Thin Air

A Novel

By: Richard K. Morgan

Narrated by: Colin Mace

Length: 18 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

An atmospheric tale of corruption and abduction set on Mars, from the author of the award-winning science fiction novel Altered Carbon, now an exciting new series from Netflix.

Named one of the best books of the year by The Guardian.

Hakan Veil is an ex-corporate enforcer equipped with military-grade body tech that’s made him a human killing machine. His former employers have abandoned him on a turbulent Mars where Earth-based overlords battle for profits and power amid a homegrown independence movement. But he’s had enough of the turbulent red planet, and all he wants is a ticket back home - which is just what he’s offered by the Earth Oversight organization, in exchange for being the bodyguard for an EO investigator. It’s a beyond-easy gig for a heavy hitter like Veil...until it isn’t.

When Veil’s charge starts looking into the mysterious disappearance of a lottery winner, it stirs up a hornet’s nest of intrigue and murder. And the deeper Veil is drawn into the game, the more long-buried secrets claw their way to the Martian surface. Now it’s the expert assassin poised against powerful enemies hell-bent on taking him down - by any means necessary.

Praise for Thin Air:

“Kick-ass.... Mixed in with the thriller-esque action and cyberpunk backdrop is a hard-boiled noir story complete with a twisting and turning plot that keeps readers on their toes.” (Los Angeles Times)

“Richard K. Morgan wants to destroy your Mars fantasies.... It’s a grim vision, but one that Morgan finds far more plausible than the cheerful visions of plucky Mars colonists common in sci-fi.” (Wired)

“A robotically enhanced Jack Reacher [in a] dazzlingly intricate game of political double- and triple-cross, spiced with tastily kinetic battle sequences.” (The Guardian)

“If you ever imagined that the core esthetics and themes of cyberpunk - lowlifes and high tech; corporate dominance; future noir; post-human evolution and cyborg adaptations; hardscrabble urban environments - were played out, Thin Air will set you straight, and kick your butt in the process.... Both kinematic and cinematic, [Thin Air is] limned by Morgan with balletic precision and smashmouth grace.” (Paul Di Filippo, Locus)

©2018 Richard K. Morgan (P)2018 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Morgan really makes this version of Mars come to life.... As realistic and vibrant as anything I’ve read in the genre.” (Tor.com)

“Scintillating, imaginative.... This is science-fiction as neo-noir thriller, with gunfights, multiple shadowy agendas, and blood on the floor.” (Sci-fi and Fantasy Reviews)

Over too soon.

Very entertaining. Great story and narration. Now looking forward to the next Morgan story and any narration by Colin. Thanks.

Cyberpunk Noir

In the tradition of Gibson and Walter Jon Wiliams, a cyberpunk story paying homage to Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe. Both genres I enjoy. The narrator was not the best. His speech was not clear all the time and the story hard to follow at times.

Literary Violence

Without getting into the weeds and giving exact examples, so you’ll think I’m smart...

This reads like literature, the language and story is fantastically laid out. I’m not sure if it’s complex or smart, but it feels that way on a first read, which makes it that much more wonderful. It’s modern literature about a genetically modified, once indentured mad man, with a moral code and fantasticly violent toys.

Good, but not great. RKM has done better

RKM has a way of rearranging the world when he comes out with a new series. Altered Carbon and its sequels were ground breaking in how fully the idea of the body as expendable hardware was explored. This is gritty in the kind of cyberpunk way that he's known for and that was good, but otherwise it was a detective story in a space colony. The one new SF idea was left mostly unexplored as if it didn't have the depth of change built into it to make it a main part of the story.

Look, RKM at his least innovative is still good reading. It's well written, gritty, full of action, and fun. It just doesn't hit the mark of some of his earlier work.

P.S. It should be no shock to anyone that there's a bit of graphically described sex in this book. It's an important part of the plot and it's just a fairly short section so we're not talking about something most people should be shocked by. RKM gets points from me on this because it's pretty well and accurately done, and not the cliched perfection most authors put in as some kind of fantasy fulfillment.

another Richard K Morgan hit.

loved it. Did not want to pause it. one book I'll listen to again and again.

Best thing since Altered Carbon!

A good mystery combined with excellent world building Science Fiction and throw in superb narration and Richard K. Morgan has a winner on his hands. Listen to this novel, please. You’ll love it.

Brain Spinach Saves the Day!

The tendency to judge a book against its author's prior work is tempting. In this case, it's better just to forget Takeshi Kovacs and go with the flow. Thin Air is an enjoyable fast paced SF thriller. The characters are interesting enough to keep you going and the plot sort of makes sense.
In the contemporary Sci Fi world that will have to do. While Altered Carbon was a whole new direction, this book seems like paint by numbers in a lot of places. Superhuman fighter always kills everyone in the room, with a little help from spinach- wait, no, that was Popeye. Veil uses built in systems that seem prepared for any eventuality. Convenient, to say the least.
Thrown in here and there are gratuitous sex interludes that will thrill the 14 year old male reader, I guess, but seem to have no other reason to intrude. Things just sort of happen, and miraculous escapes just sort of show up on schedule.
Anyway, I still enjoyed it. There is an originality to the book that is way ahead of the stamp it out by formula writers that dominate Sci Fi- I'm looking at you, B.V. Larson. I'm not sure if Morgan will ever be as good as he was with Altered Carbon, but that is a high bar, and this book makes a valiant effort at it.
It's possible that every writer has a few good books in them, and the other ones are the price you pay to get to those books. I'm happy to do that, with the hope that Morgan is just getting a started.

excellent book

fantastic! hopefully a noir style space opera in the works. peter hamilton fans should give this one a listen.

Essential fiction - 11/10

Morgan has an incredible ability to weave a dense, interleaved and highly believable World for his characters to play (and suffer) in. He also writes some of the most impossible-to-stop-reading prose I’ve ever encountered. This isn’t just essential sci fi- It’s one of the best books of any kind that I’ve ever read. 11/10.

Fun cyberpunk story with a very good performance!

So, do you like cyberpunk stories? Well then you will enjoy this story from the modern-day cyberpunk master Richard K. Morgan.