Counterweight - A Novel

Informationen zum Autor Djuna Klappentext A WIRED "BOOK YOU NEED TO READ" • For fans of the worlds of Philip K. Dick, Squid Game , and Severance: An absorbing tale of corporate intrigue, political unrest, unsolved mysteries, and the havoc wreaked by one company’s monomaniacal endeavor to build the world’s first space elevator An “antic, madcap noir with flair" ( Wired) and “fast-paced cyberpunk story” ( The New York Times Book Review ) from one of South Korea's most revered science fiction writers, whose identity remains unknown. *** On the fictional island of Patusan—and much to the ire of the Patusan natives—the Korean conglomerate LK is constructing an elevator into Earth’s orbit, gradually turning this one-time tropical resort town into a teeming travel hub: a gateway to and from our planet. Up in space, holding the elevator’s “spider cable” taut, is a mass of space junk known as the counterweight. And stashed within that junk is a trove of crucial data: a memory fragment left by LK’s former CEO, the control of which will determine the company’s—and humanity’s—future.   Racing up the elevator to retrieve the data is a host of rival forces: Mac, the novel’s narrator and LK’s chief of External Affairs, increasingly disillusioned with his employer; the everyman Choi Gangwu, unwittingly at the center of Mac’s investigations; the former CEO’s brilliant niece and power-hungry son; and Rex Tamaki, a violent officer in LK’s Security Division. They’re all caught in a labyrinth of fake identities, neuro-implants called Worms, and old political grievances held by the Patusan Liberation Front, the army of island natives determined to protect Patusan’s sovereignty.   Originally conceived by Djuna as a low-budget science fiction film, with literary references as wide-ranging as Joseph Conrad and the Marquis de Sade, Counterweight is part cyberpunk, part hard-boiled detective fiction, and part parable of South Korea’s neocolonial ambition and its rippling effects. Leseprobe HUMMINGBIRD ATTACK   Clink. Clink. Clink. A nickel and a quarter are dancing on Rex Tamaki’s left hand.   Controlled by tiny movements of the index and little fingers, these thin metal discs fly up, spin, roll, and leapfrog over each other like they’re living beings with free will.   The dance of the coins ends as abruptly as it started. Realizing he was distracting me, Tamaki snatches the coins from the air and drops them into his pocket, throwing me a smirk. A provocative and seductive smirk. Tamaki isn’t gay, he just enjoys pushing buttons and stringing people along. Miffed, I look away.   The interior of the plane is quiet. The only thing I hear through my nonaugmented ears is the low drone of the engines. This apparent silence is deceptive; judging from the continu­ous smirking of Tamaki’s personnel, I can tell they’re sending silent messages to each other. They did open a channel for me, too, but since I entered the cabin not one person has engaged me in conversation. Not that I care. They can keep their stupid jokes.   Rex Tamaki, contrasting with his gorilla-like colleagues with their muscles bursting out of their shirts, looks almost slight. But you can’t trust looks these days. No one’s strength is in proportion to their muscles anymore. Since he lost his Olympic gold medal fifteen years ago in a doping scandal, Tamaki’s body has undergone several phases of modification. The current version, now before me, is clearly the handiwork of someone who treats rules and regulations with contempt.   The alarm inside my head strikes 22:00. For the next eighteen hours, judicial power of the Gondal Quarter will transfer from Tamoé’s government to the LK Group. Don’t even ask me what I had to do flitting between islands, trying to make this happen.   Tamaki and his gang, almo...

Dettagli sul prodotto

• Autori: Djuna, Anton Hur
• Con la collaborazione di: Anton Hur (Traduzione)
• Editore: Pantheon Schocken Books
• Lingue: Inglese
• Formato: Copertina rigida
• Pubblicazione: 11.07.2023
• EAN: 9780593317211
• ISBN: 978-0-593-31721-1
• Pagine: 176
• Dimensioni: 145 mm x 218 mm x 19 mm
• Categoria: Narrativa > Science Fiction, Fantasy