Paintwork

Tim shows a world that's the future but yet, its not. His three short stories combine what is already relevant to our daily life in regards to social media in the present day and show them in their evolved state. It seems apparent that the author takes his loves and creates stories with them using themes that revolve around graffiti, Twitter, and computer games. His first story introduces you to 3Cube and although the ending was not surprising; it still left me with questions. 3Cube seems to be trying to make the world a beautiful place through his art work which is realistic landscapes but someone keeps destroying it in an obvious diss. The tension mounts as the reader wonders who is doing such a thing. I felt the ending of this story was a bit rushed and would love to read more about 3Cube; his character fascinated me.Paparazzi was my least favorite of the bunch but it was still endearing and I thought this was where I saw the author's dark humor the most especially when he was detailing the gamer lifestyle. I could not stop laughing. Imagine a world where your career is based off being a great gamer and creating great games. Competition is fierce between guilds to the point where one can be forced into slave labor inside a game. This story was a bit fast-paced so it left me a bit confused at times and I felt there wasn't enough interaction between characters in the game and outside of the games.Now the last story, Havana Augmented is the best of them all. Maughan definitely saved the best for last with this one. What I particularly liked about this one is that he tied in characters from the previous story into this one which was not expected. He also explored, albeit on the surface the political climate of Cuba in a non-judgmental tone and he did it with relative ease. This story was definitely more animated and action-packed, battles between mechas, and I could only imagine seeing huge mechas fighting it out virtually with Cuba as a backdrop...beautiful. I actually found this story to be quite heart-warming while the others were mostly dark and dripping with cynicism, this showed human courage and that sometimes the small ones can win.I look forward to reading more works by Tim Maughan. This was a quick read and if you're interested in sci-fi that's not over the top, this is for you.

I purchased Paintwork after reading a brief review by Cory Doctorow, a writer whose works I enjoy very much. Mr. Doctorow's praise of Paintwork is justified for the stories in Paintwork are quite good.The Paintwork stories take place in the near future, a time not far from our own. The technologies in the stories are predictable extensions of current technology which renders them as believable and not as magical thinking. This is important as the the technologies are significant in the stories: they are not artifacts to the stories but are integral components. Do not think, however, that the stories are about technology, for they are not. Like all good science fiction, the stories are about humans acting and reacting in the world around them.Technological advances give humans opportunities to do new things or to do old things in new ways. The technology changes but sadly, often humans do not. Paintwork gives us stories of humans acting in old ways with new technology. This is not a criticism: it simply means that traits which humans have exhibited for thousands of years are still exhibited in a future, more technologically-enabled, world. The worlds of Paintwork are dark but not dystopian. Some of the traits exhibited are positive, creative and useful while others are negative and destructive. But in all cases, the characters have adapted to a world of technology. Their adaptations are very believable, and this makes the stories seem realistic. One could almost believe the stories are news report from a not too distant future.My only complaint about Paintwork is the number of typos: it seemed a rather large number for a published work. Still, I recommend Paintwork for fans of cyberpunk and science fiction. It is good writing with realistic characters set in a very believable world.

In three stories, Maughan weaves a compelling vision of a dark digital future in the tradition of Dick and Gibson. Maughan displays a rare mastery of the short story form--delivering fully realized characters, visceral imagery, and suspensful action in a tight package. The sole criticism I have of Paintwork is its brevity. I wish I could have stayed in its world of bright light and gritty shadow a little longer. I look forward to future efforts from this author.

Paintsworks is a wonderful collection of sci-fi short stories that take place in a world only a few years ahead of our own. Maughan has a clean, quick-paced writing style. He's able to bring the stories to life without bogging down the narrative with excessive detail. It's a fascinating world where augmented reality feels as normal as watching TV.It's a great bargain at $2.99. So skip a mocha latte or slice of pizza for some good sci-fi.

Disclaimer - I only read the first two stories. The first was OK, and had some innovative ideas in merging AR and tagging, but the ending was flat. The second story was even more mediocre. Not only could I not buy the premise that the main character could impersonate a world-class gamer after only a couple of weeks of play, the story itself went no where, and again,the ending (with a severe case of Stockholm Syndrome) fell flat.The writing was solid, and some of the ideas were clever, but overall the first two stories were only "Meh" for me. Maybe I'll be blown away by the third story if I ever get around to it. If so, I'll update my review.

I thoroughly enjoyed this set of 3 linked short stories. They explore the intersection of street culture, art, social media, and gaming and feel very firmly rooted in what's happening right now. I can't wait to read more by this author.

I’m old enough for cyber-punk and the many iterations that have come sense. This collection of stories carries that proud torch forward but with more optimism then in the past.It’s a quick read but a worth while one.

It's only about 100 pages long but the three stories making up Paintwork slot together to create a world that's more alive and fleshed out than the ones you get in most longer stories. The sparse, brand-name heavy style is recognisable to fans of cyberpunk but by being more direct, less self-consciously staccato than William Gibson, author Tim Maughan's prose are often easier on the eye. His three tales, two set in a near-future Bristol, the last in Cuba, share themes and some characters but can each be read in isolation. I live just down the road in Bath so reading about a VR-enhanced Cabot Circus or Temple Meads Station added fun to an already impressive set of shorts. Here's hoping he's working on a full length novel.

Maughan has rescued cyberpunk for a new generation, and made my home city of Bristol into his Chiba. His novel Infinite Variety is genius, and these short stories are thought provoking, witty & entertaining too. But they are just a little too Gibsonesque in their narrative e arcs & style

I devoured this book. Absolutely great and there are more by the same author to discover. Clever and engaging stuff, highly recommended.

A good read

A set of three short novellas set in the not-too distant future, Maughan's debut work gleans much of its literary influence and style from that burning start of science fiction, William Gibson, but has enough punch to suggest that more interesting ideas could be on the way.The main technological concern of Maughan's world is augmented reality; a technology that is already with us, but is likely to become much more fully integrated with our daily lives very soon, especially with the advent of smartphones. Maughan introduces the idea of AR "specs" in each of the three stories, headset/glasses that provide a differing view of life once worn.Like Gibson, Maughan adds an international tinge to proceedings, with a faint dollop of dystopia and the neon glow of Sino animation culture never too faraway. The action swings from the cloudy, downtrodden vistas of his native Bristol, the sun-baked streets of Havana where Cuba is still something of a socialist oasis, with 1955 convertibles restored to their former glory and hinting at the rise of Indian and East Asian economies as the powerplayers of the world. His protagonists are neurotic graffiti artists and game players/designers, interacting in a world where social media and the rise of game playing to a sport of almost Olympic standards is seen as the apex of celebrity. As such, this is very much a young man's world, in which loners who spend almost their entire waking lives in this AR alternative reality, seek to gain some sort of acceptance, respect or recognition for their often clandestine efforts. Whether it be the site of a crazy art piece sprawling over Bristol or the destruction of an AR "iron mech" in a urban AR game, this is a world of individuals and shadowy, omniscient organisations.The best SF writers provide some sort of social backdrop and causation/effect to new technology and it's here that Maughan's pieces fade a little - in particular with the first piece "Paintwork" we are treated to a vision of a Bristol laced with grime, dirt and much more beside, yet his protagonist 3Cube seems curiously detached from it, with Maughan preferring stylisation over more cerebral and emotional content. We rarely get to see much in terms of what drives his characters. There's a snappy feel to his character's dialogue, although as above we rarely get to read much more than what they are really concerned with immediately - interacting with technology and immersing themselves in a virtual world.To his credit though, Maughan's stories are punchy enough within their short time span to rise above such criticisms. They're also well constructed, with the endings happening in a succinct and timely manner. The best of the three is "Paparazzi", with an intriguingly designed premise based on following a global celebrity player "in game" to capture sensitive information for a rival "guild". The idea of games reaching a size where people get enveloped in them professionally is not too far off and Maughan's description and story is helped no doubt by his background as a games developer. Each story has an intriguing view of the future that he delivers with a zippy panache.At the princely sum of just over £2 for a Kindle edition, this is an appetising bite of what he is capable of, although I do feel that the leap to a bigger story may need a lot more work.