Best of 2007 Countdown: Richard K. Morgan, Thirteen (Black Man)

When I first reviewed Thirteen back in June, I began that review with a certain quote from a Morgan interview done years before. For purposes of explaining why I chose this book to appear on the Best of 2007 Countdown, I'll reproduce it below:

Society is, always has been and always will be a structure for the exploitation and oppression of the majority through systems of political force dictated by an élite, enforced by thugs, uniformed or not, and upheld by a willful ignorance and stupidity on the part of the very majority whom the system oppresses.

These themes of exploitation and oppression of the masses have been a constant thread in Morgan's previous four novels, but here in Thirteen, I believe he has extrapolated them further in an attempt to get readers to question just what in the hell is going on in the world today and if our actions today might engender such a world as the one depicted in this novel. Couple those elements with some fast-hitting scenes and the very intriguing title character of Carl Marsalis and the novel becomes something that a reader either enjoys immensely or dislikes due to the sources of those ideas. It is not a "safe" novel and in a publishing market that seems awash in them at times, Thirteen stands out. It is for this reason that Thirteen made my Best of 2007 Countdown.