Market Forces

January 24, 2005
Morgan's brutal, provocative third novel (after Altered Carbon
and Broken Angels
) charts the moral re-education of executive Chris Faulkner, who joins notoriously successful Shorn Associates, which specializes in "conflict investment"—financing totalitarian regimes, as well as guerrilla movements, in developing countries that are never allowed to develop. Taking his theme from such well-known critics of Western capitalism as Noam Chomsky, Susan George and Michael Moore (all listed as sources), the author presents a bleak near-future that includes continuing job loss through NAFTA, the undermining of national economies like that of China and the creation of a permanent underclass. Faulkner and other company hotshots compete in highly dangerous, often fatal car races, which reflect the ruthlessness of their corporate careers. Faulkner's auto-mechanic wife, Carla, strives to humanize him, but he will have to kill a lot of people with his car, guns and, in the penultimate bloodbath, a baseball bat before seeing the error of his ways. While some may be put off by the graphic violence and the heavy-handed polemics, most readers will find Morgan's economic extrapolation convincing and compelling. Agent, Susan Howe.

February 15, 2005
In the near future, commodities trading means investing in the many small wars around the globe. Chris Faulkner joins Shorn Associates as a specialist in Conflict Investments and quickly learns the dirty tricks necessary to stay alive in a business where competition often leads to corporate bloodshed. The author of "Altered Carbon "and "Broken Angels "creates yet another grim vision of the future in this tale of one man who discovers his limitations and regains his honor on the battlefield of buying and selling. Morgan's sf suspense belongs in most sf collections.

Copyright 2005 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2005
The latest novel by one of science fiction's new crossover stars features Chris Faulkner, an up-and-coming commodities trader who finds that his new job entails a level of ruthlessness he is not sure he's prepared to embrace. The story is set in England in the not-too-distant future (2050, or thereabouts), but the author's England is unlike anything we have ever seen or imagined. In this rugged, cutthroat business environment, corporate rivals duke it out in duels on the open highway. Getting a promotion involves, quite literally, eliminating the competition, and our hero's particular kind of commodities trading involves betting on the outcomes of wars. It's not a particularly pleasant future, but Morgan paints it in broad strokes, drawing us into his future world and making it feel like a natural outgrowth of today's corporate chicanery. The novel might have been unremittingly bleak if it weren't for the moral center provided by Faulkner, who is a genuinely likable guy. Fans of Morgan's gritty, noirish brand of sf will flock to this one.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)