Here is a finalist review for a full read for Team 1.21 Gigawatts for the first round of SPSFC#5 by team judge Wick Welker. For more information about the team and our progress, please go to the team update page here.

FrostByte by N.S. Chaudhury

A slick cyberpunk identity crisis.

Frostbyte is a well written tale about a young woman who loses her identity (or her body?) and is reincorporated into a new illegal body to uncover the mystery surrounding her previous death. It turns into a found family story with a charming cast of characters that slowly burn their way into meaningful and complex relationships. The cyberpunk world strikes a great balance between being derivative of other cyberpunk worlds but it certainly creates its own tech ecosystem that has excellent continuity and impact on the characters and the plot. To me the crowning achievement of the work is the thoughtful world building and social stratifications that surrounds the story.

The prose is really quite economic as well with a driving mystery that keeps the momentum going. For me the front end of the book was a tad too top heavy and it took a bit before the overall thrust got going. The layered world building at times was also overwhelming but these were minor issues. It was overall an enjoyable and engaging read.

I received a free copy as a judge for the SPSFC5 competition and this review has no bearing on the book’s standing in the competition.

This review is also posted on Wick’s Goodreads profile. Wick’s website is here.