Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits: A Novel (Zoey Ashe, 1) Paperback – October 4, 2016

I know this author from his "JDATE" books, so was a little cautious about this book; it's a new set of characters in an entirely new fictional world.But I was charmed from the get-go. Zoey is a hero. The story takes off and never lets up. It is wonderful. You should read it.

Loved it. It follows in the same style as John Dies at the end but is different in every other way. I thoroughly enjoy Wongs writing and will continue to read everything he puts out. Keep them coming!

Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits by David Wong is an insane, hilarious, fun ride. I'm not new to David Wong's sense of humor or knack for the strange storytelling, but this book caught me by surprise. I've come to know that Wong's humor is abrupt, childish, and satisfying (particularly when he sets a joke up in an early chapter, just to get to the punchline near the end of the story). I loved this book and here's why.Likes:I have to start off by saying I really liked Will Blackwater. Not only is he a "dead-eyed robot" with a proclivity for intense bulls***ting, but he's smart, quick, clever, and an alcoholic with a love for suits. He's a ridiculous character, right down to his name, which is joked about in the book itself.I also really liked Zoey Ashe. She was somehow relatable without actually being relatable to me personally AT ALL. She's an abuse survivor who wants nothing to do with her dead-beat father, has unconditional love for her kinda-effed-up mother, and her closest relationship is with her cat, who she named Stench Machine.The other characters (the Suits: Echo, Budd, and Andre; Molech and his crew; the League of Badasses; etc.) are really interesting and fun characters also. I know there is no romance in the book, but I couldn't help picturing a Will/Zoey relationship, which made all their scenes together even better. Who cares if he's almost 20 years older than her? I pictured him younger.The storyline is a big high point for me, also. The blurb's I've read for this book are extremely vague. I can't believe such a good story stems from such a bad blurb. Honestly. Zoey lives in the middle of nowhere with a minimum wage job and no idea what she's doing tomorrow, let alone with the rest of her life. Unbeknownst to her, her no-show father has died and left all his "dirty" money (etc.) to her, making her a target to a bunch of bad people. I don't want to go into much more detail, but just know this was a wild ride, with a REAL plot; ignore the blurbs.The setting of Tabula Ra$a is awesome in my opinion. A made-up futuristic city where the richest and poorest of people converge among technology we can't imagine? Sign me up. The Blink network that broadcasts everything everywhere all at once? Don't sign me up, but I will gladly read about it. The technology and the setting were A+ in my book. It was a character in itself.I do happen to love the cover for this book, too, which kind of makes me feel like I'm a cover-lover.David Wong's style of writing and humor was the main reason I bought this book. I'm familiar with John Dies at the End and This Book Is Full of Spiders: Seriously, Dude, Don't Touch It, and when I say "familiar," I mean that I love them. I practically grew up with JDATE, reading it back when it was only posted on the internet and not a tangible book to be purchased. There's something about Wong's style that makes me giddy and excited to read, happy to follow along these dysfunctional characters while they go on these ridiculous adventures.I like that in the acknowledgements, which are very short and humorous and worth the read, that Wong mentions he's working on the third JDATE story and may come back to revisit Zoey and the Suits.Dislikes:I dislike that I can't read the sequel right now. I also dislike the fact that there may never be a sequel, or that it may only come years from now. I'm eager to dive back in with these characters.Recommend it?Whole-heartedly. I am a huge David Wong fan and I would recommend all three of his books to anyone who likes strange, funny stories with anti-heroes you grow to love.

It's sort of amusing at first, but the author's endless "rich people are eeeeevil" whining and preaching gets tedious after awhile. I slogged through it anyway, only to be rewarded by an afterward in which the author runs his mouth about politics and such. At this point I wish I could un-read this book, net entertainment value is pretty low in the end.

Speaking of tongues why is it spelled like that jeez! I love the silliness of this book. Like a sardonic laugh at self serious, self important people in power and politics. Chet! Ha! Call back to weird science! Insane problems require insane solutions.

A few reviews have focused on the comedic aspect of this futuristic fantasy novel, and while there is humor, it does not always ring true and I felt the latter part of the novel was stronger when that aspect was toned down.Irrespective, this is essentially a graphic novel written out. It is impossible, insane and larger than life, and compelling for all that. It does not make a lot of sense in the wider world order, but focused down on the microcosm that is presented the narrative holds together well enough. And that narrative is pretty simple and reasonably linear - trailer trash Zoey is our fish-out-of-water heroine who disrupts the status quo in a futuristic version of what the original mobsters probably hoped Las Vegas would be. This version of Vegas is spelled with a $ in its name and that gives you an idea of the place. As I read once in the "Wizard of Id", the Golden Rule is that whoever has the gold makes the rules...and so it is thus in the frantic world Zoey is launched into when her father bequeaths her all his immeasurable worldly goods. Add a little super villain super ego into the mix and not even giving her wealth away can save Zoey from a fate worse than death.Thus Zoey finds herself in a murder mystery race against time with the known world watching on a hyped up version of YouTube and the scene is set for mayhem and some degree of hilarity.This is essentially harmless fun that for all the gadgets and fairy dusting of high-tech does not delve too deeply in the psyche. A number of the future state extrapolations did not seem extreme enough given what else was going on, but that's slim pickings of negativity on my part, this was well executed and had a very satisfying ending for this type of novel.

I was going through some stuff and looking for something escapist, thought I'd give this book with the weird title a try. Not only did it succeed beyond my expectations, but it also had me laughing out loud. A LOT. Even though it's in the future, it's still recognizable, and the characters are relatably flawed. I loved it! And when I got towards the end and I was sad it was going to be over and I started to already miss the characters, I learned there's a sequel (I'm almost done with it. It's also really good!)! I didn't know when I picked it up it was the guy who wrote John Dies in the End. I've only seen part of the movie, so no real opinion on that. But it did get me to write a stupid review for a very good book which I normally would not do!

I read this based on a friend's recommendation for the author. It's more cyberpunk than sci-fi, and oddly happens to be genuinely laugh-out-loud funny in places; I read it on a work trip and had a session of those muffled snorting laughs that very effectively draws people's attention - in this case, some quietly reserved Finnish commuters on a train.If you want to dip your toe into Wong's writing, this is a highly entertaining place to start. I'll have to get the sequel now too.

like the Star Trek remakes, this is much more fun than you'd expect it should be. It's quite violent in parts, but very insightful, creative and unpredictable. FVAFS is set in a near future in a Las Vegas style metropolis, which unfortunately feels a bit too much like where we're headed as a society - obsessed with cult of celebrity, instant updates, moral boundary pushing and 'followers', set in a city (Tabula Ra$a) that favours corruption, elitism and greed. It's all served with a tongue-in-cheek, blackly comic prose which seems to drop 'doof doof' moments at the end of each chapter. The protagonist, Zoey, is self-conscious, flawed but smart, observant and grounded character, and definitely doesn't have an easy ride as the situation she's thrust in from page one thunders along at pace.It's like a William Gibson book, but without the hard work that comes with trying to maintain your attention throughout. You won't struggle to keep up with it, but may struggle putting it down to get some sleep.

The third book from author David Wong (Jason Pargin), this book is not in the JDatE universe, but has a lot of the stylistic flourishes that let you know that it's by the same author.The story follows Zoey Ashe, a girl from a very small town and poor background who gets thrown into a world she is completely unfamiliar with after the death of her estranged and incredibly wealthy father. She suddenly finds herself the target of a bounty, where death may be one of the more favourable outcomes.Set in a world that feels like Blade Runner had a dirty one night stand with Snow Crash and this was their unplanned, but not unloved result. Zoey is likeable, and gutsy, if somewhat jaded by the world and the knowledge that money is what counts in the world. The writing feels very cinematic, and the passion and humour that is throughout the book would translate very well to a film. It's fast paced and a bit absurd, but seen through Zoey's eyes, it feels both overwhelming, but also quite inevitable.Highly recommended for sci-fi fans and fans of David Wong, and generally recommended for everyone else.

I was a fan of the humour in 'John Dies at the End', this authors first book, however the story structure wasn't particularly great. This isn't unexpected as I later discovered it was written in bite size chunks for the Authors website, and likely not intended as a full book.This is the Authors 3rd boom and he has genuinely perfected his approach. It's funny, well structured and does a great job of portraying a bunch of eccentric characters in a crazy future that will have you simultaneously laughing whilst feverishly turning the page to see what happens next.I will definitely read this again soon!

I enjoyed this book a lot more than I did the two previous books by Mr Wong about himself, the eponymous John and their escapades into the mad, bad and dangerous to know world of dimension-hopping, slapstick, 1980s B-Movie horror.In this book, David Wong dips his toe into a much higher-octane world of action, adventure and lots of stuff being blown up and comes out the other end with quite a respectable story to show for it. The Blink concept was fantastic, and the overblown descriptions of the glossy wealth that Tabula Ra$a presents and the madness that gnaws at its underbelly were a joy to read. Wong's characteristically sharp turns-of-phrase were in their element here, with every other line a snarky one-liner that would make a middle-of-the-road comedian jealous.Zoe, the heart of the story, left me feeling a bit cold at times. At times, I identified so much with her that it was a bit scary (the fish-out-of-water feeling is an all too familiar one for a lot of us plebs) but at other points it felt more like her only purpose was to react to the madness happening all around her. When thinking about it after I finished the book, I struggled to pin down aspects of her personality other than "loves her cat" and "watches basketball for six hours on New Year's Day". The extra dimension about her Evil Stepfather felt somewhat shoehorned in, and lacking in any real emotional depth. I wasn't looking for a tearjerker worthy of Jodi Picoult, but something a bit more substantial than a few paragraphs would have been nice.In all honesty, I'm nitpicking. The book was a big, dumb adventure full of escapism and fun. It's not going to win any highbrow prizes or be a pioneer, but I enjoyed it a lot.