wealhtheow's review against another edition
3.0
Virtual worlds, in which personality constructs and AIs live, are now considered as real as the tangible, "atomic" world we live in today. The story follows social worker Judy and one of her charges, Helen, as they traverse the two realities in search of answers. Their search gradually broadens in scope until at last they discover what happened at the edge of the known galaxy two decades ago. The characters are prickly, complex and believable; I particularly liked Helen, whose last memories were from 70 years before. I hated the antagonist, a manipulative meaniepants named Kevin. Although he was supposed to enrage me, he did so to the extent that I could barely finish the book, I was so loathe to read any more of his scenes.
This is the second part in a loose trilogy: in [book: Recursion] Ballantyne examines life under a mindless intelligence. In this, he reveals life without any intelligence at all. Overarching both these books is an examination of human society in the future, where it is watched over and subtly cared for by a nearly omnipotent intelligence. It's a cool discussion, but I'd almost rather Ballantyne spent more of the book writing his excellent fight scenes and dialog and less talking about quantam theory and "what it really means to be intelligent."
This is the second part in a loose trilogy: in [book: Recursion] Ballantyne examines life under a mindless intelligence. In this, he reveals life without any intelligence at all. Overarching both these books is an examination of human society in the future, where it is watched over and subtly cared for by a nearly omnipotent intelligence. It's a cool discussion, but I'd almost rather Ballantyne spent more of the book writing his excellent fight scenes and dialog and less talking about quantam theory and "what it really means to be intelligent."
henryarmitage's review against another edition
4.0
Cyber-themed 'Brave New World' distant future dystopia faces an existential threat.
Lots of cool and edgy ideas here.
The ending surprised me a bit as the side that I thought of as the good guys was
defeated, at least temporarily.
Excellent read.
Lots of cool and edgy ideas here.
The ending surprised me a bit as the side that I thought of as the good guys was
defeated, at least temporarily.
Excellent read.
terminatee's review
4.0
Not sure I understood this book any more than the one ("Recursion") than came before it. Hard to follow the plot and how the story lines support one another, but I do find the author's ideas interesting.
weirdtea's review
2.0
There were moments in this book that captivated me. I'm interested in subjectivity, identity and the construction of reality and experience...but ultimately I just couldn't stick with the book. I skimmed the last part. It isn't that the writing is bad or anything (hence two stars rather than one) but I lost interest. I think it has something to do with the narrative structure; the shifts in point of view characters and of time frames contribute to a feeling that the ideas haven't been explored to their fullest potential. That becomes a bigger problem because I had little emotional connection to the characters themselves. Everything rests on the ideas. I know from previous experience that this is part of Ballantyne's style. He brings the pieces together in the end to create a big moment. So, I guess that makes my previous comment a bit unfair. However, in this case I just wasn't willing to wait. I felt like I was forcing myself through and I began to doubt that the payoff would be worth it. On to the next!
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