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crimsoncor's review
5.0
This book will remind you of a lot of things. There is a lot of [b:The Windup Girl|6597651|The Windup Girl|Paolo Bacigalupi|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1278940608l/6597651._SY75_.jpg|6791425] by Paolo Bacigalupi. A healthy dose of [b:River of Gods|278280|River of Gods (India 2047, #1)|Ian McDonald|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388256017l/278280._SX50_.jpg|2440580] by Ian McDonald. Some [b:Glasshouse|17866|Glasshouse|Charles Stross|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1433594992l/17866._SY75_.jpg|930588] by Charlie Stross. A bit of The Jean Le Flambeur trilogy by [a:Hannu Rajaniemi|2768002|Hannu Rajaniemi|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1300203018p2/2768002.jpg]. But guess what? This book came out almost a decade before any of those. Yeah, a woman did it first (and quite rightly got a Locus award for it, but not the mainstream cache) and did it spectacularly well. The only contemporaneous book that I can think that hits as many high notes in this particular sub-genre is Stephenson's [b:The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer|827|The Diamond Age Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer|Neal Stephenson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388180931l/827._SY75_.jpg|2181158] which came out a month before this book. I loved this book and then was completely blown away when I realized it was written in the mid 90's.
mjfmjfmjf's review against another edition
4.0
Good. But not as good as I had hoped. 4 of 5. Still, I have books 2 and 3 and am looking forward to them (slotting them in between library books though). Complicated future looking stuff - mostly nano and teleportation (by body destruction) but not describing the how - so it ended up a bit closer to fantasy.
relief's review
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
4.5
burritapal_1's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
"Fluff" is corpses that have soaked in water.
Sandor is the brother of the protagonist Nikko. While Nikko is a construct from nanoware and human genes, sandor is a human. But Nikko is considered totally his son by their father Fox.
When Sandor is coming through the airport, Nikko is picking him up and they see some police dogs scanning people's ID chips. Then Sandor sees something really startling:
" 'love nature, Nikko. What's that?'
he stopped to stare at a trio of human creatures squatting against the wall of the concourse. One of them seemed to have melted. His flesh hung down in Black, decomposing wattles beneath his throat while the skin on his hairless head had grown so thin it had become translucent and Sandor could see patches or white bone shining through it. The sockets of the pitiful creatures eyes had stretched halfway down his cheeks. Dried mucus clung to his bloodshot orbs. His nose wobbled like a bit of dead flesh at the level of his lips. His partner suffered the same afflictions, though her State seemed less advanced. The stench was horrific. A child huddled with them, a little girl, healthy-seeming, except for a crusty looking growth of dull blue enamel on her stunted forearms that was nothing like the smooth blue enamel platelets of Nikko's skin. Nikko was strong and beautiful in the way of natural things. These... these people (they were a family group, he realized, father, mother, daughter), how ugly and unfunctional and unnatural they seemed. The crowd flowed around him as he stared. A few individuals turned uncomfortable eyes on him, but no one else dared to look at the plaintive creatures waiting mournfully beside empty bowls.
Sandor had never seen anything like it. Why would anyone accept such hideous, non-functional modifications? 'what are they, Nikko?'
'victims of a cruel joke,' he growled. 'someone cast a spell on them.'
'what?'
'they've been scarred by uncataloged Makers.' "
And indeed, the Commonwealth exists to maintain strict laws forbidding unregistered Makers. Where Phousita and her family live, it's an impoverished slum where Makers are not traced and regulated. People can buy anything in this place, a new face, a new body, or a curse on someone they wish harm.
Chief Kirsten Adair is the head of the Commonwealth police. SHe's an asshole who abuses her power, forcing Nikko to come and have sex with her on the threat of turning him in for being created with a Maker that has been outlawed. His father was able to create him with a term of indulgence on his being, but this lease is about to run out.
She goes in front of a Senate committee to get permission to amplify her power in the investigation to find the stolen Bohr Maker, which Nikko has stolen (though he doesn'tremember doing this), and this is where the reader gets some background information on the Bohr Maker that created Nikko:
"he nodded, as if to congratulate himself for having gone straight to the source by summoning her here. 'would you please explain the exact nature of the incident?'
'yes, sir.' She'd be happy to do that. The raw facts would be enough to frighten these Senators and buy her a free hand in the investigation. 'you may be familiar with a device popularly known as the Bohr Maker. It's an enhancing Maker that was retrieved from the body of the convicted criminal, Leander Bohr. It's an Adaptive artificial intelligence, imbued with Bohr's talents in molecular design. It will modify the body of its host, allowing that individual to become a literal molecular factory, capable of producing Makers for nearly any function, including camouflage, espionage, and assault. Although it's an antique, the police have never been able to devise a Maker of similar talents, because to do so would require the revocation of current statutes limiting the independence of artificial intelligence.'
the committee chair frowned, his expression one of open concern. 'so in effect you're saying the Bohr Maker is an illegal artificial intelligence.'
'that's right. It's capacity for independent action exceeds statute limits.'
'so it's smarter than police makers.'
'intelligence is a thorny issue, Senator, intelligent Behavior being so dependent on natural instinct, which this Maker lacks. Let us say instead that it would be more adaptive than police Makers.'
'And better armed.' "
In this book, the author has created worlds that are located in space in the Solar system. These worlds are created by Makers and use Nano machines to create them and keep them functioning. The world that Fox and Sandor and Nikko live in and come from is called Earth House.
Chief Adair is going after Earth House, because Nikko is hidden inside of it, in code. She's going to destroy it, so Fox and its citizens decide to upload themselves into code, and cause the House to be able to split apart and be regrown from each of these parts.
"Fox glanced away for a moment. He seemed mildly troubled, mildly pleased, like a father at the start of his wife's labor. 'we knew it had to happen sooner or later. This is a bit sooner than expected, but we're ready just the same.
'The House is coming apart, Sandor. This is what the biogenesis function is all about. The House is already in the process of absorbing all interior structures. When that's done, it'll divide into a thousand propagules, little vehicles of life, each one capable of regenerating a new house once it latches onto an appropriate substrate.'
Sandor blinked, astounded. Fox had never talked about this vision before. 'and the people?' He asked, too stunned to disbelieve anything Fox said.
Fox smiled and nodded. 'it didn't sit well with a lot of the citizens to be reduced to code. You've been through that. Guess it's a helpless feeling.'
Sandor shrugged. He hadn't done so well when he's he was corporeal either.
'well, that's the general feeling anyway. So most of us will continue to exist in the tissue of the largest propagules.' He grinned. 'like legendary homonculi embedded in the ovaries of a fecund mother.' Sandor stared at him blankly. 'well,' he said with the shrug, 'you were never much for biology. But the point is there'll be too many of us to police. That's the beauty of it. The status quo will have to change.' Fox's eyes shown as he spoke of it. But he sobered quickly. 'the cops are hot on us, though. If that Kirsten ADair suspects what we're doing, she could finish us with one missile.' "
The story is mostly about the fight for this Nano machine. Nikko, the main character, will do anything to get it and hold on to it, because it means his survival.
I'm not much on science, but the author shows us some very interesting things and worlds that nano technology could supposedly create in the future.
The character of Phousita, who lives in a slum, and who survives, along with her family on disintegrated corpses that turn up in the river. They Live in a warehouse that's abandoned and is built over this river. Inside of this River are Nanobytes that can keep the river clean from the sewage, chemicals, and bodies that are dumped into it. The very poor of the slum live off these disintegrated corpses. When a corpse is fished out from a trapdoor hole in their warehouse out of the river, Phousita is impaled by an object that comes out of the corpse. This is the Bohr Maker. It transforms this ex sex worker in a marvelous way, And she helps nikko to survive.
I loved the character of Phousita, and I hated her pimp/boyfriend who was always beating her.
joelevard's review
3.0
3 1/2, really. A compelling read, rich in big ideas, that I found almost...grotesquely unpleasant to read (in a good way?). Nagata has created a harsh, ugly world. Spending time in it isn't exactly fun, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. I hope to read more in the Nanotech Succession, but it may have to wait until my consciousness is uploaded and digitized and I have the gift of infinite time.
sooflo's review
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
annaswan's review
First attempt: I don’t care what happens to these people
Second attempt: I guess it clicked with me more this time. Knowing that (spoiler) was a character in later books, I could watch it unfold, trying to see how the pieces would come together to make that happen. The characters remained evil or dumb or naive or whatever, but their flaws this time seemed more palatable somehow
Second attempt: I guess it clicked with me more this time. Knowing that (spoiler) was a character in later books, I could watch it unfold, trying to see how the pieces would come together to make that happen. The characters remained evil or dumb or naive or whatever, but their flaws this time seemed more palatable somehow
fusrodah's review
3.0
It took a long while to finish this one, and I'm pretty sure I know why. As interesting as the premise was, a few things stopped me from really getting into this book.
Positives first. The plot is really good. Nagata puts forth a really unique world here, with the premise of makers being prevalent and influencing lives. We understand that there are artificial worlds here too. I'd also say the characters are all different and well realised. I cannot pick a favorite character though.
That transitions me nicely to why I didn't enjoy it as much. The writing is... well tough to follow most of the time. It seems overly descriptive sometimes and others feels inadequate. Another gripe is that I never really could pick a favorite character. As much as I liked them, I never loved them.
Positives first. The plot is really good. Nagata puts forth a really unique world here, with the premise of makers being prevalent and influencing lives. We understand that there are artificial worlds here too. I'd also say the characters are all different and well realised. I cannot pick a favorite character though.
That transitions me nicely to why I didn't enjoy it as much. The writing is... well tough to follow most of the time. It seems overly descriptive sometimes and others feels inadequate. Another gripe is that I never really could pick a favorite character. As much as I liked them, I never loved them.