Ribofunk: Stories

Quite mediocre; often slipping into Michael Crichton's level of excessive use of jargon which weighs down the pacing. Stories were simplistic with a focus on world building at the expense of characterisation causing the reader to rarely care about the events unfolding. Ribofunk is clearly a post-biopunk setting as there were very few unmodified humans, biotech replaced almost every sort of conventional item and society had degenerated into sordid self-interest with extensive use of chimeric slaves, drugs and cosmetic modification. Unfortunately the author wasn't able to envision much more than biotech alternatives to cyberpunk tropes. Implants were still enhancing characters, there was a vague biotech version of the internet and the visual aesthetic was still very neon-drenched urban sprawls with hover-cars but also some detours to rural areas and cliché redneck towns. However, despite these failings, it did touch upon many interesting social implications of advanced biotechnology.