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Hemispheres
In a world where light is currency…
Light is big business on Evig Natt, where it's always dark and fireflies are the only legal source of light. They’re also used for currency, leaving the impoverished to live in the shadows of the wealthy.
Severum Rivenshear is hired by the government to stop the Kontractor, a woman speeding the planet's rotation to bring light to rich and poor alike, until his beliefs and life shatter while witnessing the abuses of power.
Together, their journey will take them from space to cyberspace, from reality to virtual reality, as they save the last refuge of humanity. In a time of war, they must bring balance to the hemispheres, even if Severum must betray the very system he’s sworn to protect.
Written in the spirit of William Gibson, Neal Stephenson, and Ren Warom, Hemispheres proves that cyberpunk is back in this epic release.
Light is big business on Evig Natt, where it's always dark and fireflies are the only legal source of light. They’re also used for currency, leaving the impoverished to live in the shadows of the wealthy.
Severum Rivenshear is hired by the government to stop the Kontractor, a woman speeding the planet's rotation to bring light to rich and poor alike, until his beliefs and life shatter while witnessing the abuses of power.
Together, their journey will take them from space to cyberspace, from reality to virtual reality, as they save the last refuge of humanity. In a time of war, they must bring balance to the hemispheres, even if Severum must betray the very system he’s sworn to protect.
Written in the spirit of William Gibson, Neal Stephenson, and Ren Warom, Hemispheres proves that cyberpunk is back in this epic release.
- GenresScience Fiction
326 pages, Paperback
Published July 24, 2020
12 people are currently reading
50 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 7, 2020
In my (limited) experience of cyberpunk, I’ve come across two main types of novel – the hard and fast, punchy Shadowrun-style book, and the ‘drop you in the thick of it and let you figure out what’s going on’-style book, similar to the early Gibson novels. Hemispheres definitely falls into the latter category, and requires a certain type of reader – unfortunately, that kind of reader wasn’t me, but others may like it.
On the colony Gliese 581g, humans have been forced into the dark part of a tide-locked planet (one which always faces the sun the same way) and with unnatural light banned, the only form of light comes from fireflies, which act as currency as well. Severum tracks down thieves who steal the fireflies, while Thalassa is on a mission to finally bring rotation – and therefore daylight – to the planet.
Hemispheres demands that the reader gets to grips with a lot, very quickly. As you’d expect from a cyberpunk novel, there are lots of technical terms for devices – ocular implants, brain augmentations and the like – but there’s also a lot of philosophical prose. For example “Nonconformists are complex people because they have more decisions to make. There are more ways to be deviant than there are to conform. More ways for matter to disorganised than organise. Most people rely on habits to alleviate the stress of making small choices, but not nonconformists. But soon they become as simple as anyone else because they must develop some consistency in their thoughts, if not just to give them meaning.”
Many of the characters talk to each other in fairly roundabout ways; for example, one character asks another what day it is, and the other responds “I think it's yesterday's morning of tomorrow's evening.” There are also a lot of flowery similes, often in the same paragraph. This does odd things to the pacing of the book, with parts feeling quite sparse in terms of explanation, and others feeling quite slow.
I did struggle with the character interactions in many cases – not because of the futuristic devices, but just because of how they act. For example, a complete stranger joins the main cast of characters, even though they’re in a top-secret society and they’d almost just killed her. This stranger falls in love with another character, marries them and then decides to leave them – all in the space of about 48 hours. This same secret organisation also takes in two complete strangers, only testing one of them for loyalty (and despite failing the test, is admitted). Fight scenes end with characters just agreeing to walk away and when a character decides to leave the top-secret society, a founder slaps him and he gets back to work. There were a fair few stages where the story simply felt implausible because of basic human interactions that just weren’t believable.
At the same time, some of the major plot points don’t get enough time – one character changes their mind on something significant and it’s not really explained, for example. There are a lot of different factions and political groups that could definitely use a prequel to explain – and none of the characters really stood out for me; there isn’t a huge amount of difference between them, although one of them is extremely bad at what they do, and the others are ok!
Overall, I didn’t really warm to the philosophical meanderings and just couldn’t get past the implausibility of some of the interactions and lack of character depth. It's certainly a memorable book, and to give him credit, Everglade has created a huge, intriguing world full of big bold ideas, and a story that drops you right into the depths from the get-go.
On the colony Gliese 581g, humans have been forced into the dark part of a tide-locked planet (one which always faces the sun the same way) and with unnatural light banned, the only form of light comes from fireflies, which act as currency as well. Severum tracks down thieves who steal the fireflies, while Thalassa is on a mission to finally bring rotation – and therefore daylight – to the planet.
Hemispheres demands that the reader gets to grips with a lot, very quickly. As you’d expect from a cyberpunk novel, there are lots of technical terms for devices – ocular implants, brain augmentations and the like – but there’s also a lot of philosophical prose. For example “Nonconformists are complex people because they have more decisions to make. There are more ways to be deviant than there are to conform. More ways for matter to disorganised than organise. Most people rely on habits to alleviate the stress of making small choices, but not nonconformists. But soon they become as simple as anyone else because they must develop some consistency in their thoughts, if not just to give them meaning.”
Many of the characters talk to each other in fairly roundabout ways; for example, one character asks another what day it is, and the other responds “I think it's yesterday's morning of tomorrow's evening.” There are also a lot of flowery similes, often in the same paragraph. This does odd things to the pacing of the book, with parts feeling quite sparse in terms of explanation, and others feeling quite slow.
I did struggle with the character interactions in many cases – not because of the futuristic devices, but just because of how they act. For example, a complete stranger joins the main cast of characters, even though they’re in a top-secret society and they’d almost just killed her. This stranger falls in love with another character, marries them and then decides to leave them – all in the space of about 48 hours. This same secret organisation also takes in two complete strangers, only testing one of them for loyalty (and despite failing the test, is admitted). Fight scenes end with characters just agreeing to walk away and when a character decides to leave the top-secret society, a founder slaps him and he gets back to work. There were a fair few stages where the story simply felt implausible because of basic human interactions that just weren’t believable.
At the same time, some of the major plot points don’t get enough time – one character changes their mind on something significant and it’s not really explained, for example. There are a lot of different factions and political groups that could definitely use a prequel to explain – and none of the characters really stood out for me; there isn’t a huge amount of difference between them, although one of them is extremely bad at what they do, and the others are ok!
Overall, I didn’t really warm to the philosophical meanderings and just couldn’t get past the implausibility of some of the interactions and lack of character depth. It's certainly a memorable book, and to give him credit, Everglade has created a huge, intriguing world full of big bold ideas, and a story that drops you right into the depths from the get-go.
September 2, 2020
Sophisticated, philosophical Cyberpunk Science Fiction with rich prose and a raft of complex characters.
A unique setting, a tidal-locked planet with one hemisphere in perpetual daylight and the other in perpetual darkness, hosts a conflict involving social, economic and cultural elements.
On Evig Natt, the perpetually dark hemisphere, light is currency, and is used by those in power to control society. An organisation called O. A. K. seeks to redress the balance by putting an ambitious an stupendous plan into action.
Through set-piece battles and individual conflicts, as well as journeys into Dayburn (the perpetually light hemisphere) as well as cyberspace, Mark Everglade weaves a tale that is as intricate as it is clever.
I think comparisons to Gibson are apt, but I would also cite a fusion of Star Wars and The Matrix as a good way of thinking about this original and challenging novel.
A unique setting, a tidal-locked planet with one hemisphere in perpetual daylight and the other in perpetual darkness, hosts a conflict involving social, economic and cultural elements.
On Evig Natt, the perpetually dark hemisphere, light is currency, and is used by those in power to control society. An organisation called O. A. K. seeks to redress the balance by putting an ambitious an stupendous plan into action.
Through set-piece battles and individual conflicts, as well as journeys into Dayburn (the perpetually light hemisphere) as well as cyberspace, Mark Everglade weaves a tale that is as intricate as it is clever.
I think comparisons to Gibson are apt, but I would also cite a fusion of Star Wars and The Matrix as a good way of thinking about this original and challenging novel.
August 30, 2020
Hemispheres is a philosophical novel full of interesting ideas and rich prose. Set on a tide-locked planet where light is currency on the night side, the novel follows a group of revolutionaries who have a plan to increase the planet's rotation, bringing daylight to both hemispheres.
Everglade intersperses the novel's more philosophical moments with plenty of action that will keep you reading. In addition, the novel's exploration of ecological themes, as well as how society allocates resources, makes it a relevant piece of fiction for anyone interested in those issues. These themes also allow the novel to be a wonderful blend of cyberpunk action and solarpunk optimism.
Everglade intersperses the novel's more philosophical moments with plenty of action that will keep you reading. In addition, the novel's exploration of ecological themes, as well as how society allocates resources, makes it a relevant piece of fiction for anyone interested in those issues. These themes also allow the novel to be a wonderful blend of cyberpunk action and solarpunk optimism.
October 3, 2020
Hemispheres is a complex cyberpunk story with a unique concept that’s executed stylishly.
On Gliese 581g, light is currency. The planet doesn’t spin, leaving one half of it in perpetual darkness. A band of rebels hatch a plot against the establishment, with the hope of bringing light to all.
If you crossed William Gibson with Frank Herbert, then you’d get somewhere close to Mark Everglade. He creates a compelling world with meditative prose that doesn’t just stimulate the imagination, but provokes thought.
If you like sci-fi that boasts showdowns with AI killing machines while simultaneously making you question the meaning of existence, then you’re sure to enjoy it.
On Gliese 581g, light is currency. The planet doesn’t spin, leaving one half of it in perpetual darkness. A band of rebels hatch a plot against the establishment, with the hope of bringing light to all.
If you crossed William Gibson with Frank Herbert, then you’d get somewhere close to Mark Everglade. He creates a compelling world with meditative prose that doesn’t just stimulate the imagination, but provokes thought.
If you like sci-fi that boasts showdowns with AI killing machines while simultaneously making you question the meaning of existence, then you’re sure to enjoy it.
August 2, 2020
Cyberpunk IS back!
I haven't been this excited about the genre ever since I watched Netflix's Altered Carbon.
Hemispheres has all the elements I look for in a scifi book: a dystopian society brimming with tension, characters who will stop at nothing to shake things up, and a glimpse into the possible technology of the future.
Highly recommended it. I'm looking forward to see what the author comes up with next.
I haven't been this excited about the genre ever since I watched Netflix's Altered Carbon.
Hemispheres has all the elements I look for in a scifi book: a dystopian society brimming with tension, characters who will stop at nothing to shake things up, and a glimpse into the possible technology of the future.
Highly recommended it. I'm looking forward to see what the author comes up with next.
March 16, 2021
A lot of great concepts and incredible imagery. I found the “Sungatherers” fascinating, and enjoyed the descriptions of possible future Tech. Not a book to be rushed through.
September 16, 2021
Hemispheres by Mark Everglade - This intelligent cyberpunk sci-fi is fantastic. Hemispheres has the rare combination of action-packed plot, thoroughly developed characters and unique, well defined futuristic world. Really well done.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews