Eventide, Water City

The Water City Trilogy #2

by Chris McKinney

A futuristic fusion of noir, adventure, thriller, and horror, the second installment in the acclaimed Water City Trilogy explores how dystopia might be right around the next century’s corner.

Year 2150: Eight years after the murder of Akira Kimura, Water City’s renowned scientist and anointed “God,” the nameless antihero who once risked everything to find Akira’s killer is no longer a detective, but a stay-at-home dad. While his wife climbs the corporate ladder of the Water City Police Department, he raises his now nine-year-old daughter and occasionally takes the odd job as a bounty hunter.

Water City’s domestic bliss is threatened when Ascalon’s Scar—the permanent mark left by the elimination of Sessho-seki, an asteroid that nearly wiped out life on Earth—vanishes from the sky and a familiar face thought dead returns from the ocean depths to exact revenge on humanity. What follows is a wild journey, both deep below and high above a futuristic Pacific, that takes Water City’s antihero from Lucky Cat City (formerly Osaka, Japan) to the moon and back, all to stop the destruction of the last of the human race.

Hawai'i author Chris McKinney’s cinematic, immersive follow-up to Midnight, Water City explores technology, class, climate change, and the lengths desperate people will go to in order to protect the ones they love.

Genres: Science Fiction, Mystery, Audiobook, Mystery Thriller, Fiction, Thriller

384 pages, Hardcover

First published July 11, 2023

About the author

Chris McKinney is a Korean, Japanese, Scottish American writer born in Honolulu, Hawaii. He is the author of the Water City trilogy. Book one was named a Best Mystery of 2021 by Publisher's Weekly and a Best Speculative Mystery of 2021 by CrimeReads. All three books received starred reviews from Publisher's Weekly, and Booklist called book three a "satisfying conclusion to a magnificent trilogy (that) offers a real treat for sf fans." In 2024, Honolulu Magazine named McKinney "Author of the Year" for his Water City trilogy.

Chris has written six other novels: The Tattoo, The Queen of Tears, Bolohead Row, Mililani Mauka, Boi No Good, and Yakudoshi: Age of Calamity.

In 2011, Chris was appointed Visiting Distinguished Writer at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Over the years, he has won one Elliot Cades Award and seven Kapalapala Pookela Awards.

He currently resides in Honolulu with his wife and two daughters.

Reviews

[AltLovesBooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the first book in this series earlier this year and really liked it, in the face of unfavorable reviews. I liked the sci-fi detective noir setting, and felt like people went into it expecting something different than what they got. It had flaws, but I really enjoyed the stream of consciousness writing style associated with our detective's thought processes, as well as the cyberpunk-esque setting he was in.

This book felt just a bit less entertaining, if only because it feels less a detective noir and more a cyberpunk thriller, which is fine I suppose, but not what I enjoyed from the first one. That's not to say this was a bad book -- I did give it four stars after all -- just that my reasons for liking the first one and this second one are different.

We're eight years off of the first book, and our still-unnamed protagonist is raising his kid after being relieved from duty while his wife retains her job on the police force. (story spoilers here) Unfortunately, Ascalon is back and still wants to get one over on her mom Akira Kimura and show how much better she is at everything, so her neural implant burrows into his kid's eye socket while she's swimming and takes her over. What follows is a lot of our protagonist thinking he's finally breaking the hold Akira and Ascalon have over him, but really he's following the path they meticulously lay out for him to the letter. Our protagonist does a lot of thinking in this one about whether he has free will, or whether he's just a puppet for either of them--or both.

There's lots of action in this one. Almost wall-to-wall action, actually. We go to space, we go underwater, we go to the old United States where people live without IEs and technology, giving the author plenty of time to flesh out this dystopian-esque cyberpunk world he's created. But you don't get much time to catch your breath or enjoy the scenery, because our protagonist is never in any of these places for very long before the next story beat yanks him away. The pace really is pretty frenetic, so if fast paced thrillers are your thing you'll probably enjoy this second book better than the first.

I thought it was just a little bit too fast for my taste, but I still did greatly enjoy the book (and that ending!). I'll be moving onto book three in 2025 sometime.

[Marco Landi · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stelle
Di sicuro un libro avveneristico e geniale..
Questo secondo capitolo, non soffre affatto della sindrome da libro di mezzo, ne è un semplice riempitivo di passaggio.. prende il via otto anni dopo la fine del primo libro.. ma da subito le direzione che imbocca è differente, imprevista e contorta..

Ho amato molto il mondo post apocalittico, ma luminoso, creato da Chris.. ci sono un sacco di problemi legati all'ambiente, alla disparità economica, con i mari che hanno sommerso buona parte delle città costiere.. ma è anche un modo dove l'umanità ha imparato a vivere e prosperare in città acquatiche con grattacieli che si sviluppano verso il fondo dell' mare o con vere e proprie proprietà sul fondo oceanico.. è un mondo che ha perso la scrittura e nozioni simili, con tutta la tecnologia che ha sostituito le normali attività, il tutto immaginato in modo originale ma anche pionieristico..

I personaggi bene o male sono quelli del primo libro, più qualcun'altro, ma qua subiscono una forte evoluzione, che li porterà a ribaltare la loro posizione morale e le loro azioni.. è difficile dire di più senza fare spoiler, ma tutti i processi mentali e la complessità morale e psicologica è davvero realistica e profonda.. Ecco, forse a volte anche un po' troppi flussi di coscienza o pippotti mentali.. sfoltirne qualcuno secondo me ne avrebbe giovato, ma è anche vero che sembra essere un segno contraddistintivo dello stile dell'autore..

La trama è stata davvero intortante, complessa e con continui ribaltamenti di posizioni, di idee e schieramenti.. mi è piaciuto molto anche se forse qualche soluzione l'ho trovata un po' troppo da fumetto e un po' troppo overpowered, come il laboratorio sottomarino con ingresso nascosto da tastierino.. tolto alcune piccolezze che mi hanno un po' fatto storcere il naso, il libro mi è piaciuto quasi più del primo.. non avrei mai pensato a un finale così imprevedibile e per niente buonista.. resta comunque un libro di passaggio anche se ha un suo finale, ma adesso sono curioso di vedere come il terzo capitolo chiuderà il tutto..

Una immaginifica valutazione di ciò che ci può rendere un Dio, di ciò che ci rende umani, del libero arbitrio e di ciò che significa sbagliare, della libertà di scelta e del futuribile senso di eternità.. tematiche profonde, diluite in una frenetica corsa con azione brutale, svolte imprevedibili e conseguenze pesanti, in una geniale sorta di neo-noir per scongiurare una nuova fine del mondo!

[༶ Laura ༶ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hat mich nicht wirklich abgeholt.

[Claudia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm still loving this series, no doubt about it. It's different from the first one, with new challenges, most of them moral; it changes a lot of our perceptions about the characters.

I loved how full of non-stop action it was and how it still managed to deliver great character development.

And I enjoyed the more pronounced cyber-punk taste of this one. And how everybody is so fucked up. Sorry, but I love characters who are a little bit broken but still willing to give a good fight.

I can't wait to listen to the last book.

[Owen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sci-Fi noir goodness. This might be my happy place... maybe.

[vk chompooming · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good read but, it was not as good as the 1st book. I did enjoy this book despite the length of time it took me to read. I kinda figure that I have to read the 3rd book and finish the trilogy

[Terry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating, unique and thrilling dystopian novel. I purchased the first book in the series to get the full experience, because I so enjoyed what I was reading at the beginning of this one and had to know the whole story. I'll definitely be picking up the 3rd book as soon as it's released.

Entertaining and smoothly readable novel that holds your attention. Enjoyable setting, with enough 'could be possible in the near future' moments to give you goosebumps.

I highly recommend both books in this well written series!

[SteveRv · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read the first book and i tentatively lined it. I couldn’t finish the second book. I felt like the story was just a disjointed steam of consciousness that I just couldn’t follow nor care about

[Ry Hunt · Rating 5 out of 5]

FIRST PARAGRAPH IS A BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE FIRST TWO CHAPTERS OF THE BOOK. SKIP IF YOU DON’T WANT TO BE SPOILED




This book starts off in an unfamiliar environment. A small orb navigates itself across the sea. Within this orb is the consciousness of Ascalon Lee, the deranged and sociopathic child of Akira Kimura. Their body was destroyed by the sheer force of the deep sea’s pressure, but that wasn’t the end of Ascalon Lee. They have a plan and they’re going to take their time. On a more positive note, we are reintroduced to our nameless narrator, the synesthete. 8 years have passed since the events of Midnight, Water City and the synesthete has dedicated his life to becoming a family man and growing his relationship with his wife, Sabrina and his child, ironically named Ascalon. All seems well now that he’s a bounty hunter, making good money and enjoying the family life, but while he’s on a job on the surface something sinister in nature comes up…

I read this book almost directly after Midnight, Water City and I have to say, I did enjoy it quite a bit more. A lot more world building was done, establishing a lot of past events and laying the groundwork of how society on this universe’s Earth works. The synesthete (nameless narrator) of this story, while always feeling grounded, feels a lot more down-to-earth than in the previous entry. There’s still a lot of underlying flaws he hasn’t gotten over, but those flaws keep him interesting. The supporting cast, once again was a strong point of this book just like it was in the last. Almost every character has a complex psyche that isn’t hard to understand, but doesn’t particularly make them easy to read either (if that makes sense). The antagonists of the book definitely fall in that category, with captivating personalities that make them more than just a bad guy that does bad things.

I don’t have too many bad things to say about this sequel, but there was one major thing that made me apprehensive to give this book 5 stars, and that was the lack of interaction between characters outside of the main cast. Sometimes, these exchanges between characters and “non-important bystanders” offer a lot of insight on the collective mindset of the world and sometimes bring out different sides of the main cast that we, as the reader don’t know about. Some would argue that it’s kind of a nothing issue, but I find that these interactions are important in this kind of story where the scale of things feels massive, but the people within that large scale is minuscule. Another personal preference I would have appreciated would be to add in more horror elements to the story. There aren’t very many futuristic horror stories and I felt Midnight, Water City took liberties in making certain scenes feel very unnerving. That’s not to say that there aren’t any in this book, more so that I didn’t feel the same way as I did reading the first entry.

If I could, I’d give this book a 4.4/5. It was a great read that, once again, reignited my love for futuristic sci-fi. I’ll be waiting a little while before I read the last entry, Sunset, Water City, but I’m absolutely looking forward to reading it when I get the chance to!

[Fanchen Bao · Rating 2 out of 5]

First of all, I need to make a correction. In my review of the first book, I lamented that after reading the book, I could not remember the protagonist's name. Well, now I know that he was never given a name.

Our nameless protagonist remained a self-loathing man in this second installment. I find it equally hard to connect with him as in the first book. There is a bit more plot in this one, yet it is dragged way too long. I can see myself enjoying the story a lot more were it a novella. The rather naive "mystery" (let's be honest, there is no real detective work in the story. Our guy's special capability was way too overpowering) does not warrant almost 400 pages.

I initially got into this series because it was marketed as sci-fi. It is NOT, at least not according to my definition. It is more adjacent to fantasy yet also very different from the LOTR type of fantasy. There are a few attempts in this book (the previous one as well) to make the fantasy part sound science-based, yet they are rather awkward and unconvincing. Perhaps, if I drop my remaining expectation of sci-fi and embrace the series as a fairy tale, my experience would be better. So that's what I will do heading into the last book of the trilogy.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was easily my favorite entry in the Water City trilogy. The author took everything that I enjoyed about book 1 and improved and expanded upon it in every way. The writing is much better this time, I noticed numerous typos and grammatical errors in the first novel but this time the writing comes off as it was written by a seasoned vet.

The descriptions of the ongoing events,environments and internal thoughts of the main character are very rich and immersive to say the least.

This was a book I could not put down and ended up devouring in about two nights. While I feel that the follow up/ conclusion to the trilogy was rather underwhelming, this is a must read for any Sci-Fi fan.

[Steve Mckinney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was not sure what to expect from this book but the premise was interesting. The blending of climate change and science fiction was done expertly in this dystopian future. I turns out to be a bit scary because you can easily see this type of future developing. congrats to the writer .well done.

[Kalyn Barrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was a little disappointed at how the book started but I quickly got over it due to the sheer frenetic roller coaster this book puts you through. Lots of twists and turns that you don’t see coming. Character development was fantastic.
Cannot wait for the third book!

[Brandi Pearl Reynolds · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very creative and well written. I look forward to reading more books in this series. I obtained my copy from a Goodreads giveaway, and I appreciate the opportunity to read and review this book.

[Engel Dreizehn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exciting neo-noir cyberpunk and...she is crazy, cold and creepy!!! Please read both books to know who I'm I describing!

[Michael Hirsch · Rating 4 out of 5]

A worthy follow-up. Not quite as good, but fnot just a rehash of the same story. Quite different and good.

[Arwen Lind · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book much more than the first one.

The pacing was a bit weird. Some unecessary scenes would drag on forever while the most important ones were over in just a few pages.

[Eran · Rating 4 out of 5]

More cyberpunk and much less detective/noir than the first book.
Overall I enjoyed it, but the writing is not great and not as immersive as this world could be, and it was a slow read despite being generally good. So actual rating 3.5 .

I enjoyed the fact that by the end you're no longer sure who's good and who's bad between Akira and Ascalon (if either can be described as either).

It describes modern day tech as what it will become in this future, but it's a shame it uses the current things and not some imagined future version. And it will likely date badly (where it hasn't already, NFT 🤦🏻‍♂️) Generally crypto transfers, crispr gene editing, name dropping some current young actress, etc.
Also, rather a shame that Akira is defined as named for the anime.

[Gary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disappointing sequel to number one as there were a few new hard sci concepts described. With few breaks from the protagonist's POV, his voice seemed repetitious and tiresome.