Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
Imagine we can create intelligence in individual cells - cells that could live and reproduce and interact in our own bodies. This is the dream for Vergil Ulam, the brilliant scientist we meet at the start of Blood Music, and he works on it as a side project at the biolab where he's employed. Unfortunately, he dreams somewhat outside of the lines his employer would like him to work, and this means that they're firing him. Ulam thinks he can sneak out the intellectual property he's been creating on the side, and decides to do this by injecting the cells he's been using - based on human lymphocytes - into his blood. He'll smuggle them out in his own body! What could possibly go wrong with this plan, gentle reader...?
Well, of course it does go wrong. To start with, Vergil doesn't manage to find himself another job, but he seems to be doing ok. His skin clears up, he looses weight, he gets a girlfriend. Then he starts to realise that all is not necessarily well - that these effects are caused by the cells he injected himself with. That these cells are evolving, getting smarter, forming communities within his body... And may be infectious...
Now the novel really takes off, and I won't reveal more because spoilers. Overall it's a good read, moving quickly along, and the hard science elements are pretty good I think - holding up extremely well, in fact, since this book was written in 1986. The only anachronistic notes are when the characters refer to VDTs - video display terminals. A tiny speedbump in the flow, though.
You meet other characters, several of whom I grew to like. Suzy is charming as a slightly confused tourist in the world that unfolds, and Bernard was very believable as the ongoing scientist explorer.
There was a lot to enjoy in Blood Music, but in the end I'm giving it three stars, as it ultimately didn't quite manage to incorporate in a believable way the increasingly strange goings-on in the USA back into the rest of the world. That looked like too much of a deus ex machina to me. Anyway, quite fun, and a quick read.
Well, of course it does go wrong. To start with, Vergil doesn't manage to find himself another job, but he seems to be doing ok. His skin clears up, he looses weight, he gets a girlfriend. Then he starts to realise that all is not necessarily well - that these effects are caused by the cells he injected himself with. That these cells are evolving, getting smarter, forming communities within his body... And may be infectious...
Now the novel really takes off, and I won't reveal more because spoilers. Overall it's a good read, moving quickly along, and the hard science elements are pretty good I think - holding up extremely well, in fact, since this book was written in 1986. The only anachronistic notes are when the characters refer to VDTs - video display terminals. A tiny speedbump in the flow, though.
You meet other characters, several of whom I grew to like. Suzy is charming as a slightly confused tourist in the world that unfolds, and Bernard was very believable as the ongoing scientist explorer.
There was a lot to enjoy in Blood Music, but in the end I'm giving it three stars, as it ultimately didn't quite manage to incorporate in a believable way the increasingly strange goings-on in the USA back into the rest of the world. That looked like too much of a deus ex machina to me. Anyway, quite fun, and a quick read.
This is not the right time for me to be reading this book. Although I'm not afraid of the fictional intelligent virus in the novel, I was more afraid of the rate of infection as well as the emotional reaction towards the body horror. My family had caught (and overcame) omicron while I was reading this book, and the emotional time made me put it down. I was unable to pick the book up again, even after everyone's recovery.
The narration of this novel makes it seem like I am watching a movie, which is a compliment. However, some scenes abruptly change without a proper transition.
I was deeply disappointed in Virgil's death, because I was expecting him- as the main character- to stay the entire length of the novel. The POV abruptly changed from third person singular / limited to third person multiple. Although, I understand that he would not have stayed human after some time. Both his mental state and physical body were deteriorating and changing. The beginning took a bit too long to tell us that it was really a third person multiple after all.
The narration of this novel makes it seem like I am watching a movie, which is a compliment. However, some scenes abruptly change without a proper transition.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death
Moderate: Medical content, Murder
slow-paced
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I love the premise, I think it's fascinating and plausible (in the "hard sci-fi" sense of plausibility). I like the writing and many of the characters (the prickly mom most of all). The story is good but not great -- I thought I was in for more of a procedural, whereas this leans ethereal and almost psychedelic and supernatural in some later chapters. It disappoints me when authors take a good idea to an illogical (to me) extreme, which I feel this did.
I really lost interest when Bear burned a bunch of words on some secondary characters. Especially the dim-witted Suzy (who by the end was promoted to a sort of primary character). Her chapters were terribly dull -- the character didn't have one interesting thought or action. At one point she asks herself, "Why not just kill myself and end it all?" and I was momentarily hopeful until I realized Bear seemed invested in exploring this character's arc.
I also disliked the (also somewhat slow) twin brothers John and Jerry. They were a little more interesting than Suzy, but still quite dull to read about.
Pet peeve: At one point Suzy "laughed until it hurt" for no real reason. Is this a real thing that people do in real life, this unbidden maniacal laughter? I've encountered it in fiction before but it seems so unrealistic.
I really lost interest when Bear burned a bunch of words on some secondary characters. Especially the dim-witted Suzy (who by the end was promoted to a sort of primary character). Her chapters were terribly dull -- the character didn't have one interesting thought or action. At one point she asks herself, "Why not just kill myself and end it all?" and I was momentarily hopeful until I realized Bear seemed invested in exploring this character's arc.
I also disliked the (also somewhat slow) twin brothers John and Jerry. They were a little more interesting than Suzy, but still quite dull to read about.
Pet peeve: At one point Suzy "laughed until it hurt" for no real reason. Is this a real thing that people do in real life, this unbidden maniacal laughter? I've encountered it in fiction before but it seems so unrealistic.
challenging
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I wanted to read more Science fiction for a while now so I picked this out of my library online catalogue to great success. At first I was worried the story was going a bit slow following a scientist Vergil and his attempts at elicit experimentation at a work lab and his somewhat uneventful stereotypical lab scientist guy life but I thought the story did pick up in due time and definitely a shock or two that threw me for a loop before it completely took off. It went from ambitious brilliant scientist creates something without thinking out all the real world consequences to OH MY GOD WHAT HAVE YOU DONE, THE WORLD IS ENDING. The perspectives of the book change as it goes on and I thought it was done so well and every character was interesting to look at, from researchers to everyday people and even insight to the intelligent virus noocytes that is reeking havoc on North America. Overall very enjoyable, though it took me quite a while to read, some of the downsides possibly being slow start, a decent amount of emphasis on the science of what was occurring not all of which I followed and while I found all the characters interesting, none of them are particularly likable.
"Asleep or awake, shivering or still, she fancied she could hear something beyond hearing: the sound of the change, the plague and the river and the drifting sheets, like a big church choir with all its members' mouth wide open, singing silence"
"Asleep or awake, shivering or still, she fancied she could hear something beyond hearing: the sound of the change, the plague and the river and the drifting sheets, like a big church choir with all its members' mouth wide open, singing silence"
I can't decide: should I burn this book because it is the most horrible piece of trash I have ever read or should I frame it?
Why is this book so horrible? It is because the concept is so _cool_. I couldn't put it down because it is just neat that a virus could become sentient! There is also some cool (though completely bogus) science and theory on observations of time. The only character worth caring about is the virus!
But I had to wade through bad sentence structure, useless characters that you can't empathise with, bad story structure, bad statistics (only 12 people in all of north america survive and of course 3 of them find each other. Oh, and one is the main character's mom), complete improbabilities, the killing of the main character with no replacement (except the virus and the story is structured around it rather than on it), and the most useless and unfulfilling ending ever. I threw this book across the room many times only to pick it back up to find out what happened.
There is nothing worse than a cool story with an inept writer. It is just cruel!
This concept needs to be handed off to an author that can write and do this concept justice.
Why is this book so horrible? It is because the concept is so _cool_. I couldn't put it down because it is just neat that a virus could become sentient! There is also some cool (though completely bogus) science and theory on observations of time. The only character worth caring about is the virus!
But I had to wade through bad sentence structure, useless characters that you can't empathise with, bad story structure, bad statistics (only 12 people in all of north america survive and of course 3 of them find each other. Oh, and one is the main character's mom), complete improbabilities, the killing of the main character with no replacement (except the virus and the story is structured around it rather than on it), and the most useless and unfulfilling ending ever. I threw this book across the room many times only to pick it back up to find out what happened.
There is nothing worse than a cool story with an inept writer. It is just cruel!
This concept needs to be handed off to an author that can write and do this concept justice.
Very good science fiction story. This one's been sitting on my shelves for years and I finally got to it. Glad I did. Top-notch science fiction like this is a rare treat.
Biotechnologist Vergil Ulam creates biological computers with his lymphocytes in a San Diego based research center. When his employer orders him out of a responsible decision to immediately destroy his work, he injects them into his own body and leaves the company. The intelligent cells get more intelligent, multiply by the trillions and start to improve his body. Ulam can hear some music from them, thus the title.
Please, be aware that this is the review for the novelette which Bear turned into a novel in 1985. This gray goo based on nanotechnology scenario was written before the term was coined in 1986. It wasn't exactly the first SF story covering this topic but certainly one of the most prominent ones, winning both Hugo and Nebula Awards. The story is quite flat on the protagonist's characterization, its prose is fluent but not beautiful, but the pacing is great. What really impressed me was the development of the idea itself, being a concept driven story. It moved me to imagine how it would be so easy to completely destroy humans - and in this case by bringing new life into existence. Since a couple of years, the topic has become quiet and I wonder why. Overall, the novelette has aged very well.
Please, be aware that this is the review for the novelette which Bear turned into a novel in 1985. This gray goo based on nanotechnology scenario was written before the term was coined in 1986. It wasn't exactly the first SF story covering this topic but certainly one of the most prominent ones, winning both Hugo and Nebula Awards. The story is quite flat on the protagonist's characterization, its prose is fluent but not beautiful, but the pacing is great. What really impressed me was the development of the idea itself, being a concept driven story. It moved me to imagine how it would be so easy to completely destroy humans - and in this case by bringing new life into existence. Since a couple of years, the topic has become quiet and I wonder why. Overall, the novelette has aged very well.