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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
This was a mainly enjoyable book, although fairly uneven.
The plot begins with a main character, a research scientist, developing modified lymphocytes from his own cells. I don't think it's a spoiler to say that he ends up injecting himself with those same cells, or that they begin modifying his body. The scifi premise of someone injecting him or herself with a drug, and being improved (e.g., Limitless) is cliched by now, but that's only just the beginning. The lymphocytes are intelligent cells with their own purposes, they speak to this main character and quickly spread out of anyone's control in a satisfying way that (without spoiling too much), blends apocalyptic scifi with singularity (transcendence) scifi in an interesting way.
Unfortunately, the characters are almost all uniformly bland, and it's difficult to care about any of them. I think a lot of this has more to do with Bear's dialogue rather than the descriptions of the characters. Every character speaks in the same voice, and they all tend to speak in a somewhat mechanical way that's just good enough to propel the plot. Ironically, the most engaging character(s) in this book is the modified lymphocytes.
So what you end up with is an interesting plot and well-described world, but with dull characters. And up to the two-thirds point, that was almost enough. Up to that point, the book moved briskly, the ideas were fascinating and the science somewhat believable.
At the two-thirds mark however, a character was brought in to provide a pseudoscience explanation on how there were so many modified lymphocytes (trillions) that they were warping space-time by looking at it too hard (really). This is a silly plot device that ignores basic science and seems to be based on a misunderstanding of the observer effect in quantum physics. That would have been fine in a book supported by interesting characters. Unfortunately, this book relies on descriptions of plausible science to carry it, so without that it falls apart a bit.
The plot begins with a main character, a research scientist, developing modified lymphocytes from his own cells. I don't think it's a spoiler to say that he ends up injecting himself with those same cells, or that they begin modifying his body. The scifi premise of someone injecting him or herself with a drug, and being improved (e.g., Limitless) is cliched by now, but that's only just the beginning. The lymphocytes are intelligent cells with their own purposes, they speak to this main character and quickly spread out of anyone's control in a satisfying way that (without spoiling too much), blends apocalyptic scifi with singularity (transcendence) scifi in an interesting way.
Unfortunately, the characters are almost all uniformly bland, and it's difficult to care about any of them. I think a lot of this has more to do with Bear's dialogue rather than the descriptions of the characters. Every character speaks in the same voice, and they all tend to speak in a somewhat mechanical way that's just good enough to propel the plot. Ironically, the most engaging character(s) in this book is the modified lymphocytes.
So what you end up with is an interesting plot and well-described world, but with dull characters. And up to the two-thirds point, that was almost enough. Up to that point, the book moved briskly, the ideas were fascinating and the science somewhat believable.
At the two-thirds mark however, a character was brought in to provide a pseudoscience explanation on how there were so many modified lymphocytes (trillions) that they were warping space-time by looking at it too hard (really). This is a silly plot device that ignores basic science and seems to be based on a misunderstanding of the observer effect in quantum physics. That would have been fine in a book supported by interesting characters. Unfortunately, this book relies on descriptions of plausible science to carry it, so without that it falls apart a bit.
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Woah
O____O
Un libro que sorprende y da de qué pensar a lo largo de toda la historia. Además de no sentirse obsoleto en absoluto, se balancea sobre la línea entre terror-disgusto y fascinación por los descubrimientos descritos y sus consecuencias.
Personalmente creo que la última parte pudo ser contada de forma más breve, ya que los acontecimientos dejan la narrativa desde una perspectiva mucho más lejana para el lector de lo que había estado hasta el momento y todo parece mucho mas distante y los detalles son mas insignificantes comparado con la escala de lo que está ocurriendo.
O____O
Un libro que sorprende y da de qué pensar a lo largo de toda la historia. Además de no sentirse obsoleto en absoluto, se balancea sobre la línea entre terror-disgusto y fascinación por los descubrimientos descritos y sus consecuencias.
Personalmente creo que la última parte pudo ser contada de forma más breve, ya que los acontecimientos dejan la narrativa desde una perspectiva mucho más lejana para el lector de lo que había estado hasta el momento y todo parece mucho mas distante y los detalles son mas insignificantes comparado con la escala de lo que está ocurriendo.
fast-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror
Moderate: Cursing, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Rape
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Quick read. A shallow but satisfying Examination of the human condition.
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This book is simply fabulous! Even though Greg Bear is still evolving as an author, his writing style is pretty remarkable. The science is almost perfect. All along I kept thinking, why hasn't this happened to us yet? To be able to write such good science fiction is indeed a great art. This is a must read for all the science fiction fans out there!
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced