I didn't realise this was a sequel when I requested this which probably explains why I struggled to get into and understand this which was frustrating as I liked the style of it from what I read. Book one sounds intriguing so perhaps one day I'll read it then come back to this one and be able to finish it and give a full review.

I love Louise Carey's writing and the world she creates in this series is riveting.
I can't wait to get to the finale of this series.

Amazon review pending.

So I started this book and even though everything seemed very interesting, I was still so incredibly confused. It took me quite a lot of time before checking if this is maybe a second vol in a series because normally it is stated in the description of the book. So, my mistake for not checking this before on another website. I haven't read Inscape (the 1st vol), so of course I was so confused. As this is the second book of a series and follows on, I probably have spoiled myself big time for the 1st book, but I still have added it to my tbr.

For what I have read of the book, the world sounds great and I really want to find out more. If a book has great world building, then it has huge potential to become a favorite. This one (even though I haven't read vol 1) intrigued me. I will definitely go back to this series in the future.

Ok, so I got very confused as I haven't read Inscape. As this is the second book of a series and follows on (something I wasn't aware of when I requested the book), I've added the first book of the series to my tbr and will update my review of Outcast once I've reread it as the followup book.

Aside from my mistake, this book still sounds very intriguing and I can't wait to get back to it in the proper frame of mind (with all the information).

Outcast is a direct sequel to Inscape. If you haven’t read the first book in this series, then what follows will contain minor spoilers. Consider yourself duly warned!

TRUTH.

LIES.

IT CAN BE HARD TO TELL THEM APART.

When a bomb goes off at InTech HQ, everything changes for Tanta’s corporation. Order becomes disorder. Safety becomes danger. Calm becomes chaos.

Tanta is tasked with getting to the bottom of the attack before violence and unrest overtake the city. But even though the evidence points towards rival corporation Thoughtfront, Tanta can’t shake the feeling that she’s missing something.

There’s a dark secret at the heart of the case, one that will reveal more about her own corporation than Tanta would like. And the closer Tanta gets to the mystery, the more she comes to realise something terrible:

Sometimes facing the truth can be the hardest thing of all.

Back in January 2021, I had the opportunity to read the rather wonderful science fiction thriller Inscape by Louise Carey. It was great, you should all read it. This week, the sequel, Outcast, is released. Guess what? It’s also great and you should all definitely read it as well.

The action picks up not long after Inscape’s end. Corporate agent Tanta has been freed from the constraints of the mental programming she has been following all of her life. The revelation that she has been little more than a puppet for the huge conglomerate InTech has shocked her to the core. Tanta’s unerring devotion to the company is nothing more than a lie.

Tanta has always existed with the reassuring safety net of InTech in her life. With that security evaporating in a split second, she finds herself adrift. For the first time, Tanta is being forced to make decisions on her own. That responsibility is beginning to take its toll. For all intents and purposes, she is discovering what it means to be free. The anxiety and inner turmoil she displays adds an extra layer of tension to every action and reaction Tanta has to make. For an InTech agent, even a conflicted one, indecision cannot be an option. Tanta leads a dangerous existence, hesitation will get herself or others killed. Trying to investigate potential terrorist activities while maintaining her clean-cut corporate facade is becoming increasingly difficult. Ultimately, the question that plagues Tanta is who can be trusted? Everyone she meets appears to have their own agenda. Tanta’s boss, Douglas, is a particularly good example. Self-centred, egotistical, ruthless and power-hungry are just some of the nicer ways to describe him. Tanta has to try and tow the company line and appear to remain obedient or Douglas will start to get suspicious. While a mental game of cat and mouse unfolds, Tanta’s investigation points toward a vast conspiracy whose outcome will fundamentally change the shape of society. She finds herself torn between years of corporate conditioning and her need to do the right thing.

Elsewhere, we also get to learn more about Cole’s backstory. Though the evolution of his character is quite different from Tanta’s, they are both heading towards the same pivotal moment. With all they uncover about InTech, it comes down to a simple choice for them both. Who are they going to choose to be? Is their corporate Big Brother a benign presence whose failings should be ignored, or is there some better way to live?

Like its predecessor, Outcast is a whip-smart science fiction thriller with real depth. Conspiracies, revelations and more tension than you could wave a big stick at ensure this series continues to deliver on every level. The novel ends with our protagonist at a moral crossroads. The climax of events finds Tanta in the unenviable position of being damned if she does and damned if she don’t. I’m not sure I would be able to make a decision if I found myself in the same place. I cannot wait to see where this goes in the next instalment. Louise Carey’s taut narrative kept me gripped throughout. Rest assured, I will be back for more.

Outcast is published by Gollancz and is available now. Highly recommended.

My musical recommendation to accompany Outcast is the soundtrack to the indie science fiction movie Zone 414 by Raffertie. Some neo-futuristic industrial electronica fits pretty well with the sinister corporate evil of InTech I reckon.

“Sometimes facing the truth can be the hardest thing of all.”

“Outcast” by Louise Carey is the second book in the dystopian sci-fi thriller series “Inscape”. A story picks up a few months after the previous book’s ending. Despite all her hard work in bringing down the corrupted superior, Tanta is relegated to work amongst community guardians. But after an attack on InTech HQ, she is pulled back to the special forces unit to solve the case.
I loved the dystopian world the author created for her story. A few big corporations are the rulers, and you can either work for them or perish out in the wastelands without food, medicine, or other essential supplies. With so much power, corruption and abuse of dominance are unavoidable.
Even after Tanta had her mind-controlling program deleted, she still longs for her corporation approval and works for the betterment of society. She struggles when her managing director tries to push her away from the cases for petty reasons even though she did nothing wrong.
But as the story progresses and more dark secrets are revealed, Tanta finds herself torn between the loyalty she felt her whole life and doing the morally right thing. I also loved how the author showed Tanta’s relationship with Reet. Even though they have always been soulmates, Reet still has her Harlow Program intact, which cause her to always choose the corporation, even over Tanta. That leads slowly but surely to the relationship’s degradation, and it’s heartbreaking to watch.
Cole is not faring any better than Tanta. He is stuck under house arrest and working for the boss who hates him and gloats every time he gets a chance. It still doesn’t stop Cole from engaging in corporate espionage when the opportunity arises. That leads to the discovery that results in teaming up with Tanta again.
In “Outcast”, the author is taking us outside of the city, to the wastelands and a distant corporate outpost with entirely different rules than the city. I enjoyed seeing more of the world and how the corporate exiles live outside of corporate grasp.
I enjoyed the ending immensely. It was unexpected but very satisfying, and the fact that characters must choose the lesser evil instead of good and bad ringed true. I’m excited to see how the story will go from there. If you enjoy dystopian sci-fi stories with cyberpunk flair, you should check out this series.

For science fiction the corporations consistently are seen as a worrying threat. The last few decades have done little to think that the world that Gibson and co discussed in Neuromancer and many more cyberpunk novels is still fairly likely. The realms of information, transport, shopping are all owned by a few strange entities with powers and wealth far larger than most small countries. Last year in Inscape by Louise Carey I was hugely impressed with this cyber thriller that had a creative take on a dystopian future where augmented reality, mind control and greed threatened the remaining populations of London. Now in the excellent sequel Outcast Carey provides an equally worthy sequel expanding on the story to create a series I now will desperately want to see how it ends.

To recap the previous volume Tanta was a high-flying ambitious Intech agent assigned to an unusual mystery. In the course of which she was partnered with technology genius Cole. Despite the misgivings the two learned to trust each other and reveal both spies in Intech and the darker side of the Inscape software that agents and other Intech employees use on a daily basis – a mind control device known as the Harlow Programme which made agents loyal and the worst type of corporate bootlickers you could imagine. At the end of Inscape though the two solved the crime and became friends plus the final battles resulted in Tanta’s internal programming being fully removed and Cole realising he was the person responsible for creating this control in the first place! Now both sees Intech as a threatening environment they are trapped in.

A few months on and despite a huge success the new bosses see Tanta s a threat side-lined to basic guard duty and Cole placed under a mean-spirited technology boss doing long hours of menial work. This though does not last long as Tanta discovers a bomb targeting Intech’s senior management team. She is soon reassigned to active investigation and with Cole they tread outside Intech’s secure borders to the wastelands and silos to find clues as to who is behind the attack and a recent run of supply thefts. Greater danger than ever awaits and perhaps all sides cannot trust each other any longer.

I am so pleased to say this book matches and builds upon the excellence of the first novel. Now They both know the world of Intech is not what they thought it was the question they each ask themselves is what do you do next? Surprisingly it is not to immediately bring down the system. Tanta wants her old job back and Cole would like to get back to supporting the investigation. For Tanta the apparent attack by a rival corporation is more a chance to shine. This leads to one of the fascinating aspects of this society – however bad things look they would rather be paid and live in the company’s protection. We know Intech uses sleeping humans as autonomous workers, we see food shortages and that there is a high death rate for employees (likely related to all the software in their brains) and yet both characters still think Intech is better than the alternative!

To help explain this we get a new character in the form of Fliss who lives outside the corporation in what is post-Meltdown London constantly scavenging for food and medicine. She runs a small gang focused on attacking drones in order to get provisions to live and sell on. They are approached by a shadowy duo with the latest tech for some new missions in exchange for supplies and they soon get on Tanta and Cole’s radar. What I liked about this is that it was a reminder that the country formally known as the UK is now a dangerous wild place and that the entities such as Intech are viewed with suspicion and hatred by those outside the system. Its unusual to suddenly see Tanta getting viewed as a bad guy. This question of who is in the right is at the heart of this novel.

Pulling the mystery of the attacks and working out who are the real enemy is Tanta and Cole. Once again, this partnership of two people who are friends (not will they/won’t they friends) feels still refreshing. They are two people who have skills the other does not and together that makes them a formable act. Interestingly this time for parts of the novel they each have to work separately and with others as their partner. Firstly, this shows how each has grown in confidence. Tanta now prepared to play office politics while Cole is getting better at subterfuge, but it also really wants us to see them work together. As the central mystery is revealed and we see what Intech’s agenda really is, then how the duo can stop it is going to be a theme in this novel and the finale of the series. Without too many spoilers Cole’s and Tanta’s skills really blend together in the final act and its brilliantly delivered by Carey weaving between the two’s personal battles.

Outcast is a sleek, smart, fast paced and hugely enjoyable SF thriller with two really stand-out lead characters. We have a fascinating story exploring corporation’s greed and ruthlessness, the power of mind control and the morality of doing the right thing. I raced through this and had a great time apart from knowing I’ve a while to wait for the next book. Firmly cementing Carey as a writer to watch in the genre. Strongly recommended!

You all know much I loved Inscape right?
Well, if you don’t, let me give you a little recap!
It was one of my favourite books of last year.
What can we say about the second one that is going to match that – I dunno!

Inscape came along at the beginning of 2021 and blew my socks right off! And now at the beginning of 2022 we have Outcast, the second one in the series. And guess what, that blew my socks off too.

Now with the second one, we are all re - introduced to the characters of Tanta & Cole, we all know how they rock and roll. Right? Well not quite!

You see things are a bit different now. Tanta is irrevocably changed from the results of the last book (I would like to tell you dear reader about the incident that I was referring to, but for your own good , no can do! Spoilers and all that! And you never know you might want to read it and what would be the point of that if old Billy big britches ‘ere had gone and spoilt it for you?) Now, both Tanta and Cole have to live with the results.

Cole has forcibly been made to work for the company that he thought was so bad, he had wiped his own memory to forget about it – I mean that is really good for company morale isn’t it? Whilst Tanta has a new boss, who hates her, wants to get rid of her and sends her off into the procedural wilderness. And on top of that, there’s a new threat to Intech, the war is still on with Thoughtfront and now, they have launched an attack right at the heart of Intech.

Tanta is tasked to find out how and why this has occurred (much to the chagrin of her new boss).

Outcast does a fantastic job of continuing the story of Tanta and Cole, and also expands the world too, showing us what it is like outside the city. In addition to that, we get the introduction of some new characters, with the most notable being Fliss, the leader of a scavenging group in the Unaffiliated Zone who gets embroiled in the fight against Intech and used as a pawn in the enemy’s games.

As usual, Louise Carey’s writing is top notch and she immerses the reader in the world of Outcast. This time though, it’s a little bit easier to become immersed in this world as we are used to it
and technology that is an integral part of the story.

Tanta and Cole are as brilliant as ever, however, they both have the extra burden of the changes that have happened. It is like looking behind the curtain and finding the bloke that pulls the wire to make the swan fly. Tanta struggles with this and it has in impact in places that she does not expect. And similarly with Cole. As the creator of a certain insidious programs which was designed to bring the Corporation and their Corps Wards together, he now finds that his past has come back to haunt him and will be used in an even more insidious way.

Outcast is a brilliant second outing for the pair and I enjoyed every page of it.

An entertaining and gripping technothriller that kept me turning pages. Tanta, the heroine, is a fleshed out and interesting character and I liked the world building.
There's good level of technical details and the plot kept me guessing.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This is the second book in the series (trilogy) and you really do need to read Inscape first to have a chance of really understanding it. The world the author has built is, at times, a little complex and there are certain relationships between the characters, and their backstories, that need more than a few lines of catch-up to really understand.
So... when we first catch up with her, Tanta has been reassigned as a lowly guard. She is still trying to keep her lack of programming secret so she doesn't make too many waves. Until she is caught up in something juicy that she is determined to investigate. Cole is also not fairing well initially, doing menial tasks for a boss who hates him, spending the rest of his time under house arrest. InTech is still under attack, probably from their main rival, but the stakes have been upped and has led to shortages which are more than concerning.
Meanwhile, we also follow a band of "outlaws" living outside the establishments and surviving on their instincts and, well, stealing. Quite how they fit in is not immediately obvious but we will find out as the book progresses.
There are also a few more returning characters from book one, most notably Reet, Tanta's girlfriend, who still has her programming and is also promoted to Tanta's boss. Interesting repercussions from that!
Anyway... the story follows on nicely from what has gone before. There is a little more tech to get to grips with, but nothing too heavy and easy to accept. The peril they are under in this book is quite scary and, by the time we get to the end, it leaves our main players in a whole different place. Ready for more of the same action in book three. Which I am looking forward to.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Outcast is the second book in Louise Carey’s Inscape sci-fi series set in post-apocalyptic London, and easily as good as the first book. It’s not as mind-blowing conceptually as the first, but it’s a more enjoyable read—once I got used to the present tense narrative again.

In the first book, Tanta, the main protagonist, narrowly avoided being caught in the political machinations of InTech corporation and revealing that her CorpWard conditioning has been broken. This book finds her as a lowly guard who isn’t given any responsibilities. Cole, the neuroscientist and Tanta’s co-conspirator, is in house arrest doing menial tasks for his former boss.

They’re both balancing on a tight rope, trying to keep up appearances amid constant surveillance of the Inscape. It doesn’t help Tanta that her girlfriend Reet is still conditioned, making Tanta question everything about their relationship, Reet’s feelings included.

Attacks against InTech have led to food shortage and restlessness, and Cole discovers that there’s going to be a corporation wide update to Inscape that will make everyone behave like conditioned CorpWards, but worse. Tanta and Cole need to handle both, which is easier said than done when neither of them is free to act.

Tanta manages to manipulate the situation so that she and Cole are working together again, but it comes with costs. One is that they’re basically exiled from London to a remote outpost. But they are determined to find out who’s attacking InTech and how to stop the update that will turn everyone into mindless puppets. There’s plenty of action and some heartbreak for both along the way before the truth is revealed.

This was a more enjoyable read than the first book—and that was great too. The world was familiar already and no new concepts were introduced, Tanta and Cole were even better together despite the oddness of their partnership, and the plot was more straightforward. The world became larger with new locations, and the new POV character, Fliss, was a great addition. I guessed the bad guy fairly early, but the author still managed to make an impact with the revelation.

The ending left Tanta and Cole in a completely new situation. It’s so intriguing that I absolutely have to find out what happens next.