Hardwired by Walter Jon Williams

From The Week of November 28, 2010:

Voice of The Whirlwind entertained, but its more philosophical bent made it more intellectual exercise than Cyberpunk thrillride. No such distractions here. Hardwired comes as close as any book ever has to matching the raw intensity and sheer grit of Neuromancer, the king of the genre, a feat all the more remarkable when one considers that this was Mr. Williams' first published work.

In a future America balkanized into various combative factions, descendants of this once great nation scrabble to make a living beneath the bootheel of the Orbitals, an assembly of corporations which, since ascending to their new homes in Earth orbit, have crushed Earth in the Rock War. In the earthbound society left behind, selfishness and self-interest are the codes by which one must live in order to survive long enough to earn sufficient wealth to buy passage into orbit and the future only it can provide.

But in the midst of this grim reality, a glimmer of hope remains. It simmers in the anger of Cowboy, a fighter pilot shot from the skies in the Rock War and hurled down to Earth where he now contents himself with running contraband across heavily guarded borders. He is a Panzerboy, the hardwired human pilot of a hovertank whose every system he can control with his mind through a jack in his skull. It's not until Cowboy re-discovers one of his old flyers from the war and meets Sarah, a lethal mercenary who will do anything to get herself and her junky brother off-world, that the long simmer finally re-ignites into a vengeful burn that won't be snuffed out. He will take the fight to the Orbitals once more and, this time, he won't be quelled.

Hardwired has the whole package, two badass antiheroes who empower a compelling narrative. The nihilistic, gritty world is pure Cyberpunk, shot through with technology that fuses man with machine and creates, in the process, warriors who'll stop at nothing, refuse to feel anything, until they are dead. Cowboy's drive to put up one last fight for justice in the name of vengeance is as moving as Sarah's doomed quest to help and protect a brother unworthy of her sacrifice. Masterfully done. I don't expect to read anything half as cool this year. (5/5 Stars)