Saboteur finds G struggling with some of the revelations from the previous installment, as well as the seemingly ever-shifting loyalties of the world he inhabits. He frequently finds himself more attached to people than they are to him, a shattering of illusions that is best exemplified when he comes face to face with the man his personality had been based on. The fact that the person who he had been led to believe he was is an uncaring psychopath (as well as the aforementioned reveals from Infiltrator) leaves him questioning who he is at his core.
Another example of this is his wish to abandon the G alias given to him by the Society and embrace an identity of his own, or at least one that he can build for himself. Even though the name chosen is an in-joke (and I suspect an acknowledgment of one of the series’ influences), it’s a fitting one.
Saboteur retains all the fast-paced action, betrayals, and readability of the previous entry but also ramps up the humour, bringing it more in line with the author’s other work. It also sets the stage for future installments going further into cyberpunk territory, with the world on the verge of economic and environmental disaster. I, for one, certainly want to see what comes next.
4 out of 5 doppelgangers.
