Red Nexus (Spectrum Series)

Wen is just trying to survive, raising his thirteen year old brother, Sammy, in a post apocalyptic Tokyo. They live on the lowest levels, never seeing sunlight, fortunatejust for the small space they occupy since their mother's disappearance when Sammy was just four. After his day job, Wen is a scrapper on the unlivable surface of the city, an illegal activity to make ends meet. When Sammy goes missing, as their mother before him, Wen literally delves into the mind of the beast in this intriguing story of espionage, political unrest and betrayal on all sides. If you love gaming or computers this is a great book for you! Totally a novice in those fields? You won't be left behind in this study of human motivations! Looking for action it's all here! Beautifully worded prose, Benoit Chartier has every base covered! I received this book free and am voluntarily posting this review.

Basic decent cyberpunk but with an OP main character and an OP villain that is actually stupid. Pretty typical story that could be set in any genre and work.Enjoyed it enough that I will be looking at other work's by this author

SciFi is not normally my favorite genre, but I found this book hard to put down. The story was intriguing with several unexpected twists. The imagery was great. Some of the dialog had me scratching my head, but over all it was very well written. I'm looking forward to the next one!

A gritty, dystopian tale of a young man trying to make his way and raise his brother after the disappearance of his mother. Red Nexus takes us through the seamy underside of life in the lower levels of the new mega city, literally built, layer on layer, on the bones of the old city. Wen is a factory worker who moonlights as a scavenger, travelling into the lower levels to find salvage which can be sold on the black market.On one visit, he finds an old book which will change his life in ways he could never imagine, endangering his life as well as that of his brother and everyone else he holds dear, taking him to the heights of the upper class business world with all of it's corruption and corporate warfare.Chartier tells a dark but compelling story peopled by richly drawn characters, both endearing and disturbing. The ever hopeful Sammy, Oscar and the cynical salvage crew, old Joe the homeless man, the always perky Jenna and so many more each add their layers of vivid colour to the dark and almost surreal future world the author has painted.Red Nexus is one of the best new S.F. stories I have read recently and I highly recommend it.

As you can likely tell from my blog title, I read a lot of science fiction and fantasy. It is the genre I first grew to love as a kid because of the range of imagination that can be shown. I don't read as widely as I should anymore and Red Nexus proved that to me.The key feature of Red Nexus was a dark, vibrant technological world I couldn't get enough of. Honestly, I don't know whether I've been reading too many character-driven novels but I probably would have happily had nothing happen while exploring the world building. As a consummate political science nerd, what is your system of government exactly? Please write 20 - 200 pages for me.The plot and Wen care nothing for my wishes though. From the moment Sammy gets kidnapped, there are a few short moments before careening from one chaos to the next. Red Nexus could probably be listed for someone who likes action movies Though this is written from Wen's perspective, I would've liked to see a bit more depth in some of the secondary characters.My only other quibble is on occasion the dialogue doesn't read as smoothly as it could. I'll concede that this is genre-wide issue for me. And oh, what a wide and wonderful place Red Nexus is. If you're looking for some sci-fi with some philosophical heft and good world building, you've got the book.Full disclosure: a copy of the novel was kindly given to me by the author.Originally posted on GalacticTides: http://galactictidesx.blogspot.ca/2015/06/book-review-red-nexus-by-benoit-chartier.html

I found the story immensely entertaining. The characters are believable and easy to identify with. The world building is superb and as a dystopian novel stands out as one of the best ones I’ve ever read.Some of the ideas presented are eerily precognitive. Watching how giant corporations control our lives more and more leaves almost no doubt that some point in the future they may even control our very thoughts and use us as soldiers against each other in this real world of ours. The technology described in the story, though complex, was broken down and described in such a way as to be easily understandable by the non-tekkies among his reading audience, and require very little suspension of disbelief.Identification with the main character is paramount and I had no problem identifying with Wen. His strengths and vulnerabilities make him a consummate Everyman, struggling against powerful and unique adversaries, with only his courage and loyalty to guide him. He is someone whose side I am definitely on. What I found heroic about him was his ability to maintain his individuality in a world where most everyone else became simply a numbered slave. Those aspects of the story truly impressed me with this author’s ability to connect, and tell a story well.Bravo, sir. I understand he is working on a sequel. I will be watching for it.

If you're into science fiction or cyberpunk at all, this is worth a read. The multitude of influences were obvious and constant throughout, though they're all weaved together into something that still felt new. The world the author paints is incredibly real and vivid, the characters are interesting, and the tension is quite thrilling, with the pacing only accelerating the further you get into it; the last chapter or two in particular hit me like a freight train. It's not the most mind-blowing thing you'll ever read, but it's TONS of fun.

Well worth the read!

Great book.