Split City Waltz

by Ada Redmond

The London of tomorrow is a city under strain, its people divided by the very technology meant to bring them closer together. At surface level, the capital is a bright, neon lit metropolis. But in the tunnels of the former underground network, an older way of life persists – one where people aren't constantly monitored by artificial implants.

A life-saving surgery has left Allyn Morgan feeling more machine that human, and struggling with a new career as a private investigator, her reputation damaged by the events that got her fired from her job as a security chief. So when a former lover stops by asking for a favor, she agrees to take the job on the promise of an easy paycheck.

But when night rolls around and Allyn finds herself accused of industrial espionage, an under city hacker named Terminal may be the only person who can help her clear her name.


15,000 words

Genres: Science Fiction

43 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 20, 2016

About the author

Ada Redmond is a self-confessed hermit and robot enthusiast hailing from Suffolk in the United Kingdom. When she’s not tinkering with model spaceships or playing video games, she’s writing or reading instead. Her primary goal is to someday own a windmill, on the moon.

Reviews

[Lexxi Kitty · Rating 4 out of 5]

*I received this book from NetGalley and Less than Three Press in return for a fair review.*

This story here, my first one that I have read by this author, is a quite neat look at a futuristic London. It is a story involving three characters, the main one being the private investigator Allyn Morgan, a hacker who lives in the undercity (Terminal), and Allyn's former girlfriend (Danny (I'm fairly certain that I recall her name correctly)).

Danny stops by Allyn's place to ask for a favor - she wants some help investigating one of her coworkers for possible theft, so she hopes that Allyn can go to the undercity (the area of London where the old underground railway system existed before it was closed for the new above ground advanced solar powered tramway (well, I think it's solar powered, I just recall it being advanced and using clean energy)) and drop off something that will help someone she has hired down there to figure out if this theft is actually occurring.

Allyn, somewhat reluctantly, agrees. She's to drop off an item with a hacker named 'Terminal'.

This was a quite neat (I think I said that already) story all the way around, seeing an a future possible version of London, seeing a mystery unfold, interacting with Terminal, Allyn, and the like. Fun.

I hope that there are more stories set in this universe so that we could see more of Allyn and Terminal interacting.

[Lex Kent · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good short read, that I liked immediately. In takes place in a futuristic London, were society is split between wanting to live with or without tech. After almost dying in her last job, Allyn, is still getting use to being almost more machine than human. When an ex-girlfriend asks for the favor, of Allyn's P.I. services, she finds herself with way more than she bargained for.
I don't always like short stories, since they can seem rushed, and this book did that a little. But the story was still good and hooked me in. I liked the feel of a future London, and how society would handle having implants tracking their every move. I also enjoyed, the two main characters of Allyn and Terminal. I believe this is Redmond's first book. I really hope she will use this as sort of a prequel, and continues with full-length stories, staring these two mains. This world she created, is too good not to have a full length book.
I will absolutely be keeping my eye out for books by Redmond, in the future.

An ARC was given to me from NetGalley and LT3 Press, for a honest review.

[Kathrin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a Net Galley read.... All opinions are my own. Pub Date 21 Sep 2016.

This novella shows, that you don't have to write 300 pages to build a believable world and tell your story. The plot was very fast and I basically read it in one sitting. In the end, it did feel a little rushed, but it didn't spoil it for me either.

Allyn Morgan is a very likeable character and a nice change to the "down on their luck ex-cop" fare that one finds so much in books. This is labeled as first book of the Morgan Investigation series and I would definitely pick up the next volume, based on the end of this one. I really want to know, what is next for Allyn.

[M F]

This is a short novella rather than a full-length novel, which isn't usually my style -- it takes me so long to get invested in characters that I tend to prefer longer pieces because I don't feel much connection to short ones. Although it did state its length pretty clearly on the NetGalley page, I didn't see it until after I'd pressed 'request', so it was sort of an accident. Nevertheless, I gave this a go and found I enjoyed it, despite wanting more.

It paints an intriguing picture of a futuristic London where people without ID chips to track them live under the ground, in the tunnels of the old Tube network. Environmentally friendly trams whiz around the world above ground, meanwhile, and the city is making things again. But the protagonist isn't concerned about that, because what she thought was a routine job has her framed for a major robbery.

Although Redmond did a pretty good job of telling this story within the bounds of a book this length, I did feel it had potential to be a full novel. The premise alone could fill a book, not to mention the unspoken backstory that left Allyn, the protagonist, with a technologically augmented body. Well, I say unspoken -- explanations are given, but one gets the impression there's more that could be explored about those events.

Moreover, there was so much that intrigued me about the worldbuilding and the various secondary characters we encounter that I would have happily stopped to explore them for a bit longer, and so only to experience them for twenty minutes (I'm a fast reader, but still, it's short) was a disappointment.

Ultimately, my issues with this book weren't in what it did wrong, but just that it didn't have enough of what it did right -- reminding me once and for all that I need to read descriptions more carefully and not request novellas, because I'm never satisfied with them. If Redmond ever decides to release a full-length novel set in this world and with these characters, then I would be greatly interested in checking it out, because this one didn't quite manage to satisfy me.

[Teacup · Rating 3 out of 5]

*Got this for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

Loved the mix of sci-fi and noir elements! The worldbuilding was good, you get lots of little teasing hints about the relationship between all-powerful tech corporations, the government, and a population dependent and at ease with round the clock surveillance, as well as those who've decided to reject that. It's a good basis for sequels that go beyond the arc of this novelette, which was just the right length in order to establish the main character, Allyn Morgan.

Morgan is heavily technologically augmented as a result of a work accident, and I'm interested to see how the author will pursue the themes of cyborg identity and embodiment that are raised in this first installment. I'm also hoping that the idea of disability will be worked into the narrative, because Morgan's cyborg bits could definitely be considered assistive technology.