its uppers, public services are non-existent and the only authority seems to be a vaguely mentioned "council". Nothing works, the city is run by gangsters ("Has he heard the rumour, they ask, that a gang of orphans living in the old city tunnels have turned bandit?") and those who can survive just have to graft to keep going - whether that means dodgy work for a scary self-styled Reverent who lives in a refugee camp in an old football stadium, working in the oldest profession or thieving.
The South, it is implied, is pretty much under water (for the Northerners described here that leads to lots of humorous asides: "You can do one back to your floods") but perhaps not subject to the same degree of gang rule, separatism and lawlessness as the North (though even there enough cohesion remains for Sellafield to remain guarded by its nuclear police and for "state" drones to wreak havoc from the sky on wrongdoers/ unfortunate bystanders. And the rivalry between Manchester and Liverpool is as strong as ever).
We never learn exactly what caused all this (global warming? disease?) although one flashback account seems to describe the moment when things went from bad to much worse. Rather the book is about the consequences for a small group of survivors - Roy, a hitman and enforcer; Sol, who makes a living pinching cars and breaking them up for part; Mel, Sol's ex, who runs a brothel - but most of all, a woman known only as Y.
Y exemplifies the fate of many subject to trafficking between this decaying Manchester and an even worse - and even stranger - place, where she is subject to barbaric experiments alongside many "brothers" and "sisters". While only one of many imprisoned in "The Mansion" she seems particularly important: again, we never learn why - just as we don't really find out what the point is of what is done there. At first sight it's just done for profit, but the sophistication of the setup seems to suggest there may be more going on?
Hill is particularly good when evoking the strange parallel world surrounding The Mansion or the grimy, dying North West - whether a shattered Manchester ("Ahead, the sky's shod in black-blue bruise"; "Everywhere she looked she found blackened spires: chimneys, pipes, cable, gantries") , a decaying Knutsford services or the wreck of a car ("a Ford, possibly") whose fate - driven beyond ruin yet still somehow carrying on - seems to stand for an entire country (world? but MSF is operating in Manchester so perhaps this fate has only overtaken the UK) teetering on the brink of Hell but never quite tipping over. At the same time he has great delicacy of touch, and alongside the action filled plot - all fights, killings, explosions and car chases - there is a real tenderness to the story of Sol, Mel and Y.
Sol has done bad things, unforgivable things. He knows how far he has fallen and can't face it. He still has a connection with Mel and seeks her help - or is he seeking her forgiveness? If so that's doubly ironic as he will be bringing down real danger on her and what she's built. But then Sol is not a good man, even if he's an interesting hero.
It is though Y who is really the centre of this book: robbed of her name, voice and memories, she needs to discover a place in this new world - apart from the fate - never spelled out clearly but certainly not nice - willed for her by her makers. She'll use anyone to achieve this but, in the end, she has to do it for herself, face the Manor Lord, whatever - whoever - he is.
A searing book, but an excellent, cracking read.
March 17, 2016
Maybe a 2.5?
This review and others posted over at my blog.
The year is 2025. Sol is a mechanic in Manchester who steals cars to repurpose them to his customer’s specifications or sell them for parts. But when his partner steals a luxury car and Sol finds a woman with three arms who was made to another customer’s specifications, he realizes he’s in way over his head. As Sol and the three armed woman run from her traffickers, Sol learns about her past and soon gives up all he has to help her.
I have really, really mixed feelings about this book. Through about the first half to two-thirds of the book, I was really into it. Hill created a gritty, futuristic, semi-apocalyptic Manchester where things we take for granted (working vehicles, internet, phones, food, jobs) are a hot commodity and life is tough for all but the richest. There’s also a group of people who modify humans and mix them with machines to create a new breed of people modded to the wishes of the client.
As a character, I could take or leave Sol. Actually, the only character I was really interested in throughout the book was Y, the three armed woman. She had her mind wiped when she was abducted and modded into a fighting machine with three arms and no voice. I wanted to know more about her past and I wanted to know more about the people that designed her.
This book posed the question – could our society become one where human trafficking evolves into modifying the captured people into android-hybrids and selling them fully customized like you would a computer or a phone? (A scary thought, if you ask me, because I’d like to say this would never happen but….) Sol explores this question somewhat with his own feelings and his quest to help Y discover her past and destroy her makers.
Sadly, as the two of them delved further into their adventure and the book headed towards its conclusion, it lost me. As the action progressed I began to lose the imagery and the plot. I felt lost and I know I was having a hard time picturing what Hill was trying to convey. I had no idea where Sol and Y were at the end, and in reading the back of the book again, I just caught the word ‘trans-dimensional.’ That sheds a little light on my confusion – somehow they must have travelled between dimensions, but I honestly have no clue how and that just leaves me with more questions about the world building.
As I neared the conclusion of the book I seriously lost interest and I suspect this only added to my confusion about what was actually going on. I couldn’t follow the exposition properly and I just wanted the book to be over. I even took a couple days off from it to clear my head with some middle-grade.
Overall, I can’t say I would really recommend this book, but perhaps the subject matter was over my head? That being said, I would give Hill another chance, because I did like his writing style, even if he lost me at the end. And I will give it an A+ in the cover design department – I can’t stop staring at this book, even now.
This review and others posted over at my blog.
The year is 2025. Sol is a mechanic in Manchester who steals cars to repurpose them to his customer’s specifications or sell them for parts. But when his partner steals a luxury car and Sol finds a woman with three arms who was made to another customer’s specifications, he realizes he’s in way over his head. As Sol and the three armed woman run from her traffickers, Sol learns about her past and soon gives up all he has to help her.
I have really, really mixed feelings about this book. Through about the first half to two-thirds of the book, I was really into it. Hill created a gritty, futuristic, semi-apocalyptic Manchester where things we take for granted (working vehicles, internet, phones, food, jobs) are a hot commodity and life is tough for all but the richest. There’s also a group of people who modify humans and mix them with machines to create a new breed of people modded to the wishes of the client.
As a character, I could take or leave Sol. Actually, the only character I was really interested in throughout the book was Y, the three armed woman. She had her mind wiped when she was abducted and modded into a fighting machine with three arms and no voice. I wanted to know more about her past and I wanted to know more about the people that designed her.
This book posed the question – could our society become one where human trafficking evolves into modifying the captured people into android-hybrids and selling them fully customized like you would a computer or a phone? (A scary thought, if you ask me, because I’d like to say this would never happen but….) Sol explores this question somewhat with his own feelings and his quest to help Y discover her past and destroy her makers.
Sadly, as the two of them delved further into their adventure and the book headed towards its conclusion, it lost me. As the action progressed I began to lose the imagery and the plot. I felt lost and I know I was having a hard time picturing what Hill was trying to convey. I had no idea where Sol and Y were at the end, and in reading the back of the book again, I just caught the word ‘trans-dimensional.’ That sheds a little light on my confusion – somehow they must have travelled between dimensions, but I honestly have no clue how and that just leaves me with more questions about the world building.
As I neared the conclusion of the book I seriously lost interest and I suspect this only added to my confusion about what was actually going on. I couldn’t follow the exposition properly and I just wanted the book to be over. I even took a couple days off from it to clear my head with some middle-grade.
Overall, I can’t say I would really recommend this book, but perhaps the subject matter was over my head? That being said, I would give Hill another chance, because I did like his writing style, even if he lost me at the end. And I will give it an A+ in the cover design department – I can’t stop staring at this book, even now.
February 6, 2016
English review: http://dreamsofelvex.blogspot.com/201...
Reseña en castellano: http://dreamsofelvex.blogspot.com/201...
Reseña en castellano: http://dreamsofelvex.blogspot.com/201...
April 28, 2016
'Graft' is a follow up (of sorts) to the excellent 'The Folded Man', and like its predecessor, it does not disappoint in raising the stakes on the creative world building found in that novel. This book is not afraid to address real world concerns while framing them in a near future setting. I'm reluctant to put this world into the dystopia category, because I feel that it isn't as cookie cut out as that. Instead, I would classify it as near future noir that cleverly handles complex societal issues that are prevalent in our own time.
Matt Hill doesn't lean on the usual tropes to get by, instead he employs a clever melange of the familiar, splashed liberally with the anarchistic couture of artists like Banksy or Shepard Fairey. The sentence structuring provides a strong foundation that becomes festooned with vibrant imagery, subtle humour and tragedy upon each page. I felt that it never became too self important and was never afraid to throw in some spectacular action sets to complement the dramatic centre pieces.
The characterisations in this novel are so heavily imbued and buoyed by truth, you will feel that the people in it are real. Sol is a good person who has done questionable things (but who hasn't?), questioning his own liability and morals before making hard decisions. Y is vulnerable yet possessing of untapped capabilities, someone you are equal parts moved and frightened by. Roy? Well, Roy being Roy, is just the honest voice tangled in amongst the grifters and charlatans of this time and place, providing strength where required.
This review is written after my second read through of 'Graft'(I also did this with 'The Folded Man'). This wasn't done because the book required it, but more that it is rare that I have had the pleasure to wrap myself up so completely in a creation and I didn't want the experience to end. Matt Hill's writing becomes sharper with each book, there is something economically beautiful about it and you really need to invest. I find that fantastic and refreshing in an age where (as readers) we are faced with such a volume of content that can sometimes be quite shallow. Both 'Graft', and 'The Folded Man' before it, are worthy additions for any reader who values challenging and rewarding work.
Matt Hill doesn't lean on the usual tropes to get by, instead he employs a clever melange of the familiar, splashed liberally with the anarchistic couture of artists like Banksy or Shepard Fairey. The sentence structuring provides a strong foundation that becomes festooned with vibrant imagery, subtle humour and tragedy upon each page. I felt that it never became too self important and was never afraid to throw in some spectacular action sets to complement the dramatic centre pieces.
The characterisations in this novel are so heavily imbued and buoyed by truth, you will feel that the people in it are real. Sol is a good person who has done questionable things (but who hasn't?), questioning his own liability and morals before making hard decisions. Y is vulnerable yet possessing of untapped capabilities, someone you are equal parts moved and frightened by. Roy? Well, Roy being Roy, is just the honest voice tangled in amongst the grifters and charlatans of this time and place, providing strength where required.
This review is written after my second read through of 'Graft'(I also did this with 'The Folded Man'). This wasn't done because the book required it, but more that it is rare that I have had the pleasure to wrap myself up so completely in a creation and I didn't want the experience to end. Matt Hill's writing becomes sharper with each book, there is something economically beautiful about it and you really need to invest. I find that fantastic and refreshing in an age where (as readers) we are faced with such a volume of content that can sometimes be quite shallow. Both 'Graft', and 'The Folded Man' before it, are worthy additions for any reader who values challenging and rewarding work.
February 17, 2016
I'm in love with Matt Hill's horrible future Manchester. Now with extra bio-engineered sex slaves and disorienting interdimensional trips! It's a bleak and grimy world in Graft, but there are warm, likeable characters at its heart and the writing is beautiful throughout. Humanity holds out against the decay. After this and The Folded Man, I'm excited to see what Matt comes up with next.
dnf
January 20, 2016Reasons why I DNF'd this book : https://thecurioussffreader.wordpress...
I am not going to rate this book since I DNF it but if I had managed to finish it I probably would have give it a 3.5 rating.
I am not going to rate this book since I DNF it but if I had managed to finish it I probably would have give it a 3.5 rating.
September 30, 2015
Oh man, this is a pretty great book coming out next year. It's like Guy Richie taking on posthumanism and human trafficking in a ruined wasteland of the future.
August 29, 2019
This review originally publishd in Looking For a Good Book. Rated 2.5 of 5
In a gritty, apocalyptic-like future, a mechanic by the name of Sol steals vehicles in order to come up with the necessary parts to fix his customer's vehicles. When he rips-off a luxury model he comes away with more than just a source of parts for his shop ... Sol finds a three-armed woman whose mind has been wiped clean from her previous existence and she's been modified to become a bodyguard for a wealthy Londoner who wants her back. But the woman, called 'Y', doesn't wish to go. Sol and Y become privy to a vast, dark world of human trafficking through different worlds and their lives are on the line as traffickers and hitmen are tracking them down.
It is no surprise that this book was a Philip K. Dick Award nominee - this has so many of the elements we often found in Dick's books (such as the confused hero and the unusual character who acts as the catalyst for the danger that the confused hero faces).
The book catches the reader with a specific mood, drawing us into a gritty, dirty world, more Alien with its griminess than sterile 2001. And everything everything feels unfortunately much too real. Hill has created a world in which the reader can practically smell the garbage.
I like this kind of dystopian fiction, but to make it really work, the characters really need to be alive to the reader and Sol, unfortunately, is not, for me. He plays his role of disaffected anti-hero a bit too well and I just don't care about what he's doing.
'Y,' on the other hand, is fascinating but we don't get quite enough of her to make up for what we get (but don't care about) for Sol. Perhaps it's the mystery of her - what we don't know because Hill only teases us about her - that makes her so intriguing. But I feel this is really Y's story but not presented as such.
I happened to finish reading this at a time when human sex trafficking was the lead story in the daily news for awhile, which made this story even more relevant, sad, and frightening.
Overall, this book fails to really catch on, despite the gritty, real world and the intrigue surrounding the modified, trafficked woman, Y.
Looking for a good book? Graft, by Matt Hill, has a great dystopian world and a fantastic premise, but gets lost behind a rather dull main character.
I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
In a gritty, apocalyptic-like future, a mechanic by the name of Sol steals vehicles in order to come up with the necessary parts to fix his customer's vehicles. When he rips-off a luxury model he comes away with more than just a source of parts for his shop ... Sol finds a three-armed woman whose mind has been wiped clean from her previous existence and she's been modified to become a bodyguard for a wealthy Londoner who wants her back. But the woman, called 'Y', doesn't wish to go. Sol and Y become privy to a vast, dark world of human trafficking through different worlds and their lives are on the line as traffickers and hitmen are tracking them down.
It is no surprise that this book was a Philip K. Dick Award nominee - this has so many of the elements we often found in Dick's books (such as the confused hero and the unusual character who acts as the catalyst for the danger that the confused hero faces).
The book catches the reader with a specific mood, drawing us into a gritty, dirty world, more Alien with its griminess than sterile 2001. And everything everything feels unfortunately much too real. Hill has created a world in which the reader can practically smell the garbage.
I like this kind of dystopian fiction, but to make it really work, the characters really need to be alive to the reader and Sol, unfortunately, is not, for me. He plays his role of disaffected anti-hero a bit too well and I just don't care about what he's doing.
'Y,' on the other hand, is fascinating but we don't get quite enough of her to make up for what we get (but don't care about) for Sol. Perhaps it's the mystery of her - what we don't know because Hill only teases us about her - that makes her so intriguing. But I feel this is really Y's story but not presented as such.
I happened to finish reading this at a time when human sex trafficking was the lead story in the daily news for awhile, which made this story even more relevant, sad, and frightening.
Overall, this book fails to really catch on, despite the gritty, real world and the intrigue surrounding the modified, trafficked woman, Y.
Looking for a good book? Graft, by Matt Hill, has a great dystopian world and a fantastic premise, but gets lost behind a rather dull main character.
I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
July 8, 2018
For me, this book had so much potential - post-apocalyptic setting, human modifications, flying police cars, murder, mystery - but maybe that was its downfall. There was a LOT going on in this book. I felt like maybe the author was trying to cram all his favorite things into one book just because he could. I mean, I like chocolate, but I'm not going to top a chocolate brownie with chocolate ice cream and pieces of fudge and cover it all in chocolate syrup and chocolate chips and chocolate-covered pecans to make a sundae. It's just too much. That's what this book was like.
There are a lot of characters in this book. Some of them have endings (ahem, death) and some of them, I guess, just go on living. But I would not say any of their story arcs are fully resolved. I'm not sure there's a sequel coming, so maybe we're meant to write our own conclusions.
I also didn't think the book itself had a true ending. Y tells her brothers and sisters to "be defective", but what does that mean? What is the ultimate goal? Who are they fighting against and how will that impact their world? It would be like telling my kids, "hey, go protest", and then watching as they decided to protest that I won't let them eat ice cream for breakfast, and what would the point of that be?
Either way, this was not my cup of tea and I'm bummed. Graft was on my to-be-read list ever since it came out in 2015 and I finally got around to it. I hate when I've been really looking forward to something and it turns out to be bit of a let-down. What a bummer.
There are a lot of characters in this book. Some of them have endings (ahem, death) and some of them, I guess, just go on living. But I would not say any of their story arcs are fully resolved. I'm not sure there's a sequel coming, so maybe we're meant to write our own conclusions.
I also didn't think the book itself had a true ending. Y tells her brothers and sisters to "be defective", but what does that mean? What is the ultimate goal? Who are they fighting against and how will that impact their world? It would be like telling my kids, "hey, go protest", and then watching as they decided to protest that I won't let them eat ice cream for breakfast, and what would the point of that be?
Either way, this was not my cup of tea and I'm bummed. Graft was on my to-be-read list ever since it came out in 2015 and I finally got around to it. I hate when I've been really looking forward to something and it turns out to be bit of a let-down. What a bummer.
December 1, 2017
Only halfway through at the moment, but so far for me the story, while interesting, jumps around too much, both on perspective and locations... there is no natural flow. It puts a big strain on my curiosity, which is the only thing keeping me reading on. So far the characters have been given a lot of backstory, but the frequent jumping between them and past / present makes it difficult to connect with them or get invested... The themes in the book are good, the characters are good, but the lack of flow in the story makes more of a chore to read....
April 13, 2018
Awesome, thrilling sci-fi novel from a new author. Very reminiscent of Philip K. Dick, but faster-paced and even more adrenaline-packed. The descriptive imagery is amazing. The characters pull you in, and I continuously found myself wondering what happens next when I had to put the book down and go to class. Definitely recommend for lovers of dark sci-fi.
November 14, 2022
"Couldn't be arsed for footy."
That's a real sentence in the book. Overall, the story was great. The book itself was a little hard to read, due to the heavy use of British colloquialism. I kinda like that (they go for "chippy" at one point), but it does make it harder to read. Most of the slang you can sorta pick up on; some of it you won't.
"Council! You're gripped!"
That's a real sentence in the book. Overall, the story was great. The book itself was a little hard to read, due to the heavy use of British colloquialism. I kinda like that (they go for "chippy" at one point), but it does make it harder to read. Most of the slang you can sorta pick up on; some of it you won't.
"Council! You're gripped!"
April 7, 2018
A post-apocalyptic Manchester was an interesting backdrop but unfortunately, that was pretty much it really. Didn't find myself caring for any of the characters (except for Roy) and I'm not sure what the point of it all was at the end.
April 30, 2020
Interesting stuff: a post-Crisis Britain, fragmented, layered - you've got to think about the first novels by Ian McLeod, or even Hutchinson's Europe series.
God little plot, some good characterisations a bit of a seen-many-times twist towards the end but overall holds up well.
Not bad at all.
God little plot, some good characterisations a bit of a seen-many-times twist towards the end but overall holds up well.
Not bad at all.
September 13, 2017
I thought it was fantastic. Great detail. Even the title is well thought out.
January 31, 2018
I enjoyed reading this book, until I got to the end. It left a lot of questions unanswered and I found the ending disappointing.
May 10, 2018
Still not sure what happened, but it kept my interest.
May 13, 2018
Read about 100 pages and couldn't understand what was going on, who or what characters were or imagine the setting. Inclined not to read any more Matt Hill.
Read
September 12, 2020Complicated book. World strange yet fss as familiar.goodbread hard to keep separate stories running into each other
March 7, 2016
Matt Hill's debut, The Folded Man (TFM), is one of my absolute favourite novels. So I was very much looking forward to Graft but trying not to expect to feel quite the same level of affection for it as its predecessor.
Graft is definitely not a sequel but the Manchester in the novel is instantly recognisable from the first. Readers of TFM will appreciate allusions to some of its events and characters (I especially enjoyed a nice cameo from Brian) and much of the plot centres round the Cat Flap (winner of my award for greatest ever name for a brothel in literature).
I really liked the characterisation of the brothel's one eyed owner, Mel, who has to grapple with her conscience over staying afloat and protecting her workers, all the while emotionally protecting herself from her former partner, Sol. On reflection, I think Mel is my favourite character in the book.
On the other hand, I didn't really warm to Sol. No spoilers here but he makes some pretty major decisions during the plot and I wasn't always convinced that I believed his reasons for making them. I think I share Mel's view of him as a bit of a disappointment.
I did really like the multi-purpose hitman/gangster (grafter) Roy. He had the Irvine Welsh style grit that was so apparent in characters from TFM but we also saw a real human side to him when he felt indebted to Y, although another point I didn't really believe was why he felt the same sense of loyalty to Sol. Roy's last appearance in the plot is also very cool!
Have to mention Y, the three armed lady at the centre of the plot. I think she was skilfully written and her lack of vocal cords allowed her to be presented without resorting to dialogue and this was really nicely carried off. I was always completely on her side and felt her anger, frustration and (briefly) her happiness throughout. The only minor criticism I have of Y's depiction in the novel was that it took me a good couple of hundred pages into the novel before I could visualise exactly where that third arm was attached :-)
I liked the way the novel's narrative was split between the chronologically earlier Y chapters and the other 'main' chapters. Graft probably isn't the first book to use this technique but it was handled really well with information being dripped onto the main thread at just the right pace.
In summary I think Matt Hill has written another terrific book. I didn't love everything about it so I can't give it five stars but the near future world is still worryingly recognisable and the plot romps along nicely. I did find myself a bit confused a number of times by some lack of explanation (one particular sequence involving a crane had me scratching my head, even after a couple of re-reads) but on balance I'd rather be made to think a bit and not always get it, than have everything offered on a plate.
Graft is a far more overtly Science Fiction novel than TFM but my main takeaway was its humanity. The plot comes with numerous warnings about the fate of humanity, and more than one slippery slope, but there is hope among the despair.
Nice one, Mr Hill.
Graft is definitely not a sequel but the Manchester in the novel is instantly recognisable from the first. Readers of TFM will appreciate allusions to some of its events and characters (I especially enjoyed a nice cameo from Brian) and much of the plot centres round the Cat Flap (winner of my award for greatest ever name for a brothel in literature).
I really liked the characterisation of the brothel's one eyed owner, Mel, who has to grapple with her conscience over staying afloat and protecting her workers, all the while emotionally protecting herself from her former partner, Sol. On reflection, I think Mel is my favourite character in the book.
On the other hand, I didn't really warm to Sol. No spoilers here but he makes some pretty major decisions during the plot and I wasn't always convinced that I believed his reasons for making them. I think I share Mel's view of him as a bit of a disappointment.
I did really like the multi-purpose hitman/gangster (grafter) Roy. He had the Irvine Welsh style grit that was so apparent in characters from TFM but we also saw a real human side to him when he felt indebted to Y, although another point I didn't really believe was why he felt the same sense of loyalty to Sol. Roy's last appearance in the plot is also very cool!
Have to mention Y, the three armed lady at the centre of the plot. I think she was skilfully written and her lack of vocal cords allowed her to be presented without resorting to dialogue and this was really nicely carried off. I was always completely on her side and felt her anger, frustration and (briefly) her happiness throughout. The only minor criticism I have of Y's depiction in the novel was that it took me a good couple of hundred pages into the novel before I could visualise exactly where that third arm was attached :-)
I liked the way the novel's narrative was split between the chronologically earlier Y chapters and the other 'main' chapters. Graft probably isn't the first book to use this technique but it was handled really well with information being dripped onto the main thread at just the right pace.
In summary I think Matt Hill has written another terrific book. I didn't love everything about it so I can't give it five stars but the near future world is still worryingly recognisable and the plot romps along nicely. I did find myself a bit confused a number of times by some lack of explanation (one particular sequence involving a crane had me scratching my head, even after a couple of re-reads) but on balance I'd rather be made to think a bit and not always get it, than have everything offered on a plate.
Graft is a far more overtly Science Fiction novel than TFM but my main takeaway was its humanity. The plot comes with numerous warnings about the fate of humanity, and more than one slippery slope, but there is hope among the despair.
Nice one, Mr Hill.
January 25, 2016
Graft has two definitions. Originally it referred to the transfer of a bodily part or material to another area. Now, it also refers to political corruption, the use of public resources for personal gain. To Matt Hill, Graft has elements of both meanings. On the one hand, it refers to Y's reconstruction, the addition of a third arm to make her a more valuable product. On the other hand it refers to the use of people as disposable resources by the rich and powerful.
The Manchester of Graft is a city in ruins. The people eke an existence using old technology, gathering and reusing scraps. Health and other social services are almost nonexistent, only available to the rich. Natural food is scarce. With so few resources, human value is diminished to almost nothing. Exploitation is rife.
Sol and his partner are mechanics, fulfilling contracts through scavenging and stealing parts. Stealing a luxury car is a risky act, but the potential rewards are great. In this case Sol gets more than he bargains for. In the trunk of the Lexus is a brutalized woman with three arms and no voice - a product for an undisclosed buyer. Y has no memory of her life before reconstruction, only disjointed memories of her training and breaking at the hands of her lord and master.
Sol's ex Mel does her best to get by and support the women who work in her brothel. Things start to change when a man comes, forcing a free trial upon her - a trial month with a constructed human designed to have minimal needs and a variety of options to maximize profit.
By coincidence Sol and his partner are hired to construct an armored vehicle designed to transport an undefined cargo safely across the country - a cargo none other than Y.
Despite the brutality of existence, Sol retains his compassion and humanity. He cares for Y, trying to repair her wounds and find her a place of safety. There is no safe place for Y, or for Sol after he becomes involved. Unlike others more capable and more powerful, he doesn't betray her. Instead he helps her find her purpose.
Do not expect a happy ending. There are none in either the world of Y's manufacture or the Manchester of Sol. Instead, readers are left with a flicker of hope in humanity, in the power of the individual to make a difference, even a small one by choice. It would have been easy for either of them to give up, but neither did, despite the likelihood of death. Even Mel, hard bitten and cold makes an effort to change the life of her women for the better. Life is measured by choices, even if the only choice is how to die. Graft's troubling, desperate world rings more true than that of many dystopian fantasies.
Graft is not a novel for everyone. The references to sexual degradation make it inappropriate for teens and younger readers. Human trafficking is central to the plot. Graft is well written, but some may be confused by the narration switching between the past and the present.
4/5
Graft is available for preorder and will be released February 2, 2016.
I received a copy of Graft from the publisher and netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.
--Crittermom
The Manchester of Graft is a city in ruins. The people eke an existence using old technology, gathering and reusing scraps. Health and other social services are almost nonexistent, only available to the rich. Natural food is scarce. With so few resources, human value is diminished to almost nothing. Exploitation is rife.
Sol and his partner are mechanics, fulfilling contracts through scavenging and stealing parts. Stealing a luxury car is a risky act, but the potential rewards are great. In this case Sol gets more than he bargains for. In the trunk of the Lexus is a brutalized woman with three arms and no voice - a product for an undisclosed buyer. Y has no memory of her life before reconstruction, only disjointed memories of her training and breaking at the hands of her lord and master.
Sol's ex Mel does her best to get by and support the women who work in her brothel. Things start to change when a man comes, forcing a free trial upon her - a trial month with a constructed human designed to have minimal needs and a variety of options to maximize profit.
By coincidence Sol and his partner are hired to construct an armored vehicle designed to transport an undefined cargo safely across the country - a cargo none other than Y.
Despite the brutality of existence, Sol retains his compassion and humanity. He cares for Y, trying to repair her wounds and find her a place of safety. There is no safe place for Y, or for Sol after he becomes involved. Unlike others more capable and more powerful, he doesn't betray her. Instead he helps her find her purpose.
Do not expect a happy ending. There are none in either the world of Y's manufacture or the Manchester of Sol. Instead, readers are left with a flicker of hope in humanity, in the power of the individual to make a difference, even a small one by choice. It would have been easy for either of them to give up, but neither did, despite the likelihood of death. Even Mel, hard bitten and cold makes an effort to change the life of her women for the better. Life is measured by choices, even if the only choice is how to die. Graft's troubling, desperate world rings more true than that of many dystopian fantasies.
Graft is not a novel for everyone. The references to sexual degradation make it inappropriate for teens and younger readers. Human trafficking is central to the plot. Graft is well written, but some may be confused by the narration switching between the past and the present.
4/5
Graft is available for preorder and will be released February 2, 2016.
I received a copy of Graft from the publisher and netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.
--Crittermom
March 3, 2016
I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
This is a wonderfully realised dystopian-future novel. I hesitate to call the world “post-apocalyptic” – some unspecified disaster does seem to have happened in the not-too-distant past – but there are still Ferraris and Lexus on the streets, although seemingly no more football as the major grounds have become “two parts homeless shelter, two parts refugee camp. A stadium whose pitch has been clusterbombed with rickety prefab structures”. The world has become much more violent, law and order has broken down, vice and criminal activity have become the norm, everyone struggles to survive, and “graft” is all: “now that work is everything, reading seems frivolous. Even daydreaming feels wasteful, conceited”.
The story focuses on three people: Sol, a petty criminal who hijacks cars and breaks them down for resale; Mel, his ex-wife, ex-drug addict and now brothel owner; and Y, a mysterious woman, who has been stripped of everything and “remade” with biological enhancements for an unknown purpose – “ she didn’t know who she was. Her name was absent. Her past and all the ideas she had for a future. She’d dissipated – gone”.
This is a book about identity, about what makes you human, about right and wrong and the multitudinous shades of grey. Each of the main characters manages to rise above the horror of their respective situations, to show their humanity, their empathy for the fate of their fellows: Y by holding the finger of a terrified young boy, or comforting her “sisters” at night; Mel by buying expensive antibiotics to treat one of her employees; and Sol by risking everything to help Y, who he had met by chance.
Coming across Y changes Sol’s life from “a series of bad decisions entwining, a blackened spaghetti of mistakes” to one of altruism, personal risk and a mission where he can no longer look the other way: “I don’t get it, though,” Sol says, his voice shaky now. “How can people know but do nothing?”
The writing in “Graft” is jagged – reflecting the disconnectedness and violence of the world: “He dials the nines. Failure. He moves around in Spirograph circles”, while at the same time being very evocative and poetic: “the homeless in their sleeping bags cluster round the pillars as petals”; “the deconstructed pieces of Y become as gems, pearls from the ocean bed. Her soul counted out in little treasures”.
Sol eventually becomes a true hero, Y forges a new identity “shaped it herself. Not under orders, but in spite of them. Not uncaring, but filled with a compassion; a will to resist that the makers could never scrape clean” and has the final words: “Be defective” - which have no meaning until the moment in which they are spoken.
This is a book to read right to the end, to savour in its depiction of a world you never want to experience, and of characters that are phenomenally heroic, but real. The book ends with many unanswered questions, but you don’t need to know everything to appreciate a beautifully crafted tale. I highly recommend it
This is a wonderfully realised dystopian-future novel. I hesitate to call the world “post-apocalyptic” – some unspecified disaster does seem to have happened in the not-too-distant past – but there are still Ferraris and Lexus on the streets, although seemingly no more football as the major grounds have become “two parts homeless shelter, two parts refugee camp. A stadium whose pitch has been clusterbombed with rickety prefab structures”. The world has become much more violent, law and order has broken down, vice and criminal activity have become the norm, everyone struggles to survive, and “graft” is all: “now that work is everything, reading seems frivolous. Even daydreaming feels wasteful, conceited”.
The story focuses on three people: Sol, a petty criminal who hijacks cars and breaks them down for resale; Mel, his ex-wife, ex-drug addict and now brothel owner; and Y, a mysterious woman, who has been stripped of everything and “remade” with biological enhancements for an unknown purpose – “ she didn’t know who she was. Her name was absent. Her past and all the ideas she had for a future. She’d dissipated – gone”.
This is a book about identity, about what makes you human, about right and wrong and the multitudinous shades of grey. Each of the main characters manages to rise above the horror of their respective situations, to show their humanity, their empathy for the fate of their fellows: Y by holding the finger of a terrified young boy, or comforting her “sisters” at night; Mel by buying expensive antibiotics to treat one of her employees; and Sol by risking everything to help Y, who he had met by chance.
Coming across Y changes Sol’s life from “a series of bad decisions entwining, a blackened spaghetti of mistakes” to one of altruism, personal risk and a mission where he can no longer look the other way: “I don’t get it, though,” Sol says, his voice shaky now. “How can people know but do nothing?”
The writing in “Graft” is jagged – reflecting the disconnectedness and violence of the world: “He dials the nines. Failure. He moves around in Spirograph circles”, while at the same time being very evocative and poetic: “the homeless in their sleeping bags cluster round the pillars as petals”; “the deconstructed pieces of Y become as gems, pearls from the ocean bed. Her soul counted out in little treasures”.
Sol eventually becomes a true hero, Y forges a new identity “shaped it herself. Not under orders, but in spite of them. Not uncaring, but filled with a compassion; a will to resist that the makers could never scrape clean” and has the final words: “Be defective” - which have no meaning until the moment in which they are spoken.
This is a book to read right to the end, to savour in its depiction of a world you never want to experience, and of characters that are phenomenally heroic, but real. The book ends with many unanswered questions, but you don’t need to know everything to appreciate a beautifully crafted tale. I highly recommend it
February 19, 2017
What happens when you steal the wrong car? in a post apocalyptic world a car thief finds a a young girl with 3 arms, and it turns out someone is looking for her. this book brings a dark world where humans are altered turned into slaves and sold. The story here really is good with interesting, if some what dark things happening to interesting characters.
The book did feel slightly disjointed, jumping back and forth in the story. I'm not sure if this is the fault of the book i was distracted and wasn't able to read it strait through a second read with out too many interruptions might earn it that 5th star or it may not. This was my only real complaint of the book.
The book did feel slightly disjointed, jumping back and forth in the story. I'm not sure if this is the fault of the book i was distracted and wasn't able to read it strait through a second read with out too many interruptions might earn it that 5th star or it may not. This was my only real complaint of the book.
May 27, 2017
This review first appeared on Reading the Thing
2015 in Manchester is not a place and time you want to be, if you read Matt Hill’s book GRAFT. The story about Sol and Y is sometimes hard to get into, and sometimes really accesible. Although that might also be a personal thing, which depended on my own state of mind; I read the book in a few readings, and wasn’t always the most awake. Which might have lead to me DREAMING about someone with three arms! But I digress.
What I liked, but what others might not enjoy as much, is that many things stay vague. How has the world collapsed into something post-apocalyptic in just 10 years? How does the changing of humans into something else work? Where do they come from? How is the rest of the UK faring? The rest of Europe? The world? I enjoy the slowly finding out what there is to find out, and still having questions at the end, because that is how life works; you don’t get anything in a clearcut package.
I loved how the story was structured. How you got to read about Sol and his work in one chapter, and seem to be in a completely different world in the next, following Y after she wakes up and has no memory of what has come before. Different characters are introduced, and their tales connect. That does work well, except in one case. On the whole, I feel like the role Mel plays seems a bit too fabricated, like she was added on later because some of her functions were needed. However, I did like her as a character/person and would like to know more about her. The same goes for many characters in the book: The Irish, Roy, the Reverend, The Manor Lord.
This book only scratches the surface of this possible future. Will there be more? I’d like it if there was.
2015 in Manchester is not a place and time you want to be, if you read Matt Hill’s book GRAFT. The story about Sol and Y is sometimes hard to get into, and sometimes really accesible. Although that might also be a personal thing, which depended on my own state of mind; I read the book in a few readings, and wasn’t always the most awake. Which might have lead to me DREAMING about someone with three arms! But I digress.
What I liked, but what others might not enjoy as much, is that many things stay vague. How has the world collapsed into something post-apocalyptic in just 10 years? How does the changing of humans into something else work? Where do they come from? How is the rest of the UK faring? The rest of Europe? The world? I enjoy the slowly finding out what there is to find out, and still having questions at the end, because that is how life works; you don’t get anything in a clearcut package.
I loved how the story was structured. How you got to read about Sol and his work in one chapter, and seem to be in a completely different world in the next, following Y after she wakes up and has no memory of what has come before. Different characters are introduced, and their tales connect. That does work well, except in one case. On the whole, I feel like the role Mel plays seems a bit too fabricated, like she was added on later because some of her functions were needed. However, I did like her as a character/person and would like to know more about her. The same goes for many characters in the book: The Irish, Roy, the Reverend, The Manor Lord.
This book only scratches the surface of this possible future. Will there be more? I’d like it if there was.
Read
July 29, 2016There is nothing wrong with a little hard work and graft, but that is not the type of thing you should have when reading a book. Yes, it can be challenging and you may have to stop once and a while to think about what is going on, but puzzlement should not be the word of the day. For me, this is how I ended up after reading Matt Hill’s ‘Graft’, a book full of good science fiction ideas, but executed in a way that did not make a huge amount of sense.
Over complicating matters is the curse of science fiction and certainly something that this book has fallen prey too. The setting itself starts off very interestingly, a future UK that has somehow fallen into a dystopian style world of poverty and slavery. Where things become complicated is the introduction of a voiceless character called Y who has escaped from some sort of prison. Her origins are inter-dimensionary it seems. For me the two overlapping worlds just did not work and Hill lost me as the story flitted back and forth. I need a little more clear explanation in my storytelling and was lost by half way.
The book is also not helped by having an ensemble cast that muddies the waters even further; not only do you need to know what dimension you are in, but who you are following. To top things off this complex and slightly cerebral novel ends with an action set piece that does fit too well into the rest of the story. I have read enough convoluted sci fi in my time now that I don’t enjoy it, if Hill had stripped down the complex nature of events in the story and nursed the narrative, this would have been a stronger book, rather than a chore.
Over complicating matters is the curse of science fiction and certainly something that this book has fallen prey too. The setting itself starts off very interestingly, a future UK that has somehow fallen into a dystopian style world of poverty and slavery. Where things become complicated is the introduction of a voiceless character called Y who has escaped from some sort of prison. Her origins are inter-dimensionary it seems. For me the two overlapping worlds just did not work and Hill lost me as the story flitted back and forth. I need a little more clear explanation in my storytelling and was lost by half way.
The book is also not helped by having an ensemble cast that muddies the waters even further; not only do you need to know what dimension you are in, but who you are following. To top things off this complex and slightly cerebral novel ends with an action set piece that does fit too well into the rest of the story. I have read enough convoluted sci fi in my time now that I don’t enjoy it, if Hill had stripped down the complex nature of events in the story and nursed the narrative, this would have been a stronger book, rather than a chore.
February 6, 2017
Prepare yourself for hard-boiled dystopia. Set some 7 years later than Matt Hill's debut The Folded Man, it's a traditional misfits against the system narrative - not that there's much system left in 2025. The cities are burnt-out wrecks after race riots and the government pour their limited resources into law enforcement drones to try and keep on top of critical resources. It's easy for people to disappear; the human traffickers strip them down for parts or strip their memories, mod them and sell them on as little better than slaves (there's a chilling scene in which a salesman tries to convince a madam it's a business opportunity for improving her margins). Middle-aged car mechanic Sol finds a three-armed woman in the boot of a stolen car: Y can't speak, but she can take a threat apart in seconds. The story follows their attempts to find her makers.
I enjoyed this, but I still don't think Hill has quite cracked character or plot. While the overall world building remains excellent, the plot was less original than The Folded Man and I found myself less engaged in the second half. Still, I think this one will rattle around my brain for quite a while and I do like his prose. A lot. Apparently his next novel will be 'something completely different' - I'll be intrigued to see what.
Full review
I enjoyed this, but I still don't think Hill has quite cracked character or plot. While the overall world building remains excellent, the plot was less original than The Folded Man and I found myself less engaged in the second half. Still, I think this one will rattle around my brain for quite a while and I do like his prose. A lot. Apparently his next novel will be 'something completely different' - I'll be intrigued to see what.
Full review
March 21, 2016
I liked this textural novel and I wanted to like it more. The ending satisfied conceptually, but not viscerally because I had a hard time sinking in. The writing is very creative, often to interesting effect, but overall to some distraction. There's a lot to recommend: the street grit, the unflinching brutality. the uncompromisingly corrupt vision, the vehicle knowledge. There's never a birds-eye view of the future history -- things stay on the ground, which I really appreciate. The world remains opressive and mysterious and keeps the sci-fi elements generating meaning from behind a curtain, not revealed or spoiled.
This does mean that there's no pressure release into sci fi concept, or world-level narrative, and because of the density of the prose, there aren't really any other kinds of peace either.
I'll come back and read part of it again some day to see if I can flow through the language easier on a second pass.
This does mean that there's no pressure release into sci fi concept, or world-level narrative, and because of the density of the prose, there aren't really any other kinds of peace either.
I'll come back and read part of it again some day to see if I can flow through the language easier on a second pass.
August 15, 2016
This is, at its core, an adventure story. It will lead you through an essentially apocalyptic setting, one where the world has gone out with a whimper instead of a bang, and where moral decency has been one of the first things to suffer. But while I found a lot of enjoyment in the protagonist's adventure, she and the other characters still want for depth, and the plot which drives that adventure wants for substance. The plot can be effectively summarized as this: The protagonist is abused, and then she seeks revenge. It's uncomplicated, but to an extent which I felt detracted from the novel.
I did also enjoy the science fiction elements of the story, and was left wanting for more explanation. This is a world I'd like to see more of.
I did also enjoy the science fiction elements of the story, and was left wanting for more explanation. This is a world I'd like to see more of.
February 4, 2017
A rather bleak and dismal look at human trafficking in a future where the victims are cybernetically modified on the other side of a trans-dimensional portal. I'm not entirely sure if it was my unfamiliarity with British slang or the author's style, but it took a long time for me to find the rhythm and really get into the book; that, coupled with the near-total lack of joy or any form of happiness, made this one a bit of a slog for me.
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