I know there's a huge audience for this thoughtful novel about the fight to control the ecosystem. And I know that Kotler has a lot to say about how that's happening now. However this just wasn't for me- not sure why but it wasn't. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

The Devil's Dictionary
by Steven Kotler
Science Fiction Futuristic Detective
NetGalley ARC

Set in the 'near' future where because of a drug some people now feel extreme empathy with animals and Lion Zorn is a detective, after giving up his journalism career because he made the effects of the drug public.

I guess all of this info was in the first book of a series, which was not emphasized in the blurb, which sounded so so interesting btw. When I see the words 'follow' up, I think it is the author's 2nd attempt at a bestseller. Books tend to lose a star when the blurb does not announce that it's a part of a series, or hide that info in 'reviews' or other words in bold type because I ignore those. I want to know what the story is about so I read the blurb, not the ads.

I only got to 30%. There's no devil, no dictionary, no animals except humans, so the blurb and the place I got to in the story didn't really match all too well, so there went another star. But since I'm not finishing...

Maybe the interesting parts of the story that have to do with animals and exotic creatures the blurb refers to are farther into the book, but there was nothing in the 30% I read to get me to care about the MC, let alone the mystery because what I did read was all about him and some missing people.

Maybe if I had read the first book, I would care about the MC and his story.

The blurb still sounds interesting, and a part of me wants to flip through the pages just to see IF the story gets any better, but it should have done that within the first 10% of the story.

WNF

0 Stars

What a crazy ride this book is. This book will make you laugh, cringe and think- sometimes all at the same time!
The Devil's Dictionary is the successor to Steven Kotler's The Last Tango. I have not yet read TLT but was able to enjoy TDD as a stand alone.

In TDD, "em-tracking" are empaths, emotional "soothsayers" that bond with animals or others. Lion Zorn is an unusual em-tracker in that he can feel the future - shifts and trends before they begin. Em-trackers are disappearing and Lion is hired to track them down while tied investigating a new drug (EVO) that seem to the ability to utilize empathy to connect and track.

This is cyberpunk at it's best and includes hot topics of neuroscience, technology, and environmental rights.
I read the this world is imagined to be not too far in our future and I can see the similarities.
This book is not for the faint-hearted - there are many, many characters and balls in the air. Lots to follow but also lots to learn. If you enjoy cyberpunk, cutting edge syfy or just want to see if an interesting male character (with feelings!) can save the world, pick up #TheDevilsDictionary #stmartinspress #netgalley #netgalleyreads

Review of Uncorrected Digital Galley

Once, Lion Zorn was a journalist, but that was a lifetime ago, before his talents led him to become an empathy tracker. Appearing early in the twenty-first century, the talent evolved following significant rewiring in the brain resulting in acute sensitivity, rapid pattern recognition, and hyper-mirror neuron activity, all working together to create an augmented sense of empathy.

But the introduction of Sietch Tabr for autism had some psychedelic side effects, making the user one with animals as a result of its ability to alter both emotions and pheromones. Or, as Lion put it, “empathy for all.” Lion had made use of his journalistic skills to tell the world about Sietch Tabr; now there’s a new drug, known as Evolution.

Sietch Tabr, with its cross-species empathy, had caused the Splinter; now the seldom-appearing Evo is creating dangers for the em-trackers. Lion’s search for the Evo leads him to London, to Ramen; unfortunately, this leads him to Sharijee and the Rasta-biker bar called Defenestration. He’s hoping to find Kendra and Ibrahim, who vanished after telling him about an Evo party in London some six weeks earlier.

But as Lion investigates, what he discovers may change everything . . . again.

=========

Second in a series, following “Last Tango in Cyberspace,” this book picks up the story of the empath tracker Judah [Lion] Zorn, now in search of the dangerous drug, Evo. [Readers, consider yourselves forewarned, there’s a LOT of drug use in the telling of this tale.] The setting remains in the near future; Lion Zorn remains the central character in the telling of the tale.

The unfolding story pulls readers into the search for Lion’s missing friends; the land-grab for the mega-linkage to protect biodiversity is not what it appears to be, leading to an unexpected battle. If for no other reason than unexpectedness, the plot keeps twisting and keeps readers guessing.

References to current issues . . . relationships, insular thinking, ecology, climate change . . . help to keep things relevant for readers, even in this science fiction world of the not-to-distant future.

Recommended.

I received a free copy of this eBook from St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley
#TheDevilsDictionary #NetGalley

An empathy forecaster can give information on the likely outcome of actions taken today, and estimate their future effect. When it comes to the major project of a nation-wide national park, things go off the rails for forecaster Lion. There's strange animals that don't even belong on this planet, making themselves at home on Earth.
The forecast trackers themselves are also disappearing. What manner of manipulation is occurring to change our planet?

My thanks to both NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced copy of this science fiction novel.

Writing about the near future has to be much harder than writing about say the twenty- third century or something close. An author can make grand pronouncements such as everyone will travel by atomic jet packs and the sun will be wrapped in tinfoil like solar collectors to power the giant amusement park that is the Moon. No one will be around to go, you that one wrong, buddy. Writing about say twenty minutes or past that into the future, that is harder. Bitcoin as viable currency, I have a Larry David Super Bowl ad that says that ship might have sailed. Flying motorcycles, well we have been promised Jetson cars for a long time what else you got. Robotic polar bears being used to guard political prisoners and hostages, hmm tell me more. Steven Kotler in his book The Devil's Dictionary, a sequel to the book Last Tango in Cyberspace, has amazing ideas and a great story set in the near future of our world, that is exciting and fun to read.

Lion Zorn is an empath tracker, able to spot trends and cultural shifts before they happen, sometime in the near future. Due to events in the previous book, Zorn is laying as low as he can, in a new world he might have helped create, when he is asked by two fellow empath trackers to investigate a new drug Evo, that is effecting people in odd ways. Zorn finds himself captured, tortured, and let go, for reasons he can't figure out or see. At the same time he is finds himself looking for a close friend, who has suddenly disappeared, and into an investigation that might change the world even more, not in a good way.

The book is everything good science fiction should be exciting, thoughtful, hopeful for the future, but knowing that humans will probably mess it up. A lot of what is going on is based on current thinking and studies, and the reader might go on tangents looking up names and theories, to see what is real and what is not. Lion Zorn is an interesting character with a lot of potential and I like that more is slowly being revealed about him. The ancillary characters are well written with plenty of backstory to draw on, and their motivations seem like a surprise to themselves as it is to us when they do things. The narrative never really slows, and while somethings seem to happen without much explanation, the plot is still intriguing and moves well, carrying the reader along.

Definitely for fans of William Gibson, Bruce Sterling or Neal Stephenson. Readers who played or play the role-playing game Shadowrun will enjoy this too. The future is bright, but still filled with humans who are as cowardly and suspicious as many superheroes call them. Steven Kotler has quite a few nonfiction books that I am going to have to check out, but I really can't wait for more adventures of Lion Zorn.

It took me a while to get into the book, and I blame that on not having read the first book. This is a very different world with empaths, some of who can bond with animals or even plants. There is genetic engineering to create new animals, plus new forms of transportation, communication, and so on.

Lion Zorn is an em-tracker, who can also predict future trends. This is his story. Some empaths have gone missing and he is trying to find one couple who mentioned a new drug called EVO and then went missing. His life becomes one mystery after another, and his search leads him in unexpected directions.

I liked that this was a true science fiction story, plus the idea of the empaths, and the struggle between those with empath abilities and those without, and the scientific experiments. And Lion’s ability to communicate and bond with animals was fun, however, I struggled with characters that I barely cared about. I went back and read the book a second time and actually enjoyed it more the second time around.

I want to thank the publisher and NetGalley, this is my honest review.

I really wanted to love this, but ended up being a dnf for now. I might pick it back up but this was so hard to get into for some reason. Maybe another time will be different and I'm not opposed to giving it another shot, but with all the books ok my tbr I just don't see myself doing it anytime soon. Characters lacked depth and I just didn't vibe with anything in this. 2⭐

I was not the biggest fan. However, I can see people that are into this genre might really love the suspense.

I want to thank the publisher and NetGalley for letting me read this book. I really wanted to love this book. It sounded like something I could just eat up!

This is a world where there people that are empaths. But not exactly what you expect. Some bond with animals. If one was near a dog then that empath and the dog would share a bond. Some empathy share with fish, birds, ect. Some can track using their empathy skills. I didn't really have that many specific problems with this book, but there was something about the characters that just... fell flat. In order to enjoy a book, you have to get attached to the characters and actually care what happens to them. These characters lacked that pull.

Everything about this book I wanted to love, but It was a real slog to get through it. The characters lacked depth, and the plot itself was uninspired - even with a really great concept.

I had loved Last Tango in Cyberspace so I was excited to see that Mr. Kotler wrote a new book. I enjoyed reading this book, it had what I was looking for in Mr. Kotler's writing. Really well done.

Something about this just didn't click for me. I may be willing to try again in the future but it was a DNF on my end.

I'm going with two stars instead of one because I didn't read the first book in this series. Maybe I missed a lot of vital information about this world... Overall this story just wasn't for me.

Thanks to NetGalley for the free book in exchange for my honest review.

A book that I wanted to love, but simply could not. The characters seem wooden and the narrative flat. Perhaps because I was unfamiliar with the world and Last Tango, the the overall experience just missed the mark for me.

The Devil's Dictionary
by Steven Kotler

I want to thank the publisher and NetGalley for letting me read this book. I really wanted to love this book. It sounded like something I could just eat up!

This is a world where there people that are empaths. But not exactly what you expect. Some bond with animals. If one was near a dog then that empath and the dog would share a bond. Some empathy share with fish, birds, ect. Some can track using their empathy skills.

Some empathy have gone missing and the main character, Lion Zorn,(not kidding) tries to find out why. There are the Humans First group, (probably Republicans), that hate the empathy because they love animals. There is the main thing going on in this book I should have said earlier and that is lots and lots of drugs! Marijuana helps empaths abilities so they have to keep it up. There is a new drug out too called EVO that could hamper the empathy abilities. Lion is investigating this.

If the book would have stayed there, it wouldn't have been so bad but it went way over the top! Like way over the top and I read lots of fantasy but it needs to be in context to the story! Here comes the robots, snow snakes, killer animals into a book that is already as meaty as chewing gum! It took everything I had to finish this book. The last third of the book was rough!

I characters were flat, plot was what? I liked the idea of empaths and bonding with animals! I sure wish he would redo this, flesh it out and try again. It could be great.

Steven Kotler put a lot of wild information into this book. You should read it twice to get the full effect of the storylines. The author weaves a spiderweb of tales intricately intermingling as they lead you through Lion Zorn’s mission to rescue his missing friends, Kendra and Ibrahim. It truly does take reading it twice to fully appreciate everything he masterfully writes.

The foundation of these storylines begins with a drug named Sietch Tabr that entered the Pharma market as a cure for Autism. It had a psychedelic effect on anyone who used the drug. People who used the drug developed an extremely acute sense of empathy for life, all life, on planet earth. There were many that formed heightened empathic abilities allowing them to emotionally connect with various other species and use that connection to communicate with those animals. Poly tribes were formed by people who shared empathic abilities with the same species. There were some among them, like Lion, that could use their empathy as a talent to track cultural shifts before they happen.

As with any cultural change, animosity arose between the different types of humans, superior ideologies drove the founding of anti-empathy activist groups, and the division of humanity. Those who did not have heightened empathy wanted to oppress or destroy those who did. Even within the empathy enhanced humans, there was division in terms of 'we can connect to this animal’ versus ‘yes well we can connect to this animal’ egos that just undermined the concept of ‘empathy for all’ that Lion Zorn coined when he outed Sietch Tabr publicly for its incredible side effect. This break in humanity was labelled “The Splinter” and many blame Lion for it. The cultural war between groups like Humans First and the poly tribes is another encaptivating storyline in this book.

The main storyline in this book is the rising disappearances of em-trackers like Lion’s friends Kendra and Ibrahim. They all appear to be tied to this new drug that makes you trip evolution. Aptly named EVO, this drug has a bad effect on em-trackers sense of empathy. Inhibiting their em-tracking talents for a time. The deeper Lion goes into the depths of the underworld to track down EVO dealers in hopes of finding his friends, the more daunting the conspiracy behind the drug becomes. Enemies have become allies and nothing is what they appear to be. In the end what he unveils has the potential to turn the world upside down all over again.

So yeah, our main man is this empathy tracker Lion Zorn. As an em-tracker his brain is essentially rewired with his sense of empathy totally cranked up. It also helps him predict future trends and be a human lie-detector. Best part is that weed helps his hone his abilities, so dude smokes a ton of weed in this book. But like, he’s totally right in doing so. Weed helps me write book reviews. I’m smoking a huge fatty right now and this review is fucking great. I’m smoking a huge fatty right now and this review is fucking great… Wait, did I write that twice? Are my subconscious thoughts streaming directly onto the screen? Oh man… This is getting weird… I need to take a break.

**A bag of Cool Ranch Doritos and two ice cream sandwiches later**

Ok, I’m back, sorry about that. Lion Zorn is full of shit.

Anyways, so this world is fractured due to this drug called Sietch Tabr which cranks up the user’s empathy but also creates a sort of cross-species hive mind. So you’re tripping balls and you can feel what your dog is feeling and your dog feels what you feel. After that experience you’re bonded with this group of animals. Pretty kumbaya shit here, but this “empathy for all” divided the world into groups of those who bond with birds, dogs, fish, and the human first movement. This drug would be so rad though. I’d go find a grizzly bear and trip with it and then I’d be best bros with all the grizzlies. Although, I’d probably stumble on a root trying to get close to the bear and end up bonding with an earthworm or something lame. Dry out on the sidewalk after a big rain, dude, that would suck. Grizzlies!

Then there’s this new drug on the market called Evo which makes you trip the evolution of the life. It’s a huge draw to em-trackers due to their connection with the planet and whatnot. A couple of Lion’s em-tracker buddies go missing after finding Evo, so Lion’s like fuck this laying low shit, I’m going to go track down and save my friends. The game is on feet, dudes!

Lion’s hopping around the world chasing clues, getting Clockwork Orange tortured, and pretty much getting his ass kicked. He eventually connects with his old Moldovan hacker buddy and they end up at the Pacific-Rim Mega-Linkage. With this increased “Empathy for all” huge swathes of land are being turned into nature preserves to preserve the ecology and save vulnerable species. But that’s where shit gets crazy as there’s these people dying at this ski resort there from snake bites. Now, I’m no Jenn Goodall, but even I know that there aren’t killer snakes up in the snowy mountains. I most definitely wouldn’t be shredding the gnar if there were killer snakes up there bro.

But yeah, his search for his friends becomes this wild dive into genetic engineering, ecology, neuroscience, and some pretty deep philosophical questions if you want to go there. Do we as humans come first or should we strive for balance in our ecosystem? Should we be playing god with genetics with ourselves and animals? Should I smoke another joint after my last episode? Maybe?

Anyways, this techno-thriller was a blast though. The tech seems just ahead of what we currently have so it’s entirely plausible that we could see some of this in our near future. The characters may be a little over the top, but whatever, it’s drugs, killer animals, future guns, and robots. Fuck yeah, sign me up!

Anyways, that’s about all I got. Adios amigos!