Downfall 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 – 12/1
Price – £19.99 paperback £11.99 Kindle eBook
Warning – this is the book that follows Inscape and Outcast by Louise Carey
THE SAFETY OF INTECH'S RESIDENTS IS PARAMOUNT.
INSURRECTION WILL NOT BE TOLERATED.
Tanta and Cole may have stopped the mass murder of InTech's residents, but the cost was severe. Despite their efforts, Harlow 2.0 - the update to InTech's mind-based operating system - fed out. Now its citizens are compliant zombies, and Tanta and her crew are trapped underground.
All except for Fliss, who has no system to update. She alone can go outside, and it's Fliss the crew are relying on to help get them out.
For only then can they dismantle the damage Harlow 2.0 has done. If Tanta, Cole and InTech's residents are to truly be free, it needs to be destroyed. But Tanta knows that task will put her on a collision course with the corporation that raised her, her oldest friends, and the woman who was once her soulmate.
And this last mission might ask more of her than she's able to give.
The endgame of a war and revolution can be a dangerous time. Stakes are the highest, mistakes will get you killed and if your get even just some bad luck it can all end badly. I’ve been a huge fan of Louise Carey’s cyberthriller series for its inventive look at a world where corporations have gone mad (very apt after 2022!) and the intriguing way augmented reality gets meshed with corporate workers to create something rather dangerous. In the very fine third book an epic conclusion of warring corporations; spies and reengages comes to a very satisfying end.
A brief recap where we left things. Tanta was once the shining example of an InTech agent. Intelligent, tactically aware; able to infiltrate and also use physical force when necessary aided by her Inscape augmented reality software. But Tanta worked with the middle-aged cybertech specialist Cole on a mission who they found Cole actually invented the Agent Mind programme and also rebelled when he realised the company had wider plans for mind control. After various twists and turns now Tanta and Cole are exiled in the wastelands outside what was once known as London; InTech has released their mind programme Harlow 2 and now all its citizens and employees work without question for the Board. The only ally the duo have is a young Wastelander named Fliss who has been brought on side and now these characters have to try and work out how to bring InTech down while not being killed for being traitors.
Carey after the two books left a lot of arcs hanging and does a great job of resolving the story. I really appreciated the number of set pieces and adventures in the story. An interesting development is that now Fliss is the young spy and Tanta stuck in a nuclear bunker is the spymaster giving advice. A tense adventure in London shows this development to fine effect with drops; escapes and spycraft used to fine display also showing us how Fliss matured from the last book. This sets in motion a range of adventures taking our team from the bunker to the Wastelands to meet Fliss’ own original community in Gatwick and then the final third has a fascinating battle between InTech, it’s rival Thoughtfront who have taken Corporate takeover to a military level of attacks and underneath the battleground of wated London Tanta and Cole are trying to work out how to free their people from mind control and in opposition Tanta’s ex-girlfriend Reet who is fully under InTech control and sees Tanta as a Traitor. Carey is now very good at action and also subtler spy games knows when to crank up the tension and also to let the action fly be it in car chases, escapes, or fights. The pace is high and never feels like it is bogged down in plot or exposition making this fly by when I was reading it.
Giving the tale heart are the characters and after two books I’m very pleased to meet the cast again and yet also spot the development Carey made in the books now pay off again. Tanta is no longer naïve and now takes the lead all the time. Its her battle with Reet which gives the story a bittersweetness that these two are now on the wrong side and Carey doesn’t make it a simple happy ending in sight. Reet sees Tanta as the enemy very clearly misguided but still wrong so how far will she go to stop her is a key plotline and Reet is very good at her job too! Alongside Tanta is Cole – the boffin who has a ruthless streak is now a m ore active character too taking Intech on less in the physical world but in terms of using his tech skills to beat them and the problems posed by this new mind control is actually a satisfying science fiction puzzle to solve too and the ultimate solution is rather cleverly delivered. Lastly it was great to see Fliss again now no longer just a mercenary smuggler but a woman with purpose but still plenty of attitude and there is an arguing sister like vibe between her and Tanta over who should be in charge which adds much needed humour.
This was a very good ending to this set of adventures but does suggest possibilities for more tales in the same world. I would not say no to that! What it does confirm is that Louise Carey is one of UK Science Fiction’s up and coming writers and I’m very interested to see what we have to look forward to in the future. A fine series and highly recommended!
