Customer Reviews

Déjà Vu (The Saskia Brandt Series Book One)

5 star:		(74)
4 star:		(46)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I purchased this for 70p with no great expectation. "A cheap, ordinary read for the journey into London," I thought. How wrong I was.

Déjà Vu is a slick, gripping and brilliantly written piece of science-fiction that deserves much wider attention than it has had so far. The main characters are strong, believable and likeable and the plot unfolds at breakneck speed towards a thrilling conclusion.

In all honesty, this would be a good value read even at full price. At 70p it is an absolute steal and I can't help but feel that, given the novel was written in 2005, Ian Hocking has missed the opportunity to keep people interested in his work, especially the continuing adventures of Saskia Brandt, by getting the next book in the series to market more quickly than appears to be the case.

This very minor niggle aside, congratulations must go to the undoubtedly talented author for a fantastic debut novel. Now all I have to do is wait impatiently for his next.

It's been some years since I read this book, but I would still say what I said (see the Product Description) about the print version. It's well-written, fast-paced, and makes very good use of a time-travel paradox plot in a technothriller framework. This book deserved commercial publication - it's a lot better than some published novels in the same genre - and it's a crying shame it never got it. Now that it's available in this electronic form, you're risking very little in giving it a try. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

What an intriguing novel! The plot draws you convincingly along the journey experienced by the characters and the prose is so elegant that you get a massage en route. Apologies to the author who is so much better at metaphors than me. A good read. Highly recommended. I look forward to reading more novels by this author.

I wondered what a 'technothriller' was, and I know now. It's not what I would consider true sci-fi as there are no aliens, spaceships or other worlds to explore and play with (and it's not badged as such): all action is set in the present day or near future, within the obvious constraints imposed by those boundaries. In such a milieu, it is not easy to probe and exploit the possibilities of future technological advances AND remain grounded in 1) plausibility and 2) what the average (or knowledgeable) reader would consider acceptable science. What Ian Hocking does in this book is to successfully pull off a masterful effort of achieving this balance whilst weaving a multi-timelined narrative (which doesn't either fall to bits under its own weight, or needfully rely on the odd deus ex machina to get to the next part. The science is dealt with in enough depth to be plausible, yet not explored to such a depth to detract from the flow of the narrative. He creates half-dozen or so rounded and dimensionally substantial primary characters; I thought that Saskia Brandt was nicely sketched and slowly filled in as the book progressed. Other protagonists were sufficiently drawn for me to be able to understand their motivations and behaviours, and empathise/ sympathise as appropriate.

Overall, a highly engaging book from a rising young author. I have just purchased the sequel (Flashback), and look forward with glee to becoming further acquainted with Dr Hocking and his technothrilling world.

What a find. This is the perfect demonstration that a low price does not equal low quality.

Déjà Vu is a near future story about time travel, with realistic characters, a well thought out plot and a fast moving storyline it doesn't dissapoint. I read this cover to cover (or whatever the digital equivalent is) in one sitting, I just couldn't put it down and the follow up "Flashback" is just as good.

Highly recommended and I look forward to more excellent writing from Ian in the future.

I downloaded this because I was in a hurry, didn't have time to spend choosing, and figured that as it was cheap, it wouldn't matter too much if I hated it.

What I found was a new author to follow. The writing is of excellent quality, it's well plotted, original, and exciting. I was amazed when I got to the end and discovered that the author has no agent and no publisher.

I've also read the next in the series (Flashback) and it's equally good. We are promised another in 2012, and I can't wait.

If you buy these books, you will not only be supporting the concept of e-books at a fair price, but you'll also get a top quality read.

[Edit - 11 March 2013]

I can no longer recommend this book. If you start the series, you'll find that books one and two are excellent, but that book three is such a disappointment, you'll probably regret ever having started.

To summarise the style it has echoes of Ken MacLeod, Stig Larsen, Peter Hoeg and Ian Rankin yet is uniquely Ian Hocking's own. It is both well written and paced to keep your attention, never leaving you wanting to put it down for some more urgent task. The science is a credible evolution of the present day but is really just very well presented window dressing for the characters and their interactions - you could move them to any era and weave a first rate, robust story around them. This is what makes a great story. I've just purchased the next in what I hope is a very long series. Thank you Ian Hocking.

Having Dr Ian Hocking as a lecturer at University, it was apparent that the fantastic way he uses language would make him a fantastic author. Dr Hocking's lectures are just as gripping as this novel.

The story is fantastic, a multi dimensional roller coaster ride, combining a variety of characters that could all hold their own as main parts in most novels. The twists and turns are suprising and engaging and because of the masterful use of the English language there is no point when reading this book that you will find yourself bored or wishing something would happen.

I can only hope Dr Hocking follows up this fantastic piece of literature.

I bought this on a recommendation from amazon, usually I often ignore the recommend's but this time boy am I glad I didn't!
I simply couldn't put this book down, It's a great Sci-Fi adventure and a credit to the genre.
The author excells himself with a writing style that I found so very captivating.
I don't want to tell everyone what the book is about, other than its a bloody brilliant Sci-Fi and you really should read it for yourself!
The missus will go mad with my late night reading, but I've already downloaded and started reading Flashback the sequel.

Thank you Ian, I look forward to reading more.

The start of this book really grabs the reader. A detective returns to her office in Berlin to find her secretary murdered and stuffed in the fridge. In trying to solve the murder she has reasons to doubt her own memories. I wont spoil the plot any more, but I found this opening enthralling. However after the first third, the book gets a bit slow and confusing. By the end I was pausing a lot to reread passages and try to understand what was going on. I did wonder if the book had been very heavily edited and some scene setting had been removed. If so, it did not speed up the story. In the process of reading the novel I went from, "This is great!" to "This is OK."