This one was offered to me as a cyberpunk adventure that takes place in Hawaii, which I thought sounded super interesting and unique so I jumped on the chance to read it.
Thanks to the author as well as Amplify Publishing Group via NetGalley for the review copy.
Humankind rose from the carcass of a dead world. Lifetimes later, billions of people live in superstructures constructed atop the only habitable lands left, the Hawaiian Islands. Kilohana “Kilo” Ressler lives in Hawai’i City (known to the people as Big City) along with his illegal Digital Psychological Manifestation (DPM), EO, a pseudo-twin only perceptible to the host, designed during the rebuilding years to provide companionship in a world of horrors. Kilo has managed to keep EO a secret for most of his life, but when his skills are required for a diplomatic mission in Kaua’i City, Kilo and EO find themselves embroiled in a conspiracy that threatens to expose EO’s existence and endanger the fragile balance of power between the island cities. The only place left for answers is in the depths of the superstructure the Below. As the walls close in, Kilo must undertake the impossible task of protecting his friend, facing his past, and holding a crumbling city together.
The Below is the story of Kilohana “Kilo” Ressler, who lives in Hawai’i City. This is a future Earth that has suffered some sort of cataclysm event that has left much of it uninhabitable, and so the only place left that people can live are the Hawaiian Islands. They have been built into giant cities, and Hawai’i City is the biggest. Kilo is some sort of… I’m not actually sure what he is… he is like a bounty hunter or a detective, I think? He is a former soldier who is now almost like a diplomat meets detective. He also has a DPM, which is a sort of machine that is injected into the brain that manifests a person that only the host can see. They are very, very rare, and illegal for most people to own. Kilo’s DPM is named EO, and he helps Kilo not only by keeping him company, but he can move around in rooms that Kilo is in without being seen, which helps quite a lot in the sneaky shenanigans business.
Kilo gets sent on a mission by the ruling caste of the cities that sends him into an area known as The Below, which seems to be like like the seedy underbelly of the islands. Kilo has some experience with the area and some of its inhabitants. As he investigates the shady happenings in The Below, he finds all kinds of conspiracies and secrets, and it’s up to Kilo and EO to try and stop some real bad stuff from happening to the cities.
I enjoyed this one, but not as much as I was anticipating I would. The world was easy to imagine. I thought of it something like Coruscant. Skyscrapers on skyscrapers, and within the layers of this metropolis, there are different castes, and giant gaps in wealth. The Designers are the rulers and architects of the cities, and just like many other stories with an Undercity, there is a very big power gap between the above and The Below.
It was easy to place myself in that setting, because of experience with other stories in settings that are similar, like I said, but I do wish that there was a bit more explanation about why the world was the way it was, and why Hawaii was like… the last place that people could live. I mean, I understand the idea of a series of islands pretty far out from the mainland being a bastion for all humanity, but again, I wish there had been a little bit of a peek into what the rest of the world was doing in that respect. I don’t think Hawaii was where the entire population of Earth lived, because there didn’t seem to be that big of a multicultural aspect, but who knows.
Part of this story concerns ‘The Continent’ which I took to be Mexico or Central America-ish. There was once a war there, that Kilo fought in long ago. The Continent is no longer habitable, and protective clothing and equipment are needed in order to do anything because the air is poisonous… or radioactive… or both? Being unprotected does more to take years off your life than it does to immediately kill you, so take that as you will. People go there (or are sent there) to mine certain substances, and are usually never seen again… until Kilo starts investigating.
I found Kilo pretty easy to cheer for but I think the real star of the show here was EO. I have so many questions about how EO does the things he does, but alas, I will let you all form your own questions rather than spoiling any of the surprises. He is a Digital Psychological Manifestation… think JARVIS or FRIDAY if nobody else could see or hear them and they were super secret and illegal. I like that EO had a little snark, and I really liked how much of a sidekick and support structure for Kilo he was.
All told, I thought this was an interesting story that I wish had just a tad more detail about the world as a whole. It was certainly a unique twist on a few well known tropes. I certainly don’t think of Hawaii off the top of my head when I think of Cyberpunk, so that was new! I had 3.5/5 stars of fun with The Below. If you liked stories like Metropolis or Dark City, or you like a real City Noir setting, like Neo-Tokyo in AKIRA, or Rapture in Bioshock, you might just give this one a look.
superstardrifter 
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