Review: Gritty and real and hilarious scifi!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 14, 2014
I was totally blown away by this book.  It takes place in a human future where we have colonies all over the solar system.  But what made this book for me was the narrator's voice.  He's gritty and real and very human -- not to mention hilarious -- all things which are sorely lacking in a lot of scifi.  The lead character Jonathan Harkon is an atheist with a big libido and a lot of wit and opinions, which he is never afraid to write about.  That's what makes the story feel so real -- Harkon's constantly hilarious and spot-on narration.  It's very crude and very modern, but if you like that kind of stuff you will love this story.A lot of scifi you read is about people who are all similar wearing one-piece leotards.  But Meat Market feels like a realistic portrayal of what a human diaspora might actually be like -- with a multitude of religious, political, technological and ethical differences between colonies and between peoples.  I like that each of the colonies is very different, each one being founded on its own religious, cultural and commercial principles -- principles reflected in everything about the society, even the design of the space station colonies.Oh and the technology is just great.  It feels like the kind of technology that would actually occur in the future:  nanobots and A.I. ships that act like wives and stealth technology and biological upgrades for the upper classes.Best part is, it's all used in a story that is wacky, dark, depraved and unpredictable.  Author James Chalk has essentially taken a "Criminal Minds" type of storyline and infused it into a "Dune" type of universe with a gritty and vulgar and witty first-person narrator who combines the best qualities of "Dexter" and "American Psycho."  Good stuff overall!