Reading – Deus Ex: Icarus Effect

Earlier this year, during the Borders closing sale, I grabbed a copy of Deus Ex: Icarus Effect*, a cyberpunk novel by James Swallow and set in the world of the Deus Ex series*. I grabbed the book because of the cover art, but once I started reading I blew through this fun, fast-paced cyberpunk novel that was far more entertaining than I expected.

In the near future, with physical augmentation gaining ground and nano-cybernetics only years away, the dawn of limitless human evolution is just beyond the horizon, and a secret corporate cabal of ruthless men intends to make sure that humankind stays under its control. But two people on opposite sides of the world are starting to ask questions that could get them killed.

Reminds Me of Classic Cyberpunk

As I got deeper into the book I started to realize that the story felt like it came from the era that brought us such cyberpunk classics as Hardwired* and When Gravity Fails*. Sure the tech is more advanced, but the action and overall feel of the story is a perfect match for those older cyberpunk books from the eighties. And this is a great thing in my mind, since it has been a long time since I’ve encountered a new straight-up cyberpunk action story.

A Tale of Two Characters

Anna Kelso, a Secret Service agent, and Ben Saxon, a mercenary, start out in completely different parts of the world but by the end of the book they’ve been through some intense, well-written battles and manage to lose themselves in a third world nation as they’re on the run from the shadowy Illuminati. How the two come together is a bit easy to spot once you get a little ways into the book, but the telegraphed meeting didn’t spoil the fun for me because Swallow does a good job keeping the story moving and illustrating the gunfights.

And it is this lack of real surprises that led reviewer Graeme Flory, in his review, to be less-than-thrilled with the book. In his review he writes:

The main problem for me was that the whole book was signposted a little too clearly for someone like me who likes a little surprise in their reading every now and again. Without giving too much away, it didn’t take long before I could tell who the bad guys really were, who was going to turn traitor and how things had to end.

True, but I had enough fun reading the book that I wasn’t too bothered that I figured out how things had to go down well before I reached the end of the book. But then I read to be entertained and not for spectacular twists and unexpected endings, so I’m a lot easier to satisfy when it comes to mindless fiction than some people out there.

Classic Cyberpunk?

So what makes me identify Deus Ex: Icarus Effect* as “classic” cyberpunk? Mainly the fact that while it dives deep into human augmentation and advanced tech, not once do I feel like I’ve fallen into the hole that is known as “transhumanism” (Wikipedia). Transhumanism and cyberpunk, while sharing some things in common, are to me drastically different approaches to the idea of human augmentation through technology. And I just personally prefer cyberpunk to transhuman fiction.

The mercenary, Ben Saxon, is fully-loaded with tech, with leg replacements, reflex enhancement, a cool “high-fall” device that uses electromagnetic energy to allow him to jump from extreme heights, and several other gadgets that are all perfect cyberpunk-style accessories. He and the members of his team are all your traditional cyberpunk characters; reviewer Baron Fortnightly in his review of the book nails it:

Judging from his descriptions I have a sneaking suspicion that Swallow has also read his share of Cyberpunk RPGs as this novel is full of reflex boosts, subdermal armour, aerodynes, cyberoptics and cargo blimps.

Yeah, the book definitely feels like it was ripped out of the same fabric that created the Cyberpunk 2020* roleplaying game, and while some people will see that as a negative it doesn’t bother me at all.

Closing Thoughts

Deus Ex: Icarus Effect* is recommended if you’re a fan of old school cyberpunk novels and games. It’s not going to change your life if you read it, but if you’re into fast-paced near-future action with lots of gunfights then you should have a good time with the book.

I enjoyed it and would happily read a second book in the same setting, even if it attacked the setting from a different angle with completely different characters. I just hope that if there is a second book they get James Swallow to write it, because he did a great job in crafting this novel set in the Deus Ex series*.