Street
A serialized novel, updating twice weekly.
Street is a fast-paced online/print cyberpunk thriller about a woman alone in a dystopian future, Gina, working to make ends meet like the rest of the new underclass — by taking a powerful drug that gives her telepathic abilities. She skirts the edges of sanity when she takes a job she knows she really shouldn’t, and finds herself embroiled deeper and deeper into a dangerous mystery . . . .
Street
— contains pervasive harsh language; also, some graphic violence —
Tags: cyberpunk mystery nanotechnology near future online novels science fiction telepathy third person
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Editorial Reviews
Horseless Cowboys
Caveat: I haven’t read all of Street, but I have read all of Year 1: Empathy.
The beginning instantly grabbed me. Crisp, clear, to the point.
I like that.
The story itself starts off strong: we are introduced to Gina, a woman working the Street, and telepathic mind drugs (which I thought was just cool). She takes a job she knows she probably shouldn’t and after that, the action never really lets up.
Along the way, we meet the mysterious Gabriel, hints of ruined cities, ash people, and bullets. Lots of bullets.
I suppose the most off-putting thing about Street Year 1 is the fact that it strongly reminded me of Neuromancer by William Gibson. Of course, I am not overly familiar with the cyberpunk genre so I decided to read about it on wikipedia before writing this review.
And Street fits the very definition of cyberpunk with its cowboy hackers, AIs, virtual reality (which was deftly described in Street) and the grim, gritty future that is the antithesis of utopia.
I guess I wanted something new. The Neuromancer association never went away, and that saddens me, because I think that Ryan is a writer who could write good, interesting stories.
My one other complaint is that the characters were rather distant and I found it difficult to relate to them — for me, it felt disconnected. I simply read on because I wanted to find out what happened next.
I have revised my initial star score. It is better than decent, as it is soundly written. Not a five, because I still think certain core elements of characterization were lacking. Also, I’m afraid I let my own personal preferences get in the way and for that I apologize.
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Most Helpful Member Reviews
Streets Ahead
There are two books in the Street Series – Empathy and Clairvoyance.
For a book that fits into the cyberpunk genre - Book One - Empathy - achieved something quite remarkable in my case, it hooked me in and kept me dangling right to the end.
With exceptional writing and fast-paced story lines Empathy should appeal to the majority of fiction readers. I found it exciting, easy to read and although set in the future it was not too far fetched to be a turn off for someone like myself with a preference for other genres.
A great plus was that the author presents believable and interesting characters right from the word go. The fact that I was able to pronounce their names and could almost bump into a Gina, Bomber or Gabriel in the street was a breath of fresh air. The dark mysterious Gabriel intrigued me no end and I could not get enough of him.
By the end of Book One I was as much of an addict as the main character Gina.
Book Two – Clairvoyance is enjoyable although at the moment I am not finding it as interesting or exciting as Empathy. My opinion is prone to change though because the story is still a work in progress.
My main gripe is that some of the characters are developing along what I would refer to as ‘comic book lines’. This development might agree with a lot of readers, may even attract more, but it is not something that I personally enjoy.
The site itself was a little difficult to navigate at first but in the past week or so it has been made easier by the introduction of some additional links. The majority of the home page is taken up by blog like notes from the author and I think that the site could be friendlier to new readers if these were to be replaced by something along the lines of a ‘twitter’. There is no opportunity to comment throughout the story and I missed the opportunity for interaction with the author and other readers. Apart from these tiny niggles I found this site extremely easy on the eyes and exceptionally quick to load.
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Escape the Street; Find the Sky
I have read so-far up to chapter 16 and am still reading. I just wanted to get a review to date because I am really enjoying this story.
Street: Empathy is an elemental cyberpunk in the vein that Gibson has carved for it and others have followed. Expect both the wires and the characters stripped raw, action and fury collided together with a dystopian future where the poor are still gripped by a strange poverty and the ultra-rich exist in elite technological bliss.
The main character, Gina, throws a new wrench into the writing style due to her being a telepath—but with the introduction of Spice, a street drug that turns the mundane tepe into a powerhouse that dirty edge is returned. Drugs and oppressive regimes are mainstays of the cyberpunk genre and they’re both present here; all mixed together with enough action to keep the storyline going. Confederates and enemies filter in and out of Gina’s life, explanations brighten the path, and mysteries darken the shadows.
There isn’t a lot of suspense to be had, so instead the storytelling takes the reader down the dirty streets using Gina’s relationships to drive the plot. Her worldly friends—those people who get sucked into the plot along with her—act as foils to a mystery man, Gabriel, whom she is both on the run from and subtly interested in.
Cyberpunk fans will find all of the requisite essentials to enjoy this story.
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