Review: Titanborn

Titanborn by Rhett C. Bruno
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Titanborn has been on my radar for a long time, and now that I've gotten to it, I have no idea why I had waited so long. There isn't much to not like about it or the rest of the series -- it's got a dark and gritty sci-fi-inspired setting, complex and flawed characters, and a plot that will keep you guessing until the very end. That's not just a superfluous description; I literally could not have imagined how this book ended. I'm not going to spoil it, but if you hate reading predictable books where you can see every plot twist coming, you'll enjoy Titanborn. Plus, the audio version is narrated by R.C. Bray, who I'm pretty sure has never had a bad performance.

The book follows the ventures of Malcolm Graves, an elite corporate agent who operates in a future world where megacorporations run the sol system. Malcolm conveys a film noir quality to the novel, as he's an anachronistic anti-hero who is a blend of gumshoe, assassin, and smart-ass alcoholic. He even carries the sci-fi equivalent to a magnum revolver in a holster under a classic duster coat. Overall, I loved the gritty tech-noir setting, Malcolm's endless snark and sarcasm, and the edgy writing. Maybe I was reading a bit too deep, but I also found that Titanborn presents a futuristic take on some modern contemporary social issues, and by doing so, presents some dark questions about the fate of our morality and humanity in a future where we've failed to address those issues. Regardless of whether this was intentional, you have to like a good that makes you think a bit at the end.

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