Outcast by Louise Carey
I would like to thank Gollancz for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review
Publisher – Gollancz
Published – 20/1
Price – £16.99 hardback £7.99 Kindle eBook
NB There will be spoilers for volume 1 of this series – Inscape (it’s awesome and you should read it)
TRUTH.
LIES.
IT CAN BE HARD TO TELL THEM APART.
When a bomb goes off at InTech HQ, everything changes for Tanta's corporation. Order becomes disorder. Safety becomes danger. Calm becomes chaos.
Tanta is tasked with getting to the bottom of the attack before violence and unrest overtake the city. But even though the evidence points towards rival corporation Thoughtfront, Tanta can't shake the feeling that she's missing something.
There's a dark secret at the heart of the case, one that will reveal more about her own corporation than Tanta would like. And the closer Tanta gets to the mystery, the more she comes to realise something terrible:
Sometimes facing the truth can be the hardest thing of all.
For science fiction the corporations consistently are seen as a worrying threat. The last few decades have done little to think that the world that Gibson and co discussed in Neuromancer and many more cyberpunk novels is still fairly likely. The realms of information, transport, shopping are all owned by a few strange entities with powers and wealth far larger than most small countries. Last year in Inscape by Louise Carey I was hugely impressed with this cyber thriller that had a creative take on a dystopian future where augmented reality, mind control and greed threatened the remaining populations of London. Now in the excellent sequel Outcast Carey provides an equally worthy sequel expanding on the story to create a series I now will desperately want to see how it ends.
To recap the previous volume Tanta was a high-flying ambitious Intech agent assigned to an unusual mystery. In the course of which she was partnered with technology genius Cole. Despite the misgivings the two learned to trust each other and reveal both spies in Intech and the darker side of the Inscape software that agents and other Intech employees use on a daily basis – a mind control device known as the Harlow Programme which made agents loyal and the worst type of corporate bootlickers you could imagine. At the end of Inscape though the two solved the crime and became friends plus the final battles resulted in Tanta’s internal programming being fully removed and Cole realising he was the person responsible for creating this control in the first place! Now both sees Intech as a threatening environment they are trapped in.
A few months on and despite a huge success the new bosses see Tanta s a threat side-lined to basic guard duty and Cole placed under a mean-spirited technology boss doing long hours of menial work. This though does not last long as Tanta discovers a bomb targeting Intech’s senior management team. She is soon reassigned to active investigation and with Cole they tread outside Intech’s secure borders to the wastelands and silos to find clues as to who is behind the attack and a recent run of supply thefts. Greater danger than ever awaits and perhaps all sides cannot trust each other any longer.
I am so pleased to say this book matches and builds upon the excellence of the first novel. Now They both know the world of Intech is not what they thought it was the question they each ask themselves is what do you do next? Surprisingly it is not to immediately bring down the system. Tanta wants her old job back and Cole would like to get back to supporting the investigation. For Tanta the apparent attack by a rival corporation is more a chance to shine. This leads to one of the fascinating aspects of this society – however bad things look they would rather be paid and live in the company’s protection. We know Intech uses sleeping humans as autonomous workers, we see food shortages and that there is a high death rate for employees (likely related to all the software in their brains) and yet both characters still think Intech is better than the alternative!
To help explain this we get a new character in the form of Fliss who lives outside the corporation in what is post-Meltdown London constantly scavenging for food and medicine. She runs a small gang focused on attacking drones in order to get provisions to live and sell on. They are approached by a shadowy duo with the latest tech for some new missions in exchange for supplies and they soon get on Tanta and Cole’s radar. What I liked about this is that it was a reminder that the country formally known as the UK is now a dangerous wild place and that the entities such as Intech are viewed with suspicion and hatred by those outside the system. Its unusual to suddenly see Tanta getting viewed as a bad guy. This question of who is in the right is at the heart of this novel.
Pulling the mystery of the attacks and working out who are the real enemy is Tanta and Cole. Once again, this partnership of two people who are friends (not will they/won’t they friends) feels still refreshing. They are two people who have skills the other does not and together that makes them a formable act. Interestingly this time for parts of the novel they each have to work separately and with others as their partner. Firstly, this shows how each has grown in confidence. Tanta now prepared to play office politics while Cole is getting better at subterfuge, but it also really wants us to see them work together. As the central mystery is revealed and we see what Intech’s agenda really is, then how the duo can stop it is going to be a theme in this novel and the finale of the series. Without too many spoilers Cole’s and Tanta’s skills really blend together in the final act and its brilliantly delivered by Carey weaving between the two’s personal battles.
Outcast is a sleek, smart, fast paced and hugely enjoyable SF thriller with two really stand-out lead characters. We have a fascinating story exploring corporation’s greed and ruthlessness, the power of mind control and the morality of doing the right thing. I raced through this and had a great time apart from knowing I’ve a while to wait for the next book. Firmly cementing Carey as a writer to watch in the genre. Strongly recommended!
