Cyberpunk 2077: No Coincidence

By: Rafal Kosik

Narrated by: Cherami Leigh

Length: 14 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

WELCOME TO NIGHT CITY.

THE CITY OF DREAMS.

IF IT HASN'T CHANGED YOU YET, IT WILL . . .

AND IF IT DOESN'T KILL YOU, YOU MIGHT COME OUT THE OTHER SIDE AS A LIVING LEGEND.

In neon-drenched Night City, a ragtag group of strangers have just pulled off a heist, robbing a convoy transporting a mysterious container belonging to Militech. The only thing the group has in common is that they were blackmailed into participating in the heist - and they have no idea just how far their mysterious employer's reach goes, or the purpose of the artifact they stole.

This newly formed gang - composed of a veteran turned renegade, a sleeper agent for Militech, a computer nerd, a therapist, a ripperdoc, and a techie - must learn how to overcome their differences and work together, lest their secrets be unveiled before they can pull off the next deadly heist.

Set in the world of Cyberpunk 2077, one of the bestselling video games of recent years, this electrifying novel from acclaimed Polish SF writer Rafal Kosik follows a group of strangers as they discover that the dangers of Night City are all too real.

©2023 Rafal Kosik (P)2023 Hachette Audio UK

Must have for Cyberpunk 2077 fans!

I was a bit spooked by other reviews telling me that this book has a bad story and so forth. I think it encapsulates the cyberpunk 2077 feeling well. I was a joy to listen to it while going to work or everyday life. It was a fitting for the worldbuilding how the characters have flaws, the plans are not well thought out and nearly everyone lives on the edge of success or failure. While I do support that it isn't the greatest story ever, it was quite good, and it was further enhanced by the narrator. She did an awesome job!

brought me back to night city.

Great narration and very entertaining, authentic story. the pacing was not always on point, but all in all a great addition to the cyberpunk universe.

A decent Cyberpunk novel

The book honestly starts off a bit sluggish and it's hard to keep up with it at times, because the author for some reason decided to constantly jump between the POV of 6 main characters, without doing any character introduction or description. The first chapter is especially weird, because it starts with a gun fight but you don't know who's fighting who and you're not able to picture the scene, because it's not described properly. The book doesn't even tell you where people are standing in relation to each other, so it's hard to picture the gunfight in your head. I just want to mention that none of this is the fault of the voice talent, which is Cherami Leigh (one of the best voice actors of all time in my opinion). She has an amazing range and every character she voices in this book (which is like 20 + characters) has a distinct voice, so you always immediately know who's talking. The problem here is that the author doesn't set up the scene properly and constantly jumps between characters. But all of these problems suddenly disappear after chapter 5. In chapter 6 the main gang which consists of 6 characters, pull off another heist, which will have dire consequences for the whole crew. The story of the book basically starts at chapter 6 and things finally start to move along in a natural way and without having to switch characters POV every 2 seconds. Chapters 6-15 almost make up for all of the bad writing from chapters 1-5. It's like two different authors wrote the book. I seriously don't know what happened there, but it's kinda funny if I'm honest.

The ending contains a pretty big plot twits that probably no one saw coming. I also think that the ending did a decent job at answering most questions and explaining all the character's motivations. There's only 1 thing that bothers me and it's about the character Juliana. I'm not going to spoil anything, but the book doesn't explain why she decides to do certain actions and never elaborates what happens to her after she decided in such a way. It's probably on purpose, her actions and fate are deliberately left open to interpretation, but I would've still liked to get a bit more exposition for her character.

In short: This a decent novel of the Cyberpunk genre and everyone who likes Cyberpunk (especially the video game, or table top games) should try to read, or listen to it at least once. The first 5 chapters are rough, but I promise the book gets better after chapter 5, so try not to quit :)

This audiobook is also a must buy if you're a big Cherami Leigh fan like I am, especially if you like her voice as female V, because she reads the narration in female V's voice, instead of using her natural speaking voice.

Narrator saves it

Outstanding narration.

Story is a bit of a mess.

Still probably worthwhile for fans of Cyberpunk 2077.

Some stories go down easier when listened to

A tour de force with a few twist and turns. The narrator did a great job keeping me engaged in the story.

If you like the game, you'll probably enjoy it.

If you're familiar with Night City you'll recognize a lot of names and places. The narrator does a good job, she also voices female V in the game. Story is fine but can be a little bit confusing at times with frequent jumps between characters. I found the payoff or resolution at the end a bit lacking too.