Review of 'Woken Furies'
Woken Furies by Richard Morgan
Once again we find ourselves in the presence of the Envoy-for-hire Takeshi Kovacs in this his third novel outing by Richard Morgan. This time Kovacs is sleeved into Harlan's World where rebellion is brewing against the ruling elite. Kovacs is drawn into the rebellion when a woman he knows appears to have had her mind taken over by the mind of the original Quellist – Quellcrist Falconer. Has this long-lost rebel been reborn? Kovacs finds himself on BOTH sides of the uneasiness as he learns that an newer version of himself has been sleeved with one purpose in mind: Kill the older Kovacs.
The story proceeds with the familiar carnage and strong language that frequents previous outings though perhaps not as much of it, thankfully, here. In this book Morgan prefers to concentrate on what exactly makes these characters think and what liberty actually means to them. In this way, this is probably the most thoughtful of the three books.
Well written, as is to be expected, I did find this one a bit of a slog as it is over-long and a bit over-saturated with descriptive narrative and linguistic flotsam as Morgan attempts to bring the world alive – For me, he just confused and, after a while, I was not really paying too much attention. I suppose it does help to have read the previous Kovacs novels but even though I have I still found this not so easy to follow. Entertaining, to be sure, but a bit difficult to get through.
Rating: “Average, but who wants to be average?”
Review Date: 2010-07-27
Genre: Science Fiction
Publisher: Gollancz
Publication Date: 2005