Tigerman

From mad post-apocalyptic sci-fi with ninjas to gangsters and spies with clockwork death-bees to post-colonial environmental disaster zone with super-hero, Harkaway's books are actually gradually becoming more and more grounded. I mean, they've not quite landed yet and may rocket for the moon with the next one for all I know, but Tigerman's got more plausability going for it than the others while still having wild and mad corners. It takes about half the book for the cogs to all mesh and the elements to combine and the set-up to pay off into an unputdownable narrative. Part of the is the subtle complexity of his prose, which looks like the sort of smooth-as-polished-glass stuff that flies by under the eyes, but actually arrests the show more brain with slightly demanding constructions and ideas, conveying the trickiness of tricky relationships, whether personal or political or social or global. A literary writer of pulp entertainments. I think he's still developing, and perhaps has a way to go, but it'll be very interesting to follow his journey.

Edit on reread: God that bit at the end was pompous. My review, not the book. show less

Tigerman is decidedly less sfnal than other Harkaway novels I have read (The Gone-Away World and Gnomon), but it is in large measure an indulgence in costumed vigilantism with the superhero mythos firmly in its sights. In the third chapter, a twelve-year-old boy uses a rolled up copy of an Invisibles comic book to attack a bandit. And I think that Tigerman is to Aidan Truhen's (i.e. Harkaway's) later Jack Price books very much as Grant Morrison's The Filth was to his own earlier Invisibles work. It's a matter of worrying at the same questions and catastrophes from two different perspectives: the criminal (The Invisibles; Jack Price) and the cop (The Filth; Tigerman).*

"His perceptions of copperhood were formed by the dream of England, show more still. A copper was a bloke in a slightly silly hat who walked the beat, talked to shopkeepers about the price of fish, and sorted out young ruffians." (59)

Protagonist--and eventual secret identity--Lester Ferris is an English infantry sergeant serving as brevet consul, the sole vestigial authority of the UK in the former colony of Mancreu, an island slated for eradication by the UN Security Council because of its contamination by chemical and biological hazards. Seen through a wide lens, there are many curious parallels here with the bachelor police investigator of The Wicker Man (1973), although this book lacks the movie's happy ending. And of course the folk horror setting is changed for a 21st-century neocapitalist backdrop of ecocide and digital mediascapes.

Tigerman is a fast read in about twenty longish chapters, each digestible in a single sitting. It has a lot of strongly-drawn characters, none of them entirely realistic, and many quite over-the-top. There is a major twist that I was able to anticipate just a few pages ahead of its official reveal. I suspect that was by the author's design--a pleasant experience for readers.

* Edited to add: Now that I have read Angelmaker I realize that the matched criminal/cop pair is really Angelmaker and Tigerman. show less

Lester Ferris' army career is coming to a close. A former sergeant in the British infantry who's seen too much action and has now been given a supposedly quiet posting as brevet-consul for the imminently doomed island of Mancreu. The island is about to be destroyed due to a potential environmental disaster involving chemicals and a volcano. While a NATO protection force oversee the leisurely evacuation it's Lester's job to basically see and do nothing and especially ignore the mysterious fleet of ships anchored just off-shore. He's there just to provide a friendly face and act as a kind of local policeman for the community that remains. This he's done admirably especially with the boy. A street-smart kid who's addicted to comic books. A show more boy seemingly devoid of family and reticent to expand on himself is quite content in spending time with Lester who has become rather attached. So much so that he's begun making discrete enquiries as to what will happen to the boy when the current situation is all over. So when the boy is badly beaten the two conspire to enact a vengeance on the perpetrators that will set in motion a chain of events that will change everything.

This is a gripping action-adventure tale that uses comic-book superhero tropes while examining large scale political issues as well as familial relationships of a father/son dynamic. The characters that inhabit this world are wonderfully put together with depth for each of them and the odd nod and a wink to the stereotypes that often feature in these kind of tales. There are enough fun moments along the way to keep the mood light and the pace,while not frantic, moving along at a fair rate of knots. It's another book that differs from the author's previous two and I'm very impressed by his scope and versatility and one I can now safely add to my favourite authors list. As the boy would put it "This book is full of win!". show less

This is probably Harkaway's least genre outing, in the sense that it doesn't feature global apocalypse, bombs that destroy reality, ninja, cake, steampunk monks or mechanical bees. I hope it furthers his road to a broader audience, because I think it's brilliant. This is Nick Harkaway writing a John Le Carre story.

On the Le Carre side, Tigerman is a cynical commentary on politics (dirty) and culpability (deniable), and a touching exploration of the affections of an emotionally-battered sergeant with PTSD, unexpectedly making new connections during the final days of an island every government pretends doesn't exist (and soon won't, because they're going to blow it up). Lester Ferris channels many stereotypes (not least British show more discomfort with talking about feelings) and still feels real, thanks not least to Harkaway's deft touch in aside (The man had no calluses, and his eyes were perfectly empty may now be my favourite ever condemnation of the modern politician).

By contrast, the boy Lester hopes to adopt is pure Harkaway and draws the narrative firmly back into his preferred domain. A streetwise cipher who speaks Internet, his English is a loose string of enthusiastic gaming, scifi, and comic references that had me in stitches. The boy's total attachment to genre entertainment turns the Le Carre set-up into a reluctant superhero story that feels almost credible - far-fetched as spy fiction, but firmly set in a recognisable world.

The rollicking adventure races with a sense of inevitability, twisting and turning through plot development that is almost mythic in its familiarity. I did briefly think it was going to break my heart, but it didn't in the end (because I am less emotionally engaged by father/son bonding, being an only daughter who never had a father) - although it was immensely satisfying.

In summary: wheeeeeeeeeeeee and also wooooo. Made of win. show less

Brilliant
How does an author follow up an award winning book? By writing something completely different but equally compelling. This is the trick that Nick Harkaway has pulled off with this, his third book.
Lester Ferris is a sergeant in the infantry who winds up on the island of Mancreu after a tour in Afghanistan. This is a former British colony in the Arabian sea that has been given over to the NATO and Allied Protection Force of Mancreu (NatProMan). Technically Lester is the senior officer of the United Kingdom’s Mancreu command and senior consular member. But the whole island is imminently going to be demolished due to an extinction level threat from outgassing of toxicity and mutant bacteria from volcanic vents. Previous show more outgassings have had some unusual properties and are totally unpredictable.
Lester has established several fair weather friendships but none so important to him than with ‘the boy’, a comics book obsessed, internet savvy local youth who calls himself ‘Robin’. He is also friends with the NatProMan man in charge, the Japanese scientist studying the island and a local café owner. The island has become a bit of a backwater, due to people Leaving (yes with a capital L) and the UK government basically abandoning it. This has led to a fleet of illicit ships floating just off the island, listening stations, black-ops and all sorts of other shady dealings that governments can treat with plausible deniability.
Lester’s job is basically to keep the consulate ticking over and “not get involved” apart from to do some basic policing and representing Britain in a nominal way. When violence starts to spread and Lester gets more involved with the boy it becomes ever more difficult for him to remain aloof and he feels the need to become involved, which the boy encourages. It isn’t long before the legend of the Tigerman is born.
Tigerman, although ostensibly built like a superhero origin tale and drawing on comic book colour (“full of win”, “We are made of awesome”) is an endearing paternal tale and a complex character study. In fact Tigerman only just dips its toe into genre and if you’re looking for full on SF&F then this may not be the place to look. However it is a great read and Mancreu and its colourful cast of characters is a great place to visit for the duration of this book. It has things to say about politics and the state of the world making It a more reflective book than the previous two, but all the more powerful for it. It is also a book, like Gone Away World where, when you get to the end, you are tempted to start all over again. That, I feel, is the sign of a great book.

Overall - Harkaway just seems to be getting better, if you like his other books go and get a copy show less

I struggled to get into this book; but once I did I found it very hard to put down. I found myself thinking about it a lot. Is the doomed island meant to be our dying earth? Is. the Sergeant's role a representation of Britain's status in the world? Is the Fleet a metaphor for the world of big corporations and organised crime? And so it goes, thoughts upon thoughts upon thoughts all jumbled together in a wonderful literary mish-mash which is an exhilarating read. I had never heard of Nick Harkaway before being given this book; now his other books are high on my wish list. Do try it!

Mancreu is an island in the Indian Ocean under a death sentence, due to burn for its crimes. But the crimes are environmental, created by outside empires and corporations who have turned the island into a chemical disaster zone with their pollution. There's also an offshore fleet of ships taking advantage of lax laws to engage in unregulated business of all types. The island is to be evacuated, then destroyed.

Lester Ferris is an army sergeant, war veteran, and the lone British official on the island. His orders are to lay low and cause no embarassment to the U.K. But some of the contractors supposed to be keeping order are engaged in drug trafficking and who knows what else. Ferris is also trying to figure out a way to adopt a show more semi-feral island boy and get him safely off the island before it ceases to exist. Inspired by the boy's beloved comic books, Ferris gets drawn into a highly visible role as a crime fighter who becomes known as Tigerman (not Tiger Man.) Like previous superheros, Tigerman's true identity is not known to most.

Set in a backdrop of chaos and high emotions Ferris's quest to do good sets off a dramatic series of unintended consequences. A highly original and entertaining book. show less