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Repo Virtual
Corey J. White's debut novel Repo Virtual blurs the lines between the real and virtual in an action-packed cyberpunk heist story.
An Amazon and Kobo Best Book of April!
The city of Neo Songdo is a Russian doll of realities -- augmented and virtual spaces anchored in the weight of the real. The smart city is designed to be read by machine vision while people see only the augmented facade of the corporate ideal. At night the stars are obscured by an intergalactic virtual war being waged by millions of players, while on the streets below people are forced to beg, steal, and hustle to survive.
Enter Julius Dax, online repoman and real-life thief. He's been hired for a special job: stealing an unknown object from a reclusive tech billionaire. But when he finds out he's stolen the first sentient AI, his payday gets a lot more complicated.
An Amazon and Kobo Best Book of April!
The city of Neo Songdo is a Russian doll of realities -- augmented and virtual spaces anchored in the weight of the real. The smart city is designed to be read by machine vision while people see only the augmented facade of the corporate ideal. At night the stars are obscured by an intergalactic virtual war being waged by millions of players, while on the streets below people are forced to beg, steal, and hustle to survive.
Enter Julius Dax, online repoman and real-life thief. He's been hired for a special job: stealing an unknown object from a reclusive tech billionaire. But when he finds out he's stolen the first sentient AI, his payday gets a lot more complicated.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published April 21, 2020
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3675 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 132 reviews
April 12, 2020
4.0 Stars
It’s always a great feeling when one of your most anticipated books lives up to the hype! Repo Virtual was exactly the futuristic cyberpunk heist I wanted!
The world building in this one was absolutely fascinating. I loved how the virtual reality overlay that obscured, but did not completely, hide the poverty and crime of the world. The world just felt so real and gritty. I think this would be an excellent book to recommend for fans of the new video game, CyberPunk 2077.
Another one of my favourite aspects of the story was the artificial intelligence angle. This perspective was written in such an interesting and unique way, which made for a very engaging experience. The narrative explored the ideas surrounding personhood in a thoughtful, and sometimes humorous, way. I only wished this part of the story began earlier in the book so that I could have spent more time with the AI.
Finally, I have to mention the diversity in this book. Within this narrative, I found people of colour, ethnic minorities, non-binary people as well as gay and lesbian characters. These aspects of the story were never the focus, but simply included as normal aspects of society.
This book is definitely written as a standalone, but (for the first time ever) I actually found myself hoping for a follow up novel because I want to spend more time with the characters and world. I would recommend this one to anyone wanting a diverse, gritty and humorous heist story with some excellent world building.
Disclaimer: I received a digital copy from the publisher, Tor.com
It’s always a great feeling when one of your most anticipated books lives up to the hype! Repo Virtual was exactly the futuristic cyberpunk heist I wanted!
The world building in this one was absolutely fascinating. I loved how the virtual reality overlay that obscured, but did not completely, hide the poverty and crime of the world. The world just felt so real and gritty. I think this would be an excellent book to recommend for fans of the new video game, CyberPunk 2077.
Another one of my favourite aspects of the story was the artificial intelligence angle. This perspective was written in such an interesting and unique way, which made for a very engaging experience. The narrative explored the ideas surrounding personhood in a thoughtful, and sometimes humorous, way. I only wished this part of the story began earlier in the book so that I could have spent more time with the AI.
Finally, I have to mention the diversity in this book. Within this narrative, I found people of colour, ethnic minorities, non-binary people as well as gay and lesbian characters. These aspects of the story were never the focus, but simply included as normal aspects of society.
This book is definitely written as a standalone, but (for the first time ever) I actually found myself hoping for a follow up novel because I want to spend more time with the characters and world. I would recommend this one to anyone wanting a diverse, gritty and humorous heist story with some excellent world building.
Disclaimer: I received a digital copy from the publisher, Tor.com
November 19, 2019
The most frustrating thing about being a fan of a genre publisher, like I am with the science-fiction press Tor, is that for every amazing book they put out, we have to wade through ten mediocre ones, designed mostly for hardcore superfans who burn through a book a day and therefore have a much lower standard of quality than we do, essentially the literary equivalent of bingeing an entire season of Law & Order over a weekend because we're too lazy to get off the couch, and the show provides the barest minimal excuse we need to indulge ourselves. Take Corey J. White's Repo Virtual for a great example, part of that nostalgic retro obsession with '80s and '90s cyberpunk that seems to be coursing through the industry right now. This novel feels like White tore through the complete '80s work of William Gibson one summer, loved it and wanted to try one of his own, but couldn't come up with any original ideas himself, so just threw Gibson's books into a salad spinner until all the pieces came out in a slightly different order than before. To be clear, that doesn't make this a bad book at all; indeed, that's precisely the problem, that it's just middlebrow decent enough that it will never offend anyone, but by definition will never be memorable to anyone either. It's a perfectly fine choice for a convention-going fanboy who's looking for something to kill a random Tuesday afternoon to Wednesday afternoon; but for the rest of us, you can go ahead and start the countdown from nine now, until we're ready for another astounding title from this high-volume publisher.
May 30, 2020
In the city of Neo Songdo, a failed capitalist autonomous city-state that's located in Korea, Julius Dax "JD" makes his living in the real world as an on-call robot repairman and in the virtual world doing repossession jobs of digital property in a detailed online game called VOIDWAR. In the world of rampant climate change and political collapse an economy that's basically been taken over by robotic production makes it difficult for humans to make ends meet. All of which makes an offer from JD's sibling Soo-hyun to make big money difficult to refuse. The job is to steal something in the real world from the apartment of the man who owns Zero Corporation (the makers of VOIDWAR).
But what JD actually steals isn't what he was told it was, and fairly soon he has Soo-hyun's cult leader after him as well as a retired covert operative employed by Zero Corporation on his tail, all while trying to make sense of what he's now in possession of.
It's about time someone did a good job at updating the cyberpunk genre for a more modern perspective. It's an interesting update too, with the first and second generations of this sub-genre really skewing towards rampant capitalism and showing the effects of that on people. This one goes a step further to describe a capitalism that has failed leaving countries, cities and people looking for alternatives.
JD makes for an interesting character. Ostensibly a thief, but with an interesting point of view, illustrated by a conversation he has with his ex:
His view isn't even all that different from the cult that JD's sibling is a member of, and it makes for an interesting story where nearly all sides of the conflict realize that they're heading for disaster.
I strongly recommend this; it's an excellent read. If you get a chance, the audiobook is also brilliant, and the Australian narrator does a brilliant job of capturing the chatter, particularly between JD and Khoder.
But what JD actually steals isn't what he was told it was, and fairly soon he has Soo-hyun's cult leader after him as well as a retired covert operative employed by Zero Corporation on his tail, all while trying to make sense of what he's now in possession of.
It's about time someone did a good job at updating the cyberpunk genre for a more modern perspective. It's an interesting update too, with the first and second generations of this sub-genre really skewing towards rampant capitalism and showing the effects of that on people. This one goes a step further to describe a capitalism that has failed leaving countries, cities and people looking for alternatives.
JD makes for an interesting character. Ostensibly a thief, but with an interesting point of view, illustrated by a conversation he has with his ex:
“I want to be with you, but the you that has a job, that gives a damn about his future.”
JD dressed quickly, smell of last night’s clothes filling his nostrils as soon as he was dressed. He met Troy in the hallway between rooms. “Why do you think I do this shit?” he said. “There are no jobs, there’s no fucking future,” he spat the words out, angrier than he’d meant, and Troy stepped back as though struck.
Troy crossed his arms over his chest. “You can’t believe that.”
“I do, though. I have to make a future for myself any way I can. But sure, you go and teach philosophy to students who’ll wind up working four jobs just to make ends meet. When all this comes tumbling down, at least they’ll be able to chat about Kierkegaard while they’re eating rats around a bonfire.”
His view isn't even all that different from the cult that JD's sibling is a member of, and it makes for an interesting story where nearly all sides of the conflict realize that they're heading for disaster.
I strongly recommend this; it's an excellent read. If you get a chance, the audiobook is also brilliant, and the Australian narrator does a brilliant job of capturing the chatter, particularly between JD and Khoder.
anti-library
January 29, 2020SCREAMING
-------------------------
COREY J. WHITE WRITING A FULL-LENGTH NOVEL ABOUT A CYBERPUNK HEIST TAKING PLACE IN REAL AND VIRTUAL REALITIES IN THE HUNT FOR A TRUE AI ASLDFKGHAS I CANNOT EVEN.
-------------------------
COREY J. WHITE WRITING A FULL-LENGTH NOVEL ABOUT A CYBERPUNK HEIST TAKING PLACE IN REAL AND VIRTUAL REALITIES IN THE HUNT FOR A TRUE AI ASLDFKGHAS I CANNOT EVEN.
April 22, 2022
➸ Trigger warnings for .
▷ Representation: JD (mc) is Black, achillean & has a chronic knee injury; Troy (li) is Black, achillean & has vitiligo; Enda (mc) is a sapphic trans woman; Soo-hyuan (mc) is nonbinary (they/them); queer, disabled and bipoc scs.
Blog • Trigger Warning Database • Twitter • Instagram
▷ Representation: JD (mc) is Black, achillean & has a chronic knee injury; Troy (li) is Black, achillean & has vitiligo; Enda (mc) is a sapphic trans woman; Soo-hyuan (mc) is nonbinary (they/them); queer, disabled and bipoc scs.
Blog • Trigger Warning Database • Twitter • Instagram
April 20, 2020
"Thousands of hours spent creating a universe for people to war over. Millions of people spending billions of collective hours fighting imaginary wars. Mining digital ore to build digital ships--every atom in the universe accounted for, artificial scarcity through detailed simulation. For eighteen years the simulation held. Children grew up inside it. They learned math through transactional trial and error. They learned spelling, comprehension, cusses and slurs through in-game chat channels.
It was just as real as the real, sometimes more so.
It was real until it wasn't.
It was real until the heat-death of that digital universe, locked forever inside a server farm in the formerly United States of America, data degrading year by year until only a corrupt reality remained.
Corrupt reality? Which one? This one?"
Repo Virtual is the first full-length novel from Corey J. White.
When I heard that White was writing a new book, I was excited to see what else he has up his sleeve as a fan of his criminally underrated series, The VoidWitch Saga. I had the opportunity to interview him before the final installment, Static Ruin, was released. He briefly mentioned that Repo Virtual would be the next book and that it's an updated look at the cyberpunk subgenre.
With hackers, AI heists and found family, it certainly has many aspects that I adore! And robot dogs. WHO DOESN'T WANT TO READ ABOUT A ROBOT DOG?!
Julius Dax, aka JD, is a thief and online repo man in the city of Neo Songdo. Neo Songdo is a city in Korea that blurs the line between reality and virtual life, melding together computer-generated digital elements into our real world environments. Zero Corporation is a massive tech company that runs the worlds largest online simulation, Voidwar.
JD is a schemer, hustling his way through life. Barely scraping by, he is unable to pass up the chance to make a fuck ton of money by stealing a package containing a computer virus from the reclusive billionaire, Zero Lee.
"Too late, Enda realized that perhaps she shouldn't have throat-punched the messenger."
Themes of racism, chronic pain, corruption, religion, capitalism, technology advancement. Repo Virtual was a bit of a mixed bag overall. Like a cyberpunk echo chamber of Snow Crash and Ready Player One, but with much-needed diversity. Unfortunately, White didn't expand upon the glorious representation he had at his fingertips. The biggest letdown was the depiction of Soo-Hyun, JD's stepsibling. Soo-Hyun is an enby character who basically exists in order to develop JD's narrative further. They are a plot device, a puppet in JD's play, if you will. This was a missed opportunity to fully flesh out someone who is frequently underrepresented.
Repo Virtual is a solidly entertaining read that gives a necessary shakeup to the otherwise clichéd character tropes often found in cyberpunk. However, the mark was missed when it comes to reinvigorating the canon plot, introducing magnetic personalities, diverse characters with agency and bringing something uniquely original to the (often intimidating) SFF table.
(Thanks to Tor.com Publishing for sending me a copy!)
**The quotes above were taken from an ARC & are subject to change upon publication**
It was just as real as the real, sometimes more so.
It was real until it wasn't.
It was real until the heat-death of that digital universe, locked forever inside a server farm in the formerly United States of America, data degrading year by year until only a corrupt reality remained.
Corrupt reality? Which one? This one?"
Repo Virtual is the first full-length novel from Corey J. White.
When I heard that White was writing a new book, I was excited to see what else he has up his sleeve as a fan of his criminally underrated series, The VoidWitch Saga. I had the opportunity to interview him before the final installment, Static Ruin, was released. He briefly mentioned that Repo Virtual would be the next book and that it's an updated look at the cyberpunk subgenre.
With hackers, AI heists and found family, it certainly has many aspects that I adore! And robot dogs. WHO DOESN'T WANT TO READ ABOUT A ROBOT DOG?!
Julius Dax, aka JD, is a thief and online repo man in the city of Neo Songdo. Neo Songdo is a city in Korea that blurs the line between reality and virtual life, melding together computer-generated digital elements into our real world environments. Zero Corporation is a massive tech company that runs the worlds largest online simulation, Voidwar.
JD is a schemer, hustling his way through life. Barely scraping by, he is unable to pass up the chance to make a fuck ton of money by stealing a package containing a computer virus from the reclusive billionaire, Zero Lee.
"Too late, Enda realized that perhaps she shouldn't have throat-punched the messenger."
Themes of racism, chronic pain, corruption, religion, capitalism, technology advancement. Repo Virtual was a bit of a mixed bag overall. Like a cyberpunk echo chamber of Snow Crash and Ready Player One, but with much-needed diversity. Unfortunately, White didn't expand upon the glorious representation he had at his fingertips. The biggest letdown was the depiction of Soo-Hyun, JD's stepsibling. Soo-Hyun is an enby character who basically exists in order to develop JD's narrative further. They are a plot device, a puppet in JD's play, if you will. This was a missed opportunity to fully flesh out someone who is frequently underrepresented.
Repo Virtual is a solidly entertaining read that gives a necessary shakeup to the otherwise clichéd character tropes often found in cyberpunk. However, the mark was missed when it comes to reinvigorating the canon plot, introducing magnetic personalities, diverse characters with agency and bringing something uniquely original to the (often intimidating) SFF table.
(Thanks to Tor.com Publishing for sending me a copy!)
**The quotes above were taken from an ARC & are subject to change upon publication**
April 20, 2020
Actual rating: 3.5
First things first (I'm the realest). Sorry, whenever I say that phrase, that lyric from Fancy always pops into my head. Anyway!! My point was I first wanted to focus on the premise - a heist? An AI? Yes. Two of my favorite things. I went into this book being pretty sure I would love it. Sadly I didn't quite LOVE it, but I still did enjoy it a lot.
The book is split into three parts, but I would say the split is more like two main arcs. The first is the heist part, which lasts about the first third of the novel. The second is the post-heist, the investigation of the heist and exploration of the AI.
I thought for sure I'd be hooked by the beginning - I mean, it's a heist! I love heists. But it draaagged and I wasn't that invested!! I had a hard time connecting and feeling anything for the characters. The world was also super interesting, but confusing! As the book went on I kind of got more of a feel for it, but at the beginning I was confused and couldn't picture it well.
However, the second part felt TOTALLY different. I LOVED it. The main difference was that there was the introduction of two characters - Enda and the AI - who really made the difference for me. I love them both. Enda is a badass bitch and takes no shit and is totally awesome - and flawed in a way that is realistic and makes her interesting to read about. The AI character is also great. For one, because I just love AIs. But two, because since you get to read from its perspective, you get to literally watch it develop a personality. That was honestly so interesting and cool to read.
Also, the pacing in the latter 2/3 felt much more even, and I wanted to keep reading to know what happened. There were more pieces and it was more complex than the simple beginning heist, and I think that made a big difference in it just being more interesting. As I said, the world also became clearer, probably just because of having been immersed and reading about it for longer.
I think my main issue with this book that prevented me from loving it was really the characters. As I said, I only really connected with Enda and the AI, and they don't show up until at least a third of the way through the book! That makes a large part of the book hard to enjoy.
I also want to talk about one particular character, Soo-hyun, who is nonbinary. Having that sort of diversity and representation on page is great, however what isn't great is that I felt like this character didn't have much agency of their own. They seemed to exist to only be used by other characters, namely one of the antagonists. This isn't a good thing for any sort of character, but it makes me especially uncomfortable when it's the one nonbinary person.
I think many people will be able to love this book, and I'm sad I'm not one of them! But as I said, I still did enjoy reading it and I do want to try more from this author!
First things first (I'm the realest). Sorry, whenever I say that phrase, that lyric from Fancy always pops into my head. Anyway!! My point was I first wanted to focus on the premise - a heist? An AI? Yes. Two of my favorite things. I went into this book being pretty sure I would love it. Sadly I didn't quite LOVE it, but I still did enjoy it a lot.
The book is split into three parts, but I would say the split is more like two main arcs. The first is the heist part, which lasts about the first third of the novel. The second is the post-heist, the investigation of the heist and exploration of the AI.
I thought for sure I'd be hooked by the beginning - I mean, it's a heist! I love heists. But it draaagged and I wasn't that invested!! I had a hard time connecting and feeling anything for the characters. The world was also super interesting, but confusing! As the book went on I kind of got more of a feel for it, but at the beginning I was confused and couldn't picture it well.
However, the second part felt TOTALLY different. I LOVED it. The main difference was that there was the introduction of two characters - Enda and the AI - who really made the difference for me. I love them both. Enda is a badass bitch and takes no shit and is totally awesome - and flawed in a way that is realistic and makes her interesting to read about. The AI character is also great. For one, because I just love AIs. But two, because since you get to read from its perspective, you get to literally watch it develop a personality. That was honestly so interesting and cool to read.
Also, the pacing in the latter 2/3 felt much more even, and I wanted to keep reading to know what happened. There were more pieces and it was more complex than the simple beginning heist, and I think that made a big difference in it just being more interesting. As I said, the world also became clearer, probably just because of having been immersed and reading about it for longer.
I think my main issue with this book that prevented me from loving it was really the characters. As I said, I only really connected with Enda and the AI, and they don't show up until at least a third of the way through the book! That makes a large part of the book hard to enjoy.
I also want to talk about one particular character, Soo-hyun, who is nonbinary. Having that sort of diversity and representation on page is great, however what isn't great is that I felt like this character didn't have much agency of their own. They seemed to exist to only be used by other characters, namely one of the antagonists. This isn't a good thing for any sort of character, but it makes me especially uncomfortable when it's the one nonbinary person.
I think many people will be able to love this book, and I'm sad I'm not one of them! But as I said, I still did enjoy reading it and I do want to try more from this author!
July 22, 2020
This was incredibly tightly plotted and a different take in the usual beginning of an AI. The characters were well drawn and I could visualize the world in its mix of poverty and VR overlay-so very satisfying! Oh and I also enjoyed the writing and the audio narrator was first class. So glad my GR buddy Lindsay mentioned this book. Highly recommended!
April 26, 2020
Cyberpunk seems to be slowly creeping back into current Scifi novels. This pretty much mashes up most of whats been done before into a more straight forward story of rebels or outcasts bringing down the mega corps. The action was great, the character representation was well done, however the story was a little cliched. I also found the villains to be one dimensional. Good but there's much better scifi being written.
February 13, 2020
The city of Songdo blurs the line between virtual reality and the real; a smart city designed to be viewed through a rig with all the trademarks of a corporate facade, complete with plenty of advertisements.
The population steals and hustles on the streets to survive while the Zero Corporation continues to control the world, both virtual and real.
Julius Dax (JD) is an online repoman trying to make ends meet. In need of enough money to cover a knee surgery and pay off debts, JD can't turn down a job willing to pay fifty thousand euro. All he has to do is steal a piece of software that was stolen from the inventor.
The problem is that the tech billionaire behind Zero Corporation is the person in possession of the software and the inventor is an influencer named Kali who has created a commune to preach her disgust for the system and belief in the power of AI.
Stealing the software isn't overly complicated with the right team but the plan changes when JD realizes the software is actually a sentient AI that could change the future of the entire world.
Neither Zero Corp or Kali are aware that the software is actually the first sentient AI in existence but they both know it's powerful enough to fight (and even kill) for. JD pulled off the heist but now he has to bring down his pursuers to save the world from their further influence.
There isn't a shortage of cyberpunk heists these days which means Repo Virtual is right on trend in sci-fi publishing.
The problem for me is that it gets lost in the genre with the same old storyline: a team of rebel outcasts pull off a dangerous heist and then have to save the world from villains using tech.
The worldbuilding was weak and I struggled to understand certain scenes for lack of detail.
The caricatured villains lacked depth and I rolled my eyes at the nonsense that Kali offered up. Zero Corporation and Kali never felt like real threats.
I did enjoy the action scenes, diverse character representation, and overall atmosphere despite subpar worldbuilding.
Repo Virtual doesn't stand out as exceptional among the recent cyberpunk releases but it's still an entertaining addition to the genre.
Thanks to Edelweiss and Tor.com for providing me with a DRC in exchange for my honest review. Repo Virtual is scheduled for release on April 21, 2020.
For more reviews, visit www.rootsandreads.wordpress.com
The population steals and hustles on the streets to survive while the Zero Corporation continues to control the world, both virtual and real.
Julius Dax (JD) is an online repoman trying to make ends meet. In need of enough money to cover a knee surgery and pay off debts, JD can't turn down a job willing to pay fifty thousand euro. All he has to do is steal a piece of software that was stolen from the inventor.
The problem is that the tech billionaire behind Zero Corporation is the person in possession of the software and the inventor is an influencer named Kali who has created a commune to preach her disgust for the system and belief in the power of AI.
Stealing the software isn't overly complicated with the right team but the plan changes when JD realizes the software is actually a sentient AI that could change the future of the entire world.
Neither Zero Corp or Kali are aware that the software is actually the first sentient AI in existence but they both know it's powerful enough to fight (and even kill) for. JD pulled off the heist but now he has to bring down his pursuers to save the world from their further influence.
There isn't a shortage of cyberpunk heists these days which means Repo Virtual is right on trend in sci-fi publishing.
The problem for me is that it gets lost in the genre with the same old storyline: a team of rebel outcasts pull off a dangerous heist and then have to save the world from villains using tech.
The worldbuilding was weak and I struggled to understand certain scenes for lack of detail.
The caricatured villains lacked depth and I rolled my eyes at the nonsense that Kali offered up. Zero Corporation and Kali never felt like real threats.
I did enjoy the action scenes, diverse character representation, and overall atmosphere despite subpar worldbuilding.
Repo Virtual doesn't stand out as exceptional among the recent cyberpunk releases but it's still an entertaining addition to the genre.
Thanks to Edelweiss and Tor.com for providing me with a DRC in exchange for my honest review. Repo Virtual is scheduled for release on April 21, 2020.
For more reviews, visit www.rootsandreads.wordpress.com
April 21, 2020
Repo Virtual is a cyberpunk novel for our times, if I do it a disservice by calling it "cyberpunk." As many have noted, cyberpunk both hasn't aged well but is also stayed relevant, in tone if not always in detail, due to the continuing present our world has evolved into over the last 40 years since it began. Repo Virtual isn't your daddy's cyberpunk (that would be me, children). It sees the world that we live in now and turns it to "11."
MMO's? Check. Rampant late stage capitalism? Check. Degradation of the human spirit as well as the environment? Check. An awareness of the potential of AI as well as the limits of our thinking on what it would be to make a person? Check. A jaded awareness of how our dreams for a silicon future, shiny and chrome, have been ground into the dust and garbage underfoot, only to be replaced with the unending boot of servitude that stamps on those dreams? Check.
JD, our "hero," is just trying to get by in a world where people get less and less and are constantly replaced. Betrayed by family, jaded by life, he makes his living either servicing shitty robots or in virtual repossession in Eve Online on Steroids in a city where the game's company literally owns the economy and government. He encounters something miraculous and makes decisions, both inane and gifted, but clearly holds onto the hope for a better world as well as giving some folks what they might have coming.
This was a fun read and quite different than Corey White's previous works (which I do recommend without reservation). I can only hope this work inspires others to reexamine how cyberpunk or its bastard offspring really do have something to say about our current condition, as we all live in our Zoom-mediated, pandemic ridden world watching a senile reality television star pretend to govern the world's preeminent nuclear power.
MMO's? Check. Rampant late stage capitalism? Check. Degradation of the human spirit as well as the environment? Check. An awareness of the potential of AI as well as the limits of our thinking on what it would be to make a person? Check. A jaded awareness of how our dreams for a silicon future, shiny and chrome, have been ground into the dust and garbage underfoot, only to be replaced with the unending boot of servitude that stamps on those dreams? Check.
JD, our "hero," is just trying to get by in a world where people get less and less and are constantly replaced. Betrayed by family, jaded by life, he makes his living either servicing shitty robots or in virtual repossession in Eve Online on Steroids in a city where the game's company literally owns the economy and government. He encounters something miraculous and makes decisions, both inane and gifted, but clearly holds onto the hope for a better world as well as giving some folks what they might have coming.
This was a fun read and quite different than Corey White's previous works (which I do recommend without reservation). I can only hope this work inspires others to reexamine how cyberpunk or its bastard offspring really do have something to say about our current condition, as we all live in our Zoom-mediated, pandemic ridden world watching a senile reality television star pretend to govern the world's preeminent nuclear power.
September 4, 2022
Repo Virtual takes a while to really get going, laboured by a compulsive focus on world-building and identity, which wouldn’t have been so frustrating if it wasn’t so initially awkward. Corey J. White writes action well, though, and the second half’s cracking pace more than makes up for the early missteps.
September 14, 2022
Wound up dropping this one a few chapters in, and normally I don't write reviews for shit I can't finish, but I'm bored at work with nothing better to do so fuck it.
Felt like it was going to be a pretty stereotypical cyberpunk adventure without the grim tone of something like Bladerunner or the grime sex and violence of the mishmash tabletop setting. In fact, it felt a lot like Ready Player One in how it was set in a virtual environment at the start. Now, I play a lot of videogames, but I found the structure of the digital world on display here very incongruous and kind of stupid. Maybe in the cyberfuture where life sucks we'll immerse ourselves in fantasy environments functionally indistinguishable from the real world, even in how they function on a mechanical level, but I always get hung up on this shit because it feels inauthentic.
The protagonist is a digital repoman who goes in and secures assets from players who haven't paid or whatever. Alright, makes sense, but not if you've ever really played a digital game before. Having third parties in your digital game who run around and steal digital goods makes no fucking sense. Any company selling a fake spaceship in a videogame would just have a way to poof that shit back into their inventory or at the very least lock you out of using it, and even if there was some bullshit where they couldn't and you'd need a specialist to go in and get it for you, said specialist would have some kind of admin privileges or god mode or noclip or some shit so nobody could effectively stop them.
Sure you can handwave this away, and I'm sure the book does at some point or another, but it's just too retarded for me to buy. It's forcing traditional stakes and atmosphere onto a digital environment that doesn't facilitate because you're too lazy to make it interesting in another way. I mean, in the real world we have electric cars that the company can fucking shut off if you get behind on payments. They lock special features like radio control and air conditioning behind additional activation fees. The real world is a cyberpunk dystopia and if it can teach you anything it's that companies already control everything you buy from behind the scenes.
Felt like it was going to be a pretty stereotypical cyberpunk adventure without the grim tone of something like Bladerunner or the grime sex and violence of the mishmash tabletop setting. In fact, it felt a lot like Ready Player One in how it was set in a virtual environment at the start. Now, I play a lot of videogames, but I found the structure of the digital world on display here very incongruous and kind of stupid. Maybe in the cyberfuture where life sucks we'll immerse ourselves in fantasy environments functionally indistinguishable from the real world, even in how they function on a mechanical level, but I always get hung up on this shit because it feels inauthentic.
The protagonist is a digital repoman who goes in and secures assets from players who haven't paid or whatever. Alright, makes sense, but not if you've ever really played a digital game before. Having third parties in your digital game who run around and steal digital goods makes no fucking sense. Any company selling a fake spaceship in a videogame would just have a way to poof that shit back into their inventory or at the very least lock you out of using it, and even if there was some bullshit where they couldn't and you'd need a specialist to go in and get it for you, said specialist would have some kind of admin privileges or god mode or noclip or some shit so nobody could effectively stop them.
Sure you can handwave this away, and I'm sure the book does at some point or another, but it's just too retarded for me to buy. It's forcing traditional stakes and atmosphere onto a digital environment that doesn't facilitate because you're too lazy to make it interesting in another way. I mean, in the real world we have electric cars that the company can fucking shut off if you get behind on payments. They lock special features like radio control and air conditioning behind additional activation fees. The real world is a cyberpunk dystopia and if it can teach you anything it's that companies already control everything you buy from behind the scenes.
June 7, 2021
Review posted on ashleysgotbookcitement:
Electronic Review Copy provided by publisher
The synopsis and idea of Repo Virtual really pulled me in. I heard a heist was going to happen and I was all for it. The futuristic sounding world really intrigued me too. It definitely had enough to hook me.
This was okay. It kept my interest, it kept me turning pages, but I didn't find myself enthralled. The world sounded interesting enough, but I don't know if I 100% understood it.
The characters were okay, but it felt like we only got the surface of them. It seemed that we learned more about how they identified themselves then who they really were, what made them tick.
I was also never sure of what the plan was for anything. The heist was announced and happened over the course of a day, there was hardly any planning that went into it. They just went full throttle into all the situations, but they were just going by the seat of their pants. I feel like I was supposed to care about them more, and I didn't. I also wasn't the biggest fan of the AI voice. I would have rather seen the AI through the other characters' eyes.
There were a lot of rambling bits in this, mostly coming from the AI about what it means to be. I just didn't really care that much. I found the AI's voice to be a little dull.
I thought this had a cool concept, it kept my interest. It wasn't exactly the kind of heist story I wanted though. It's a fine book, and I bet a lot of people will enjoy it. I just want a little something more when it comes to a heist story. Maybe less talking and more doing, but with a concrete plan in mind.
BOOKCITEMENT LEVEL 3.4/5
Not Bad
My intial thoughts after finishing:
This was all right. I enjoyed it, but it didn't grab me all the way. It kept my attention and turning pages, but it was almost surface level enjoyment.
I thought the world and concept were interesting. The characters were fine. It had a lot of action and running around.
It all just did feel very surface though. The world sounded cool, but I didn't understand it 100%. There's this game called Voidwar that's important and kinda overlaps in the real world, but it was also very vague. I don't feel like I got to know the characters as actual people, more detail was spent on how they identified rather then who they actually were. Again, very surface.
This also had an AI voice that I don't think I loved. I would have liked to see the AI from the other character's perspective rather then it having its own POV. The AI liked to ramble about these big concepts of What Is Self, and I just found it all rather dull. I really could have done without the AI voice. I know it was supposed to be enlightened, but I just found it boring, not gripping.
This also involves a heist and there was almost no planning the characters did for it. I don't feel like the characters planned much of anything. It just seemed like they were running from here to there and I was just following along.
There was also a cult too.
The epilogue was a little strange to me too, because it checked in with almost all of our characters after the fact, except one. It didn't mention that one at all, which was strange.
December 25, 2024
4.25 stars. Cyberpunk set in a futuristic Korean city. A.I. philosophy alongside "be gay do crime." RIYL heists, VR gaming, and the fall of capitalism.
December 8, 2020
Repo Virtual by Corey J. White is a fun, kinda schlocky and mindless, cyberpunk action thriller. I think the synopsis (which I didn't read until after finishing the book) is a bit misleading, so I want to make sure people know a few things before jumping in:
1: Other than the opening scene, virtually (pun intended) no time is spent in the virtual world.
2: The heist is done and over 156 pages in.
3: A new protagonist, whose perspective we shift to, is introduced 1/2 way through the book.
I don't read synopses for a reason, so I went in to Repo Virtual with no expectations. I'm pretty sure this benefitted my reading experience quite a bit. I skimmed a couple reviews and several people seemed a bit disappointed that the heist wasn't the climax of the book and that so little time was spent in the virtual world.
Speaking of the virtual world... In Repo Virtual, people live in a quasi-false reality as the virtual world is like a skin (or several skins) on top of the real world. So, not only can you live in the quasi-false, virtual reality with your real body, but you can also use a suit and/or headset/glasses to do things as a virtual avatar. How all that shakes out and the difference between the two isn't exactly delineated, but it also isn't that important to the narrative. I wish it had been because I'm more interested in the uniqueness of virtual realities than personal relationships and heists, but oh well.
And of course the real world is starving and dingy and decaying while the virtual world is bright and enticing and fun. This is your standard sci-fi projected future, and I was a bit disappointed that Repo Virtual didn't really step outside the box as far as creative world-building goes. Don't get me wrong, there is some interesting stuff in this world like the fact that it is set in Korea after America failed to be the great nation everyone said it would be and crumbled to bits. I just wish there had been more.
Also, before I go any further, I want to mention how absolutely ridiculous the heist scenes is. The plan is a bit silly and childish to start, probably because they planned it in like 2 days. Also, there was a concerning lack of security around the item they are stealing. It was a stretch to suspend my disbelief on this one.
But the action is well written and engaging enough that I was able to overlook this and read it for the mindless fun that it is. I think the strength of this novel is definitely the fun sci-fi action scenes.
Another strength of the book is the character moments. Some of them. There is a very touching scene between JD and his mother when they enjoy some bacon together. I also liked the discussions and scenes between JD and his ex, who he is distanced from, yet still drawn to.
However, despite liking them, I was a bit unimpressed with the characters. Julius Dax, JD for short, is our protagonist, and he is easily the best of the lot. A down-on-his-luck, standard issue Nice Guy, JD is just trying to scrape by, take care of his mom, and live his life. He values family and... that's it. Oh, he has some paint-by-numbers relationship issues, except that he's gay, so the ex he pines for is a man.
Speaking of inclusion... there are some non-binary characters who use pronouns other than he/she, which is always interesting. I know identity is super important to a lot of people and I don't mean any disrespect when I say this, but I really don't care what people want to call themselves. Whatever makes you happy is fine with me and I think it's super cool that more stuff like this is being normalized.
This isn't the first book I've read with non-binary characters, and honestly, its a bit of struggle for my brain to understand the they/them pronouns at times because it's been so strictly trained for standard pronouns, so I had to pay attention to context very carefully. But, it got easier the more I read, so hopefully society realizes this and does the same.
The non-binary character is JD's sibling, S00-hyun, who approaches him about helping to steal something from a rich billionaire as requested by Soo-hyun's cult leader. Soo-hyun is probably the most dynamic character because they struggle with more complex ideals as far as the future of humanity goes, and I actually really liked the ideas brought up about it. It was the most adult, most interesting theme of the book.
My biggest issue with this narrative is how slightly boring and trope-filled it all is. Luckily, the author does the tropes justice and they are just well-done enough to be... fine. I liked the world enough and the characters enough for this to be a decent, mindless read. Nothing exceptional, but also nothing terrible.
Well, except for one character. So there's this brilliant teenage hacker named Kohder (another trope *sigh*) and my god. In typical wicked witch fashion, I couldn't stand him. I mean, with lines like this, how could I?
Ugh. The overuse of the word "bro" in this book is annoyingly criminal. At one point, I even considered DNFing this book because of it. Luckily, right when I was considering that (about 1/2 way through) is when the story shifts to a new protagonist, an ex-CIA operative like character.
It was a breath of fresh air to get away from the bros tbh.
Also, this book feels very YA. Khoder contributes to this the most, but I also felt that Repo Virtual lacked in its commentary, criticism, and themes. It didn't have anything really new or interesting to say. Here are a couple of quotes that exemplify the standard-issues sci-fi themes in this book:
Again, nothing really new or inspired or outside-the-box.
I was excited when, 10 pages in, this was brought up:
I thought Repo Virtual would have some interesting racial commentary, but honestly, I think this is the only time JD's "blackness" is mentioned. So, I'm left scratching my head as to why it was mentioned at all. Also, how in the universe did this future end up normalizing and accepting people who are LGBTQIA+ or crystal aliens, while continuing to marginalize black people? Maybe the author didn't think that quote through very well and he certainly didn't expand on the idea.
Like I said, Repo Virtual feels a bit to YA for my tastes. But, again, not bad, just not particularly interesting or new.
To summarize, this book was fine. It didn't take the genre into new directions, but did have some decent characters and moments and a ton of fun action scenes. Just barely good enough to be quick, mindless fun. I call this kind of book a palate cleanser, meaning it is one you can read for the fun of it and not think too much.
I rated Repo Virtual by Corey J. White 3 out of 5 stars.
You might like this if you like: virtual reality, LGBTQIA+ representation, and action-filled fun.
1: Other than the opening scene, virtually (pun intended) no time is spent in the virtual world.
2: The heist is done and over 156 pages in.
3: A new protagonist, whose perspective we shift to, is introduced 1/2 way through the book.
I don't read synopses for a reason, so I went in to Repo Virtual with no expectations. I'm pretty sure this benefitted my reading experience quite a bit. I skimmed a couple reviews and several people seemed a bit disappointed that the heist wasn't the climax of the book and that so little time was spent in the virtual world.
Speaking of the virtual world... In Repo Virtual, people live in a quasi-false reality as the virtual world is like a skin (or several skins) on top of the real world. So, not only can you live in the quasi-false, virtual reality with your real body, but you can also use a suit and/or headset/glasses to do things as a virtual avatar. How all that shakes out and the difference between the two isn't exactly delineated, but it also isn't that important to the narrative. I wish it had been because I'm more interested in the uniqueness of virtual realities than personal relationships and heists, but oh well.
And of course the real world is starving and dingy and decaying while the virtual world is bright and enticing and fun. This is your standard sci-fi projected future, and I was a bit disappointed that Repo Virtual didn't really step outside the box as far as creative world-building goes. Don't get me wrong, there is some interesting stuff in this world like the fact that it is set in Korea after America failed to be the great nation everyone said it would be and crumbled to bits. I just wish there had been more.
Also, before I go any further, I want to mention how absolutely ridiculous the heist scenes is. The plan is a bit silly and childish to start, probably because they planned it in like 2 days. Also, there was a concerning lack of security around the item they are stealing. It was a stretch to suspend my disbelief on this one.
But the action is well written and engaging enough that I was able to overlook this and read it for the mindless fun that it is. I think the strength of this novel is definitely the fun sci-fi action scenes.
Another strength of the book is the character moments. Some of them. There is a very touching scene between JD and his mother when they enjoy some bacon together. I also liked the discussions and scenes between JD and his ex, who he is distanced from, yet still drawn to.
However, despite liking them, I was a bit unimpressed with the characters. Julius Dax, JD for short, is our protagonist, and he is easily the best of the lot. A down-on-his-luck, standard issue Nice Guy, JD is just trying to scrape by, take care of his mom, and live his life. He values family and... that's it. Oh, he has some paint-by-numbers relationship issues, except that he's gay, so the ex he pines for is a man.
Speaking of inclusion... there are some non-binary characters who use pronouns other than he/she, which is always interesting. I know identity is super important to a lot of people and I don't mean any disrespect when I say this, but I really don't care what people want to call themselves. Whatever makes you happy is fine with me and I think it's super cool that more stuff like this is being normalized.
This isn't the first book I've read with non-binary characters, and honestly, its a bit of struggle for my brain to understand the they/them pronouns at times because it's been so strictly trained for standard pronouns, so I had to pay attention to context very carefully. But, it got easier the more I read, so hopefully society realizes this and does the same.
The non-binary character is JD's sibling, S00-hyun, who approaches him about helping to steal something from a rich billionaire as requested by Soo-hyun's cult leader. Soo-hyun is probably the most dynamic character because they struggle with more complex ideals as far as the future of humanity goes, and I actually really liked the ideas brought up about it. It was the most adult, most interesting theme of the book.
My biggest issue with this narrative is how slightly boring and trope-filled it all is. Luckily, the author does the tropes justice and they are just well-done enough to be... fine. I liked the world enough and the characters enough for this to be a decent, mindless read. Nothing exceptional, but also nothing terrible.
Well, except for one character. So there's this brilliant teenage hacker named Kohder (another trope *sigh*) and my god. In typical wicked witch fashion, I couldn't stand him. I mean, with lines like this, how could I?
"You found Shades yet, Kid?"
"No movement on any of the cameras."
"Alright. How you holding up?"
"Bored as fuck, bro. I thought this was gonna be hard, like my cock, not easy like your mother." (p.110)
Ugh. The overuse of the word "bro" in this book is annoyingly criminal. At one point, I even considered DNFing this book because of it. Luckily, right when I was considering that (about 1/2 way through) is when the story shifts to a new protagonist, an ex-CIA operative like character.
It was a breath of fresh air to get away from the bros tbh.
Also, this book feels very YA. Khoder contributes to this the most, but I also felt that Repo Virtual lacked in its commentary, criticism, and themes. It didn't have anything really new or interesting to say. Here are a couple of quotes that exemplify the standard-issues sci-fi themes in this book:
"You trust me because I have built our community from nothing, with nothing. I did that to demonstrate that my movement is not about money. I hate money, I despise it. It has twisted a beautiful and creative species and turned us into a ravenous, all-consuming virus." (p.35)
It was real until the heat-death of that digital universe, locked forever inside a server farm in the formerly United States of America, data degrading year by year until only a corrupt reality remained.
Currupt reality? Which one? This one? (p.70)
Again, nothing really new or inspired or outside-the-box.
I was excited when, 10 pages in, this was brought up:
JD's own avatar was from the pool of Arika aliens, living crystal beings that fed on starlight, and shattered into glittering refractive clouds on death. His first character had closely resembled his real self, but the moment he found himself surrounded by other players, the racist slurs started. Even in-game, his blackness was a provocation. He was almost relieved when that avatar died, giving JD an excuse to star over. (p.10)
I thought Repo Virtual would have some interesting racial commentary, but honestly, I think this is the only time JD's "blackness" is mentioned. So, I'm left scratching my head as to why it was mentioned at all. Also, how in the universe did this future end up normalizing and accepting people who are LGBTQIA+ or crystal aliens, while continuing to marginalize black people? Maybe the author didn't think that quote through very well and he certainly didn't expand on the idea.
Like I said, Repo Virtual feels a bit to YA for my tastes. But, again, not bad, just not particularly interesting or new.
To summarize, this book was fine. It didn't take the genre into new directions, but did have some decent characters and moments and a ton of fun action scenes. Just barely good enough to be quick, mindless fun. I call this kind of book a palate cleanser, meaning it is one you can read for the fun of it and not think too much.
I rated Repo Virtual by Corey J. White 3 out of 5 stars.
You might like this if you like: virtual reality, LGBTQIA+ representation, and action-filled fun.
April 17, 2020
Repo Virtual takes the reader on an action packed cyberpunk adventure which is perfect for fans of William Gibson and Ready Player One. Part speculation on a very plausible future where multiple realities are controlled by a single Corporate Entity, part sci-fi thriller with a crunchy combination of technology and violence, with a backbone of philosophical questions around AI, Repo Virtual provides a thoroughly enjoyable ride from start to finish.
One of the biggest draws for me on a personal level was the diversity. The protagonist, JD, is a queer Black man, and his relationship with his ex-boyfriend Troy plays a significant role in the story. Other characters that feature prominently include a non-binary person, an older queer woman, and a trans man, among others. Though we see character archetypes common in this kind of science fiction, like the jerkface kid genius hacker and the drifting grifter, I felt each protagonist in the novel was developed enough to have their own unique presence on the page.
In addition to the diversity, I loved the vivid, precise pictures created of Neo Songdo, the hybrid physical-virtual city where the events of the novel take place. Every scene immersed me and allowed me to clearly visualize the environment and the action both. The ending is, in my opinion, thought provoking and impactful; though I can see others disagreeing, it has the potential to generate discussion either way.
My only critique of Repo Virtual resides in the pacing. The first half of the novel felt slow with some extraneous scenes. The back half by contrast felt rushed—some plot threads were resolved in an unsatisfying manner as a result.
Overall, I wholeheartedly recommend Repo Virtual for people looking for an entertaining cyberpunk thriller with a diverse cast, topped with considered messages about the consequences of capitalism and the nature of AI.
Thank you to Tor/Forge and NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
One of the biggest draws for me on a personal level was the diversity. The protagonist, JD, is a queer Black man, and his relationship with his ex-boyfriend Troy plays a significant role in the story. Other characters that feature prominently include a non-binary person, an older queer woman, and a trans man, among others. Though we see character archetypes common in this kind of science fiction, like the jerkface kid genius hacker and the drifting grifter, I felt each protagonist in the novel was developed enough to have their own unique presence on the page.
In addition to the diversity, I loved the vivid, precise pictures created of Neo Songdo, the hybrid physical-virtual city where the events of the novel take place. Every scene immersed me and allowed me to clearly visualize the environment and the action both. The ending is, in my opinion, thought provoking and impactful; though I can see others disagreeing, it has the potential to generate discussion either way.
My only critique of Repo Virtual resides in the pacing. The first half of the novel felt slow with some extraneous scenes. The back half by contrast felt rushed—some plot threads were resolved in an unsatisfying manner as a result.
Overall, I wholeheartedly recommend Repo Virtual for people looking for an entertaining cyberpunk thriller with a diverse cast, topped with considered messages about the consequences of capitalism and the nature of AI.
Thank you to Tor/Forge and NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
April 28, 2020
If you’ve read the Philip K Dick story where the guy has to swipe his way out of his own apartment, conning the AI into extending him enough credit to use his own john and thought, oh yeah, that’s exactly how the future’s gonna be, then you’ll understand when I say that White has built one of the most realistic futures I’ve ever read. Every scene is grounded and alive with sensory details that aren’t cynical, tropey, or preachy. They are absolutely believable and sensible and never separate from the people who inhabit the setting, and this foundation makes the whole book an immersive thrill ride.
If you’ve read any Robin Hobb books and been astounded that you could care about fictional people so much, wait until you meet the messy bunch of individuals tangled up in this drama. I love a book that makes me talk out loud to the characters, and White delivers this with every twist and turn. The compassion in this book was a welcome surprise – no 80s cyberpunk coldness here and hallelujah! the smooth and relaxed representation! I may have cheered once or twice.
If you’ve read Neuromancer and felt a little baffled and out-of-touch, White has cracked the code on making a tech heist concrete and understandable without losing any of the excitement or wonder. The stakes are clear, the mission impossible, and the people flawed. It’s a gorgeous, enthralling read, and I can’t wait to shove Repo Virtual into people’s hands and tell them…read this! It’s magnificent.
I was given an ARC of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
If you’ve read any Robin Hobb books and been astounded that you could care about fictional people so much, wait until you meet the messy bunch of individuals tangled up in this drama. I love a book that makes me talk out loud to the characters, and White delivers this with every twist and turn. The compassion in this book was a welcome surprise – no 80s cyberpunk coldness here and hallelujah! the smooth and relaxed representation! I may have cheered once or twice.
If you’ve read Neuromancer and felt a little baffled and out-of-touch, White has cracked the code on making a tech heist concrete and understandable without losing any of the excitement or wonder. The stakes are clear, the mission impossible, and the people flawed. It’s a gorgeous, enthralling read, and I can’t wait to shove Repo Virtual into people’s hands and tell them…read this! It’s magnificent.
I was given an ARC of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
May 25, 2020
3.75/5 Cyberpunk capitalist future with a baby AI and mellow queer characters doing a heist and rebel against the system? YES please.
I enjoyed this book a lot! The city feels very like walking through the cities in Altered Carbon (Netflix series) and you feel the weight and depression of the corporation ruling everything. The VR aspect reminded me of Ready Player One but was not played out extensively so it's just a nice nod to it.
I love the characters.
the non-binary revolutionary punk sibling.
The gryffindor queer protagonist with a philosopher hot professor boyfriend (my favourite kind of OTP okay?)
The super young funny hacker
The master-assassin queer badass woman with zero f***s to give.
The story is a heist and the aftermaths of it. What if you do give the very important piece of tech to the corporation or the chaotic cult leader? What are AI rights? Where does a person begin?
The concept is amazing, but I feel like the execution was lacking some punch behind it. The stakes in this feel underrated most of the book. The plot has for some reason two climaxes and I felt pretty annoyed by it. It took away some tension from the final showdown, which was unfortunate..
As always I have some issues with the AI in this. His character kinda still stays shallow. I GET that he is super young and still developing an identity and I LOOVE how the philosophical discussions shape him. I just don't feel a lot of emotions from Mirae and that's a bit of an issue for me.
Overall I think this book is a good sci-fi heist, but not great.
I enjoyed this book a lot! The city feels very like walking through the cities in Altered Carbon (Netflix series) and you feel the weight and depression of the corporation ruling everything. The VR aspect reminded me of Ready Player One but was not played out extensively so it's just a nice nod to it.
I love the characters.
the non-binary revolutionary punk sibling.
The gryffindor queer protagonist with a philosopher hot professor boyfriend (my favourite kind of OTP okay?)
The super young funny hacker
The master-assassin queer badass woman with zero f***s to give.
The story is a heist and the aftermaths of it. What if you do give the very important piece of tech to the corporation or the chaotic cult leader? What are AI rights? Where does a person begin?
The concept is amazing, but I feel like the execution was lacking some punch behind it. The stakes in this feel underrated most of the book. The plot has for some reason two climaxes and I felt pretty annoyed by it. It took away some tension from the final showdown, which was unfortunate..
As always I have some issues with the AI in this. His character kinda still stays shallow. I GET that he is super young and still developing an identity and I LOOVE how the philosophical discussions shape him. I just don't feel a lot of emotions from Mirae and that's a bit of an issue for me.
Overall I think this book is a good sci-fi heist, but not great.
February 16, 2021
"Hey there, fellow kids" the book. This has to be one of the worst books I have ever read. Inauthentic characters, cringe-worthy dialogue, and meaningless virtue signalling which serves nothing in the plot. The actual repo work was more like a heist, so it didn't even deliver on the title. The most interesting character was the AI and it had the least amount of screen time. Avoid this book unless you enjoy frequent descriptions of what human sweat smells like on every other page. Otherwise, this book doesn't have much going for it.
February 19, 2021
I didn't enjoy this as much as I hoped (I actually almost DNF'd it until I reached part 2). I didn't particularly like the plot, and I found the first part to be boring, despite the fact that the actual heist takes place here. The change of narrators in parts 2 and 3 really helped though as I found them to be more more interesting. I mostly didn't care about the characters, aside from Enda, and I wish the AI had been a bit more present throughout. There is a lot of diversity though! Plus, robot dogs.
July 13, 2020
I gave this one a try, but found no enjoyment in the first three chapters. I don't have any problem with sci-fi, but this book felt like a low-rent Ready Player One. I couldn't find anything interesting in any of the characters or any reason to keep reading.
Life is too short to slog through a bad book.
Life is too short to slog through a bad book.
May 7, 2020
I received a copy of Repo Virtual through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Repo Virtual is the latest novel to come out of the mind of Corey J. White, and it is a piece of speculative fiction involving augmented realities, heists, and sentient software.
Julius Dax survives in a world of technology and danger by maintaining two jobs. One involves him repossessing ships online, and the other? Well, let's just say that in the real world, he's a bit of a thief. You do what you have to do to survive, right?
That's where this story begins. A heist has been dropped in his lap, courtesy of his estranged sibling. Naturally, that means that things are about to go to hell, but the adventure will certainly change JD's life forever.
“Kali wrote a piece of software that will change the world but someone stole it from her. All you've got to do is steal it back.”
Repo Virtual was a thrilling whirlwind of an adventure. The combination of augmented realities with real-life thievery and sentient programming was superb, and I found myself adoring every moment of this novel.
I honestly loved everything from the pacing to the characters, as well as all of the little details within. JD was a fascinating character, one who was shockingly complex, with a full backstory and multiple jobs that I personally would have loved to see more about.
To be honest, when I read the description, I thought a good chunk of the novel would be set in the augmented side of this world. While that did happen, it wasn't nearly as much as I expected. Oddly enough, I'm okay with that. The secondary characters introduced throughout the novel added to the complexity, making the world feel richer and more alive. Each little detail rounded out the world.
I love how the distinction between the two worlds would seem to blend at times. This is not an easy thing to portray, especially not in a novel, but I think that White did a solid job of it here. In fact, I'm secretly (okay, not so secretly) hoping to see another novel in this world at some point.
I also really adored the A.I. in this novel. It would have been easy to include one and leave it like that, but that isn't what happened. White explored the concept of a developing A.I., and everything that would include. It was introspective and thoughtful, and I really enjoyed the perspective provided here.
What shocked me was how hard this novel hit me. The conclusion in particular really impacted me, emotionally speaking. But there were other moments along the way that surprised me, both good and bad. I guess that just goes to show how attached I became while I was reading.
I'll confess that this is actually the first novel I've read by Corey J. White, but you can officially consider me hooked. I'm absolutely adding him to my list of authors to keep an eye on, and if I can make some time, I'd also like to dig into his backlog. I hope that fact says enough about how much I enjoyed this novel.
Check out more reviews over at Quirky Cat's Comics
Repo Virtual is the latest novel to come out of the mind of Corey J. White, and it is a piece of speculative fiction involving augmented realities, heists, and sentient software.
Julius Dax survives in a world of technology and danger by maintaining two jobs. One involves him repossessing ships online, and the other? Well, let's just say that in the real world, he's a bit of a thief. You do what you have to do to survive, right?
That's where this story begins. A heist has been dropped in his lap, courtesy of his estranged sibling. Naturally, that means that things are about to go to hell, but the adventure will certainly change JD's life forever.
“Kali wrote a piece of software that will change the world but someone stole it from her. All you've got to do is steal it back.”
Repo Virtual was a thrilling whirlwind of an adventure. The combination of augmented realities with real-life thievery and sentient programming was superb, and I found myself adoring every moment of this novel.
I honestly loved everything from the pacing to the characters, as well as all of the little details within. JD was a fascinating character, one who was shockingly complex, with a full backstory and multiple jobs that I personally would have loved to see more about.
To be honest, when I read the description, I thought a good chunk of the novel would be set in the augmented side of this world. While that did happen, it wasn't nearly as much as I expected. Oddly enough, I'm okay with that. The secondary characters introduced throughout the novel added to the complexity, making the world feel richer and more alive. Each little detail rounded out the world.
I love how the distinction between the two worlds would seem to blend at times. This is not an easy thing to portray, especially not in a novel, but I think that White did a solid job of it here. In fact, I'm secretly (okay, not so secretly) hoping to see another novel in this world at some point.
I also really adored the A.I. in this novel. It would have been easy to include one and leave it like that, but that isn't what happened. White explored the concept of a developing A.I., and everything that would include. It was introspective and thoughtful, and I really enjoyed the perspective provided here.
What shocked me was how hard this novel hit me. The conclusion in particular really impacted me, emotionally speaking. But there were other moments along the way that surprised me, both good and bad. I guess that just goes to show how attached I became while I was reading.
I'll confess that this is actually the first novel I've read by Corey J. White, but you can officially consider me hooked. I'm absolutely adding him to my list of authors to keep an eye on, and if I can make some time, I'd also like to dig into his backlog. I hope that fact says enough about how much I enjoyed this novel.
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April 18, 2020
Australian science fiction author Corey J White showed he could write science fiction action in his Voidwitch trilogy of novellas (Killing Gravity, Void Black Shadow and Static Ruin). Those novella’s were breathless in their pacing – short and sharp and yet anchored by some memorable characters. Repo Virtual, White’s first full length novel, takes some of the skills he showed in the shortened form and shows that he can apply them successfully over the longer form.
JD lives in Neo-Sogndo, a coastal Korean city close to Seoul, sometime in the near future. He works as a robot repairer but makes his money as a repo-man in the worlds largest on-line multiplayer game Voidwars, owned by the massive Zero Corporation. JD has a bit of a criminal past, which has left him with a gammy knee and is pulled right back in by his step brother Soon-Hyung who tempts him to participate in “one last job” a heist which will net him enough money to have his knee fixed and set his mother up in a new apartment. The job involves stealing from the dying head of Zero Corporation on behalf of Soon’s spiritual leader, a charismatic woman called Kali.
The first half of the novel is the heist. Getting the team together, planning it all out and then having to go earlier than planned to time the job with the Soccer World Cup final. While nothing goes exactly as planned, JD gets away but that is actually when the story really begins as JD keeps the prize for himself and tries to use it to blackmail Kali for more money. The second half of the book introduces Enda, an operative hired by a Zero executive to find the stolen item. At the same time, Kali is sending teams of violent, trigger happy youths out to track JD down. Meanwhile the object that JD has stolen, a small data cube, turns out to have a mind of its own.
Repo Virtual is almost a classic cyberpunk tale – band of street punks with computer skills who like spending time in virtual space, take on a giant corporation with a nascent artificial intelligence thrown in. Readers familiar with the genre will easily pick homages to classics like Blade Runner, Neuromancer and Snowcrash. But clearly fascination with the subgenre has not gone away with one of the most anticipated video games of 2020 being a title called Cyberpunk 2077. And while he leans on these traditions, White reshapes them to his own ends. His Korean setting is believable, as is the technology that characters employ or that is employed against them. And as noted above, White has a flair for writing action that comes through strongly here.
Repo Virtual, shows Corey J White taking some classic science fiction tropes and making them his own. He clearly shows a capacity to move to long form story telling with believable, engaging characters and a propulsive story that manages to pause for breath but never flags. The Coda clearly marks this as a stand alone novel, another breath of fresh air in a market filled with prequels and sequels and leaving an intriguing question mark as to what White will tackle next.
JD lives in Neo-Sogndo, a coastal Korean city close to Seoul, sometime in the near future. He works as a robot repairer but makes his money as a repo-man in the worlds largest on-line multiplayer game Voidwars, owned by the massive Zero Corporation. JD has a bit of a criminal past, which has left him with a gammy knee and is pulled right back in by his step brother Soon-Hyung who tempts him to participate in “one last job” a heist which will net him enough money to have his knee fixed and set his mother up in a new apartment. The job involves stealing from the dying head of Zero Corporation on behalf of Soon’s spiritual leader, a charismatic woman called Kali.
The first half of the novel is the heist. Getting the team together, planning it all out and then having to go earlier than planned to time the job with the Soccer World Cup final. While nothing goes exactly as planned, JD gets away but that is actually when the story really begins as JD keeps the prize for himself and tries to use it to blackmail Kali for more money. The second half of the book introduces Enda, an operative hired by a Zero executive to find the stolen item. At the same time, Kali is sending teams of violent, trigger happy youths out to track JD down. Meanwhile the object that JD has stolen, a small data cube, turns out to have a mind of its own.
Repo Virtual is almost a classic cyberpunk tale – band of street punks with computer skills who like spending time in virtual space, take on a giant corporation with a nascent artificial intelligence thrown in. Readers familiar with the genre will easily pick homages to classics like Blade Runner, Neuromancer and Snowcrash. But clearly fascination with the subgenre has not gone away with one of the most anticipated video games of 2020 being a title called Cyberpunk 2077. And while he leans on these traditions, White reshapes them to his own ends. His Korean setting is believable, as is the technology that characters employ or that is employed against them. And as noted above, White has a flair for writing action that comes through strongly here.
Repo Virtual, shows Corey J White taking some classic science fiction tropes and making them his own. He clearly shows a capacity to move to long form story telling with believable, engaging characters and a propulsive story that manages to pause for breath but never flags. The Coda clearly marks this as a stand alone novel, another breath of fresh air in a market filled with prequels and sequels and leaving an intriguing question mark as to what White will tackle next.
April 15, 2020
To read more of my reviews, check out my blog at keikii Eats Books!
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Review:
Repo Virtual was a very interesting book that was very easy to read and become a part of. I enjoyed the world, once I figured out what was going on. It also has a very diverse cast of characters and the story is fun and interesting, too.
Repo Virtual is about JD, who works as a Repoman for a virtual online game. His brother asks JD to do a special Repo job, which is much more like stealing than normal. For some reason, JD actually does the job, because family is family. It started complicated, when it was just stealing a piece of software from one of the most powerful companies in the world. It got even more complicated when that software ended up being the first sentient AI.
Julius Dax (JD) is not the most likable main character. He doesn't make the best decisions. He doesn't have the best outlook on life. And in some respects, he just happens to know people in the right place at the right time that he ends up the lead character in this story. Yet he has a lot of traits that do make him interesting in his own right. Like the fact that he is disabled because his he took part in some riots years ago, and he never had the money to fix the problem. So he lives in pain and with a limp. This job he takes is supposed to give him enough money to fix the problem in his leg.
I did enjoy the world, once I figured it out. But it took me a lot longer to actually figure out what was going on than I would have liked. I don't know if it is because I was distracted when I started reading this (I was on an hour long bus ride), or what. I just could not figure out what was virtual reality and was was reality. And then I learned that most of the book was augmented reality, which made things make a lot more sense. It also took me quite a while to figure out that this took place in Korea. In part because I'm not familiar with Songdo and didn't know it was a real place. And that's just some of the issues I had.
Repo Virtual takes place in a near future world where capitalism has run rampant and Corporations have near slave labor in the search of more of the all mighty money. People just accept that they are expected to work and work, and if something happens to them they are out of luck. There are even factions looking to stop capitalism, which is who JD ends up working with to steal what turns out to be an AI.
This was a bit of a slow start, because the book didn't really start until about 30% in. It was interesting before then, but once it started it went off with a bang. You just know that a heist starting off in the first quarter of the book is going to end poorly, somehow. In this case, it is the dilemma of how do you hand over a sentient being to someone who doesn't care about it and just wants to use it? There is also the dilemma that while JD is trying to find this out, both the people he stole the AI from and the people he was supposed to give it to now want him dead. And he can't just handle this on his own.
Repo Virtual was fun the entire time with a lot of cute moments. Especially when the AI was trying to figure out if it was sentient and what that means. I enjoyed myself a lot.
ARC received from Tor Books on Edelweiss. This did not affect my review. Thank you!
Quote:
I hate money, I despise it. It has twisted a beautiful and creative species and turned us into a ravenous, all-consuming virus.
Review:
Repo Virtual was a very interesting book that was very easy to read and become a part of. I enjoyed the world, once I figured out what was going on. It also has a very diverse cast of characters and the story is fun and interesting, too.
Repo Virtual is about JD, who works as a Repoman for a virtual online game. His brother asks JD to do a special Repo job, which is much more like stealing than normal. For some reason, JD actually does the job, because family is family. It started complicated, when it was just stealing a piece of software from one of the most powerful companies in the world. It got even more complicated when that software ended up being the first sentient AI.
Julius Dax (JD) is not the most likable main character. He doesn't make the best decisions. He doesn't have the best outlook on life. And in some respects, he just happens to know people in the right place at the right time that he ends up the lead character in this story. Yet he has a lot of traits that do make him interesting in his own right. Like the fact that he is disabled because his he took part in some riots years ago, and he never had the money to fix the problem. So he lives in pain and with a limp. This job he takes is supposed to give him enough money to fix the problem in his leg.
I did enjoy the world, once I figured it out. But it took me a lot longer to actually figure out what was going on than I would have liked. I don't know if it is because I was distracted when I started reading this (I was on an hour long bus ride), or what. I just could not figure out what was virtual reality and was was reality. And then I learned that most of the book was augmented reality, which made things make a lot more sense. It also took me quite a while to figure out that this took place in Korea. In part because I'm not familiar with Songdo and didn't know it was a real place. And that's just some of the issues I had.
Repo Virtual takes place in a near future world where capitalism has run rampant and Corporations have near slave labor in the search of more of the all mighty money. People just accept that they are expected to work and work, and if something happens to them they are out of luck. There are even factions looking to stop capitalism, which is who JD ends up working with to steal what turns out to be an AI.
This was a bit of a slow start, because the book didn't really start until about 30% in. It was interesting before then, but once it started it went off with a bang. You just know that a heist starting off in the first quarter of the book is going to end poorly, somehow. In this case, it is the dilemma of how do you hand over a sentient being to someone who doesn't care about it and just wants to use it? There is also the dilemma that while JD is trying to find this out, both the people he stole the AI from and the people he was supposed to give it to now want him dead. And he can't just handle this on his own.
Repo Virtual was fun the entire time with a lot of cute moments. Especially when the AI was trying to figure out if it was sentient and what that means. I enjoyed myself a lot.
ARC received from Tor Books on Edelweiss. This did not affect my review. Thank you!
April 7, 2020
Corey J, White, the author behind the Voidwitch Saga, brings an exciting and interesting cyberpunk world for readers to enjoy. Augmented Reality and other virtual technologies take center stage in this heist/escapism novel, and the main characters are full of idealism and philosophy, which are both questioned heavily in this book, which I particularly enjoyed. This title is chock-full of cyberpunk and science fiction tropes, but does just enough to stand out on its own. In addition, White does a great job of finding ways for the reader to feel they are connected with the characters by the difficulties of living in a world controlled by a company who controls the virtual, and real world as well.
White, does an excellent job with the pacing of the novel, but at times, the book lost focus slightly, or the clarity of the story was much better in the second half of the novel than the first. I felt that the age of the characters in relation to the story, allow this title to be accessible by teens and adults alike. The actions scenes were fantastic and full of energy and the conclusion was a good ending. There is also good LGBTQ representation in this novel, so keep that in mind. This title comes out April 21st, 2020.
All in all, this is a welcome addition to modern science fiction readers, and public libraries alike. An enjoyable story, not too dry, and some unique takes of questions of self-identity and what truly matters to you.
White, does an excellent job with the pacing of the novel, but at times, the book lost focus slightly, or the clarity of the story was much better in the second half of the novel than the first. I felt that the age of the characters in relation to the story, allow this title to be accessible by teens and adults alike. The actions scenes were fantastic and full of energy and the conclusion was a good ending. There is also good LGBTQ representation in this novel, so keep that in mind. This title comes out April 21st, 2020.
All in all, this is a welcome addition to modern science fiction readers, and public libraries alike. An enjoyable story, not too dry, and some unique takes of questions of self-identity and what truly matters to you.
September 17, 2023
3.5 stars for he slow start and amazing finish.
This started as a typical heist book just set in a high tech distopian city. It was a slow start. The good action did not start until the 30% mark.
From there it was much more interesting. The realistic world building was strong, as well as the characters. The characters were diverse with non binary, non hetronormative and disabled, who were not defined by these characteristics, were well represented.
That the charcters were well rounded and multi-faceted is what will keep looking for more books by this author.
I also liked the ending of the story. It is a gritty story with gray characters and a realistic ending. It dos have some heart warming parts for those of us who need to have some hope in our stories as well. The real world contains that too.
This started as a typical heist book just set in a high tech distopian city. It was a slow start. The good action did not start until the 30% mark.
From there it was much more interesting. The realistic world building was strong, as well as the characters. The characters were diverse with non binary, non hetronormative and disabled, who were not defined by these characteristics, were well represented.
That the charcters were well rounded and multi-faceted is what will keep looking for more books by this author.
I also liked the ending of the story. It is a gritty story with gray characters and a realistic ending. It dos have some heart warming parts for those of us who need to have some hope in our stories as well. The real world contains that too.
May 13, 2020
This was refreshing. Clearly told from the perspective of an AI (you read the jacket copy, didn't you? that's not a spoiler), the world we're show is (I think) a semi-logical extrapolation of what a big corporate entity would do to a city, had they this technology. I liked to tie in to MMORPG, even though it was mostly used as brief setting, and a slight macguffin towards the end. The characters were interesting, and engaging. The few "bad guys" had relatable (and to me realistic) motivations other than BWA HA HA I'M THE BAD GUY, and so did the "good guys" (not actually shining lights of purity, which, good). The sections about the characters and their interaction with the AI and were, I thought, fairly thoughtful and well done.
December 17, 2020
3.5 stars. Cyberpunk set in Korea. Plenty of LGBTQ+ rep with gay, transgender and non-binary characters. It ticks all those boxes. But go into this expecting a major heist plot, you're probably going to be disappointed. It's not really that kind of a story. The actual heist only plays a minor role and the plot diverges into a different direction. The story was decent enough. I liked some of the philosophical elements discussed and the character relationships were pretty good. Overall it was an OK read with a nice cyberpunk atmosphere.
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