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Gamma Coin: BASTION/Blackstone II Paperback – August 14, 2023
Purchase options and add-ons
- Print length306 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherJames Krake
- Publication dateAugust 14, 2023
- Dimensions6 x 0.64 x 9 inches
- ISBN-101957599030
- ISBN-13978-1957599038
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Product details
- Publisher : James Krake (August 14, 2023)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 306 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1957599030
- ISBN-13 : 978-1957599038
- Item Weight : 14.6 ounces
- Dimensions : 6 x 0.64 x 9 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #7,218,828 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #12,754 in Cyberpunk Science Fiction (Books)
- #50,006 in Police Procedurals (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
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James likes to think about worlds that don’t exist. Growing up on a diet of video games, anime, and the internet, ending up as an engineer was accidental. At least it helps write about computer systems and robots. The covid pandemic re-ignited his childhood dream of being an author, dating back to when he was a child sitting on his grandfather’s knee making up stories. Now, he has a head full of stories he wants to tell, and the freedom to do so.
Customer reviews
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Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find the narrative complex and well-integrated into the story. They appreciate the strong themes that underlie the plot and how they push the narrative forward rapidly. The pacing is described as well-paced, with an awesome ending. Characters are developed and compelling.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers enjoy the narrative complexity. They find the themes well-integrated into the story, and the worldbuilding is great. The book offers a fun and engaging ride that won't disappoint.
"...good is the character development, the pacing, the stakes, and the perfect ending...." Read more
"...What has improved? Virtually every aspect of a cyberpunk extravaganza that delivers a fun, elaborate, engaging ride that won't disappoint...." Read more
"...Motivations all around were believable; the solid prose and relatable characters make this installment in the series as entertaining as the first." Read more
"...The pace is not really fast, but the story pulls you through. Many great connections between questions and answers...." Read more
Customers appreciate the book's pacing. They say it's well-paced with an awesome ending.
"...What makes this one so good is the character development, the pacing, the stakes, and the perfect ending...." Read more
"...The plot of the story is near bullet-proof and the pace is also well thought out...." Read more
"...This is a great book with a lot to love. High paced, well structured, interwoven themes, great worldbuilding...." Read more
"Well paced, awesome ending..." Read more
Customers enjoy the character development. They find the characters compelling and say they are well-developed.
"...What makes this one so good is the character development, the pacing, the stakes, and the perfect ending...." Read more
"...open the gates for an expansion of this world as well as new compelling characters that we might have the pleasure to see again in future..." Read more
"...Motivations all around were believable; the solid prose and relatable characters make this installment in the series as entertaining as the first." Read more
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on March 8, 2024I've read a few books by the author, and have thoroughly enjoyed them. This entry is a step above.
The world of Bastion is explored a bit beyond Faceless, and at no point did it feel like I ( a cyberpunk newcomer) was getting a cyberpunk setting dump. James moves cyberpunk beyond the neon aesthetic, and uses it to ask questions relevant to us today as we move into our own cyberpunk dystopia.
What makes this one so good is the character development, the pacing, the stakes, and the perfect ending. I loved following Elliot as he desperately tried to save Kyte from his self-inflicted disaster.
I also think that if you're not interested in the first entry into the series, you can comfortably jump in here. Highly recommended!
- Reviewed in the United States on September 16, 2023First off, there is,nothing more pleasing than witnessing a writer improve leaps and bounds from one book to the next. And that's just what Mr Means has accomplished going from Blackstone 1 to Blackstone 2. What has improved? Virtually every aspect of a cyberpunk extravaganza that delivers a fun, elaborate, engaging ride that won't disappoint.
Don't get me wrong I liked book 1 very much, but the narrative, plot, and character development in book 2 is just a step above.
Every character whether major or minor brings something to the story and every character has one flaw to match one quality. This is very important because too often we see minor characters that are dealt with like garbage. And because all these characters have an inherent value, thus the value of theirs lives becomes higher in the eyes of the reader.
The plot of the story is near bullet-proof and the pace is also well thought out. The author knows when to push the pedal to the metal but also knows when to coast and let us soak in this futuristic world he has created.
To conclude, book 2 seems to have open the gates for an expansion of this world as well as new compelling characters that we might have the pleasure to see again in future releases.
Well done James!
- Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2024As Eliot Blackstone seeks a fugitive teen wanted for assault, he winds up tangling with the violent gangs operating an alternative economy deep in the lowest reaches of Bastion.
Along the way, we get some fascinating glimpses of the larger world outside the vast city, as well as learning more about the protagonist as man. For a quick read, it's surprisingly complex, almost to the detriment of some the other plot lines, each of which could carry its own novel. Perhaps they are hints of more to come??
In any case, I did appreciate how the main focus of the story switches between the fleeing teen and the sympathetic but driven law enforcer who is hunting him. Motivations all around were believable; the solid prose and relatable characters make this installment in the series as entertaining as the first.
- Reviewed in the United States on August 18, 2023I have read a lot of James' work. This is the best of it, by far.
The pace is not really fast, but the story pulls you through. Many great connections between questions and answers.
And the ending is amazing.
Wow, but this one is great!
- Reviewed in the United States on November 5, 2024et me get right to the point. This is a great book with a lot to love. High paced, well structured, interwoven themes, great worldbuilding. I’ve got a single quibble that I think would have improved it, but it’s not even something that will bother a lot of people. This book deserves to have more attention than it seems to have received. Let’s dig in.
Things you’ll love.
Dual Protagonists. Gamma Coin goes back and forth between its two leads. Detective Eliot Blackstone is the sort of detective hero you’d expect from a hard boiled story. Dedicated and resourceful and a little rough around the edges. His marriage has seen better days. An old fashioned streak. A missing family member. Even though none of these are a surprise, none of it is bad. Heroes that fit into molds you expect help you slide right into a story which lets you get to know the quirks that make them unique. By the end of this one, you may just find out that Blackstone is a better man than you expect.
And then there is Kyte. A gifted teen who’s made a life ending screw up. On the run from the law (And the super AI, EVE that controls the mega city of Bastion) he ends up in the underbelly of society, dodging technology that could report him to the Eve or the Police, avoiding cameras, and just trying to survive. In some ways, he’s a dumb kid that makes a lot of dumb decisions. The question is whether or not Blackstone can find him in time before he goes too far to be saved from himself.
Great Structure. Which gets to a key feature of the book. Each chapter switches back and forth between the two leads. As you follow Kyte’s descent to the underworld, Blackstone works to find him and bring him in. Chapter endings tease and play off of each other, pushing the narrative ahead rapidly, and by the climax the plot is at a mad gallop as the police go to war with a criminal syndicate and our two heroes are caught in the middle.
Great World. Gamma Coin is Cyberpunk, but it’s got just enough tweaks to keep it fresh. For one, the presence of massive corporations in the story is more benign than most Cyberpunk settings. Bastion is a military police state. Outside the walls of the megacity, virus infected blighted wreck havoc. Citizens that want to make it somewhere in lift have to make the draft and do military service.
Dissent is cracked down on, hard, and body counts are high when the police move in.
Further, there’s a stronger emphasis on gaming and what that could look like in the future than older cyberpunk stories. Blackstone’s wife is trying to make it as a streamer. There’s a gross sex game doing numbers. Gaming is an assumed part of life. It’s all well integrated into the story and a neat look at a possible future.
Themes. But back to the police, there’s a strong set of themes that undergird the story. One is freedom vs. security. It’s easy for those of us with relatively easy lives to say we choose security, but outside the walls of Bastion is a civilization ending threat. The military, as vile and corrupt as they appear to be, are protecting the lives of a billion people in the mega city. But they aren’t the only survivors. There are those who try to stay off the grid in the lower city and those who brave the wilds still and live a life free from ever watchful cameras.
Krake makes a point of showing that that’s the hard route and not a sure thing. As easy as it is to say ‘give me freedom over security’ Gamma Coin does suggest that conversation isn’t without some nuance, especially when an ACTUAL civilization ending virus is involved…
Further, the lead character IS a member of the very police that gun down drug addicts and use heavy weaponry in public. He’s a decent man in a world gone mad. Mostly he tries to keep his head down and do his job, but a good man in a terrible place can sometimes make a difference. In Blackstone’s case, it may just be the few lives that he saves. But it’s not nothing and maybe just maybe that morale core will mean everything for one dumb kid on the run.
Things you might not love.
This isn’t actually the first book in the series. The author says that you can start here, as he feels it’s the better book, and…
I agree. You can start here. There will be a few odd references to a previous case. Something about Devson, Gaia, and a Painter, but nothing that will really throw you out of it. There’s a possibility that the world building is approached differently in the first book and more is outright explained, but if you start with two, you’ll have to pay attention and slowly pick up the context of the world. And it DOES work, make no mistake, but some folks may just prefer to start at the beginning and not miss anything.
Also it’s cyberpunk which means it has strong content. The sexual content isn’t meant to titillate (Not that kind of book), there’s plenty of violence and blood, and there’s tons of language.
The last is one of the few things I think could be slightly improved on in an otherwise stellar book. Different authors have different approaches to strong language. I’m of the camp that thinks hard language is a tool to use. From MRIs, we know it functions in different regions of the brain (as the movie The King’s Speech brilliantly portrays). Make it too common and you blunt the unique neurological effect. I would say Gamma Coin has enough to blunt it. By the end I was just skimming past it because it didn’t mean anything. I think the book would have been improved (very slightly) by decreasing a little of the strongest language and replacing it with milder or more moderate language.
Leave some room at the top for when you need it to count.
That’s my opinion and I know many authors prefer to defer to ‘realism’ instead. I think that can be a mistake, but that’s a conversation for another time.
The long and short of it.
If you’re a fan of cyberpunk crime thrillers, you owe it to yourself to read Gamma Coin. You won’t be disappointed.
It’s great. I promise.
Top reviews from other countries
- Sam HartReviewed in Australia on March 13, 2024
5.0 out of 5 stars cyberpunk with bleak and hope
This has the same excellent, surreal world as Bastion 1, which is a very good thing. You should read it. All your socials are reading it. The big streamers can’t stop talking about it. Trait analysis suggests it would be just your style, your cool, edgy style. You have that swagger. That potential. It’s time to make it real!
The food isn’t real though, it’s compressed yeast.
Budget cuts, watcha gonna do?
Anyway, this story, like book one, is self contained but still connected. Drugs, crypto, the surveillance state and black market robotics are all in play, brought to you in crisp and lean writing, damn near flawless storytelling, and a very nicely put together cast of distinctive characters.
Absolutely worth a few bucks and your time, highly recommended!