Moxyland

'Compared to living in fear, terrorised by criminals, the hijackings and shootings and the tik junkies ready to kill you, shoot you, stab you, for a watch or a camera, I'll take those modified dogs and the whaddayacallit, the cellphone electrocutions, any day. But these people don't understand what they're trying to achieve.'

The story follows four young people over a few days in a near-future South Africa where your phone is everything; your SIM is linked to your ID and without your phone you lose access to buildings, money, your whole life. The police can taser you through your phone, it can be 'defused' (deactivated) temporarily or permanently as a legal punishment and you can get two years in prison for buying an illegal phone that show more isn't locked to your ID. I have always liked cyberpunk stories and the society in this story seemed worryingly plausible. show less

Beukes builds a fascinating world in Moxyland which is all the more powerful because I can imagine the technology and big brother aspects of this techno society are not all that far off being a reality.

Moxyland wasn’t a complete hit with me simply because of my initial reaction to the characters - Tendeka’s non stop activism and Toby’s sense of entitlement irritated me. Kendra started as the character I most liked, but she lost some of her spark. However, it doesn’t take too long to realise these character (well, except perhaps Toby) are all very much the product of their tough environment and their behaviours reflect this.

It may have taken me a little while to warm to it, but in the end this is a gripping story that raises some show more pertinent questions about where all our technology is taking us. show less

I loved the idea behind this story. It's constant online connection taken to its extreme form showing just how clear the divide between the haves and have-nots is. In a utopian society, everyone would have free and easy access to the internet. In this society, access is determined by your social class and your social class, in turn, determines your access. People working for the corporations stay in their corporate areas with their high-tech gadgets and are well insulated from the problems the rest of their society faces. The middle-class have--and need-their phones for everything from communication to purchases to access to different societal spaces (and that access is limited when compared to that of the corporate class). And people show more without phones are the lowest of the low, unable to even access certain physical spaces. Throw in branding, activism, terrorism, and some corporate headhunting that might end in death and you've got Moxyland. show less

Having read and enjoyed this author's The Shining Girls, I decided to read her others and I'm glad I did.

Told through the viewpoints of four characters, this is a scary story about a near-future world. Set in South Africa, the story focuses on new tech and how it can be used to control people. Disrupters in phones that are controlled by the police. Experimental nanotech that can become part of a person and give them cravings for the products produced by the tech's sponsor. Tech that we've come to depend on can be turned against us in an instant. Kendra, an up-and-coming photographer/artist opts for the new nanotech, hoping it will enhance her artistic expression. Toby, a slacker/gamer, spends his time looking for his next high and the show more breaking news he can record and broadcast that will make him famous. Tendeka, part of the underclass, wants to end corporate oppression while helping street kids. And Lerato, a corporate programmer, has ambitions of her own.

Toby is the connection to the others: friend to Tendeka, friend and sometimes lover to Lerato, acquaintance of Kendra. As they weave into and out of each other's lives, through Beukes's sure prose, the feeling of tension slowly builds to a chilling climax, sparked by Tendeka's growing involvement in a protest movement, his actions increasing in risk and danger, and pushing at the controlling entities until they push back. This book is almost too close to current reality to be called science fiction. More accurately, it can be considered a cautionary tale, a warning of where society is heading. show less

I really enjoyed this novel.

The setup was pure near-future SF with nice thriller/horror undertones, kinda a mix between Stross's [b:Rule 34|8853299|Rule 34 (Halting State, #2)|Charles Stross|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1306168574s/8853299.jpg|13728393] with some vintage William Gibson, and finishing with a really nice twist. What was most scary about it was how realistic and how very *possible* it is.

But setup and plot is only part of what makes this book great. In the end, I can't help but think only wonderful thoughts about all the characters I got to live vicariously through. I've read [b:Broken Monsters|23341578|Broken Monsters|Lauren Beukes|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1434675391s/23341578.jpg|27869457] and loved it for it's show more characters, too. Both of these are very different beasts, of course, with this one being firmly SF, but I also loved her rich and vivid treatment of her characters. They are so completely memorable, even now, and can't help but be very impressed that she pulled it off again for such a new and varied cast, here.

Any tale is going to be extremely rich and memorable in direct proportion to how well the characters are drawn, and I can honestly say that I'm blown away. I loved these guys and gals. I'm also horrified. It's not like they were shining examples of anything except being people, with all the good and the bad, but I'm still left almost speechless by the results.

And the twist.

I can't wait to keep reading everything she's put out. I'm now officially hooked. Not only are the characters brilliant, but the plots are truly fine and the implications truly scary. I wasn't able to put the novel down and I was very engrossed. Total Entertainment. :)

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC! show less

Moxyland was a wonderful cyberpunk dystopia that only a modern South African could write, complete with softdrink sponsorbabies, rebels with a cause but perhaps not direction, corporatism, designer viruses, police violence and biotech dogs. What more could you ask for? I gave it 4 1/2 stars. I really loved it, and wanted to give it 5, but felt that should be saved for, what? Shakespeare?

Thoroughly enjoyed this. Very reminiscent of Mirrorshades-style [a: William Gibson|9226|William Gibson|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1373826214p2/9226.jpg] with the added benefit that I didn't get lost in too much cybercant - Beukes manages to make it just weird and foreign enough to qualify as dystopian cyberpunk but still accessible to those don't read genre fiction. I'm sure earlier drafts of the novel were crammed with cool future concepts that Beukes was probably loathe to part with when it came to editing but Beukes and [a: Helen Moffett|1276006|Helen Moffett|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1294738305p2/1276006.jpg] did a good job in keeping it tight.

The plotting and particularly the denouement were efficient and plausible, so show more often the failing of speculative fiction novels. Well, plausible, in the sense that there were no lazy deus ex-machina plot devices to magically tie up all the loose ends.

As a Capetonian, I loved all the South-Africanisms and the inventive use of trans-literal slang such as "splinter new" from the Afrikaans "splinter nuut". Still don't know what toyota means, though.

My only criticism was that the characters struggled to find their voice. I would often have to reread a passage of dialogue to keep track of who was saying what. Having said that, the characters in [b: The Shining Girls|16131077|The Shining Girls|Lauren Beukes|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1352227705s/16131077.jpg|21956898] had strong, unique voices so it's not something that should deter readers from reading Beukes' other novels. show less