Market Forces
by Richard K. Morgan
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Book Summary Information
Author: Richard K. MorganEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-03-01
ISBN: 0345457749
Number of pages: 464
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Book Reviews of Market Forces
Book Review: Unconvincing Mess
Summary: 2 Stars
Like many others, I adored Morgan's first book (Altered Carbon), liked his second (Broken Angels) only slightly less, and found this sci-fi satire of the New World Order to be a disappointing mess. Set in the not-to-distant future, it posits a dystopian Earth created through the nasty synergy of free-market capitalism and globalization. In this ugly future, the real inequalities of wealth that have been growing throughout the latter half of the 20th century have led to a less abstract division of classes. The wealthy elite have freedom of movement and security, while those on the lower rungs are imprisoned in walled-off "cordoned zone" ghettos requiring permits to leave. Most of the action takes place in London and Morgan doesn't do a very good job of explaining how this society works on a broader scale. Are non-urban areas restricted or open? How come most of the rest of the world doesn't operate this way? If the cordoned zones are basically zones of anarchy, how come the gangsters there can't seem to get their hands on black market guns? It's the kind of premise that works in a short story, where the reader will accept there's no room to explain it all, but in a 400+ page book it simply doesn't hold up.
The story centers around Chris, one of the few who's managed to claw their way out of the zones and into the elite. He's basically made it as an operator for one of the massive multinational investment banks that now run the world. The twist is that they invest in conflict, financing dictators and revolutionaries in the "small wars" that the lesser developed nations are constantly awash in. The premise is that these investment banks make huge sums brokering arms deals all over the world whilst engineering and managing various regime changes. While this is kind of cute from a satirical standpoint, it doesn't really measure up on the plausibility scale. Yes, there are plenty of Western multinational corporations who make a boatload of money in the small wars of today, and it would be naive not believe they don't engage in all manner of dirty tricks to maximize this revenue stream. However, it's totally implausible that this would somehow become the driving sector of the global economy.
In any event, Chris has risen to the top due to his skill at the (again) implausible practice of corporate advancement and contract tenders: road duels. Basically, this is equal parts mano-a-mano combat, Mad Max, and Car Wars (the tabletop game, look it up if you're not familiar with it). This too, makes little sense by any measure, although it's fairly amusing. The idea that in the matter of multi-billion dollar deals, these major multinationals would agree to abide by the results of a rather arbitrary autoduel runs counter to the logic of the basic premise. One would expect major corporations to settle things between themselves with either more precision or more arrangement than a totally unpredictable autoduel, ditto for internal corporate promotions.
The story revolves around Chris's climb up the ladder and the effect of this on his relationship with his mechanic wife. She and her Swedish family exist primarily to act as the voice of conscience, prodding at Chris's unease about the nastiness of what he does for a living. It also offers him the potential to turn traitor to the system and go to work for a toothless UN as an omsbudsman -- but can he turn his back on the life of wealth, privilege and power? This basic tale of ethics and redemption plays out against a backdrop of corporate infighting, the seductive powers of an sexy TV presenter, and a developing coup in Colombia. Ultimately, the whole Wall Street Gordon Gecko American Psycho Patrick Bateman Mad Max Noam Chomsky mish-mash just doesn't work -- even though I wish it did. To a certain extent Morgan has to be applauded for attempting to take his anger at the state of the global economy, corporate rapacity, and the dark side of globalization, and turning it onto a popular work of fiction that could carry his message to a much greater audience than any newspaper op-ed piece. But the framework just doesn't work for the sweeping indictment he launches from it. Morgan's style is still solidly enjoyable, and there are plenty of his trademark slang words like "indesp" (industrial espionage), "mobcon" (mobile consultants), and clever twists, like the services offered by subcontractors at "Langley Consulting" or "Special Air", but his previous readers will likely be let down.
Summary of Market Forces
From the award-winning author of Altered Carbon and Broken Angels?a turbocharged new thriller set in a world where killers are stars, media is mass entertainment,and freedom is a dangerous proposition . . .
A coup in Cambodia. Guns to Guatemala. For the men and women of Shorn Associates, opportunity is calling. In the superheated global village of the near future, big money is made by finding the right little war and supporting one side against the other?in exchange for a share of the spoils. To succeed, Shorn uses a new kind of corporate gladiator: sharp-suited, hard-driving gunslingers who operate armored vehicles and follow a Samurai code. And Chris Faulkner is just the man for the job.
He fought his way out of London?s zone of destitution. And his kills are making him famous. But unlike his best friend and competitor at Shorn, Faulkner has a side that outsiders cannot see: the side his wife is trying to salvage, that another woman?a porn star turned TV news reporter?is trying to exploit. Steeped in blood, eyed by common criminals looking for a shot at fame, Faulkner is living on borrowed time. Until he?s given one last shot at getting out alive. . . .
Richard Morgan, the award-winning author of Altered Carbon and Broken Angels, strikes out into new territory with Market Forces, leaving behind the farflung battlegrounds of Takeshi Kovacs for the not-so-distant future of corporate Earth. Here, Morgan extrapolates a world where commodities trading reaches a brutal pitch and the outcomes of banana republic uprisings are the new market. Now, on the road to success, the brokers of the new economy compete for status and promotions via road rage on the freeways of new London.
Morgan's conflicted protagonist, Chris Faulkner, is a comer known for one spectacular kill that shot him to the top of mid-range global capital firm. He parlays his reputation and skills as a driver into a job in the emerging field of "Conflict Investment" at the world's hottest and hardest firm. Soon he finds himself running with the big dogs and rises to the top of a brutal realm, but his ascent is quickly threatened by vicious senior partners, gold-digging suitors, fame, fair-weather friends, and his own nagging conscience.
Market Forces is at once an anti-globalization treatise and anime fantasy meets The Road Warrior. Morgan employs the graphic-novel imagery of his two previous novels to create a disturbingly brutal picture of slash-and-burn capitalism run amok. There are times when Faulker's moral quandries seem hollow in the face of his actions but this isn't Crime and Punishment. Enjoy the ride and "come back with blood on your wheels or don't come back at all." --Jeremy Pugh
Amazon.com Exclusive Content
A Winning Translation: An Exclusive Essay by Richard Morgan
His novels may paint a bleak picture of the future, but Richard Morgan has a great attitude toward language, and one word in particular. Read his Amazon.com exclusive essay and find out why he'll never consider himself, or anyone else, anything worse than an occasional non-winner.Literature & Fiction Books
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