I was very curious about COUNTERWEIGHT—it had all the hype going for it. A mysterious author, whose actual identity is remains unknown. Compared by WIRED to classic science fiction greats like Philip K. Dick and breakout modern writers like Hwang Dong-hyuk. A scrutinizing portrayal of corporate powers consuming the world.

When I stopped reading the novel, about a quarter of the way in, I wondered if I was being too hard on it—unfairly comparing it to DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP? So I had to ask myself what was missing—what would I need from this book to compel me not to DNF it? I think it's ultimately the lack of the human element. Whether it actually ended up reading like a psychological thriller or a Kafkaesque descent into corporate hell, the main character didn't compel me. He had questions, yes. A need to find out how a perfectly ordinary man in this corporation knew about his extremely classified secrets. And yet, that curiosity didn't feel real. I found myself craving the unlikeable, singleminded thinking of Deckard. Or the even more unlikeable Winston. I don't have to like a scifi noir protagonist—I usually don't—but I also crave the way classic scifi authors know how to poke them with a sharp stick even the most Nihilistic of dystopian circumstances.

Unfortunately, while the narrator of COUNTERWEIGHT has a sense of dry, dark humor, "I don't know how other people feel, but in my book, not having to kill an actual person when someone needs to die is a pretty big plus." it isn't enough to carry the plot forward. When I had the patience to read a 900-page epic before this book, but then could barely make it past 50 pages in COUNTERWEIGHT, I found it telling.

✨Counterweight by Djuna✨

Genre: Sci-Fi
Pages: 176
Pub Date: July 11th

📚 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-implant “Worms,” and old political grievances held by the Patusan Liberation Front, the army of island natives determined to protect Patusan’s sovereignty.

📝This was my first read by Djuna, a very popular South Korean sci-fi author. (Fun fact: Djuna’s identity is unknown!)

I’d definitely place this in the sci-fi/ cyberpunk/detective genre. From the first page, you are thrown into the action. It took me a bit to make sense of world and writing style, but it eventually clicked. I would say that this would be even better as a movie, as it was originally intended to be.

The story is a tale of corporate power and political unrest. It also touches upon the impact of colonialism.

PS: this book is translated from Korean

💫Thank you @pantheonbooks and @netgalley for my egalley💫

This one wasn't for me. I settled on giving it three stars because it was outside of my genre, and so I don't know how it compares to other books.

I had a tough time keeping up with that was going on, and the plot was hard to follow.

This was a thought provoking and interesting read. It is a sci-fi book set on a fictional island. While the premise of this book was rather interesting, I found it rather hard to get into and a bit discombobulated. I did find it hard to get into it and struggled with it overall. I do think that some people will enjoy this one in the cyber-punk genre. If you are going to read this one you will need to be in the right mood as it does require a lot of focus.

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 it’s here that lies the key—a trove of personal data left by LK’s former CEO, of dire consequence to the company's, and humanity's, future.

It's a 3.5.

This was a crazy ride. I had to reread a lot, because everytime I stopped reading, I feel like I was forgeting something. But at the same time, I was hooked, because they storytelling is so good! I think I should study this book, because there's so many paralelisms with our current scientific and political situation around AI and other technological developments.

I'd definetly recommend this book, but not for everyone, just for people who read sciencie fiction very often. I think I should come back to this book for a second round.

A Korean sci fi that takes place on the fictional island of Patusan. I couldn’t really get into this.

Thanks to the publisher for early access to this book. I found the plot and setting very compelling, but found the latter half of the book very hard to follow. It is a great addition to the cyber-punk genre but requires a very close/careful reading to be able to fully engage with the story line.

Counterweight: A Novel by Djuna, translated by Anton Hur, presents a thought-provoking premise, with a corporate-driven space elevator as the centerpiece of a narrative that explores themes of political unrest, identity, and neocolonialism. However, while the ideas behind the story are interesting, the convoluted plot and lack of compelling characters make it difficult to fully engage with and appreciate the novel. It also feels a bit short for all of the complex themes its attempting to address.