Cyberpunk 2077: Bez przypadku

Rafał Kosik is one of the most popular and awarded Polish sci-fi writers. He is the author of novels for adults, young adults and children. He also writes screenplays, working, for example, on the production of the anime series Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. His latest novel Cyberpunk 2077: No Coincidence is also set in the world initially created by Mike Pondsmith and given new life by the CD Projekt Red studio’s video game.

No Coincidence presents the story of an apparently randomly-assembled group that carries out a heist and in doing so lays themselves open to the various forces running Night City. It causes a spiral of events, full of tricks, twists, clashes and violence. It also quickly becomes clear that the protagonists – who hail from various backgrounds – were selected intentionally, and that their pasts are impacting on the present. They try to clumsily disentangle themselves from the situation and simultaneously realise their dreams… or at least restore the status quo. Gradually, new connections and behind-the-scenes conspiracies are revealed, but it isn’t clear who is a puppet and who is pulling the strings until almost the very end.

Rafał Kosik fully exploits the potential that the Cyberpunk reality offers. He paints a dark world dominated by soulless corporations and a society run by the law of the stronger. Human bodies modified by all sorts of implants, a virtual world as important as the real one, and gangs operating hand in glove with corporations; all this leaves ordinary people reduced to the role of passive pawns participating in a game being played at a much higher level. Sentiments, good deeds and moments of doubt are exploited ruthlessly; something the protagonists experience over and over – frequently with fatal consequences for them.