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Damage Time
Damage Time is a rock-hard sci-fi thriller from the acclaimed author of Winter Song : no-one here gets out alive.
NEW YORK IS A MESS . It's 2050 and sea-levels have swamped the coastal regions. The walls are failing, the city has been carved up between the Chinese and the Muslims, and the USA is bankrupt. Detective Peter Shah serves with the NYPD as a Memory Association Specialist - reading the last memories of murder victims. When he's accused of killing a glamorous woman in a bar, he must find the killer, save himself... and the city.
File Science Fiction [ A Decaying USA | Shattered Cops | Wrongful Arrest | Murderous Secrets ]
NEW YORK IS A MESS . It's 2050 and sea-levels have swamped the coastal regions. The walls are failing, the city has been carved up between the Chinese and the Muslims, and the USA is bankrupt. Detective Peter Shah serves with the NYPD as a Memory Association Specialist - reading the last memories of murder victims. When he's accused of killing a glamorous woman in a bar, he must find the killer, save himself... and the city.
File Science Fiction [ A Decaying USA | Shattered Cops | Wrongful Arrest | Murderous Secrets ]
465 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
3 people are currently reading
43 people want to read
About the author
Colin Harvey
67 books10 followersBritish SF writer Colin Harvey, 50, died August 15, 2011 of a stroke.
First published in 2001, Colin was the author of six novels, the last of which is Damage Time which was published in October 2010.
He was also the editor of the Black Quill and British Fantasy Award nominated anthology Killers, and the SF anthology Future Bristol, which has had glowing reviews from Albedo One and The Fix. His most recent anthology, Dark Spires: Speculative Fiction From Hardy Country is available from Wizards Tower Press.
His short fiction has appeared in Interzone, Albedo One and Apex Magazine, and is collected in Displacement.
Obituaries:
Locus
Angry Robot Books
First published in 2001, Colin was the author of six novels, the last of which is Damage Time which was published in October 2010.
He was also the editor of the Black Quill and British Fantasy Award nominated anthology Killers, and the SF anthology Future Bristol, which has had glowing reviews from Albedo One and The Fix. His most recent anthology, Dark Spires: Speculative Fiction From Hardy Country is available from Wizards Tower Press.
His short fiction has appeared in Interzone, Albedo One and Apex Magazine, and is collected in Displacement.
Obituaries:
Locus
Angry Robot Books
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
September 3, 2014
I picked this book at random from the library shelf as it was tagged as science fiction. Really it's a police thriller from the near future, with the central science concept being memory ripping. This idea isn't terribly well explained at first, but takes on a bit more solidity as the book progresses. I am not normally a huge fan of crime/police thrillers but I have to admit this one was fairly engrossing. It has some interesting characters and also some thoughtful ideas about the world of the near future in terms of changes in society. An example would be, for instance, that marriage is no longer always just two people, but can be more. Energy is hard to obtain and everyone is on an energy diet in all aspects, including transport. So not a bad read at all. The front cover of this book has a quote that says the author "deserves a place on your shelf with Asher, Reynolds, Hamilton and Stross". I'm a big Hamilton and Reynolds fan and I think that's a bit of a stretch, but I enjoyed it.
September 19, 2014
A solid read, even though I wanted to strangle the editors. I realize this is a U.S. edition, but some effort to manage quotation marks in a consistent manner--or just leave them as British, good grief--would have been nice. Also, some chapters that felt really thin and random toward the end, a lot of loose threads weren't wrapped up, and the title notion, that of "damage time," never really got the consistent thematic attention it deserved. As it was, it was just a cool-sounding title.
Overall, this was a solid read, with a more-than-solid, superb setup. Characters interesting, writing engaging, plot fun and with a surprising amount of soul to it. I just wish they'd stuck the editing, really.
Overall, this was a solid read, with a more-than-solid, superb setup. Characters interesting, writing engaging, plot fun and with a surprising amount of soul to it. I just wish they'd stuck the editing, really.
October 4, 2010
I picked up Damage Time since I loved Colin Harvey’s debut novel Winter Song so much. And I am more impressed than ever with his craftmanship this is a totally different kind of story.
Damage Time is a classic noir at first glance. Detective Pervez (Pete) Shah is drinking in a bar when gorgeous dame Aurora Debonis enters in need of his help and after a night in his place she disappears and a body is found. It has some of the classic themes of the genre ‘The Setup’, ‘The Fame Fatale’ and ‘The Boss’, but there is so much more to the story and Colin does a good job in making it all come alive.
Much of this story centers on memory reading or memory ripping technology. Pete is an expert at finding subtle clues in memory recordings. He is the best Memory Association Specialist in the NYPD. New kind of criminals use the technology to erase memories of their crimes from their victims and then selling selected parts on the Web. The mind changing technology also made me reflect a great deal on what makes a personality and what makes ones identity because here it gets a bit fluid. It made me think, I like that in a book.
The protagonist Pete is getting a bit long in the tooth for the kind of work he does but he does it well. Being a bit older is something I can relate to and it is also a refreshing change from the usual twenty-something.
I am impressed by the vivid and subtle world building. Colin uses small strokes to paint a big canvas indeed. There is no info dumps in this story.
Pete is a halfway lapsed Muslim, something that still seems to be able to stir up aggression among the people in New York. In his world money converts to calories, what is left of US just got its ass kicked in the Middle East by the Arabic League, the interest on the US national debt is larger than their BNP, a seceded California is behind a huge wall and inside Homo Superior Californius go about their own mysterious affairs (much like they do today?).
As most good stories it takes care of the characters. There is even some romance. The action gets personal and close-up and it still affect me emotionally when I think about it.
Damage Time is a gritty near-future noir involving chilling mind ripping technologies, thrilling action and a memorable hero. Colin Harvey is a new writer to watch. I wonder what he is up to next. I know I want to read it.
Damage Time is a classic noir at first glance. Detective Pervez (Pete) Shah is drinking in a bar when gorgeous dame Aurora Debonis enters in need of his help and after a night in his place she disappears and a body is found. It has some of the classic themes of the genre ‘The Setup’, ‘The Fame Fatale’ and ‘The Boss’, but there is so much more to the story and Colin does a good job in making it all come alive.
Much of this story centers on memory reading or memory ripping technology. Pete is an expert at finding subtle clues in memory recordings. He is the best Memory Association Specialist in the NYPD. New kind of criminals use the technology to erase memories of their crimes from their victims and then selling selected parts on the Web. The mind changing technology also made me reflect a great deal on what makes a personality and what makes ones identity because here it gets a bit fluid. It made me think, I like that in a book.
The protagonist Pete is getting a bit long in the tooth for the kind of work he does but he does it well. Being a bit older is something I can relate to and it is also a refreshing change from the usual twenty-something.
I am impressed by the vivid and subtle world building. Colin uses small strokes to paint a big canvas indeed. There is no info dumps in this story.
Pete is a halfway lapsed Muslim, something that still seems to be able to stir up aggression among the people in New York. In his world money converts to calories, what is left of US just got its ass kicked in the Middle East by the Arabic League, the interest on the US national debt is larger than their BNP, a seceded California is behind a huge wall and inside Homo Superior Californius go about their own mysterious affairs (much like they do today?).
As most good stories it takes care of the characters. There is even some romance. The action gets personal and close-up and it still affect me emotionally when I think about it.
Damage Time is a gritty near-future noir involving chilling mind ripping technologies, thrilling action and a memorable hero. Colin Harvey is a new writer to watch. I wonder what he is up to next. I know I want to read it.
September 30, 2015
I confess I’ve been putting this one off for a long time. Colin was a friend of mine, and when he died suddenly in 2011, he left behind too few books, and, as of now, Damage Time was the only one I hadn’t read. I didn’t want to read it know that once it was over, there would be no more of Colin’s books to read.
But now Wizard’s Tower have produced shiny new hardbacks of both Damage Time and Winter Song, the two books of Colin’s published by Angry Robot, and the time was right to get stuck into Damage Time at last. It’s a slice of near-future SF set in a future New York that has suffered badly since the oil ran out. Pete Shah is a jaded, aging cop in a depleted force, and a Memory Association Specialist – an officer whose job is to read and witness the final thoughts of murder victims as recorded on their ubiquitous eyepieces. It’s a dirty job for a straight cop, and when Pete is framed for murder, he discovers just how dirty organised crime in the city can get.
One of the more unsettling aspects of Shah’s New York is how close it is to our own, even while the memory-ripping technology used by the villain is pure spine-tingling SF. If you’re a fan of gritty cop dramas like The Wire, even if you’re not particularly into SF, Damage Time may pique your interest with its compelling, troubled protagonist, its decaying city, and its aura of barely-suppressed violence.
This new hardback and ebook edition from Wizard’s Tower also includes a brief introduction from Lee Harris, Colin’s friend and his editor at Angry Robot, and features the original cover art by BristolCon GOH Chris Moore. These are lovely editions of both Damage Time and Winter Song that would make perfect companion volumes on your bookshelf.
But now Wizard’s Tower have produced shiny new hardbacks of both Damage Time and Winter Song, the two books of Colin’s published by Angry Robot, and the time was right to get stuck into Damage Time at last. It’s a slice of near-future SF set in a future New York that has suffered badly since the oil ran out. Pete Shah is a jaded, aging cop in a depleted force, and a Memory Association Specialist – an officer whose job is to read and witness the final thoughts of murder victims as recorded on their ubiquitous eyepieces. It’s a dirty job for a straight cop, and when Pete is framed for murder, he discovers just how dirty organised crime in the city can get.
One of the more unsettling aspects of Shah’s New York is how close it is to our own, even while the memory-ripping technology used by the villain is pure spine-tingling SF. If you’re a fan of gritty cop dramas like The Wire, even if you’re not particularly into SF, Damage Time may pique your interest with its compelling, troubled protagonist, its decaying city, and its aura of barely-suppressed violence.
This new hardback and ebook edition from Wizard’s Tower also includes a brief introduction from Lee Harris, Colin’s friend and his editor at Angry Robot, and features the original cover art by BristolCon GOH Chris Moore. These are lovely editions of both Damage Time and Winter Song that would make perfect companion volumes on your bookshelf.
March 9, 2012
Strange to pick this up after my recent reading and find, "...as the oil began to run out, humanity was at its technological apex." Apart from the shiny spaceships and galactic empires brigade, I can't think of one speculative fiction writer who's penning anything but a dystopic future, and Colin was no exception. Climate change, failure of the Gulf Stream and California walling itself off all play supporting roles here.
This is the first book I've read to present the word dieback in a human context. I'm not quite sure how it's worked into Colin's backstory (which for SF is a future history timeline) but he does mention plague-like diseases. Anyway, it's another dystopia possibility. My Let the Time Come has turned this very idea into the only saviour for humanity. So Damage Time is rather gloomy compared with that.
This congruence of ideas gets its explanation in the acknowledgements at the end of the book. Colin cites The Long Emergency and another of James (that Christian name again!) Howard Kunstler's books. I wish I'd known that Colin had read these: it would have been fine to discuss them with him although what he means by “kicking against” them isn't clear. In any case a coherent picture of our possible future is beginning to emerge and it's vastly different to what I'd envisaged back at the start of Flight of the Ark.
Read Damage Time for the ideas in it.
This is the first book I've read to present the word dieback in a human context. I'm not quite sure how it's worked into Colin's backstory (which for SF is a future history timeline) but he does mention plague-like diseases. Anyway, it's another dystopia possibility. My Let the Time Come has turned this very idea into the only saviour for humanity. So Damage Time is rather gloomy compared with that.
This congruence of ideas gets its explanation in the acknowledgements at the end of the book. Colin cites The Long Emergency and another of James (that Christian name again!) Howard Kunstler's books. I wish I'd known that Colin had read these: it would have been fine to discuss them with him although what he means by “kicking against” them isn't clear. In any case a coherent picture of our possible future is beginning to emerge and it's vastly different to what I'd envisaged back at the start of Flight of the Ark.
Read Damage Time for the ideas in it.
June 14, 2012
Like a live glimpse into the real life of a real police detective from our world in 2050. It was easy to take an interest in the main character who faces some challenges I never would have suspected. Anything is possible in New York, of course. The references to NY Rangers Hockey set the background up nicely, it gives us the good title, a new-future hockey term, and tells us exactly where officer Shah finds himself through most of the story.
One reviewer on this board remarked that he liked that Damage Time was more police investigation than Sci-fi, and that caught my eye because I thought it implied an author who would rather use science-fiction, than have science-fiction use him. I think I am being funny but true by saying that, but my point is that after reading the book I thought that Colin Harvey did more with less, and though the emphasis is just like the reviewer said, it's obvious (seems to me) that futuristic ideas for the real USA were closer to the inspiration for the book than police procedure, and the author says as much at the end on a page of acknowlegements.
Nice cover art.
Thank you to Colin Harvey for saying in the book that we think with our whole body, and not just our brain! I would like to know when that occured to him.
One reviewer on this board remarked that he liked that Damage Time was more police investigation than Sci-fi, and that caught my eye because I thought it implied an author who would rather use science-fiction, than have science-fiction use him. I think I am being funny but true by saying that, but my point is that after reading the book I thought that Colin Harvey did more with less, and though the emphasis is just like the reviewer said, it's obvious (seems to me) that futuristic ideas for the real USA were closer to the inspiration for the book than police procedure, and the author says as much at the end on a page of acknowlegements.
Nice cover art.
Thank you to Colin Harvey for saying in the book that we think with our whole body, and not just our brain! I would like to know when that occured to him.
March 14, 2015
In Damage Time, by Colin Harvey, we find ourselves in New York City in 2050, after the collapse of most of Western civilization. Pete Shah has worked for many years as a cop, specializing in the Memory Association field, in which he is able to "read" the last moments in the lives of murder victims. The technology exists to "rip" memories from individuals, who lose the memories that are taken (voluntarily or otherwise); those memories can then be sold to others for their entertainment. But when a new Ripper begins kidnapping and forcibly removing the memories of people to such an extent that they are left as little more than vegetables, Shah and his partner must find a way to bring the miscreant to heel.... This is an interesting book with some fascinating ideas, particularly the central idea of being able to "rip" one's memories for the delectation of others. The writing is solid and the action is fast-paced, but I found the characters to be somewhat thin and the level of misogyny expressed in words and actions by some of the characters ("good" guys as well as bad) was troubling. Definitely a mixed review, here, as although I found myself interested enough to keep reading to the very end, I also found some of it tough going.
September 5, 2013
This ended up as being a nice surprise. I confess I approached the book in some trepidation. The other book I had read by this author failed to impress, and I was worried that if I didn't li, e this one then I would be austracised by the Bristol sf community.
I need not have worried. damage time is pacy, and is a true sf novel in that it is not just set in the future, but relies on future technology to make the story work. so many police procedural/ crime books set in the future are marketed as sf, and yet are really 'just' crime.
highly recommended
I need not have worried. damage time is pacy, and is a true sf novel in that it is not just set in the future, but relies on future technology to make the story work. so many police procedural/ crime books set in the future are marketed as sf, and yet are really 'just' crime.
highly recommended
Read
July 29, 2010A great noir thriller in an environment where every resource is scarce and calories are rationed--and where memory can be ripped and manipulated... Colin Harvey excels at portraying this grim future, and the noir plot goes wonderfully well with the setting.
May 22, 2011
Another case of Colin Harvey getting better as his books have gone along. Without a doubt his best book yet. Whilst it didn't have the sci-fi Norse element that I loved about Winter Song this had the stronger story.
September 23, 2014
Very enjoyable science fiction mystery set in a post-oil world. Made me think a lot of the film "Strange Days" (which is high praise coming from me). Will have to check out other books by this author.
November 28, 2010
A pretty good book, but I think just a little bit too much sex in it for my taste...
October 23, 2011
Some interesting dystopian ideas but overall too many bad things happen in the story to keep me interested.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews