Metapolies, or behemoth cities
At first glance, Darkness over Tokyoramabasically, it does not impress with its plot. It cannot be denied that the main plot here is revenge: a gang of athletes killed the main character’s pregnant wife. He, having no other purpose in life, decides to get them. Unfortunately, these are not just goons, but professional chedocas who are idols and even gods for outsiders. They get away with their crimes, so in order to kill them, Rafał Tymura will have to enter this environment. Which, of course, is not that easy. First, he has to change his identity – in this respect he can count on his friend from the army, the gangster Wiktor. However, this is just the beginning of the protagonist’s path to bloody revenge. There will be many obstacles on his way, but – as Wiktor himself notices – Rafał is born in a bonnet, and happiness will be extremely needed during his journey to the very bottom of hell. As I suggested before the main plot is not too impressive, but the action takes place in a fascinating, cyberpunk world. Corporations rule here, we have gigantic cities. There are caste divisions. The poor live on low levels (below the hundredth), and the richest are the only ones who can see the sky and the sun. Added to this is an interesting sport that is a combination of chess and gladiatorial fights. All of this makes it easy to get caught up in this story.
The mother of all hackers
The heroes are quite an interesting bunch of lunatics. We have Rafał Tymura, a former soldier, idealist who lost everything in an instant. He is ready to risk even his own life, if only to take revenge on the murderers. However, what should be noted, he adheres to the principle that revenge is best served cold, which is why at times I had the impression that the main character is too emotionless. Nevertheless, his journey draws you in, you want to follow him to every level of the metapoly – from the lowest to the highest. Apart from Rafał, his friend Wiktor stands out as he perfectly demonstrates how criminals function in this world. An equally important protagonist is the Motherhaker, an extremely talented hacker who has circumvented the System. A legend among anarchists. In addition, of course, we have many other characters, including a diverse group of athletes.
Cyberpunk gladiators
I got caught up in this story. Although the initial accumulation of terms, caste and modern inventions makes it difficult to perceive the novel, it cannot be denied that it is very easy to sink into this world. It has been refined and although the plot focuses on revenge, the author managed to sneak in a lot of details about the construction of the world. Thanks to this, despite the triviality of the main plot, the whole thing looks brilliant.
As for the issue of the release, I would only fault the cover. I don’t like it, if only because of the big “robot” in the background, which does not fit the story in any way. Apart from this detail, I have nothing to complain about this book. Robert Szmidt simply writes excellent novels.
Is it worth living in a metapolis?
The world presented is fascinating on the one hand, and extremely scary on the other, which is why I swallowed the Darkness over Tokyorama in no time . The main plot is not overly delightful, because there have been many stories about revenge. Nevertheless, it is the details and detailed information about the universe that add a lot to this novel. It is worth emphasizing that the clashes are also decent. Che-do is a fascinating sport, because it combines the depth of chess with the unpredictability of clashes between human pawns. A very ingenious discipline! It is a pity that the author did not describe more clashes. To sum up, Robert Szmidt once again managed to positively surprise me and draw me into one of his many worlds.
