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3.42 AVERAGE
3.42 AVERAGE
I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This book is an instant genre classic. An inspiring mix of Michael Crichton's mastery of the science in science fiction and Robert Heinlein's mastery of the sociology of the future, this book tells the story of an invention that changes the course of the future and how humanity reacts to it.
The protagonist reflects Ian Malcolm's classic line, "...your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn't stop to think if they should." He creates an amazing invention that will save millions of lives and revels in his success only to have the reality of the ways people will misuse the technology brought rudely to his attention. Then he steps up and takes responsibility and does his best to ameliorate the damage that has been done and prevent further abuses.
The characters are rich, fully developed and likable. I appreciate that after the initial story is fully told, we get to hear the unfolding from new characters. This is a great book and left me with a full day book hangover!
This book is an instant genre classic. An inspiring mix of Michael Crichton's mastery of the science in science fiction and Robert Heinlein's mastery of the sociology of the future, this book tells the story of an invention that changes the course of the future and how humanity reacts to it.
The protagonist reflects Ian Malcolm's classic line, "...your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn't stop to think if they should." He creates an amazing invention that will save millions of lives and revels in his success only to have the reality of the ways people will misuse the technology brought rudely to his attention. Then he steps up and takes responsibility and does his best to ameliorate the damage that has been done and prevent further abuses.
The characters are rich, fully developed and likable. I appreciate that after the initial story is fully told, we get to hear the unfolding from new characters. This is a great book and left me with a full day book hangover!
Good but not great
The premise was interesting but the story lacked... Something. I felt as if the characters were pretty flat. I did enjoy the mystery, questions and possible solutions put forth and I did want to know how it all ended. It just wasn't one off those books you don't want to put down.
The premise was interesting but the story lacked... Something. I felt as if the characters were pretty flat. I did enjoy the mystery, questions and possible solutions put forth and I did want to know how it all ended. It just wasn't one off those books you don't want to put down.
I have read some of this author's works before, he is not one of my favorite authors. That being said, I recognize his popularity and feel that fans will enjoy this book as well as they have his other titles.
An intriguing premise...
When Dr Adrian Sommer loses his young son in a vehicle accident, he dedicates his life to finding a way to prevent such unnecessary deaths in the future. In partnership with Dr Jessica Sands, he develops the Soulminder machine which can trap the life force or "soul" at what would normally be the point of death. This enables the soul to be held in a form of limbo while the doctors put the patient's body to rights, and then to be returned to it. At first the machine is seen as a marvellous invention, equivalent to keeping someone on life support. But gradually all sorts of moral questions come to the surface as people and governments begin to abuse the technology. As the head of the organisation, Dr Sommer also becomes its moral conscience, trying to ensure that his invention is used only for good.
Although this is a novel, with an overall story arc, it has something of the feel of a collection of short stories all set within the same society over a period of a couple of decades. There are a few recurring characters, but many others who only appear in one or two chapters. Once the basic premise of the Soulminder society is set up, each chapter takes a look at one or two of the ways the machine can be used or abused. That makes it sound very dry, but the moral questions are embedded into interesting and inventive stories, which keeps it all very readable. The quality of the writing is good and the main characters are likeable. The characterisation is not particularly in-depth - we really only get to know them in terms of their involvement with the Soulminder project, and learn next to nothing about their personal lives. I found this made it difficult to feel any real emotional involvement in what happened to them.
Assuming the reader can accept the premise of a soul being something that could be 'captured', the questions Zahn raises are interesting ones, and on the whole fairly credible. For example, he looks at how rich people might be able to achieve a form of immortality by transferring their souls into the bodies of poor people who can't afford to be in the Soulminder programme. In another chapter he considers how the machine could be used as a method of torture. I felt, though, that he completely underplayed the reaction of humanity in general, and religion in particular, to having absolute proof of the existence of a soul which exists even when separated from the body, hence implying some form of afterlife. I couldn't help but wonder if this discovery might actually have the effect of making people more willing to die rather than less, and I felt the casual acceptance of all the religious people in the book to the trapping of souls was frankly incredible.
Otherwise, though, I found it an intriguing premise - perhaps a bit too full of moral 'messages', at the expense sometimes of a feeling of credibility in the reactions of the characters, but well-written and enjoyable overall.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Open Road.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
When Dr Adrian Sommer loses his young son in a vehicle accident, he dedicates his life to finding a way to prevent such unnecessary deaths in the future. In partnership with Dr Jessica Sands, he develops the Soulminder machine which can trap the life force or "soul" at what would normally be the point of death. This enables the soul to be held in a form of limbo while the doctors put the patient's body to rights, and then to be returned to it. At first the machine is seen as a marvellous invention, equivalent to keeping someone on life support. But gradually all sorts of moral questions come to the surface as people and governments begin to abuse the technology. As the head of the organisation, Dr Sommer also becomes its moral conscience, trying to ensure that his invention is used only for good.
Although this is a novel, with an overall story arc, it has something of the feel of a collection of short stories all set within the same society over a period of a couple of decades. There are a few recurring characters, but many others who only appear in one or two chapters. Once the basic premise of the Soulminder society is set up, each chapter takes a look at one or two of the ways the machine can be used or abused. That makes it sound very dry, but the moral questions are embedded into interesting and inventive stories, which keeps it all very readable. The quality of the writing is good and the main characters are likeable. The characterisation is not particularly in-depth - we really only get to know them in terms of their involvement with the Soulminder project, and learn next to nothing about their personal lives. I found this made it difficult to feel any real emotional involvement in what happened to them.
Assuming the reader can accept the premise of a soul being something that could be 'captured', the questions Zahn raises are interesting ones, and on the whole fairly credible. For example, he looks at how rich people might be able to achieve a form of immortality by transferring their souls into the bodies of poor people who can't afford to be in the Soulminder programme. In another chapter he considers how the machine could be used as a method of torture. I felt, though, that he completely underplayed the reaction of humanity in general, and religion in particular, to having absolute proof of the existence of a soul which exists even when separated from the body, hence implying some form of afterlife. I couldn't help but wonder if this discovery might actually have the effect of making people more willing to die rather than less, and I felt the casual acceptance of all the religious people in the book to the trapping of souls was frankly incredible.
Otherwise, though, I found it an intriguing premise - perhaps a bit too full of moral 'messages', at the expense sometimes of a feeling of credibility in the reactions of the characters, but well-written and enjoyable overall.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Open Road.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
Is ok.
I started reading this book because I've read a lot of Zahn's Star Wars novels so I was curious about what his non-Star Wars scifi was about. I appreciate that he tends to keep his writing PG and avoids any overt torture scenes or sex scenes and doesn't use any vulgarity. But in this books case, I feel like it hindered the point he was trying to make. He seems to be going for a look at the dark side of mankind and how good things tend to get corrupted by mankind. I feel like this book sits in a weird place of being appropriate for a kid to read but the themes and politics would have been boring to me if I was a kid reading this.
It's written essentially as 7 short stories about a scientific invention which all connected to the creator of the invention. The invention allows people who die to have their soul caught in a box and then returned to the body if the body is repaired. Kinda cool concept but I didn't feel like he didn't bring any new insight(for me) on the human condition or morality which is what I think he was trying to do. The characters are boring, generic.
I feel like his Star Wars stuff is better.
I started reading this book because I've read a lot of Zahn's Star Wars novels so I was curious about what his non-Star Wars scifi was about. I appreciate that he tends to keep his writing PG and avoids any overt torture scenes or sex scenes and doesn't use any vulgarity. But in this books case, I feel like it hindered the point he was trying to make. He seems to be going for a look at the dark side of mankind and how good things tend to get corrupted by mankind. I feel like this book sits in a weird place of being appropriate for a kid to read but the themes and politics would have been boring to me if I was a kid reading this.
It's written essentially as 7 short stories about a scientific invention which all connected to the creator of the invention. The invention allows people who die to have their soul caught in a box and then returned to the body if the body is repaired. Kinda cool concept but I didn't feel like he didn't bring any new insight(for me) on the human condition or morality which is what I think he was trying to do. The characters are boring, generic.
I feel like his Star Wars stuff is better.
Bullet Review:
More episodic in nature, the premise of this collection is "What if instead of dying, you get a second chance?" While many of the stories are mere mysteries in the vein of several plots in Isaac Asimov's "I, Robot", the book does take time to bring up some real mind benders.
Lacking in female presence and favoring Zahn's intricate, well-thought out plots, this book is one of a type I don't see much these days but were prevalent in the 60's and 70's. 4-stars is probably too high, but 3-stars is definitely too low.
Finally, a summer of love read I DO NOT hate.
Full Review:
Dr. Adrian Sommers and Dr. Jessica Sands are working on the "Soulminder" machine - a device that maps your "Mullner Traces" (I imagine it as a "fingerprint" or "driver's license") so that if you die, instead of your "soul" going to the great unknown, it is trapped and held. Initially, the device was created out of Sommers' desire to save his 5-year-old son, who tragically died in a car accident, but it quickly gets warped into a way to steal bodies, commit crimes, perform torture, and imbibe in illegal substances.
One thing I want to make abundantly clear is that this book is more of an anthology; the stories do feature crossover characters and similar surroundings, but the chapters aren't really chapters in your typical book sense.
I am an undeniable Timothy Zahn fangirl. I have been to at least 4 of his book signings, and I pretty much own every one of his books at this point. My love for all things Zahn started with [b:Heir to the Empire|216443|Heir to the Empire (Star Wars The Thrawn Trilogy, #1)|Timothy Zahn|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1398253847s/216443.jpg|1133995], but it evolved to his other sci-fi explorations as well with the Conqueror's Trilogy, Deadman Switch, and more.
Soulminder is one of his more recent releases, and it's a departure slightly from Zahn's typical story: the one with good, well-thought out, competent characters who face off with some "bad guy" (who may not be all that bad after all) in an intricate plot. This is more like if your writing teacher gave you the scenario: Imagine a world where you could come back from the dead after having your "soul" held in limbo. It's very much a book I remember reading a lot of from back in the 60's, 70's and 80's, but doesn't seem to appear much these days.
This was a fun journey, just to see how Zahn would answer that question - which scenarios could he come up with and how would they flow? We still have Zahn characters - competent types who think logically and can be swayed with logical, cogent arguments from other characters - and we definitely see the Zahn Plotlines too (he has said he plans out his plots in an outline form, and that attention to detail shows because for the most part, his plots make sense). Zahn's scenarios were ones that I pretty much expected - body stealing, torture, murdered - but I will say, I feel that the topic could have been pushed harder, explored more thoroughly.
Are we "playing God" like the Reverend Harper suggests by holding a person's "soul"? What really is the "soul" in this case? What do the Mullner traces mean? What are the physical repercussions of being held in limbo? Are they similar to a person being in a coma? What if the body could not be repaired - is it euthanasia for releasing the "soul"? Or is that murder? Does cancer exist anymore?
What does this mean for people who fall below the poverty line and cannot afford Soulminder technology or the massive funds needed to repair a body? Would the government be required to provide this under Health Care coverage? Who is subsidizing it?
What happens when Sands and Sommers die and the company is out of their hands? What does it mean having so little government control over the technology? Is there any other industry or precedence for this?
How do other cultures perceive Soulminder? Muslims? Hindus? Buddhists? Sikhs? Others that I can't even think of? Is it an abomination or a blessing?
These are just a few questions I came up with after reading this book. It would have been nice to see more of them addressed, though for the Soulminder Thought Experiment, I am willing to negotiate that having the book generate the questions in me is nearly as important as it addressing the questions itself.
Up until this point, my Summer of Love Challenge has been somewhat of a bust; I am glad that "Soulminder" kept me interested and intrigued. It may not have pushed things far enough, it may have relied more on Zahn's standard plots, but I was always intrigued in where the story was going and wanted to read more. (Hence why I could finish in a little over a week!) This probably won't be for everyone, but if you want to do a thought experiment, give this a whirl!
More episodic in nature, the premise of this collection is "What if instead of dying, you get a second chance?" While many of the stories are mere mysteries in the vein of several plots in Isaac Asimov's "I, Robot", the book does take time to bring up some real mind benders.
Lacking in female presence and favoring Zahn's intricate, well-thought out plots, this book is one of a type I don't see much these days but were prevalent in the 60's and 70's. 4-stars is probably too high, but 3-stars is definitely too low.
Finally, a summer of love read I DO NOT hate.
Full Review:
Dr. Adrian Sommers and Dr. Jessica Sands are working on the "Soulminder" machine - a device that maps your "Mullner Traces" (I imagine it as a "fingerprint" or "driver's license") so that if you die, instead of your "soul" going to the great unknown, it is trapped and held. Initially, the device was created out of Sommers' desire to save his 5-year-old son, who tragically died in a car accident, but it quickly gets warped into a way to steal bodies, commit crimes, perform torture, and imbibe in illegal substances.
One thing I want to make abundantly clear is that this book is more of an anthology; the stories do feature crossover characters and similar surroundings, but the chapters aren't really chapters in your typical book sense.
I am an undeniable Timothy Zahn fangirl. I have been to at least 4 of his book signings, and I pretty much own every one of his books at this point. My love for all things Zahn started with [b:Heir to the Empire|216443|Heir to the Empire (Star Wars The Thrawn Trilogy, #1)|Timothy Zahn|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1398253847s/216443.jpg|1133995], but it evolved to his other sci-fi explorations as well with the Conqueror's Trilogy, Deadman Switch, and more.
Soulminder is one of his more recent releases, and it's a departure slightly from Zahn's typical story: the one with good, well-thought out, competent characters who face off with some "bad guy" (who may not be all that bad after all) in an intricate plot. This is more like if your writing teacher gave you the scenario: Imagine a world where you could come back from the dead after having your "soul" held in limbo. It's very much a book I remember reading a lot of from back in the 60's, 70's and 80's, but doesn't seem to appear much these days.
This was a fun journey, just to see how Zahn would answer that question - which scenarios could he come up with and how would they flow? We still have Zahn characters - competent types who think logically and can be swayed with logical, cogent arguments from other characters - and we definitely see the Zahn Plotlines too (he has said he plans out his plots in an outline form, and that attention to detail shows because for the most part, his plots make sense). Zahn's scenarios were ones that I pretty much expected - body stealing, torture, murdered - but I will say, I feel that the topic could have been pushed harder, explored more thoroughly.
Are we "playing God" like the Reverend Harper suggests by holding a person's "soul"? What really is the "soul" in this case? What do the Mullner traces mean? What are the physical repercussions of being held in limbo? Are they similar to a person being in a coma? What if the body could not be repaired - is it euthanasia for releasing the "soul"? Or is that murder? Does cancer exist anymore?
What does this mean for people who fall below the poverty line and cannot afford Soulminder technology or the massive funds needed to repair a body? Would the government be required to provide this under Health Care coverage? Who is subsidizing it?
What happens when Sands and Sommers die and the company is out of their hands? What does it mean having so little government control over the technology? Is there any other industry or precedence for this?
How do other cultures perceive Soulminder? Muslims? Hindus? Buddhists? Sikhs? Others that I can't even think of? Is it an abomination or a blessing?
These are just a few questions I came up with after reading this book. It would have been nice to see more of them addressed, though for the Soulminder Thought Experiment, I am willing to negotiate that having the book generate the questions in me is nearly as important as it addressing the questions itself.
Up until this point, my Summer of Love Challenge has been somewhat of a bust; I am glad that "Soulminder" kept me interested and intrigued. It may not have pushed things far enough, it may have relied more on Zahn's standard plots, but I was always intrigued in where the story was going and wanted to read more. (Hence why I could finish in a little over a week!) This probably won't be for everyone, but if you want to do a thought experiment, give this a whirl!
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Suicide, Torture, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Classism
I received a copy of this through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I enjoyed the book, let's start with that. The concept was good, and I thought Zahn did a really killer job investigating the ramifications of a technology like the one he has invented in Soulminder. It was very thorough and a little bit terrifying.
I don't know what it was, but I had a hard time really getting in the book until about half way through. Maybe it was because there was too much happening? Or maybe I was having trouble connecting with the characters. The basic story is that I enjoyed the book, but I don't know that I loved it. It's probably worth a read if you're in to really elaborate tech/dystopia adventures. It was well written and really catches you up in the end.
I enjoyed the book, let's start with that. The concept was good, and I thought Zahn did a really killer job investigating the ramifications of a technology like the one he has invented in Soulminder. It was very thorough and a little bit terrifying.
I don't know what it was, but I had a hard time really getting in the book until about half way through. Maybe it was because there was too much happening? Or maybe I was having trouble connecting with the characters. The basic story is that I enjoyed the book, but I don't know that I loved it. It's probably worth a read if you're in to really elaborate tech/dystopia adventures. It was well written and really catches you up in the end.
Ah, Timonthy Zahn! Your ideas are so great, but your writing needs a little polish.
Soulminder (excuse the cheesy title) is a "What if" story. What if there was a machine that could hold people's souls at the moment they die. This same machine could then put the souls back into bodies once the body heals. Sounds good, right? But wait, there's more!
And so, the story unfolds. Once the first handful of setup chapters go by, the other chapters center on separate "What if" scenarios -- most of them about ways to abuse the machine. They're interesting philosophical questions with no good answer, I'll give it that, but I just wonder how much better each chapter would be if it were handled by a better writer.
There are also parts throughout the book where Dr. Sommer thinks of apt quotes to apply to the situation he's in. These quotes seem clumsily placed or introduced. Something about them felt off. I don't think the story would have suffered if the quotes had just been left out.
Then there was the security guy, Everly, who's so damned good at his job that he can pretty much do anything. I have problems with characters like that in books because it seems like a lazy way to address hurdles that other characters have to overcome. Need to find out about this shady person? Oh, Everly can get info on that. Need to go to a restricted area? Everly will handle it. Stuck in a warzone? Don't worry, Everly's got you covered and has the Minister on speed-dial. It's the same problem I have with Roarke in the JD Robb books.
Despite these complaints, I still enjoyed the book and the ideas in the book. But now I wonder if it could have been condensed into a shorter story and still had the same impact.
Disclaimer: I got this book for free via NetGalley.
Soulminder (excuse the cheesy title) is a "What if" story. What if there was a machine that could hold people's souls at the moment they die. This same machine could then put the souls back into bodies once the body heals. Sounds good, right? But wait, there's more!
And so, the story unfolds. Once the first handful of setup chapters go by, the other chapters center on separate "What if" scenarios -- most of them about ways to abuse the machine. They're interesting philosophical questions with no good answer, I'll give it that, but I just wonder how much better each chapter would be if it were handled by a better writer.
There are also parts throughout the book where Dr. Sommer thinks of apt quotes to apply to the situation he's in. These quotes seem clumsily placed or introduced. Something about them felt off. I don't think the story would have suffered if the quotes had just been left out.
Then there was the security guy, Everly, who's so damned good at his job that he can pretty much do anything. I have problems with characters like that in books because it seems like a lazy way to address hurdles that other characters have to overcome. Need to find out about this shady person? Oh, Everly can get info on that. Need to go to a restricted area? Everly will handle it. Stuck in a warzone? Don't worry, Everly's got you covered and has the Minister on speed-dial. It's the same problem I have with Roarke in the JD Robb books.
Despite these complaints, I still enjoyed the book and the ideas in the book. But now I wonder if it could have been condensed into a shorter story and still had the same impact.
Disclaimer: I got this book for free via NetGalley.
Reads like a giant imaginative projection. What if the "soul" if understood as the total electrical connections of the brain, could be mapped and trapped? Where would this change society? The crazy part here is just how realistic the projections are and since our real-world tech is not wholly outside this scenario, such thinking is important to consider if only for personal reflection. It gets downright creepy with all the possibilities but ends quite well and with a subtle hint that even the most idealistic of us can succumb to temptation.