lmgonzal's review against another edition
5.0
I think I first read this book about 10 years ago. Back then, it was out of print and I've cherished my hardcover copy. Since then, I've read this book many times over. Maybe a weird choice, but this is probably my favorite book.
One of the best things about this book is how unique it is. It's a great mesh of fantasy explained by science fiction. Elves, vampires and robots - all manage to fit into Joan Slonczewski's world and be explained away in scientific terms. She does such a great job of painting a totally different futuristic world.
She really makes you fall in love with the main characters. She makes you care so deeply about these small beings, even though their short lifespans result in a high turnover in main characters.
While Chrysoberyl can sometimes fall into the typical heroine trap of making stupid decisions to be the hero, she is such a well-developed character, that it doesn't take away from the book..
Love, love this book and suggest any sci-fi/fantasy fans to read!
One of the best things about this book is how unique it is. It's a great mesh of fantasy explained by science fiction. Elves, vampires and robots - all manage to fit into Joan Slonczewski's world and be explained away in scientific terms. She does such a great job of painting a totally different futuristic world.
She really makes you fall in love with the main characters. She makes you care so deeply about these small beings, even though their short lifespans result in a high turnover in main characters.
While Chrysoberyl can sometimes fall into the typical heroine trap of making stupid decisions to be the hero, she is such a well-developed character, that it doesn't take away from the book..
Love, love this book and suggest any sci-fi/fantasy fans to read!
jerseygrrrl's review against another edition
4.0
I love the ideas in Slonczewski's books. She does the science in science fiction beautifully and brings a progressive, humanitarian political view to her work. I find that Brain Plague holds together much better than Daughter of Elysium, but not quite as well as Slonczewski's best, Door into Ocean. Brain Plague explores new territory and is often very funny. It could have used a bit of editing, but it's well worth the time simply for how she handles the idea of intelligence in microscopic organisms.
jsmithborne's review against another edition
4.0
Couldn't put it down. Couldn't understand a lot of the science, but loved the fundamental philosophical and ethical questions it raised. And the characters were interesting, and the plot was compelling...really a very fine example of why I love speculative fiction.
salpal314's review against another edition
5.0
I read this book last month and I already want to read it again. It is exciting, thought-provoking and like nothing else I have read. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in science fiction or bioethics.
greeniezona's review against another edition
4.0
Oh, how I love Joan Slonczewski and the Door Into Ocean universe! So much so that I somehow got two copies of this from paperbackswap. Ooops. Once I got the second copy in the mail, it was clearly time to start reading one of them.
I believe this is the fourth book in the Elysium Cycle. It takes place soon after The Children Star. Like that book, this one continues to explore what it means to be sentient. Taking place back on Valedon, we follow an artist, Chrys, as Valans struggle to adapt to the influence of the micros from The Children Star. Some, elite members of society flourish with their "microbial enhancers," though they must be kept under close medical (and social) supervision. Ever the danger that they may fall prey to "the brain plague" -- "bad" micros who take over their hosts, keep them strung out, seeking arsenic, rewarded or punished by the neurochemicals the micros control -- ending up as shuffling "vampires" or hijacking ships to take to The Slave World -- the existence of which the Valan government (among others), is trying desperately to find.
Like all Slonczewski's work, this one explores fascinating ideas. The relationship between civilizations and their god, -- the need for genetic and cultural interchange between civilizations. The nature of addiction. Inequity in access to healthcare.
My only complaint of this book? The love scenes. Oh, my dear, sweet Lord, the love scenes. I still don't know what happened in the first of these -- but what I do know? It wasn't sexy. Even though it was a payoff to a relationship I had long been watching and hoping for. Thankfully, these instances are brief and confined to a short section of the novel.
I will continue to recommend Slonczewski's work far and wide. Though I will also continue recommending Door Into Ocean as the first work -- not only because it is the first book of the Elysium Cycle (as far as I know), but also remains, in my mind, the best.
I believe this is the fourth book in the Elysium Cycle. It takes place soon after The Children Star. Like that book, this one continues to explore what it means to be sentient. Taking place back on Valedon, we follow an artist, Chrys, as Valans struggle to adapt to the influence of the micros from The Children Star. Some, elite members of society flourish with their "microbial enhancers," though they must be kept under close medical (and social) supervision. Ever the danger that they may fall prey to "the brain plague" -- "bad" micros who take over their hosts, keep them strung out, seeking arsenic, rewarded or punished by the neurochemicals the micros control -- ending up as shuffling "vampires" or hijacking ships to take to The Slave World -- the existence of which the Valan government (among others), is trying desperately to find.
Like all Slonczewski's work, this one explores fascinating ideas. The relationship between civilizations and their god, -- the need for genetic and cultural interchange between civilizations. The nature of addiction. Inequity in access to healthcare.
My only complaint of this book? The love scenes. Oh, my dear, sweet Lord, the love scenes. I still don't know what happened in the first of these -- but what I do know? It wasn't sexy. Even though it was a payoff to a relationship I had long been watching and hoping for. Thankfully, these instances are brief and confined to a short section of the novel.
I will continue to recommend Slonczewski's work far and wide. Though I will also continue recommending Door Into Ocean as the first work -- not only because it is the first book of the Elysium Cycle (as far as I know), but also remains, in my mind, the best.
starcrunch's review against another edition
4.0
I really liked this book, which picked up where The Children Star left off. All of the books in the series have crazy strange worlds that you get pulled into, but Brain Plague has a nice protagonist that you like and want to see do well in the situations that she finds herself in. I'm not sure if I'd like it as much if I hadn't read the Children Star, because it provided a good introduction to micropeople, and all their weirdness. This is probably my second favorite in the series, I liked Daughters of Elysium better because it has really memorable characters. I'd recommend the series, starting with Door into Ocean, for anyone who likes (or thinks they might like) science fiction or fantasy.
phil_mann's review against another edition
2.0
I like the rest of this series more. The potential for the concepts explored here is immense but the book really never goes very deep. Maybe it has to do with the slipping of time between when the author came up with the concepts and when she worked on this book? It doesn't help that the main character seems shallow, callow, self-serving and plain old petulant... not the kind of lead character that you want to spend a lot of time with. Too bad for the little critter civ in her brain.
wealhtheow's review against another edition
3.0
Chrysoberl is an artist just barely making her rent when she receives word: the medical experiment she volunteered for is ready for her. To her surprise, instead of a new drug she gets an entire race of microbial people who live inside her brain, patrol her body for ill-health, and worship her as a god. She and the microbial people enter into a tentative detente--she will feed them arsenic and give them light, and they won't turn her into a slave using their ability to manipulate her sensations of pain and pleasure.
This is the fourth and possibly last book in Slonczewski's acclaimed Elysium cycle, a series that spans a number of worlds and hundreds of years, yet never lost its personal touch. Like all of the books, the main character has personal problems and concerns, yet is still involved in a much larger social change or revolution taking place. And like the others, this book features a unique mix of hard sf (Slonczewski is fantastic at using biochem to create realistic aliens and future tech without ever infodumping) with a thoughtful exploration of morality.
This is the fourth and possibly last book in Slonczewski's acclaimed Elysium cycle, a series that spans a number of worlds and hundreds of years, yet never lost its personal touch. Like all of the books, the main character has personal problems and concerns, yet is still involved in a much larger social change or revolution taking place. And like the others, this book features a unique mix of hard sf (Slonczewski is fantastic at using biochem to create realistic aliens and future tech without ever infodumping) with a thoughtful exploration of morality.
christytidwell's review against another edition
3.0
This is an entertaining read with plenty of interesting developments; however, after reading, teaching, and loving Slonczewski's A Door Into Ocean, which is a careful examination of nonviolence and gender, philosophically interesting as well as carried along by an interesting plot, Brain Plague falls short.
The central character, Chrysoberyl, is an artist who chooses to become a carrier of the "brain plague" (really not a disease but a colony of "micropeople" who live in the brain and communicate with the carrier) in order to help her art. This is a cool premise, one that seems to promise an exploration of what it means to be human, what counts as the self (and the self's creation) when the self is inhabited by other beings, especially if those beings are intelligent and communicative.
But this isn't really what we get in this book. Instead of an exploration of those issues/questions, or even a continuation of the question of the micropeople's intelligence, humanity, or individual rights, a question that was first raised in the previous book of this series (The Children Star), we get an adventure story about Chrys's attempts to survive the transition to being a carrier, her struggle to survive the prejudices of the rest of the world against carriers (seen as plague-ridden and dangerous), and the politics of power among carriers (who tests the others, who carries the dangerous microbes, who is trying to subvert the system, etc.). We also get a bit of romance toward the end, but this doesn't make up for the dearth of philosophical or political insight.
This is not at all a bad book, just, I suppose, not what I had expected. If you have not already read it, I highly recommend Joan Slonczewski's earlier novel set in this universe, A Door Into Ocean. I would also recommend Daughter of Elysium, her second book in this series. The latter two, however, The Children Star and Brain Plague, I could take or leave.
The central character, Chrysoberyl, is an artist who chooses to become a carrier of the "brain plague" (really not a disease but a colony of "micropeople" who live in the brain and communicate with the carrier) in order to help her art. This is a cool premise, one that seems to promise an exploration of what it means to be human, what counts as the self (and the self's creation) when the self is inhabited by other beings, especially if those beings are intelligent and communicative.
But this isn't really what we get in this book. Instead of an exploration of those issues/questions, or even a continuation of the question of the micropeople's intelligence, humanity, or individual rights, a question that was first raised in the previous book of this series (The Children Star), we get an adventure story about Chrys's attempts to survive the transition to being a carrier, her struggle to survive the prejudices of the rest of the world against carriers (seen as plague-ridden and dangerous), and the politics of power among carriers (who tests the others, who carries the dangerous microbes, who is trying to subvert the system, etc.). We also get a bit of romance toward the end, but this doesn't make up for the dearth of philosophical or political insight.
This is not at all a bad book, just, I suppose, not what I had expected. If you have not already read it, I highly recommend Joan Slonczewski's earlier novel set in this universe, A Door Into Ocean. I would also recommend Daughter of Elysium, her second book in this series. The latter two, however, The Children Star and Brain Plague, I could take or leave.
More...