A WIRED "BOOK YOU NEED TO READ" • For fans of the worlds of Philip K. Dick, Squid Game, and Severance: An absorbing tale of corporate intrigue, political unrest, unsolved mysteries, and the havoc wreaked by one company’s monomaniacal endeavor to build the world’s first space elevator
An “antic, madcap noir with flair" (Wired) and“fast-paced cyberpunk story” (The New York Times Book Review) from one of South Korea's most revered science fiction writers, whose identity remains unknown.
***
AN ABSORBING TALE OF CORPORATE INTRIGUE, POLITICAL UNREST, UNSOLVED MYSTERIES, AND THE HAVOC WREAKED BY ONE COMPANY’S MONOMANIACAL ENDEAVOR TO BUILD THE WORLD’S FIRST SPACE ELEVATOR——FROM ONE OF SOUTH KOREA’S MOST REVERED SCIENCE FICTION WRITERS
On the fictional island of Patusan—and much to the ire of the Patusan natives—the Korean conglomerate LK is constructing an elevator into Earth’s orbit, gradually turning this one-time tropical resort town into a teeming travel hub: a gateway to and from our planet. Up in space, holding the elevator’s “spider cable” taut, is a mass of space junk known as the counterweight. And stashed within that junk is a trove of crucial data: a memory fragment left by LK’s former CEO, the control of which will determine the company’s—and humanity’s—future.
Racing up the elevator to retrieve the data is a host of rival forces: Mac, the novel’s narrator and LK’s chief of External Affairs, increasingly disillusioned with his employer; the everyman Choi Gangwu, unwittingly at the center of Mac’s investigations; the former CEO’s brilliant niece and power-hungry son; and Rex Tamaki, a violent officer in LK’s Security Division. They’re all caught in a labyrinth of fake identities, neuro-implants called Worms, and old political grievances held by the Patusan Liberation Front, the army of island natives determined to protect Patusan’s sovereignty.
Originally conceived by Djuna as a low-budget science fiction film, with literary references as wide-ranging as Joseph Conrad and the Marquis de Sade, Counterweight is part cyberpunk, part hard-boiled detective fiction, and part parable of South Korea’s neocolonial ambition and its rippling effects.
Genre: Science Fiction
An “antic, madcap noir with flair" (Wired) and“fast-paced cyberpunk story” (The New York Times Book Review) from one of South Korea's most revered science fiction writers, whose identity remains unknown.
***
AN ABSORBING TALE OF CORPORATE INTRIGUE, POLITICAL UNREST, UNSOLVED MYSTERIES, AND THE HAVOC WREAKED BY ONE COMPANY’S MONOMANIACAL ENDEAVOR TO BUILD THE WORLD’S FIRST SPACE ELEVATOR——FROM ONE OF SOUTH KOREA’S MOST REVERED SCIENCE FICTION WRITERS
On the fictional island of Patusan—and much to the ire of the Patusan natives—the Korean conglomerate LK is constructing an elevator into Earth’s orbit, gradually turning this one-time tropical resort town into a teeming travel hub: a gateway to and from our planet. Up in space, holding the elevator’s “spider cable” taut, is a mass of space junk known as the counterweight. And stashed within that junk is a trove of crucial data: a memory fragment left by LK’s former CEO, the control of which will determine the company’s—and humanity’s—future.
Racing up the elevator to retrieve the data is a host of rival forces: Mac, the novel’s narrator and LK’s chief of External Affairs, increasingly disillusioned with his employer; the everyman Choi Gangwu, unwittingly at the center of Mac’s investigations; the former CEO’s brilliant niece and power-hungry son; and Rex Tamaki, a violent officer in LK’s Security Division. They’re all caught in a labyrinth of fake identities, neuro-implants called Worms, and old political grievances held by the Patusan Liberation Front, the army of island natives determined to protect Patusan’s sovereignty.
Originally conceived by Djuna as a low-budget science fiction film, with literary references as wide-ranging as Joseph Conrad and the Marquis de Sade, Counterweight is part cyberpunk, part hard-boiled detective fiction, and part parable of South Korea’s neocolonial ambition and its rippling effects.
Genre: Science Fiction
Praise for this book
"Djuna is a legend and a giant in Korean science fiction. Hur is a phenomenal translator. And Counterweight has everything. It is a fast-paced science fiction action thriller, a well-crafted mystery novel, and an absolutely captivating study of the complexity of human existence (physical or otherwise). A wild ride where both the author and the translator shine. I could not put down the book." - Bora Chung
"Paranoid, wondrous, and breakneck--Counterweight is an elevator rising from the muck to the stars." - Max Gladstone
"Counterweight needs no heavy lifting. It is so sharp, cutting and suspense-packed you'll read it in a blink. Highly recommended for everyone who loves great sci-fi." - Marc-Uwe Kling
"Counterweight is a psychological thriller that will turn all your preconceptions upside down. The action scenes read like poetry, the space elevator is astonishingly realistic, and the characters creep inside you like mind worms. Djuna's meticulously told story eviscerates corporate politics, revealing the authoritarian perversity at the heart of technological innovation--whether the tech is inside our brains, or reaching into outer space." - Annalee Newitz
"Djuna's visionary novel launches us on a search for elusive answers in a world where nobody is ever as they seem. Enthralling and category-defying, it unfolds at a thriller's pace in its exploration of the plasticities of human identity and where technology--and our ambition--might take us." - Pitchaya Sudbanthad
"Paranoid, wondrous, and breakneck--Counterweight is an elevator rising from the muck to the stars." - Max Gladstone
"Counterweight needs no heavy lifting. It is so sharp, cutting and suspense-packed you'll read it in a blink. Highly recommended for everyone who loves great sci-fi." - Marc-Uwe Kling
"Counterweight is a psychological thriller that will turn all your preconceptions upside down. The action scenes read like poetry, the space elevator is astonishingly realistic, and the characters creep inside you like mind worms. Djuna's meticulously told story eviscerates corporate politics, revealing the authoritarian perversity at the heart of technological innovation--whether the tech is inside our brains, or reaching into outer space." - Annalee Newitz
"Djuna's visionary novel launches us on a search for elusive answers in a world where nobody is ever as they seem. Enthralling and category-defying, it unfolds at a thriller's pace in its exploration of the plasticities of human identity and where technology--and our ambition--might take us." - Pitchaya Sudbanthad
Visitors also looked at these books
Used availability for Djuna's Counterweight