Scan barcode
mjfmjfmjf's review against another edition
5.0
What an awesome ride, though kind of a rushed ending. Book 2 in a near future idea based sf by someone who actually has a background in technology. Perhaps a few too many ideas - whether uploading intelligence, or programming your brain, or group mind or using such techniques for helping children with autism - but still it worked. Still sad to see the US government as a believable bad guy.
rjnn's review against another edition
4.0
It's an action packed sequel to Nexus. If you liked Nexus this is a pretty good followup. It reads very Crichton-ey, and the " applied phlebotinum" is mostly coherent. Naam has a good grip on computer science, and that's a pleasant change from other non-engineer authors who make shit up that doesn't add up.
On the other hand, this isn't a mind blowingly good book the way Nexus is. Mostly because all the mind-blowing was done in Nexus, and there isn't a significant value-add in Crux. But I enjoyed it nevertheless.
On the other hand, this isn't a mind blowingly good book the way Nexus is. Mostly because all the mind-blowing was done in Nexus, and there isn't a significant value-add in Crux. But I enjoyed it nevertheless.
ronsos's review against another edition
3.0
This is very much Nexus, part 2. Good, suspenseful story building to a big climax at the end. However, it really felt like a rehash. I'd hoped the promise of Nexus might be expanded and built upon, so that was disappointing.
iffer's review against another edition
2.0
Crux is supposed to be a "technothriller." Unfortunately, it doesn't thrill, and the use of technology in this second installment of the series reads more like fantasy than tech. I don't think that I've ever said this before, but I'm really wishing that the movie based on this series were out already (since I wouldn't be surprised if it were already optioned).
It suffers not only from the fact that it's a weak middle book to a trilogy, but from the fact that Naam already touched on all of his interesting ideas in the first book, Nexus, so it feels like he's beating them to death and just stringing readers along because everything, especially sci-fi, has to be a trilogy or multi-book series. The writing is mediocre, which would be fine if there were rollicking action, but even that is humdrum. The middling writing makes it so that 1) I don't have emotional attachment toward any of the the characters, even though I had a whole entire previous book to sympathize with them, and 2) the "messages" become redundant, and worse, redundantly preachy. I wouldn't consider myself a conservative by any means, but I felt like Naam was hitting me over the head with a sledgehammer of his liberal ideas in a way that could easily be felt as condescending. ><
It suffers not only from the fact that it's a weak middle book to a trilogy, but from the fact that Naam already touched on all of his interesting ideas in the first book, Nexus, so it feels like he's beating them to death and just stringing readers along because everything, especially sci-fi, has to be a trilogy or multi-book series. The writing is mediocre, which would be fine if there were rollicking action, but even that is humdrum. The middling writing makes it so that 1) I don't have emotional attachment toward any of the the characters, even though I had a whole entire previous book to sympathize with them, and 2) the "messages" become redundant, and worse, redundantly preachy. I wouldn't consider myself a conservative by any means, but I felt like Naam was hitting me over the head with a sledgehammer of his liberal ideas in a way that could easily be felt as condescending. ><
ledigiacomo's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
squishies's review against another edition
4.0
Fast-paced, full of action - quite a few scenes had me going "nooooo, no, no, nooooo" >_<
I really don't like Ling; she is such a brat... A brat chucking a giant tanty. Ugh, bratty kids. I genuinely disliked reading her scenes.
Nexus is such an interesting premise and made me question what would I do with Nexus if I had it. What would I do with it if I had an access pass to everyone's mind via a back door?
I think my favourite character would probably be Feng.
I really don't like Ling; she is such a brat... A brat chucking a giant tanty. Ugh, bratty kids. I genuinely disliked reading her scenes.
Nexus is such an interesting premise and made me question what would I do with Nexus if I had it. What would I do with it if I had an access pass to everyone's mind via a back door?
I think my favourite character would probably be Feng
Spoiler
(I thoroughly enjoyed the submarine scene between Feng and Nakamura, where they were showing off their scars)yonkeltron's review against another edition
5.0
Everything I could have wanted in a sequel to [b:Nexus|13642710|Nexus (Nexus, #1)|Ramez Naam|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1347149654s/13642710.jpg|19257521]! Sure, [a:Ramez Naam|160069|Ramez Naam|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1353488211p2/160069.jpg] produces pages full of cliches and some awkward writing here and there. That said, he tells an incredible story, constructs a rich universe and has succeeded in entertaining and enlightening me as a reader. Naam's work has made me hopeful and expectant of all that a mentally-enhanced future could hold. His stories and their focus on the potential harmful effects of radical technological developments make this book a unique addition to a genre rife full of extremes. Rather than follow the leads of other near-future, tech-heavy SciFi and take a bipolar view of the future (either aggressively dystopian or naively utopian), Crux helps advance a wholly-believable storyline set forth in Nexus.
Please read this book, I loved it and hope for a future installment.
Please read this book, I loved it and hope for a future installment.
thomcat's review against another edition
4.0
2022 reread
I stand by most of my previous review. This book feels incomplete, where Nexus was a finished story. I did miss the internal Nexus hacking.
Reading these back to back, I also noticed that the author's writing is better in the second book. Looking forward to reading the third book this time!
2014
The first book ended with a different world. This one ends with the potential of a different world and a major threat. No resolution, another book needed - down one star.
That said, Ramez Naam has an interesting concept which is not far from reality. The writing is fast paced and the scenes thrilling. There is less internal Nexus hacking, but then 3 of the 4 major code writing characters from the first book are out of commission.
I will very likely read the sequel, but hope that it ends this storyline.
I stand by most of my previous review. This book feels incomplete, where Nexus was a finished story. I did miss the internal Nexus hacking.
Reading these back to back, I also noticed that the author's writing is better in the second book. Looking forward to reading the third book this time!
2014
The first book ended with a different world. This one ends with the potential of a different world and a major threat. No resolution, another book needed - down one star.
That said, Ramez Naam has an interesting concept which is not far from reality. The writing is fast paced and the scenes thrilling. There is less internal Nexus hacking, but then 3 of the 4 major code writing characters from the first book are out of commission.
I will very likely read the sequel, but hope that it ends this storyline.
tegaaa's review against another edition
5.0
Excellent sequel to Nexus. Started Apex right away to see how the whole series ends. Really good books.
martyfried's review against another edition
4.0
I had mixed feelings about this series. I rated it a little higher because the science is, to me, believable and real. I've been into computers and electronics off and on for over 40 years, and "modern" computers for over 25. I was a programmer using the internet by 1990 (mainly newsgroups at that time), so I felt right at home with a lot of the technical talk. Much of the technical terms would be above an average reader's comprehension, though. If that were the case with me, I don't know if I would have enjoyed it very much.
I've read a lot of similar stories where human consciousness is uploaded, duplicated, backed up, etc; it makes you wonder just what makes us who we are, and whether we can effectively live on after our body dies. After all, people have parts of their body replaced without becoming less human, so what if you replace your entire body, and duplicate your memories and brain's capabilities? If you haven't read books that explore these concepts, you might be interested in that aspect of the book.
I also found it interesting to have servers running inside your brain, like having a server running on your computer. This is something else I've had a lot of experience with, so it all seemed real and understandable to me.
However, the main story was a different beast. I was often not sure who were the good guys and the bad guys. Perhaps that was part of the reason for the story - that people are not black or white. Many of the people did bad things for good reasons, but it's hard to know whether they were right to do these things - like trying to force their solutions on people. It was often hard to really be sympathetic toward any of the characters. The one I liked best was Feng, a clone who was built to be a fighter/killing machine. He was definitely the most entertaining to me. But overall, I found the story itself to be unsatisfying.
I've read a lot of similar stories where human consciousness is uploaded, duplicated, backed up, etc; it makes you wonder just what makes us who we are, and whether we can effectively live on after our body dies. After all, people have parts of their body replaced without becoming less human, so what if you replace your entire body, and duplicate your memories and brain's capabilities? If you haven't read books that explore these concepts, you might be interested in that aspect of the book.
I also found it interesting to have servers running inside your brain, like having a server running on your computer. This is something else I've had a lot of experience with, so it all seemed real and understandable to me.
However, the main story was a different beast. I was often not sure who were the good guys and the bad guys. Perhaps that was part of the reason for the story - that people are not black or white. Many of the people did bad things for good reasons, but it's hard to know whether they were right to do these things - like trying to force their solutions on people. It was often hard to really be sympathetic toward any of the characters. The one I liked best was Feng, a clone who was built to be a fighter/killing machine. He was definitely the most entertaining to me. But overall, I found the story itself to be unsatisfying.