"The first novel set in the world of Cyberpunk 2077 follows a group of strangers as they discover that the dangers of Night City are all too real. In neon-drenched Night City, a ragtag group of strangers have just pulled off a daring heist on a Militech convoy transporting a mysterious container. What do each of them have in common? Good, old-fashioned blackmail. Forced to do the job, they have no idea how far their employer's reach goes, nor what mysterious object the container holds."

If you liked the anime or the video game you should check out this graphic novel. The art style is colorful and cool. I liked the characters and the storyline overall.

This book is very interesting. As videogame tie-in I feel it could be on the same level as the Forerunner Saga by Greg Bear, quality wise. It goes over themes like artificial intelligence and the need of love and human contact in a world (or a city in this case) that tries its hardest to lock you in your own world, with a little dose of self determination and corporate control.
It's a shame that the main characters aren't very interesting, though I feel this somehow fits the tone and the objective of the book.
Obviously this is not something I'd suggest to someone who isn't familiar with the videogame, but it's absolutely one I will recommend to Cyberpunk 2077 fans, as it delves into one of the most interesting mysteries of the game.
On a side note, the italian translation is absolutely dreadful and I wouldn't be surprised if it was made by AI since the publisher is familiar with that technology, apparently.

This one was a "Meh" for me. I had high hopes for the story because it sounded very interesting, and indeed there were times when the story was captivating, but it was so "jumpy" and cycled between characters on such a whim it was hard to keep track of what was going on. The author also relied too heavily on the reader's understanding of the Cyberpunk 2077 universe and did not explain what anything was for readers who have not played the game previously, I could see how they would be even more confused by some of the concepts discussed in this novel.

When the story clicked, it was very interesting. It was just too far in between for me to stay 100% locked in the whole time.

On a side note: the audiobook version of this novel is EXCELLENT!

This is an unfair review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit for Books for an ARC of Cyberpunk 2077 by Rafal Kosik

While the allure of the plot initially intrigued me, this book, unfortunately, failed to hold my attention.

1. It's confusing
2. As a casual watcher of my husband playing Cyberpunk, I did not have the background knowledge for this book
3. lots of POV changes making it hard to keep the little info I did have together

However, it's important to note that the fault does not lie with the author but with me as the reader. I was very much not the targeted audience. Sometimes, things simply don't align.

My dislike of this book has NOTHING to do with the story or the ability of the author to communicate and write effectively, therefore I will not be posting this review on any other platform.

For fans of the video game, Cyberpunk 2077 does not disappoint. That said, I was also looking for a fun, edgy heist story with a cool diverse set of characters to follow. Did I get it? Well... sort of. There was a heist. There was sort of a plot. I just found it difficult to connect with any of the characters, and in turn my investment/interest in them and the plot of the story was low. I've read a lot of fantasy and sci-fi that is non-stop action but where character development still took place, but I didn't find that here. I was skimming a lot. If you're a hardcore gamer who wants to take a break from gaming to read rather than play a video game and doesn't mind a large set of characters and being confused half the time about what's going on... this won't be a bad way to pass the time. It just wasn't for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

If you enjoyed the world of Cyberpunk 2077, I would recommend this book.

I played the game on release and loved it, but that was almost 3 years ago so I was very rusty on the lore. With that being said, the first half was a struggle to get through. If you have no previous knowledge of Cyberpunk, I'm not sure how much you would enjoy this book as there are no introductions or descriptions.

I'm not exactly sure when this book takes place- before or after the events of the game? There are some appearances by characters we know, as well as the gangs and corporations of Night City. The various netrunner monologues regarding the Blackwall, the Relic, and several themes we experience in the game were the most interesting parts of this book.

The characters themselves are mediocre - there are too many of them that it fell short of making me care for them. To increase the heist feel, it is told from alternating point of views and is very difficult to follow. Even after I adjusted to the writing style, it took a while for me to understand the POV we were seeing.
Regarding the heist itself - it's messy. But that is typical of Cyberpunk. Another thing typical of Cyberpunk - bleak outcomes (so don't expect a happy ending).
I was really hoping that a couple points might hint at things to come in the Phantom Liberty DLC releasing so soon after this, but I didn't get the impression that any of it will be (which is a shame, because some of those ideas regarding Arasaka's Relic were giving me high hopes).

Overall, this is a fun read for fans of the game and world. Heist fans will also have a great time, if they can look past the alternating point of views. Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a completely new set of characters and storyline from the game and anime.

There’s even a plot twist I didn’t see coming. This is a really fun read for any Cyberpunk fans!

Six strangers, dragged together by desperation and the promise of a massive pay-off, pull off what should have been an impossible heist. Steal a Militech container right out of the transport and turn it over to their black mailer turned boss. The job is messy, poorly planned, and may just cast this impromptu gang of stray ends into the bright light Night City legends. Legends or warnings to be forgotten all too soon.

There is so much for me to chew on with Cyberpunk 2077: No_Coincidence, just layers of character motivations and secrets and an absolute twenty car pileup of plots both within the Impromptu Gang and outside of it. Rafal Kosik does an excellent job of juggling his characters and plotlines, everything is quite neatly woven together. The fore shadowing is quite deft, especially regarding Zor’s dark and mysterious past, but without overplaying anything.

Zor’s backstory probably has the most development to it, which makes sense because I feel like Zor is probably the closest thing to a main character we have here. But it flows nicely with this sort of slow peeling away of layers, a set truth that becomes shaky and strange as the plot unfurls and his personal mission is revealed. Kosik builds this sort of hopeless revenge for Zor, this driving need to take out the person responsible for his family’s deaths that is balanced with the quiet awareness that there is no reasonable way for him to enact his revenge unless something massive changes. That need for revenge pulls him into a second job with the Impromptu Gang and then further into working with them as the unexpected hits. It keeps him from fully investing in caring about Aya because he just cannot get past his previous failures. It keeps him in line and focused on his mission with flash backs to the day he failed the people he loved, flash backs that feel just a little too timely. It is brilliantly done.

And, for the most part, the other major characters have similar treatments that are similarly well done. Like Aya, the exotic dancer who’s entire draw is that she does not have any chrome, no mechanical enhancements, we get drips of a mysterious other job that she has, bits of her body failing her as she misses those jobs in favor of working with the Impromptu Gang. We have the ripperdoc, Ron, who wants so badly to do good but something went wrong for him, leaving him stuck with chrome that is a bit too old to be nearly as functional as he needs it to be. He sort of drives the whole Impromptu Gang thing, pushing everyone to go for a second job with the idea of how much it could fix for them all, it is solid if not as well done as Zor and Aya.

The other members of the Impromptu Gang feel much more minor. Zor and Ron both have their own enemies who are following them and getting in the way of their goals. Aya has her little sister to take care of. But Milena just sort of feels like she is there to facilitate other plotlines, which is hardly an issue, you need those characters in a book. Albert, the teenaged netrunner, feels like he should have been in a different book entirely though. I got real tired of Albert and his constant thoughts of getting past the Blackout Wall to meet the AI that haunt the vast majority of the internet, his thoughts about how he is so above other people. It functions well enough, again Albert facilitates plot lines happening more than he really does much for himself. But I did get really tired of him when he cropped up, if only because there were so many things he might have noticed if his focus had not been entirely on breaking through the Blackout Wall and going beyond the successes of past netrunners.

All of this character work and then we get an ending that is entirely the only ending that No_Coincidence could have had. I mean this both in that the ending is the only thing that could work for the flavor of cyberpunk No_Coincidence is, but also that Kosik has built the story so carefully that any other ending would feel incorrect. I just want to chew on all the ways the foundation for this ending was built up, everything that lead to it, the almost perfect way the antagonists played our protagonists. It is fantastic.

And that is sort of where I land on this one. The character work was really solid. The antagonists were well used, if not a little overly omniscient regarding some aspects of the protagonists. The tone of the book was solid, a sort of underlying hopelessness that permeates near everything even as the protagonists fight against it for themselves. Militech is this big looming threat, so far beyond the gangs that our protagonists find themselves facing that there is not even a comparison, and it does that just sitting there and operating as it does every day. I want more of just about all of it. No_Coincidence gets a five out of five and I am definitely going to keep an eye out for more of Kosik’s writing in the future.

All vibes, all style, no deep thinking. A group of amateurs will clean backgrounds is assembled for one heist, then disbanded. They all have reason to keep going, though, so they continue to pull jobs they are unprepared for, with beginners luck that only slowly begins to run out. Each job goes worse and worse for the team, until they are hunted through the city. Fans of the Cyberpunk 2077 games will love the references and tie ins to the game, and people who like heist stories will find it hard to look away as everything crashes down on our anti-heroes. The motivations aren't complex, the goals are far from noble, but the adrenaline is pumping and the neon is flashing, so get in and watch it all play out.

Basically if you’ve played the game, watched the tv show and want more of it, this is perfect for you. It’s like experiencing a new character perspective and story set in night city with all the shoot outs, corpos, robots like this is the perfect gift for someone who is a fan of cyberpunk 2077.

Now unlike Ruination which is a league of legends novel that you can read and fully understand everything without having played league of legends, I’m unsure if this would be as enjoyable for someone who hasn’t played or watched cyberpunk 2077. There are definitely some names, terms and locations mentioned that might be confusing. In fact I noticed a trend in reviews from people who are familiar with the world are rating it higher than people who have zero knowledge, makes sense but by all means, I say still give it a try, maybe my short explanation will help you and you’ll be set to go. It begins with a group of characters who are all mostly strangers to one another and they are put on a mission for a client to take down a convoy truck that belongs to militech (the main big bad company of this universe) because inside this truck is a very important large gray container. now all of these characters are your typical cyberpunk roster, some have chrome arms, lasers that come out of there fingers, all the surgical cybernetic enchantments you can think of and it’s constantly switches perspectives between them all.

I would also recommend this to people who like heist novels because it’s basically one big heist for 400 pages. Is it the best thing I’ve ever read? No. Was the cast of characters a little too big to really get to know them and connect with them individually, yea but I enjoyed my time here. I enjoyed the craziness, the cliché characters you can expect in a world like this, this book did exactly what it was meant to do, the author created a pure guilty pleasure fun read with all the fancy gun descriptions you can think of.

Firstly I’d like to thank NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book. This book was great if you’re a fan of cyberpunk 2077 or edgerunners, The characters were perfect the terminology was spot on. You felt like you were transported right into the streets of night city. It was really cool to read about places you’ve visited (in game) from a different perspective. The only thing I didn’t like about it was the jumping around from POV’s it was a little confusing…

Firstly, thanks to @orbitbooks_us for providing me with an ARC of Cyberpunk 2077: No Coincidence via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest and unbiased review of the book.

This book is a tough one for me to review in all honesty. For the first 40-50% of the book I was all but certain my review would have a more critical tone than I think it will end up having. So, with that in mind I’ll start with what I don’t love about the book.

The biggest thing for me that I didn’t always enjoy is perhaps also one of the things I enjoyed the most about the book in certain situations. The book is told in several different points of view, switching between characters rapidly, even every paragraph occasionally. This made the book feel very long in sequences where less was going on. However, this same thing plays REALLY well when there is a lot of action or combat happening.

This book really steps it up about halfway through, so maybe it (for me) was just a slow burn!

I think that the characters introduced to us here are interesting enough on their own, but they really shine in scenes where they are working together to achieve something.

I think if you like a sci-fi environment with a bit of mystery and intrigue, as well as some solid action sequences this is a book you should definitely check out!

Although, in my opinion this maybe shouldn’t jump too far ahead of anything you are really looking forward to reading!

As for a rating, I feel good giving it 3/5 stars. The second half of the book bumps the books score up significantly for me.

Thanks again to @orbitbooks_us for the opportunity to review this book early!

Disclaimer: I received this review copy for free via NetGalley and am leaving my honest thoughts/opinions/critiques. Many thanks to Orbit, the publisher, for allowing me this opportunity!

"Night City isn't the be-all and end-all." Aya pointed out.
"Of course not. Everywhere else is just worse."

This book throws you to MaxTac the minute you get started, an impromptu gang takes on a Corpo heist for a fixer, no information on each other and once it's done, everything just get worse....and worse....and worse for our merry band of heisters.

The cycling POV perspectives throughout the chapters felt very much pulled from the Cyberpunk 2077 style of storytelling, and through that we get glimmers and glimpses of who these characters are that make up the impromptu gang, but it's so...surface level that we don't really pull everything together until much MUCH later and at that point when it starts to click into place, it feels like a very subdued "Oh shit!" moment. I get WHY it's held off to that point but it leaves the characters in a weird stasis through out much of the book, you learn just enough but it's never enough to really have you feeling like you're strongly attached to what happens.

The use of "NetRunner Zine" type openings for chapters with one in particular trying to drop the scoops on the latest happenings in Night City, felt perfectly on brand and was probably one of my favorite things about starting a new chapter. Of course there's fan service by way of mentioning the Arasaka tech "The Relic" and a few side characters sprinkled through the story for stability connectors to the lore and world of Night City and I honestly don't mind it at all. Rafal completely excels in painting a picture of the look and FEEL of Night City, it might be one of my favorite things about this book.

The thing I kept asking myself while reading this is: How does this separate itself from the animated series Edgerunners and the game? Furthermore, while it's very much it's own unique story set within the universe, if you pulled this OUT of the Cyberpunk 2077 world, how would it stand on it's own within the realm of the genre, with the likes of say William Gibson? After a while I stopped putting it in the realm of William Gibson and let it do it's own thing, sometimes, it doesn't need to be THAT serious.

Overall, I enjoyed the story, it may have taken a while to get me where I was going, but I definitely did not mind the ride it took me on and revisiting the familiar haunts of Night City. If you enjoyed the game, Edgerunners, and the other world building literature surrounding the Cyberpunk 2077 I definitely think this book would be right up your alley, choom.

Man, maybe I should really go reinstall it for another play through.

First off, this isn't a book for people who want to learn about the world of Cyberpunk 2077 as it throws you into the deep end right from the beginning. But on top of that, even if you are a fan of the Cyberpunk franchise in general, it'll still be confusing because of how big the cast is, and how the events are laid out. Within the same chapter, there will be multiple scene and POV jumps, which kind of adds to the "heist movie" feel and also to the fast pace that the story takes us on, but can be very jarring. It took me a bit to finally get used to it, but it still felt distracting. At the very least, there could've been small graphics to kind of organize the different POVs.

Having a lots of characters and seeing the POV of different sides is fitting in a Cyberpunk story, but I never really got to connect with a majority of the cast here, and I felt that some of the dynamics between characters were too rushed. That said, I think that Kosik did a great job with tone to match the Cyberpunk vibes, and I actually did like the diction here! Kosik did a good job with using the right terminology of tech/jobs/etc. found in the TTRRG, video game, show, etc. etc., but I can see it being overwhelming for those who don't know much about them. Overall, the heist and the cat and mouse game could've been fun, but with the way that things were played out, it made it a really difficult read and made it not as enjoyable as it could've been.

Thank you to Rafał Kosik, Orbit Books, and NetGalley for providing this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book was spectacular. Gritty, devastating, and captivating from the first page to the last. It encapsulates the vibe of the Cyberpunk franchise perfectly, from the slang to the heists and everything in between. I found myself falling in love with the ragtag group of vigilantes and their individual stories and motivations. I enjoyed the point-of-view switches as well, as it allows the reader to see the story’s events from varying perspectives. All in all, this book was an incredible experience, and one that I would recommend to all Cyberpunk franchise fans.

"the sky above the port was the color of television, tuned tona dead channel" -William gibson "neuromancer"

Hopefully that quote from another amazing cuberpunk novel will give you an idea of the bleakness that Night City and this book hold inside it. For inside Night City there are no happy endings.

I enjoyed this book so much. It is, for me, one of the best books i have read this year. Before i get into why lets me bring up the very few problems i have with this book. There are a LOT of POVS in this book and that in itself is always fine with me in fact i enjoy novels like that but i found it jumps between so frequently and with littke to no warning expect some soacing between paragraphs that i had a hard time knowing who i was reading until their name was mentioned but once i got to know the characters it was no longer a problem. The ending also seemed a bit rushed to me with the last page not giving me the closure i wanted and left me wanting more but at the same time its rare for me to think " i wish this book wasnt over". I thought that with Cyberpunk no coin. Other than these two things i could gush about this book for a very long time.

Night city and the lore surrounding it is massive and intricate. Perfect for a sci fi author with imagination which this author has in spades and is able to use said lore as a spring board and builds off it to create something unique and memorable. He brings the dirty grimy neon and piss soaked streets of night city to life. I dont think anyone will have a problem envisioning this city. The characters are equally as rich and the character work in my opinion is top Notch. We have 5 characters that are brought together seemingly by pure chance to form the "inpromptu gang". We have a military veteran. A rich ,beautiful and powerful corpo womanboss. A stripper who wants meaning to her life. A disgraced surgeun turned ripperdoc. And a young wanna be hacker who thinks life really doesnt have a meaning. These are the people you come to know and love as you turn the pages of this book. They all have their positive and negative traits and are all fleshed out enough that you are really able to understand each of these peoples motivations. I was rooting for these people to succeed and was fully invested into every single one.

I genuinely had anhard time putting this novel down between reading sessions because i found everything just so interesting. I eouldnt call this book an action thriller more of a drama thriller with small pacthes of action sprinkled in but i never found myself getting bored which happens more frequently than i would like to admit the last few years while reading.

I absolutley loved this novel. Almost everything about it to me combines and makes one hell of a nihilistic fast paced theme park ride. Just go in expecting. everyone to get a happy ending.

I requested a digital copy in order to sample the prose on my phone (since I don't have a eReader) before requesting a physical copy for review. My review will be based on the physical ARC I read (if I qualify)

I absolutey loved this book! Now i have only watched my kids play the game so i wasn't super familiar with the lore but I still really enjoyed the book. I found it to be fast paced, well written, and action packed. I loved the little easter eggs that were in the book for fans of the games that even myself could pick up on. This was a well written peak into Night City.

Having never played cyberpunk 2077, I thought I'd give this a shot for a cool scifi/cyberpunk story, and that's what I got for the most part, the characters were thin, the plot not particularly engaging

I think reading this without prior knowledge of the world its set in may have been a mistake on my part, but on the other hand, a story should be able to hold up even if someone hasn't played the game.

Overall, it was just an okay time, with moments of fun engaging heist elements.

I think if you're a big fan of this franchise, you may have a much better time with this book than I did, I'd love to hear what the fan base has to say on this one

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the e-ARC, the above thoughts are mine and mine alone

Short. Amazing novella to the CP77’ world overall, the characters were to fun to read and geo with. I thought that the plot however was a bit predictable, and had hoped for something just a little different.