Hammered— a quick review

One of the eBooks I purchased recently is a debut novel by Elizabeth Bear. She isn't related to Greg Bear, but I wasn't sure when I chose to put this science fiction action/thriller on my TBR stack. (One doesn't actually stack eBooks, of course.) After I read a couple of mediocre novels by writers who used to be favorites, I turned to Hammered.

At first, it seemed to gritty and urban, the dystopian version of the future which serious science fiction authors all seem to have. But there was enough freshness in the narrative, along with a main character who is former military, approaching fifty, and not without some physical damage. If the protagonist had been young and trying to find herself, I would have bailed, but a realistic and interesting main character was the reason that I stayed with it. All in all, I enjoyed the novel, and I will read the next story in the arc, because I was intrigued and do want to see how Jenny Casey gets through her next set of challenges.

If you like science fiction set on this planet, with overtones of cyberpunk, you should like Hammered. I don't like those things, and I liked it anyway.

Click on the title of this post, or the book title for links to more detailed reviews.