coltennis's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
4.5
jerseygrrrl's review against another edition
5.0
Page turning plot + solid writing + exploration of cool ideas = awesome book!
paulataua's review against another edition
3.0
The fast paced and action packed follow up to Nexus, Crux continues the story of the the uptake of Nexus and the Post-humanism versus Humanism debate. It is every bit as exciting as the first book in the series, and a good read, but the increase in the number of threads and dysfunctional characters, doesn't really add to the story. It only provides more opportunities for the almost infinite number of fight scenes. Most disappointing is the ending. Naam manages to tie all the story lines together at the end, but not in a very satisfying way.
titusfortner's review
4.0
Firstly, each of the 3 books had a different narrator for the audiobook. I found this narrator did the best job distinguishing the characters for me in a way that I could more easily follow. As for the content, there is plenty more interesting on a more global scale. The pace is good and the story interesting if incomplete at the end (for obvious trilogy reasons).
mjfmjfmjf's review against another edition
5.0
What an awesome ride, though kind of a rushed ending. Book 2 in a near future idea based sf by someone who actually has a background in technology. Perhaps a few too many ideas - whether uploading intelligence, or programming your brain, or group mind or using such techniques for helping children with autism - but still it worked. Still sad to see the US government as a believable bad guy.
rjnn's review against another edition
4.0
It's an action packed sequel to Nexus. If you liked Nexus this is a pretty good followup. It reads very Crichton-ey, and the " applied phlebotinum" is mostly coherent. Naam has a good grip on computer science, and that's a pleasant change from other non-engineer authors who make shit up that doesn't add up.
On the other hand, this isn't a mind blowingly good book the way Nexus is. Mostly because all the mind-blowing was done in Nexus, and there isn't a significant value-add in Crux. But I enjoyed it nevertheless.
On the other hand, this isn't a mind blowingly good book the way Nexus is. Mostly because all the mind-blowing was done in Nexus, and there isn't a significant value-add in Crux. But I enjoyed it nevertheless.
ronsos's review against another edition
3.0
This is very much Nexus, part 2. Good, suspenseful story building to a big climax at the end. However, it really felt like a rehash. I'd hoped the promise of Nexus might be expanded and built upon, so that was disappointing.
iffer's review against another edition
2.0
Crux is supposed to be a "technothriller." Unfortunately, it doesn't thrill, and the use of technology in this second installment of the series reads more like fantasy than tech. I don't think that I've ever said this before, but I'm really wishing that the movie based on this series were out already (since I wouldn't be surprised if it were already optioned).
It suffers not only from the fact that it's a weak middle book to a trilogy, but from the fact that Naam already touched on all of his interesting ideas in the first book, Nexus, so it feels like he's beating them to death and just stringing readers along because everything, especially sci-fi, has to be a trilogy or multi-book series. The writing is mediocre, which would be fine if there were rollicking action, but even that is humdrum. The middling writing makes it so that 1) I don't have emotional attachment toward any of the the characters, even though I had a whole entire previous book to sympathize with them, and 2) the "messages" become redundant, and worse, redundantly preachy. I wouldn't consider myself a conservative by any means, but I felt like Naam was hitting me over the head with a sledgehammer of his liberal ideas in a way that could easily be felt as condescending. ><
It suffers not only from the fact that it's a weak middle book to a trilogy, but from the fact that Naam already touched on all of his interesting ideas in the first book, Nexus, so it feels like he's beating them to death and just stringing readers along because everything, especially sci-fi, has to be a trilogy or multi-book series. The writing is mediocre, which would be fine if there were rollicking action, but even that is humdrum. The middling writing makes it so that 1) I don't have emotional attachment toward any of the the characters, even though I had a whole entire previous book to sympathize with them, and 2) the "messages" become redundant, and worse, redundantly preachy. I wouldn't consider myself a conservative by any means, but I felt like Naam was hitting me over the head with a sledgehammer of his liberal ideas in a way that could easily be felt as condescending. ><
ledigiacomo's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0