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Places in the Darkness
A propulsive science fiction tale of murder and memory, all set on a futuristic space station.
Hundreds of miles above Earth, the space station Ciudad de Cielo - The City in the Sky - is a beacon of hope for humanity's expansion into the stars. But not everyone aboard shares such noble ideals.
Bootlegging, booze, and prostitution form a lucrative underground economy for rival gangs, which the authorities are happy to turn a blind eye to until a disassembled corpse is found dancing in the micro-gravity.
In charge of the murder investigation is Nikki "Fix" Freeman, who is not thrilled to have Alice Blake, an uptight government goody-two-shoes, riding shotgun. As the bodies pile up, and the partners are forced to question their own memories, Nikki and Alice begin to realize that gang warfare may not be the only cause for the violence.
Hundreds of miles above Earth, the space station Ciudad de Cielo - The City in the Sky - is a beacon of hope for humanity's expansion into the stars. But not everyone aboard shares such noble ideals.
Bootlegging, booze, and prostitution form a lucrative underground economy for rival gangs, which the authorities are happy to turn a blind eye to until a disassembled corpse is found dancing in the micro-gravity.
In charge of the murder investigation is Nikki "Fix" Freeman, who is not thrilled to have Alice Blake, an uptight government goody-two-shoes, riding shotgun. As the bodies pile up, and the partners are forced to question their own memories, Nikki and Alice begin to realize that gang warfare may not be the only cause for the violence.
416 pages, ebook
First published September 19, 2017
223 people are currently reading
2777 people want to read
About the author
Christopher Brookmyre
41 books1,551 followersChristopher Brookmyre is a Scottish novelist whose novels mix politics, social comment and action with a strong narrative. He has been referred to as a Tartan Noir author. His debut novel was Quite Ugly One Morning, and subsequent works have included One Fine Day in the Middle of the Night, which he said "was just the sort of book he needed to write before he turned 30", and All Fun and Games until Somebody Loses an Eye (2005). Brookmyre also writes historical fiction with Marisa Haetzman, under the pseudonym "Ambrose Parry."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 351 reviews
November 13, 2017
The accomplished Chris Brookmyre gives us a taut suspense filled crime thriller through the medium of sci-fi. In a departure from his usual fare, he locates to a space station of the future, The City in the Sky (Ciudad de Cielo, CdC), where there has never been a murder, no children, and is the site of important developing technologies for those on earth. Dr Alice Blake, representing the Federal National Governments on Earth, arrives on CdC set to replace the current Principal of the Securities Oversight Executive. She is greeted warily amidst tension and fear about the clean up operations she is looking to implement and the repercussions this will have amidst the corruption amongst the elite and the lawmakers who profit hugely, and those who gain in law enforcement and the general population. Brookmyre gives us impressively detailed world building in a fast paced story of visceral gut wrenching murders, identity, consciousness, memory, and philosophical musings on what it is to be human. Dr Blake may not know it but she has returned home to engage with and be challenged by her notions of crime and punishment.
It is common practice for most people to have a mesh implanted into the back of their heads to upload the latest information, skills, knowledge and data on a continuous basis. The first acknowledged murder on CdC has ex-LAPD Sergeant Nikki Freeman, of the Seguridad (local police), leading the investigation, observed by Alice operating under the radar. Nikki is everything Alice despises, she is corrupt, takes bribes, runs her own protection racket, needs her drink, and avails herself of prostitutes. Nikki would say that she uses her street smarts to keep the peace amidst the reality of what people are like. Alice is incorruptible, straitlaced, intelligent and by the book. For Alice, Nikki is the key to gain insight and access into the seedy districts, with their underground sex and fight clubs, the black economy, the greed, exploitation, the inequality, the underground shanty town of ghosts and the criminal gangs, all of which would be kept from her otherwise. As Nikki tries to manipulate Alice, numerous other murders take place and it soon becomes clear that Nikki is being set up. Neither woman likes each other, but the saint and the sinner are going to have to find a way to work with each other to get to the truth, and The Sentinel project that gets anyone who comes across it killed.
Brookmyre gives us two strong woman who begin to see each other as a vital complement to each other in their abilities to investigate the macabre murders and the future development of law enforcement on CdC. His character development of Alice and Nikki is done with skill and expertise, giving us a ringside seat as their uncompromising perspectives begin to broaden to see the multiple shades of grey that exist in a complex world and a complicated humanity. The novel asks whether the ability to wipe out bad memories is something we should consider. Would wiping out all human transgressions, crime and vice leave us with a remotely recognisable human society? A thought provoking, gripping and tense sci-fi thriller from a wonderful storyteller which I recommend highly. Many thanks to Little, Brown for an ARC.
It is common practice for most people to have a mesh implanted into the back of their heads to upload the latest information, skills, knowledge and data on a continuous basis. The first acknowledged murder on CdC has ex-LAPD Sergeant Nikki Freeman, of the Seguridad (local police), leading the investigation, observed by Alice operating under the radar. Nikki is everything Alice despises, she is corrupt, takes bribes, runs her own protection racket, needs her drink, and avails herself of prostitutes. Nikki would say that she uses her street smarts to keep the peace amidst the reality of what people are like. Alice is incorruptible, straitlaced, intelligent and by the book. For Alice, Nikki is the key to gain insight and access into the seedy districts, with their underground sex and fight clubs, the black economy, the greed, exploitation, the inequality, the underground shanty town of ghosts and the criminal gangs, all of which would be kept from her otherwise. As Nikki tries to manipulate Alice, numerous other murders take place and it soon becomes clear that Nikki is being set up. Neither woman likes each other, but the saint and the sinner are going to have to find a way to work with each other to get to the truth, and The Sentinel project that gets anyone who comes across it killed.
Brookmyre gives us two strong woman who begin to see each other as a vital complement to each other in their abilities to investigate the macabre murders and the future development of law enforcement on CdC. His character development of Alice and Nikki is done with skill and expertise, giving us a ringside seat as their uncompromising perspectives begin to broaden to see the multiple shades of grey that exist in a complex world and a complicated humanity. The novel asks whether the ability to wipe out bad memories is something we should consider. Would wiping out all human transgressions, crime and vice leave us with a remotely recognisable human society? A thought provoking, gripping and tense sci-fi thriller from a wonderful storyteller which I recommend highly. Many thanks to Little, Brown for an ARC.
December 29, 2017
4 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum https://bibliosanctum.com/2017/12/28/...
I can never resist a good mystery in space! Chris Brookmyre blends the science fiction and thriller-suspense genres to give us Places in the Darkness, a gritty crime noir type story set hundreds of miles above Earth. Our story begins with a murder, though those in charge on board the Ciudad de Cielo are very keen to keep the details of it quiet. Officially, the space station’s reputation is that of a crime-free utopia where everyone has a place and purpose, operating like a well-oiled machine. The reality, however, is much less appealing. There’s a reason why the people who live on the CdC call it “Seedee”, and it quickly becomes apparent why it’s more than an apt nickname. Like any city where people are packed so close together, the station has its problems, from petty smuggling and prostitution to gang violence and illegal fighting rings.
Enter Alice Blake, a young and brilliant federal national government representative newly arrived from Earth to overhaul the CdC’s security division. She is unsurprisingly greeted with much suspicion and dislike from the elite who have benefited all these years from the status quo. Unable to hide such a gruesome murder for long though, they reluctantly hand the investigation over to Alice, who requests to be paired up with an unscrupulous former LAPD investigator named Nikki Freeman, the only person on the station with the experience to catch a ruthless killer.
Best known for his crime thrillers, Brookmyre brings his good sense of timing for action and suspense to the science fiction genre. We are drawn immediately to this dark, dangerous world full of secrets and conspiracies. The plot itself begins at a careful and measured pace, ensuring readers are properly immersed in the wickedly alluring atmosphere of Seedee before ratcheting up to full-throttle action and twisty surprises. Before I knew it, I was completely sucked into this compelling tale, knowing it would soon escalate into something big and explosive.
And yet, we still had plenty of time to get to know our characters. I loved how we had two amazing female protagonists at the helm, both of whom made this book a much more memorable read with their fascinating backstories and strong narrative voices. Alice is an idealist, and a bit of a stickler for the rules and regulations. When she first arrives on the CdC, readers are given the sense she will either bring some much needed law and order to the space station, or be eaten alive by its cutthroat politics. On the other side of the coin, Nikki is a jaded ex-cop who is part of the rot that’s gnawing away at the heart of Seedee, representing all the crime and corruption that Alice hopes to bring an end to.
As the mystery deepens, we get to see how each character is affected by new information, thanks to the intimate look we get into their heads. That said, Alice and Nikki’s eventual partnership will become the crux of the novel itself, and that’s a lot of potential for interesting dynamics. The two women have no reason to like each other, for one; they come from very different backgrounds, and even their first meeting is one tainted with deception and lies. Consequently, Alice and Nikki spend the majority of the book distrusting one another, though ultimately, both realize they are working towards the same goal and that the future of Seedee will depend on whether they can put their differences aside and trust each other with their private fears.
Brookmyre gets you to feel invested in his characters, and makes you care about what happens to them. His background in crime fiction also shows through in the elaborate plotting of Places in the Darkness, which is his first science fiction novel but often reads like a murder mystery which includes elements of a political thriller. In this complex setting full of machinations and intrigue, half the fun is the experience of watching its secrets unfold before us, and the other half is immersing yourself in the incredible world and its characters. I would recommend this one to mystery-suspense and sci-fi fans alike.
I can never resist a good mystery in space! Chris Brookmyre blends the science fiction and thriller-suspense genres to give us Places in the Darkness, a gritty crime noir type story set hundreds of miles above Earth. Our story begins with a murder, though those in charge on board the Ciudad de Cielo are very keen to keep the details of it quiet. Officially, the space station’s reputation is that of a crime-free utopia where everyone has a place and purpose, operating like a well-oiled machine. The reality, however, is much less appealing. There’s a reason why the people who live on the CdC call it “Seedee”, and it quickly becomes apparent why it’s more than an apt nickname. Like any city where people are packed so close together, the station has its problems, from petty smuggling and prostitution to gang violence and illegal fighting rings.
Enter Alice Blake, a young and brilliant federal national government representative newly arrived from Earth to overhaul the CdC’s security division. She is unsurprisingly greeted with much suspicion and dislike from the elite who have benefited all these years from the status quo. Unable to hide such a gruesome murder for long though, they reluctantly hand the investigation over to Alice, who requests to be paired up with an unscrupulous former LAPD investigator named Nikki Freeman, the only person on the station with the experience to catch a ruthless killer.
Best known for his crime thrillers, Brookmyre brings his good sense of timing for action and suspense to the science fiction genre. We are drawn immediately to this dark, dangerous world full of secrets and conspiracies. The plot itself begins at a careful and measured pace, ensuring readers are properly immersed in the wickedly alluring atmosphere of Seedee before ratcheting up to full-throttle action and twisty surprises. Before I knew it, I was completely sucked into this compelling tale, knowing it would soon escalate into something big and explosive.
And yet, we still had plenty of time to get to know our characters. I loved how we had two amazing female protagonists at the helm, both of whom made this book a much more memorable read with their fascinating backstories and strong narrative voices. Alice is an idealist, and a bit of a stickler for the rules and regulations. When she first arrives on the CdC, readers are given the sense she will either bring some much needed law and order to the space station, or be eaten alive by its cutthroat politics. On the other side of the coin, Nikki is a jaded ex-cop who is part of the rot that’s gnawing away at the heart of Seedee, representing all the crime and corruption that Alice hopes to bring an end to.
As the mystery deepens, we get to see how each character is affected by new information, thanks to the intimate look we get into their heads. That said, Alice and Nikki’s eventual partnership will become the crux of the novel itself, and that’s a lot of potential for interesting dynamics. The two women have no reason to like each other, for one; they come from very different backgrounds, and even their first meeting is one tainted with deception and lies. Consequently, Alice and Nikki spend the majority of the book distrusting one another, though ultimately, both realize they are working towards the same goal and that the future of Seedee will depend on whether they can put their differences aside and trust each other with their private fears.
Brookmyre gets you to feel invested in his characters, and makes you care about what happens to them. His background in crime fiction also shows through in the elaborate plotting of Places in the Darkness, which is his first science fiction novel but often reads like a murder mystery which includes elements of a political thriller. In this complex setting full of machinations and intrigue, half the fun is the experience of watching its secrets unfold before us, and the other half is immersing yourself in the incredible world and its characters. I would recommend this one to mystery-suspense and sci-fi fans alike.
November 10, 2017
3.5 Stars Video Review: https://youtu.be/I8tQqJIxYO4
Places in the Darkness is a fantastic example of a genre crossover story. This book seamlessly blends together elements of science fiction and thrillers, will likely appeal to fans of books like Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty and Artemis by Andy Weir.
The writing in this novel was very strong. Brookmyre's experience writing fiction was clearly demonstrated by his confidence on the page.
The aspects of hard science fiction in this novel were particularly well executed. Coming from a background in crime fiction, I did not expect Brookmyre to write such a technically-minded piece of science fiction. At times, the writing was fairly dense and technical. The aspects of life in space appeared to be well researched. Described in precise detail, the world-building of the space station was absolutely fascinating and one of my favourite aspects of the novel.
In contrast to the technical aspects, the story also explored themes of consciousness and memory. In this future, knowledge can be transferred directly into people's brains through implants, which raised intriguing questions of freewill and the fallibility of memory.
The story was told through two perspectives, alternating chapters between the two female main characters. Eventually, these narratives intertwined into a cohesive plot. One of the characters was particularly unlikable. Clearly, this was an intentional choice by the author, since even the character did not even like herself. While I often enjoy unlikable characters, I did not connect with these ones. Neither of the main characters felt well fleshed out and ultimately fell a bit flat.
For a thriller, the beginning of the story actually started out quite slow.
The first section read more like a traditional science fiction novel, establishing the technology and setting before introducing the mystery. However, once the main plot kicked in, the pacing of the story shifted gears into a fast-paced thriller. The story quickly became a high-stakes adventure with dangerous and potentially deadly situations. Some of the plot twists were a bit unbelievable in places. There were a scenes that temporary broke my suspension of disbelief.
This was quite a gritty thriller, with some wonderfully visceral details. This novel was clearly intended for a mature audience. There was a fair amount of adult content in this novel with plenty of explicit language, which may not be for sensitive readers.
I would recommend this book to fans of hard science fiction who also enjoy fast-paced thrillers.
I requested this one from Orbit Books.
Places in the Darkness is a fantastic example of a genre crossover story. This book seamlessly blends together elements of science fiction and thrillers, will likely appeal to fans of books like Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty and Artemis by Andy Weir.
The writing in this novel was very strong. Brookmyre's experience writing fiction was clearly demonstrated by his confidence on the page.
The aspects of hard science fiction in this novel were particularly well executed. Coming from a background in crime fiction, I did not expect Brookmyre to write such a technically-minded piece of science fiction. At times, the writing was fairly dense and technical. The aspects of life in space appeared to be well researched. Described in precise detail, the world-building of the space station was absolutely fascinating and one of my favourite aspects of the novel.
In contrast to the technical aspects, the story also explored themes of consciousness and memory. In this future, knowledge can be transferred directly into people's brains through implants, which raised intriguing questions of freewill and the fallibility of memory.
The story was told through two perspectives, alternating chapters between the two female main characters. Eventually, these narratives intertwined into a cohesive plot. One of the characters was particularly unlikable. Clearly, this was an intentional choice by the author, since even the character did not even like herself. While I often enjoy unlikable characters, I did not connect with these ones. Neither of the main characters felt well fleshed out and ultimately fell a bit flat.
For a thriller, the beginning of the story actually started out quite slow.
The first section read more like a traditional science fiction novel, establishing the technology and setting before introducing the mystery. However, once the main plot kicked in, the pacing of the story shifted gears into a fast-paced thriller. The story quickly became a high-stakes adventure with dangerous and potentially deadly situations. Some of the plot twists were a bit unbelievable in places. There were a scenes that temporary broke my suspension of disbelief.
This was quite a gritty thriller, with some wonderfully visceral details. This novel was clearly intended for a mature audience. There was a fair amount of adult content in this novel with plenty of explicit language, which may not be for sensitive readers.
I would recommend this book to fans of hard science fiction who also enjoy fast-paced thrillers.
I requested this one from Orbit Books.
November 17, 2017
This novel is an excellent combination of the crime and science fiction genres. Our main characters are Nikki Freeman, otherwise known as Nikki Fixx, and Dr Alice Blake. Alice is travelling to Cuidad de Cielo (‘the City in the Sky’), otherwise known as CdC, on behalf of the Federation of National Governments to replace the outgoing Principal of the Security Oversight Executive. She is there to weed out corruption and crime and that certainly exists on CdC.
The City in the Sky is a space station, created to test out spaceships and hopefully create a super-spaceship, which will go in search of new planets to call home. Nikki Fixx is an ex homicide detective, who works for the Seguridad (an internal police force). However, like so many of the inhabitants of CdC, she also moonlights – offering protection, sorting out problems and helping the movement of contraband, mostly alcohol, around the station. Brookmyre has created a realistic vision of the future. Workers who are mainly on short term contracts, doing dead end jobs. A society without children, where, if a woman finds herself pregnant, she is giving the offer of a termination or a swift return to Earth – which she pays for. A place where the rich live in the newest part of the space station, while the poorer inhabit tiny apartments in the older part of the city - where the wealthy come to slum and to party.
Meanwhile, in the future, there is a realisation that you cannot create androids like people; leading research to improve brain functions. Many of the inhabitants of CdC have an implant, which enables them to access information immediately and this can be upgraded. Professor Maria Goncalves is a famous scientist, whose life, and work, exists almost exclusively on CdC – where she is famous for her research. She is greatly revered on CdC and rarely seen. Indeed, many things on CdC seem to be hidden away and lurking in the shadows.
Crime is mainly hushed up on CdC, but when a dismembered body is found floating in a chamber, Nikki is chosen to investigate the crime – and Alice Blake is shadowing her. For someone who is puritanical about corruption, Alice is shocked at the turf wars, gangs, corruption, violence and crime she witnesses. Meanwhile, as Nikki realises who Alice is, she wonders whether she is being set up to fail. Even if she manages to solve the murder, there is a little issue of a missing shipment of contraband, which she was meant to be protecting – and things are going to get a lot more complicated…
This is a gritty, well realised crime novel, with an interesting cyberpunk feel to it. Yes, mankind is reaching out to other planets, but they are simply taking their problems with them. Inequality, crime and corruption are rife, while the inhabitants of CdC are living an unreal, single life – no families, no children, no real future. Many are running away from events on Earth, but find they bring their problems with them, or end up spending all they earn trying to forget about them. I hope that Christopher Brookmyre writes more crime novels, set in the future, as this worked really well. I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.
The City in the Sky is a space station, created to test out spaceships and hopefully create a super-spaceship, which will go in search of new planets to call home. Nikki Fixx is an ex homicide detective, who works for the Seguridad (an internal police force). However, like so many of the inhabitants of CdC, she also moonlights – offering protection, sorting out problems and helping the movement of contraband, mostly alcohol, around the station. Brookmyre has created a realistic vision of the future. Workers who are mainly on short term contracts, doing dead end jobs. A society without children, where, if a woman finds herself pregnant, she is giving the offer of a termination or a swift return to Earth – which she pays for. A place where the rich live in the newest part of the space station, while the poorer inhabit tiny apartments in the older part of the city - where the wealthy come to slum and to party.
Meanwhile, in the future, there is a realisation that you cannot create androids like people; leading research to improve brain functions. Many of the inhabitants of CdC have an implant, which enables them to access information immediately and this can be upgraded. Professor Maria Goncalves is a famous scientist, whose life, and work, exists almost exclusively on CdC – where she is famous for her research. She is greatly revered on CdC and rarely seen. Indeed, many things on CdC seem to be hidden away and lurking in the shadows.
Crime is mainly hushed up on CdC, but when a dismembered body is found floating in a chamber, Nikki is chosen to investigate the crime – and Alice Blake is shadowing her. For someone who is puritanical about corruption, Alice is shocked at the turf wars, gangs, corruption, violence and crime she witnesses. Meanwhile, as Nikki realises who Alice is, she wonders whether she is being set up to fail. Even if she manages to solve the murder, there is a little issue of a missing shipment of contraband, which she was meant to be protecting – and things are going to get a lot more complicated…
This is a gritty, well realised crime novel, with an interesting cyberpunk feel to it. Yes, mankind is reaching out to other planets, but they are simply taking their problems with them. Inequality, crime and corruption are rife, while the inhabitants of CdC are living an unreal, single life – no families, no children, no real future. Many are running away from events on Earth, but find they bring their problems with them, or end up spending all they earn trying to forget about them. I hope that Christopher Brookmyre writes more crime novels, set in the future, as this worked really well. I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.
October 7, 2017
Been meaning to check out Brookmyre for a while and then saw this on Netgalley, so sure, why not, great, in fact. At least, on paper...as it were. I really liked the concept behind this, the space station miles and miles above us, built with two levels (just like it looks on the cover) as a sort of in between experimental place until earthlings can properly expand into populating other planets. But then, of course, the problem with many great concepts is execution, which was the case here twofold, first within the plot as the Ciudad de Cielo (The City in the Sky) falls prey to its mother planet vices and becomes rife with gangs, violence, greed, lust and other deadly sins...secondly the book itself just isn't as engaging as I was expecting/hoping it would be. It has all the right ingredients...strong characters (nearly all female in this case, which is pretty awesome for a change and came as a nice surprise and an interesting juxtaposition to a definitive nourish style), a grand conspiracy, some murders, some mystery, lots of action...and yet something wasn't quite right, to continue with the food metaphor it was either the seasoning or the texture or in book vernacular it just wasn't as compelling as it ought to have been and, despite the dynamic present tense narrative, read kinda slow. Not even quite sure why, just that somewhere along the intricacies of the plot, the details overwhelmed the characters, some sort of failure to engage occurred. Mind you, it was still good, I'm glad to have read it and I wouldn't be averse to checking out more of Brookmyre's work. It's just that I think I appreciated this book way more on the intellectual level than I did on the emotional one. Great idea for a story, some really clever thought provoking aspects involving free will, identity, memory...in that respect it definitely does what I expect of scifi, challenges the norm, creates otherworldly settings to ponder and postulate real world scenarios even if taken to extremes, a lens to shine the light on all the places in the darkness to reflect upon. That sort of thing. Genre fans should enjoy this one. Thanks Netgalley.
March 28, 2018
4.5*
I havent read any books by Brookmyre and I understand that his crime is considered to be great. So its rare for him to write a scifi type novel. This novel combines great scifi elements with a typical noirish crime flavour. The scifi isnt too complicated but detailed enough to be more than your typical space opera fluffy scifi type novel. The crime is twist after twist type crime, with a real dark element to it. The City above the Stars or CdC or Seedee as they typically call it is a place where crime is supposedly non existent. Its a dpace station where earth is building a ship to promote and travel the stars to lengthen human life. The city or Seedee has a dirty underbelly with prostitution, drugs/booze and other criminal activities that go or get dismissed by a blind eye. We follow 2 main characters, Nikki an ex LAPD officer who doesnt follow the rules, takes bribes and is a typical hard ass type character. Alice is new to CdC, and is sent from earth to supervise or run the security sector. Shes the complete opposite, a stickler for the rules, straight edge, wont stick a toe out of line etc etc. These 2 get together to solve the most recent murder or supposed murder. The play off of the two personalities is alot of fun, as we get exposed to the space stations otherside, and unravel the twists. The story arc is great and keeps you guessing, although I was expecting a greater reveal at the end. This was an awesome 1st experience with Brookmyre, and I will be sure to look at his future novels as they are released.
I havent read any books by Brookmyre and I understand that his crime is considered to be great. So its rare for him to write a scifi type novel. This novel combines great scifi elements with a typical noirish crime flavour. The scifi isnt too complicated but detailed enough to be more than your typical space opera fluffy scifi type novel. The crime is twist after twist type crime, with a real dark element to it. The City above the Stars or CdC or Seedee as they typically call it is a place where crime is supposedly non existent. Its a dpace station where earth is building a ship to promote and travel the stars to lengthen human life. The city or Seedee has a dirty underbelly with prostitution, drugs/booze and other criminal activities that go or get dismissed by a blind eye. We follow 2 main characters, Nikki an ex LAPD officer who doesnt follow the rules, takes bribes and is a typical hard ass type character. Alice is new to CdC, and is sent from earth to supervise or run the security sector. Shes the complete opposite, a stickler for the rules, straight edge, wont stick a toe out of line etc etc. These 2 get together to solve the most recent murder or supposed murder. The play off of the two personalities is alot of fun, as we get exposed to the space stations otherside, and unravel the twists. The story arc is great and keeps you guessing, although I was expecting a greater reveal at the end. This was an awesome 1st experience with Brookmyre, and I will be sure to look at his future novels as they are released.
January 3, 2018
Absolutely brilliant - such a clever and involving science fiction crime thriller.
Read
August 26, 2018Brookmyre goes SF. I am a huge fan of his early stuff, but have not been able to get into the Jasmine Sharp books at all, so was a bit chary of this, but ended up enjoying it a lot. It's a well imagined SF setting with a good mystery, if perhaps a tad guessable. There's a huge range of POVs, all extremely well controlled (he really is a master at this) and with diversity of race, gender and sexuality. All the MCs and all the significant characters are women. I like this. I would say it's pretty plot/exposition heavy for the first two thirds of the book, and the plot doesn't really come to the boil till about 60%, but I enjoyed the ride at whatever speed. Definite return to form.
November 23, 2017
I don't know why I forced myself to finish this. I thought surely there would be something eventually that made it all worth it, but nope. The characters were one dimensional, unlikeable and had no real growth. The mystery was boring and the reveal was anti-climatic. I pretty much skimmed at least 50% of the book... there was so much inner monologuing and repetition of thoughts etc. Just no... I did not enjoy this.
August 15, 2018
I received this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
This was one of the best books I've read this year. Tons of plot Twists to keep the reader guessing, an amazing setting and fantastic world-building (off-world-building?), and a great cast of characters made this a great deal of reading pleasure.
Aspects of noir, hard sci-fi, mystery, and multiple levels of whodunit make this a high recommendation.
This was one of the best books I've read this year. Tons of plot Twists to keep the reader guessing, an amazing setting and fantastic world-building (off-world-building?), and a great cast of characters made this a great deal of reading pleasure.
Aspects of noir, hard sci-fi, mystery, and multiple levels of whodunit make this a high recommendation.
January 16, 2019
This author is better known for his crime novels, although I’ve only managed to read his science fiction ( Bedlam (my review)). This story is the author’s take on Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by PK Dick, but on a space station. It’s a science fiction/noir/hardboiled mashup. The pacing was lethargic at the begining of the book. World building was good at the expense of a lot of exposition. The crime story was well done. However, I thought it contained too many already well-worn science fiction tropes, with too obvious spins. It was a much better crime novel than a science fiction one.
My copy of this book was about 420-pages.
Prose was good. The author is technically a skilled writer. Dialog, descriptions and action sequences were about the same in quality. The switching between the POVs of the co-protagonists was well handled. I particularly liked the parts where the same event is narrated from both perspectives. It was very Rashōmon-esque.
There is sex, drugs and violence in the story. The sex was not graphic, but it was also not heteronormative. The story includes alcohol and drug usage. Alcohol usage was consistent with contemporary noir/hardboiled. Drug usage included both contemporary and futuristic highs. The violence was likewise consistent with contemporary noir/hardboiled. Violence is physical and edged weapons. All firearms are non-lethal there being a vacuum outside. Body count is moderate. I was not particularly affected by the author’s best efforts at gore and ichor, but that just may be me? I would consider this an adventurous YA read.
There are a minimum of significant characters in the story. Alice Blake and Nikki Freeman are co-protagonists. The story shares their POVs, although Freeman’s is the storie’s dominant POV. Both characters are women in a too cute for me gender bending riff on the Old Cop, Young Cop trope. You'll note that the greatest amount of major and minor characters in the story are women. (All the red-shirt thugs happen to be men.) I frankly thought a better main characters gender bend would have been for Blake to be a young man. Blake is the idealistic, high-functioning autistic, academic, by-the-rules agent of EarthGov, properly Earth’s Federation of National Governments. She’s a Fed. Freeman is the local cop. She's a damaged, stoic, veteran, bent cop character typical of noir/hardboiled. Freeman is the better wrought character in the story, although I thought her internal dialog was too masculine. There are a number of minor characters, all consistent with the noir genre and transported into outer space: diplomats, politicians, rich folks, activists, club owners, bent cops, hookers (both sexes), pimps (both sexes), bootleggers, hangers-on, scientists and engineers, high-tech manufacturing technicians, “space pilots”, hack0rs, and mercenaries. Antagonists are few and far between, and faces don’t appear until way too late in the story. The four corporations of the Quadriga, who run the space station and and a Corrupt Corporate Executive are what you’re left to make do with.
The plot is a mashup of the Clean Up the Town ; Old Cop, Young Cop; Corrupt Corporate Executive and several other tropes. Blake and Freeman run two separate converging plot lines. Blake has a reality check when she realizes that the space station is really a dystopian society, although everyone in power knows about it. Freeman is the canny survivor. She's expert at being the nail that doesn’t stick out, full of and savvy to the dirty tricks and games of the station’s right and wrong side of the tracks. When bodies start to fall, they’re on the same case to solve the murders which resolves into a conspiracy that threatens the entire station and its occupants. Their uneasy relationship is the core of this story. There are high-concepts brought-up along the way around: the nature of consciousness, human nature and free will. The human nature aspect of the story I liked. The other two eventually became an unlikely and unappreciated plot element. I found myself paging through the book rapidly after its reveal.
World building was really good, at the expense of some major exposition. Earth’s first space station, Ciudad de Cielo (CdC) or Seedee with about 100,000 inhabitants is a utopian habitat. (Nope!) The tech was all very credible. If you’ve read anything by Marianne J. Dyson you’ll appreciate Seedee. I thought the infrastructure needed to support a major interplanetary presence was particularly well done myself. However, Seedee is a Quadriga Company Town, and the author’s finest achievement was the compare and contrast between the high-tech utopia of the "City in the Sky" and the demimonde it created.
This wasn't a bad story, but it wasn’t a great one either. The author’s devotion to creating atmosphere was an initial burden on its pacing, although the space enthusiast in me appreciated it. The crime novel component was quiet good. However, I also thought the author fell back on and had too many, ill-disguised, well-worn science fiction tropes in motion. The author should have/could have written a 'tighter' book. In summary, this was not as good a science fiction story as it was a crime novel.
Readers looking for a space fix might try: A Passion for Space: Adventures of a Pioneering Female NASA Flight Controller. My fave space station fiction remains: Alien Emergencies: A Sector General Omnibus.
My copy of this book was about 420-pages.
Prose was good. The author is technically a skilled writer. Dialog, descriptions and action sequences were about the same in quality. The switching between the POVs of the co-protagonists was well handled. I particularly liked the parts where the same event is narrated from both perspectives. It was very Rashōmon-esque.
There is sex, drugs and violence in the story. The sex was not graphic, but it was also not heteronormative. The story includes alcohol and drug usage. Alcohol usage was consistent with contemporary noir/hardboiled. Drug usage included both contemporary and futuristic highs. The violence was likewise consistent with contemporary noir/hardboiled. Violence is physical and edged weapons. All firearms are non-lethal there being a vacuum outside. Body count is moderate. I was not particularly affected by the author’s best efforts at gore and ichor, but that just may be me? I would consider this an adventurous YA read.
There are a minimum of significant characters in the story. Alice Blake and Nikki Freeman are co-protagonists. The story shares their POVs, although Freeman’s is the storie’s dominant POV. Both characters are women in a too cute for me gender bending riff on the Old Cop, Young Cop trope. You'll note that the greatest amount of major and minor characters in the story are women. (All the red-shirt thugs happen to be men.) I frankly thought a better main characters gender bend would have been for Blake to be a young man. Blake is the idealistic, high-functioning autistic, academic, by-the-rules agent of EarthGov, properly Earth’s Federation of National Governments. She’s a Fed. Freeman is the local cop. She's a damaged, stoic, veteran, bent cop character typical of noir/hardboiled. Freeman is the better wrought character in the story, although I thought her internal dialog was too masculine. There are a number of minor characters, all consistent with the noir genre and transported into outer space: diplomats, politicians, rich folks, activists, club owners, bent cops, hookers (both sexes), pimps (both sexes), bootleggers, hangers-on, scientists and engineers, high-tech manufacturing technicians, “space pilots”, hack0rs, and mercenaries. Antagonists are few and far between, and faces don’t appear until way too late in the story. The four corporations of the Quadriga, who run the space station and and a Corrupt Corporate Executive are what you’re left to make do with.
The plot is a mashup of the Clean Up the Town ; Old Cop, Young Cop; Corrupt Corporate Executive and several other tropes. Blake and Freeman run two separate converging plot lines. Blake has a reality check when she realizes that the space station is really a dystopian society, although everyone in power knows about it. Freeman is the canny survivor. She's expert at being the nail that doesn’t stick out, full of and savvy to the dirty tricks and games of the station’s right and wrong side of the tracks. When bodies start to fall, they’re on the same case to solve the murders which resolves into a conspiracy that threatens the entire station and its occupants. Their uneasy relationship is the core of this story. There are high-concepts brought-up along the way around: the nature of consciousness, human nature and free will. The human nature aspect of the story I liked. The other two eventually became an unlikely and unappreciated plot element. I found myself paging through the book rapidly after its reveal.
World building was really good, at the expense of some major exposition. Earth’s first space station, Ciudad de Cielo (CdC) or Seedee with about 100,000 inhabitants is a utopian habitat. (Nope!) The tech was all very credible. If you’ve read anything by Marianne J. Dyson you’ll appreciate Seedee. I thought the infrastructure needed to support a major interplanetary presence was particularly well done myself. However, Seedee is a Quadriga Company Town, and the author’s finest achievement was the compare and contrast between the high-tech utopia of the "City in the Sky" and the demimonde it created.
This wasn't a bad story, but it wasn’t a great one either. The author’s devotion to creating atmosphere was an initial burden on its pacing, although the space enthusiast in me appreciated it. The crime novel component was quiet good. However, I also thought the author fell back on and had too many, ill-disguised, well-worn science fiction tropes in motion. The author should have/could have written a 'tighter' book. In summary, this was not as good a science fiction story as it was a crime novel.
Readers looking for a space fix might try: A Passion for Space: Adventures of a Pioneering Female NASA Flight Controller. My fave space station fiction remains: Alien Emergencies: A Sector General Omnibus.
March 16, 2024
Three and a half stars
In my reading experience, the noir and science fiction genres make a good combination. Chris Brookmyre is a prolific writer of the former and in this case he makes a foray into the latter, with good results in my opinion.
The novel is set in the underworld of a large space station and apart from the plot of a crime, it also deals with elements such as the weight of memory, hidden pasts and second chances. In the fantastic field about the possibility of artificially interfering and improving the human body, for example through cybernetically implanted expansions of memory. Regarding the latter I must say that the author conjectures very plausibly how it could be possible.
Please, Mr. Brookmyre write more science fiction.
In my reading experience, the noir and science fiction genres make a good combination. Chris Brookmyre is a prolific writer of the former and in this case he makes a foray into the latter, with good results in my opinion.
The novel is set in the underworld of a large space station and apart from the plot of a crime, it also deals with elements such as the weight of memory, hidden pasts and second chances. In the fantastic field about the possibility of artificially interfering and improving the human body, for example through cybernetically implanted expansions of memory. Regarding the latter I must say that the author conjectures very plausibly how it could be possible.
Please, Mr. Brookmyre write more science fiction.
November 3, 2017
It's not you. It's me.
At least, that's what I tell myself to excuse the fact I couldn't finish the book. It had everything going for it- a compelling murder mystery set aboard a space station, a version of the closed room tale but set on a grander, futuristic scale. Perhaps it's the fact that October had such excellent reads in it. Perhaps it's the fact that I read this after Andy Weir's Artemis, to which the book has superficial similarities.
It could also be the writing style- I'm not a fan of present tense, and I'm the first to admit it. I think it works fine for shorter stories, but I find that once it's applied to the novel, it doesn't tend to work out. I'm aware this is an entirely personal thing- some people very much like it. I'm just not one of them.
The two female protagonists should have meant I'd be all over this, but I couldn't find myself drawn into either Alice or Nikki's orbit, different as they were. Something about them felt faintly one dimensional, but again, I didn't finish the book; I quit just as the plot was truly beginning to pick up, already feeling as if it took too long to get there.
I can't offer the best review. I can only say that the novel didn't work for me, personally, but it may well work for you.
At least, that's what I tell myself to excuse the fact I couldn't finish the book. It had everything going for it- a compelling murder mystery set aboard a space station, a version of the closed room tale but set on a grander, futuristic scale. Perhaps it's the fact that October had such excellent reads in it. Perhaps it's the fact that I read this after Andy Weir's Artemis, to which the book has superficial similarities.
It could also be the writing style- I'm not a fan of present tense, and I'm the first to admit it. I think it works fine for shorter stories, but I find that once it's applied to the novel, it doesn't tend to work out. I'm aware this is an entirely personal thing- some people very much like it. I'm just not one of them.
The two female protagonists should have meant I'd be all over this, but I couldn't find myself drawn into either Alice or Nikki's orbit, different as they were. Something about them felt faintly one dimensional, but again, I didn't finish the book; I quit just as the plot was truly beginning to pick up, already feeling as if it took too long to get there.
I can't offer the best review. I can only say that the novel didn't work for me, personally, but it may well work for you.
June 13, 2019
An interesting premise with certain aspects of it letting it down. Set on a space station where humanity is building the worlds first generational ship, the story is basically a thriller/murder mystery. The space station is advertised as almost a utopia, there's never been a murder, where everybody is happy to work to help humanity reach out and find new worlds to colonise. However the reality is far different, it is a place of work yes, but also of hedonism and debauchery, and when the first murder occurs all the truth is threatening to come out and both the private police force and the corporations running the station are trying to run damage limitation before the countries on earth find out.
Into this premise we have our two main characters. Alice, privileged and the newly appointed representative of the Federation of National Governments, and Nikki, and ex cop working as both part of the private police force and a protection racket for prostitutes and illegal bars and clubs. Alice is uptight, a stickler for the rules and Nikki is a jaded alcoholic constantly sleeping around. Sound familiar?
As somebody with very little history reading thrillers or crime novels, this even seemed pretty cliched to me. I figured out what was going to happen within the first few chapters and it was a bit disappointing to realise I was correct. How we got there was interesting with some nods to consciousness and self and how we define ourselves by our memory. The story moved fast enough after a sluggish start, but that was fine as the author had a fair bit of work to set the scene. There were a few twists of the smaller variety but the main ones were pretty obviously choreographed early on. Our characters were typical but interesting and were rotated pretty much a chapter at a time and I had no problem moving from one to the other, sometimes seeing the same event from different perspectives which was nice. However the end was just so cliched, we even had a Bond villain monologue, that it actually took away from my enjoyment of the whole book. This was heading to a four star until that end. Overall not the worst book I've ever read, I quite enjoyed it in places but it was let down by being far too stereotypical.
Into this premise we have our two main characters. Alice, privileged and the newly appointed representative of the Federation of National Governments, and Nikki, and ex cop working as both part of the private police force and a protection racket for prostitutes and illegal bars and clubs. Alice is uptight, a stickler for the rules and Nikki is a jaded alcoholic constantly sleeping around. Sound familiar?
As somebody with very little history reading thrillers or crime novels, this even seemed pretty cliched to me. I figured out what was going to happen within the first few chapters and it was a bit disappointing to realise I was correct. How we got there was interesting with some nods to consciousness and self and how we define ourselves by our memory. The story moved fast enough after a sluggish start, but that was fine as the author had a fair bit of work to set the scene. There were a few twists of the smaller variety but the main ones were pretty obviously choreographed early on. Our characters were typical but interesting and were rotated pretty much a chapter at a time and I had no problem moving from one to the other, sometimes seeing the same event from different perspectives which was nice. However the end was just so cliched, we even had a Bond villain monologue, that it actually took away from my enjoyment of the whole book. This was heading to a four star until that end. Overall not the worst book I've ever read, I quite enjoyed it in places but it was let down by being far too stereotypical.
December 10, 2017
Places in the Darkness is a Science Fiction Noir novel that tells the story about the first ever murder on the Ciudad de Cielo, a space station where people volunteer themselves to go work in the hopes of saving money and eventually returning to earth.
The first 100 pages of the novel are slow and slightly clunky. Brookmyre takes his time setting up the world, political field, and characters. Each of these elements plays an important role in the novel, so a certain understanding is imperative to the story as a whole. Once all the pieces are in position, the story is thrilling, twisted, and complex.
Places in the Darkness focuses on two characters, Nikki and Alice.
Nikki was my favourite of the two. She’s corrupt, street smart, and hard. She doesn’t take flack from anyone.
Alice, on the other hand, is the exact opposite. She has a set of ideals that she follows without fail, she’s book smart, and unwavering.
These two very different personalities create an interesting dynamic between the two that is complicated and multifaceted. They play off each other in ways that makes for great reading. As the investigation progresses, their personal codes of conduct clash and they challenge each other’s ideologies.
The mystery itself is the shinning star of this novel. Every layer of the mystery kept me guessing until the final reveal that I did not see coming!
Overall, Places in the Darkness expertly blends two genres and creates a novel worth reading.
***I received an epub from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The first 100 pages of the novel are slow and slightly clunky. Brookmyre takes his time setting up the world, political field, and characters. Each of these elements plays an important role in the novel, so a certain understanding is imperative to the story as a whole. Once all the pieces are in position, the story is thrilling, twisted, and complex.
Places in the Darkness focuses on two characters, Nikki and Alice.
Nikki was my favourite of the two. She’s corrupt, street smart, and hard. She doesn’t take flack from anyone.
Alice, on the other hand, is the exact opposite. She has a set of ideals that she follows without fail, she’s book smart, and unwavering.
These two very different personalities create an interesting dynamic between the two that is complicated and multifaceted. They play off each other in ways that makes for great reading. As the investigation progresses, their personal codes of conduct clash and they challenge each other’s ideologies.
The mystery itself is the shinning star of this novel. Every layer of the mystery kept me guessing until the final reveal that I did not see coming!
Overall, Places in the Darkness expertly blends two genres and creates a novel worth reading.
***I received an epub from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
December 9, 2017
I feel terrible writing a bad review of a Brookmyre book but I was so sadly disappointed by this one. It has none of his usual style or masterful use of language. Great chunks of clunky exposition are shoe-horned among stilted dialogue, while plot points are telegraphed 300 pages in advance. A main character lacks coherent personality, her responses and behaviours seeming to shift between chapters. If it wasn't Brookmyre I'd have given up by page 70. It did pick up around the 300 page mark (which earned the second star) but the ending was weak. I wanted so much to like this, since I love both Christopher Brookmyre and sci-fi, I just couldn't. Too much time spent on the detail and politics of the space station and not enough on the characters. Sorry Mr Brookmyre. I feel bad for writing this... I need to go back and write good reviews for all of your previous books that I loved.
August 25, 2019
Places in the Darkness combines two of my favorite genres: Science fiction and crime.
And I've just noticed I clicked on ebook instead of... Ah never mind.
In the future humanity has built a large space station which ticks along nicely with a underclass of dock workers and a upper class of science workers. Then a murder is committed and two officers of the law, one corrupt and one virtuous are paired together to solve it, and in doing so uncover a deep, deep conspiracy.
This will appeal to fans of both crime & Sci Fi and the identity of the killer is one I didn't see coming.
And I've just noticed I clicked on ebook instead of... Ah never mind.
In the future humanity has built a large space station which ticks along nicely with a underclass of dock workers and a upper class of science workers. Then a murder is committed and two officers of the law, one corrupt and one virtuous are paired together to solve it, and in doing so uncover a deep, deep conspiracy.
This will appeal to fans of both crime & Sci Fi and the identity of the killer is one I didn't see coming.
March 20, 2018
Brookmyre, who is known for his Scottish crime novels (“tartan noir”), ventures into science fiction with his newest novel. This is a mystery which takes place on a space station in Earth’s orbit. It’s well written, aside from an excessive amount of exposition, and there’s nothing wrong with the plot or characters except that I didn’t much like them. I think other readers may enjoy this more than I did.
Brookmyre often focuses on cynical politics, and here the Powers That Be have deliberately keep wages low on the station, and restrict luxuries like alcohol, in order to cultivate a black market and a corrupt police force.
It’s notable that all of the main characters are women. The main protagonists are Nikki, a particularly corrupt police officer with a painful past, and Alice, a legal expert from Earth with an Aspergers-like outlook who has just arrived at the station, ostensibly to clean house. There’s a murder, and the investigation leads to the discovery of a more sinister plot which is forecasted rather obviously by some early exposition.
I liked the space station, although the technology is over-explained, rather than being taken for granted by the characters. I persevered through the infodump at the beginning, and then in the middle I got fairly interested in the plot, and then I was disappointed in the ending, particularly with the long confession by the villain.
Brookmyre often focuses on cynical politics, and here the Powers That Be have deliberately keep wages low on the station, and restrict luxuries like alcohol, in order to cultivate a black market and a corrupt police force.
It’s notable that all of the main characters are women. The main protagonists are Nikki, a particularly corrupt police officer with a painful past, and Alice, a legal expert from Earth with an Aspergers-like outlook who has just arrived at the station, ostensibly to clean house. There’s a murder, and the investigation leads to the discovery of a more sinister plot which is forecasted rather obviously by some early exposition.
I liked the space station, although the technology is over-explained, rather than being taken for granted by the characters. I persevered through the infodump at the beginning, and then in the middle I got fairly interested in the plot, and then I was disappointed in the ending, particularly with the long confession by the villain.
December 4, 2017
A bit of a slow starter that took me a while to get into but once it took off, it really took off. Tons of great questions on the nature of free will Vs post hoc rationalisation.
May 8, 2020
3.5 stars, review to follow
December 15, 2022
Places in the Darkness is a serious sci-fi thriller published in 2017 by one of my favourite authors - but he normally writes crime fiction, so I wasn’t sure how I would find this one. I needn’t have worried - great storytellers can make any genre work. We listened to the audiobook in the car and both enjoyed it, even though this kind of story is more to my husband’s taste than mine.
Ciudad de Cielo is a large private space station just outside Earth’s atmosphere, built as a research base for future planetary exploration and run by the Federal National Government (FNG). Alice Blake is a straight-laced over-privileged career politician who has just arrived to head up the base’s security service, with a plan to sort out the endemic corruption and exploitation that keeps the place running - but troubles the powers that be on Earth. Nikki Freeman is a former detective who now works for the Seguridad - the station’s corporate police force - with a sideline in fixing, protection and smuggling for one of the gangs that control CdC’s sleazy violent underbelly. The women butt heads from their first meeting, but then a gruesome murder is discovered - the station’s first - which threatens to expose dangerous secrets. Can Alice and Nikki get past their differences to stop a terrible conspiracy?
This was a complicated cleverly plotted noir-style murder mystery featuring two intriguing female characters. Neither starts out likeable, but the more we learn about their backgrounds and see them in action, and as they spark off but also learn from each other, their character development was a major feature of the book and very well done.
The world building was extensive - there’s a lot of detail so you have to pay attention, and a large cast of characters to keep track of. There are plenty of twists and a complicated conspiracy which made this a more challenging listen than I’m used to, especially with all the acronyms and slang which might be easier to follow when written down. Having said that, the narration was excellent, with the sole female reader covering a wide range of accents convincingly.
The hard sci-fi elements got a bit technical for me at times, so I was glad to have an aficionado to hand to explain the bits that got confusing. I liked the ending and this definitely felt like a complete story rather than the beginning of a series. Overall this was a good listen but recommended more to fans of proper hard sci-fi.
Ciudad de Cielo is a large private space station just outside Earth’s atmosphere, built as a research base for future planetary exploration and run by the Federal National Government (FNG). Alice Blake is a straight-laced over-privileged career politician who has just arrived to head up the base’s security service, with a plan to sort out the endemic corruption and exploitation that keeps the place running - but troubles the powers that be on Earth. Nikki Freeman is a former detective who now works for the Seguridad - the station’s corporate police force - with a sideline in fixing, protection and smuggling for one of the gangs that control CdC’s sleazy violent underbelly. The women butt heads from their first meeting, but then a gruesome murder is discovered - the station’s first - which threatens to expose dangerous secrets. Can Alice and Nikki get past their differences to stop a terrible conspiracy?
This was a complicated cleverly plotted noir-style murder mystery featuring two intriguing female characters. Neither starts out likeable, but the more we learn about their backgrounds and see them in action, and as they spark off but also learn from each other, their character development was a major feature of the book and very well done.
The world building was extensive - there’s a lot of detail so you have to pay attention, and a large cast of characters to keep track of. There are plenty of twists and a complicated conspiracy which made this a more challenging listen than I’m used to, especially with all the acronyms and slang which might be easier to follow when written down. Having said that, the narration was excellent, with the sole female reader covering a wide range of accents convincingly.
The hard sci-fi elements got a bit technical for me at times, so I was glad to have an aficionado to hand to explain the bits that got confusing. I liked the ending and this definitely felt like a complete story rather than the beginning of a series. Overall this was a good listen but recommended more to fans of proper hard sci-fi.
September 25, 2017
Having enjoyed the previous two crime novels by Chris Brookmyre, I found this new one with a SF plot and setting was equally as good. Set on a space station some time in the future, it sees straight-laced super-smart Alice Blake arrive to become the new police chief. She soon goes undercover to monitor Nikki Freeman (known as 'Nikki Fixx'), a middle-aged police officer who has been on the station for 15 years, and is known to take bribes, run a protection racket and take sides in the ongoing gang tension between two illegal booze-sellers. Petty corruption aside, Nikki is also enjoys a drink and picking up a prostitute or two in her spare time, in an attempt to try and forget her painful past back on Earth, but her heart is in the right place. Alice is appalled by Nikki's corruption, and Nikki is annoyed by Alice's 'goody two shoes' manner, naivete and privileged upbringing. But when a series of murders occurs, it's clear that this new case is personal for both them.
There are lots of great descriptions of the space station and how it works, as well as philosophical questions raised about the nature of memory and consciousness (most people on the station are fitted with a 'mesh' that can download information directly into their brains). The relationship between the central two characters is reminiscent of the traditional 'buddy' movie, as they must learn to work together. Like a cross between Karin Slaughter and Philip K. Dick, this is an original and page-turning read. It's also refreshing to read a novel in which most of the main characters are smart, strong, uncompromising... and female.
There are lots of great descriptions of the space station and how it works, as well as philosophical questions raised about the nature of memory and consciousness (most people on the station are fitted with a 'mesh' that can download information directly into their brains). The relationship between the central two characters is reminiscent of the traditional 'buddy' movie, as they must learn to work together. Like a cross between Karin Slaughter and Philip K. Dick, this is an original and page-turning read. It's also refreshing to read a novel in which most of the main characters are smart, strong, uncompromising... and female.
April 21, 2025
This is a shockingly well done scifi noir investigation that leans into stereotypes and does it just right!
The story structure alone is very well done alternating POV’s between two women who are polar opposites and begin to fill in the details and clues of a deeper than usual murder mystery — we as readers can start to appreciate each character’s strengths and weaknesses in ways that the characters cant.
The real star of this story is the setting, a believable future where The City In the Sky (Cuidad de la Ceilo) aka CdC is very large space station now present in Earth’s orbit, representing hope and future to all those down below. But as we are reminded in this story, nothing is as squeaky clean as it appears.
We first follow Dr Alice Blake, a by-the-book government executive who has come to clean up corruption on CdC who is thrust into the spotlight when a corpse is found — the first murder in space initating a public investigation. She decided she needs a local guide and gets Nikki “Fix” freeman, whose moral flexibility is well known and allows her to survive. Nikki is our other POV and a surprisingly good foil for Alice and good at her job when she wants to be, until she is framed for the next murder….
Would recommend this book as a highly competant well-executed future thriller with a very believablr future exploring topics about exploitation, power, and even questions nature of free will by allowing knowledge transfer thru implantations…. And so much more!!!
The story structure alone is very well done alternating POV’s between two women who are polar opposites and begin to fill in the details and clues of a deeper than usual murder mystery — we as readers can start to appreciate each character’s strengths and weaknesses in ways that the characters cant.
The real star of this story is the setting, a believable future where The City In the Sky (Cuidad de la Ceilo) aka CdC is very large space station now present in Earth’s orbit, representing hope and future to all those down below. But as we are reminded in this story, nothing is as squeaky clean as it appears.
We first follow Dr Alice Blake, a by-the-book government executive who has come to clean up corruption on CdC who is thrust into the spotlight when a corpse is found — the first murder in space initating a public investigation. She decided she needs a local guide and gets Nikki “Fix” freeman, whose moral flexibility is well known and allows her to survive. Nikki is our other POV and a surprisingly good foil for Alice and good at her job when she wants to be, until she is framed for the next murder….
Would recommend this book as a highly competant well-executed future thriller with a very believablr future exploring topics about exploitation, power, and even questions nature of free will by allowing knowledge transfer thru implantations…. And so much more!!!
March 15, 2020
Not bad enough to make me abandon it is the best I can do for praise. Disliked the characters, the prose, and the somewhat confused third person narration. I didn't appreciate the misogyny, which isn't made acceptable by having a female character voice it.
Hard to believe that this isn't a debut novel.
Hard to believe that this isn't a debut novel.
March 7, 2021
3.5 rounded up . The information drops were heavy at times . Overall an entertaining read .
January 3, 2021
Full review including spoilers at SFBRP.com episode #441
December 18, 2017
Once again, I find myself in total awe of the multifarious talents of Mr. Christopher Brookmyre. Like fellow Scots, James Oswald and the late Iain Banks, he occasionally likes to delve into the realm of science fiction. This novel is the perfect example of a futuristic crime story.
It is set on a space station called Ciudad De Cielo; a place originally designed as a starting point for colonizing distant planets. However, this remote outpost has gone the way of many terrestial frontier towns and become a hotbed of crime and corruption.
Brookmyre has previously shown himself to be adept at creating strong and unique female characters ( Angelique De Xavier, Jasmine Sharp, Catherine McLeod ) and those talents are to the fore here. Straight-laced senior investigator Alice Blake and cynical, jaded police sergeant Nicola Freeman are truly chalk-and-cheese characters. Unsurprisingly, they hate each other at first sight. However, they eventually realise they’re both being manipulated by a powerful common enemy and reluctantly join forces.
I love the way the novel obviously and deliberately references sci-fi greats of the past – particularly Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot and Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?. Also, as in previous Brookmyre novels, it deals with important psychological, social and political questions – most notably here the issues of consciousness and free will. In fact, all the ingredients necessary for an intelligent and highly entertaining thriller.
It is set on a space station called Ciudad De Cielo; a place originally designed as a starting point for colonizing distant planets. However, this remote outpost has gone the way of many terrestial frontier towns and become a hotbed of crime and corruption.
Brookmyre has previously shown himself to be adept at creating strong and unique female characters ( Angelique De Xavier, Jasmine Sharp, Catherine McLeod ) and those talents are to the fore here. Straight-laced senior investigator Alice Blake and cynical, jaded police sergeant Nicola Freeman are truly chalk-and-cheese characters. Unsurprisingly, they hate each other at first sight. However, they eventually realise they’re both being manipulated by a powerful common enemy and reluctantly join forces.
I love the way the novel obviously and deliberately references sci-fi greats of the past – particularly Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot and Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?. Also, as in previous Brookmyre novels, it deals with important psychological, social and political questions – most notably here the issues of consciousness and free will. In fact, all the ingredients necessary for an intelligent and highly entertaining thriller.
October 21, 2018
For the first third of Places in the Darkness, I was swamped by frustrating jargon and inching along with the plot.
I'll give you an example:
'The mag-line is a low-energy electro-magnetic repulsion hover system for moving supplies around a vast network of sub-surface conduits. It's fully automated and computer controlled, crates having their details scanned and analysed at every junction and exchange so that traffic can be managed and in some cases prioritised. The network is so extensive that...'
Too much orientation, not enough action. The weight of all the acronyms and meshes and shuttle bays and sci fi sci fi sci fi made it hard to get into.
Luckily, I persevered and there was an intriguing sci fi murder action plot to uncover, with two distinct and compelling protagonists leading the murder hunt.
There were fewer fart jokes than I'm accustomed to with Brookmyre, but what the story lacked in flatulence it made up for in gadgetry, corruption and mystery.
Once it got going, I had a good time. As is often the case with sci fi, the initial scene setting took a lot of explanation and felt heavy. Things unfolded nicely, leaving me satisfied enough to give it a decent rating.
I'll give you an example:
'The mag-line is a low-energy electro-magnetic repulsion hover system for moving supplies around a vast network of sub-surface conduits. It's fully automated and computer controlled, crates having their details scanned and analysed at every junction and exchange so that traffic can be managed and in some cases prioritised. The network is so extensive that...'
Too much orientation, not enough action. The weight of all the acronyms and meshes and shuttle bays and sci fi sci fi sci fi made it hard to get into.
Luckily, I persevered and there was an intriguing sci fi murder action plot to uncover, with two distinct and compelling protagonists leading the murder hunt.
There were fewer fart jokes than I'm accustomed to with Brookmyre, but what the story lacked in flatulence it made up for in gadgetry, corruption and mystery.
Once it got going, I had a good time. As is often the case with sci fi, the initial scene setting took a lot of explanation and felt heavy. Things unfolded nicely, leaving me satisfied enough to give it a decent rating.
Read
December 17, 2021DNF 59%
I should have known better, some "known writer" in other genre giving his first try writing SF to appeal a wider audience, the end result is rarely positive for a true SF fan, and that was the case here.
I kept pushing it until 59%, but I was just growing impatient with the usual gang warfare plot and the chasing of a innocent person framed for homicide cliches. The space station setting could have been easily replaced with anything else and the story could still work out, that's a sign of poor worldbuilding.
Couldn't care about what was going to happen next and how it was going to end. Nice book cover though.
I should have known better, some "known writer" in other genre giving his first try writing SF to appeal a wider audience, the end result is rarely positive for a true SF fan, and that was the case here.
I kept pushing it until 59%, but I was just growing impatient with the usual gang warfare plot and the chasing of a innocent person framed for homicide cliches. The space station setting could have been easily replaced with anything else and the story could still work out, that's a sign of poor worldbuilding.
Couldn't care about what was going to happen next and how it was going to end. Nice book cover though.
December 2, 2017
Set some time in the future on a space-station called Ciudad de Cielo or more colloquially CdC, which spearheads humanity's scientific efforts to colonise distant planets. Unfortunately the lofty scientific ideals are underpinned by a seedy underbelly where menial workers drown their sorrows, and supplement their incomes through prostitution, gambling and illegal fight clubs. The centre of this den of iniquity is Nikki 'The Fixx" Freeman, a former cop on Earth who runs a small-time protection racket alongside her offiicial role on the station.
Alice Blake is the baby-faced new broom from earth who has been tasked to take over from the current head of CdC, a straight arrow she is horrified by the constant rule-breaking and casual lawlessness that she sees everywhere, even allowing children to float free in the shuttle ship and illegally growing mint for cocktails.
When a body is found gruesomely murdered by two technicians it is the first official murder on CdC, Alice is tasked with investigating the murder and she asks Nikki to be assigned to assist, hoping to get he fast track to the level of corruption by working (undercover) with someone who has been described as the most corrupt police officer on CdC! Nikki is having enough problems with a potential war abut to erupt between two groups of bootleggers, she doesn't need to babysit some richie rich kid from earth who has pulled some strings to see CdC.
Written in the present tense (which frankly, made me a little tense), this story was bot confusing and gripping as it switched between different points of view. It reminded me of that Arnold Schwarzenegger classic Total Recall with the wealthy elite pontificating on corruption whilst not paying their employees enough to live on.
I'll confess I did put this book down a few times at the start, I was just totally confused by the characters and who was who, and what was what. But I'm glad I persevered, this had practically everything I could ever want in a sci-fi book set on a space-station. There's seedy bars, bootlegging, corrupt cops, mysterious assassins, high tech equipment that allows users to record anything and everything they see, lots of bodies piling up, memory loss ... it's got it all.
I've only every read one of Chris Brookmyre's books before, this is a substantial departure and, aside from the use of the present tense, I really enjoyed it. The plot kept me guessing right to the end.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.
Alice Blake is the baby-faced new broom from earth who has been tasked to take over from the current head of CdC, a straight arrow she is horrified by the constant rule-breaking and casual lawlessness that she sees everywhere, even allowing children to float free in the shuttle ship and illegally growing mint for cocktails.
When a body is found gruesomely murdered by two technicians it is the first official murder on CdC, Alice is tasked with investigating the murder and she asks Nikki to be assigned to assist, hoping to get he fast track to the level of corruption by working (undercover) with someone who has been described as the most corrupt police officer on CdC! Nikki is having enough problems with a potential war abut to erupt between two groups of bootleggers, she doesn't need to babysit some richie rich kid from earth who has pulled some strings to see CdC.
Written in the present tense (which frankly, made me a little tense), this story was bot confusing and gripping as it switched between different points of view. It reminded me of that Arnold Schwarzenegger classic Total Recall with the wealthy elite pontificating on corruption whilst not paying their employees enough to live on.
I'll confess I did put this book down a few times at the start, I was just totally confused by the characters and who was who, and what was what. But I'm glad I persevered, this had practically everything I could ever want in a sci-fi book set on a space-station. There's seedy bars, bootlegging, corrupt cops, mysterious assassins, high tech equipment that allows users to record anything and everything they see, lots of bodies piling up, memory loss ... it's got it all.
I've only every read one of Chris Brookmyre's books before, this is a substantial departure and, aside from the use of the present tense, I really enjoyed it. The plot kept me guessing right to the end.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.
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