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A review by timinbc
Going Dark by Linda Nagata
3.0
I enjoyed this series, but #3 was a bit of a letdown.
The action scenes have to be there, because they are part of the Brand of this series, but I found myself skimming them. Gencom, gencom, AI lights up targets, bam, repeat. Someone gets hurt and we drag them out. Repeat.
What makes it work this time is the repeated way it all works until it doesn't, and Nagata is careful not to tell us why. Is the the Red? Local AIs? Someone (everyone?) up the chain of command?
One gets perhaps a little tired of the old "tough soldier ain't gonna let no brass hats tell HIM what to do," and it almost wanders into "You're Off This Case! Give me your gun!" - but Nagata saves it with an examination of the squad deciding who they should be loyal to and why.
The themes of non-linear war and the-AI-genie-can't-be-put-back-in-the-bottle are very good.
The ending? Meh. OK with what happens re Shelley, but I figure that after some 1400 pages we should get to know what Nagata thinks the Red is and what it's up to.
Also I want to know who decided it would be a good idea to let the Red have a way to influence soldiers' thinking. Was Shelley really the first to think "Wai-ai-ait a minute ..." I have a growing feeling that Nagata had no choice but to leave it unresolved, because all the resolutions I can think of are in the painting-oneself-into-a-corner variety.
I may have missed something, but for me Leonid wasn't credible as the benevolent uncle, given what he was before, but it's possible, so OK.
Also not sure about the local AIs being philosophically capable of realizing that the Red exists and needs to be (and can be) deked out.
But in the end, the whole story arc of Shelley-theRed-the higher officers was an interesting and effective choice.
The action scenes have to be there, because they are part of the Brand of this series, but I found myself skimming them. Gencom, gencom, AI lights up targets, bam, repeat. Someone gets hurt and we drag them out. Repeat.
What makes it work this time is the repeated way it all works until it doesn't, and Nagata is careful not to tell us why. Is the the Red? Local AIs? Someone (everyone?) up the chain of command?
One gets perhaps a little tired of the old "tough soldier ain't gonna let no brass hats tell HIM what to do," and it almost wanders into "You're Off This Case! Give me your gun!" - but Nagata saves it with an examination of the squad deciding who they should be loyal to and why.
The themes of non-linear war and the-AI-genie-can't-be-put-back-in-the-bottle are very good.
The ending? Meh. OK with what happens re Shelley, but I figure that after some 1400 pages we should get to know what Nagata thinks the Red is and what it's up to.
Also I want to know who decided it would be a good idea to let the Red have a way to influence soldiers' thinking. Was Shelley really the first to think "Wai-ai-ait a minute ..." I have a growing feeling that Nagata had no choice but to leave it unresolved, because all the resolutions I can think of are in the painting-oneself-into-a-corner variety.
I may have missed something, but for me Leonid wasn't credible as the benevolent uncle, given what he was before, but it's possible, so OK.
Also not sure about the local AIs being philosophically capable of realizing that the Red exists and needs to be (and can be) deked out.
But in the end, the whole story arc of Shelley-theRed-the higher officers was an interesting and effective choice.