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4.17 AVERAGE
4.17 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Sometimes, hidden deep within the trap of ‘They’re not like us’ was the terror of ‘What if they’re just like us, but stronger?’ Sometimes the fear came because you were scared of looking into the eye of the monster and seeing your own reflection. [loc. 365]
Thirty years after the events of Dogs of War, Mars is in the process of being colonised, and the people doing the work, the builders and maintenance crews and so on, are modified humans. (Of course these modifications will be reversed, once the work is done. Of course they will.) Jimmy is one of these Martians: he's a drug addict (just think of the Seasonal Affective Disorder that far from the sun), and funds his habit by renting out surplus headspace for illicit data storage. Which is all very well until his latest data starts talking to him. It claims -- she claims -- to be a bear named Honey: and she is keen to make contact with the Distributed Entity known as Bees, who has cut ties with humanity after her attempts to save Earth's biosphere were rejected.
There's a lot to unpack in this novel: environmental crises, on Earth and on Mars; the growing fear of Distributed, rather than Artifical, Intelligence; the abuses of powerful men, including the corrupt Warner Thompson who relies on the absolute discretion of his PA Carole. Carole is unquestioningly loyal, because she was programmed that way -- like the Bioforms, modified and 'improved' from animal stock, who willingly accept Collaring, because obedience is better than having guilt or doubt. Though Carole did not consent.
The philosophical core of Bear Head is whether those who do have power and free will can make moral choices on behalf of everyone else. Honey may be a political activist and a campaigner for the rights of the poor and disenfranchised, but does that qualify her to make decisions for Jimmy, in whose head she's living? Yes, his drug withdrawal is inconvenient, but doesn't he get a choice about his addiction?
Bear Head does a good job of showing the political as personal: it has a cyberpunk vibe, and a very contemporary ambience despite its future setting. Perhaps one day readers will feel that Thompson, with his narcissism and his perception of social and political choices as simple win/lose scenarios, is an unrealistic character. Sadly, it's too soon not to draw real-world comparisons.
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A very interesting idea but I just couldn't really get into it properly. I don't know whether it was intentionally placing a parody of Trump as Thompson but that seemed to be just how you would imagine him to be.
It's a well written book which plays around with some interesting ideas.
adventurous
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
Listened to this audiobook for the third time and it's one of my favourites. Jimmy is a brilliant character with some great lines that made me laugh out loud several times.
Ho reconec, estic enganxat a Tchaikovsky. La seva manera aparentment simple de narrar històries, alhora que aprofundeix en diversos temes morals, és genial.
En aquest cas, ens trobem amb una nova història dins l’univers de les bioformes de Gossos de guerra.
No m’agrada explicar massa de l’argument —el podeu llegir vosaltres mateixos—, i crec que val la pena deixar-se portar per la lectura. A més, sempre es corre el risc d’explicar massa part de la trama, cosa que em treu bastant de polleguera en algunes ressenyes. Crec que l’important no és explicar què passa, sinó transmetre sensacions i motius per començar la lectura.
I en el cas de Meldecaps, és senzill: seguir gaudint d’alguns dels personatges que ja vam conèixer a Gossos de guerra, en un nou escenari i amb nous dilemes sobre les bioformes i la humanitat.
Si no has llegit el primer llibre, no passa res; són històries situades en diferents moments, tot i que comparteixen alguns personatges, cosa que pot facilitar-ne la comprensió. Això sí, jo no em saltaria Gossos de guerra, perquè també val molt la pena. Us els recomano tots dos.
Per cert, un cop llegit, vaig descobrir que hi ha un tercer llibre. Esperem que surti aviat en català!
En aquest cas, ens trobem amb una nova història dins l’univers de les bioformes de Gossos de guerra.
No m’agrada explicar massa de l’argument —el podeu llegir vosaltres mateixos—, i crec que val la pena deixar-se portar per la lectura. A més, sempre es corre el risc d’explicar massa part de la trama, cosa que em treu bastant de polleguera en algunes ressenyes. Crec que l’important no és explicar què passa, sinó transmetre sensacions i motius per començar la lectura.
I en el cas de Meldecaps, és senzill: seguir gaudint d’alguns dels personatges que ja vam conèixer a Gossos de guerra, en un nou escenari i amb nous dilemes sobre les bioformes i la humanitat.
Si no has llegit el primer llibre, no passa res; són històries situades en diferents moments, tot i que comparteixen alguns personatges, cosa que pot facilitar-ne la comprensió. Això sí, jo no em saltaria Gossos de guerra, perquè també val molt la pena. Us els recomano tots dos.
Per cert, un cop llegit, vaig descobrir que hi ha un tercer llibre. Esperem que surti aviat en català!
Whoa. I found this book a little slow at the start, but it ramped up quite nicely toward the end. And the idea of is truly TERRIFYING.
Unlikely heroes, BioForms (uplifted animals used as slaves is a subject that doesn't really go away), Collaring, yikes.
But good.
Spoiler
a planet full of Trump-like charactersUnlikely heroes, BioForms (uplifted animals used as slaves is a subject that doesn't really go away), Collaring, yikes.
But good.
A warning sign about the dangers of the charismatic leader and playing the human meta game. Oddly relevant and poignant for the current state of America and across the globe, written by the Insectoid Madman. Also copious amounts of Bears, distributed intelligences, Bees and a not so subtle allusion to a certain orange man president