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libellum_aphrodite's review against another edition
3.0
My feelings here are similar to [b:Nexus|13642710|Nexus (Nexus, #1)|Ramez Naam|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1347149654s/13642710.jpg|19257521]: great subject matter; writing leaves much to be desired.
[spoilers below]
As far as subject matter, Crux spends more time exploring the [im]morality of back doors into the brain operating system, no matter what noble intentions might be had for it. The reader minds the moral gray area less when it is Kade trying to stop the bad guys (although [b:A Clockwork Orange|227463|A Clockwork Orange|Anthony Burgess|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348339306s/227463.jpg|23596] right from the get-go much? "All of these Kade tied to nausea, to crippling anxiety, to pervasive pain."), but starts to get uncomfortable when he almost kills Holtzmann.....and, of course, get REALLY uncomfortable when Shiva steals the password and takes full control of Sam. Generally throughout this book, Kade approaches the tactics of the very nemesis he is trying to stop, the ERD.
For the writing, I was rather calibrated to the subpar prose at this stage (which did indeed remain subpar), but I found various other lazy tropes to annoy me....
* If nerdy grad-student rave-going Kade survives one more giant fight where 90% of the fully trained and armed participants die... I was happy to suspend disbelief for a while, but these incidents happen extra fast and furious in this book.
* OK, we get it, you know some meditation terms! Throwing around the terms anapana and vipassana around this thriller is jarring and doesn't make you more cerebral by association.
* Does Ling, the incredible post-human child, have any idea how the network that she abuses so frequently works? She and her mother Su-Yong go on and on about wanting to annihilate the humans so they can bask in the wonder of data and computers....that those punk humans built the computers, and all the networking, and supply the whole thing with that endless stream of data. If post-humans can do it better, that's another conversation we can have, but simply smiting all people means there's no more data in which you can bathe.
Side-note: The first two installments of the trilogy are on Kindle Unlimited, but not the last book? Nooooooo!!!!
[spoilers below]
As far as subject matter, Crux spends more time exploring the [im]morality of back doors into the brain operating system, no matter what noble intentions might be had for it. The reader minds the moral gray area less when it is Kade trying to stop the bad guys (although [b:A Clockwork Orange|227463|A Clockwork Orange|Anthony Burgess|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348339306s/227463.jpg|23596] right from the get-go much? "All of these Kade tied to nausea, to crippling anxiety, to pervasive pain."), but starts to get uncomfortable when he almost kills Holtzmann.....and, of course, get REALLY uncomfortable when Shiva steals the password and takes full control of Sam. Generally throughout this book, Kade approaches the tactics of the very nemesis he is trying to stop, the ERD.
For the writing, I was rather calibrated to the subpar prose at this stage (which did indeed remain subpar), but I found various other lazy tropes to annoy me....
* If nerdy grad-student rave-going Kade survives one more giant fight where 90% of the fully trained and armed participants die... I was happy to suspend disbelief for a while, but these incidents happen extra fast and furious in this book.
* OK, we get it, you know some meditation terms! Throwing around the terms anapana and vipassana around this thriller is jarring and doesn't make you more cerebral by association.
* Does Ling, the incredible post-human child, have any idea how the network that she abuses so frequently works? She and her mother Su-Yong go on and on about wanting to annihilate the humans so they can bask in the wonder of data and computers....that those punk humans built the computers, and all the networking, and supply the whole thing with that endless stream of data. If post-humans can do it better, that's another conversation we can have, but simply smiting all people means there's no more data in which you can bathe.
Side-note: The first two installments of the trilogy are on Kindle Unlimited, but not the last book? Nooooooo!!!!
joshhall13's review against another edition
3.0
Really simplistic writing as far as science fiction goes... but I guess it was good to turn the ol noggin off and not think for this one.
Also, if this book contained one more fake death, I was about to fake my own death! There was at least 1 fake death per chapter, sometimes 2 or 3. Some characters fake died 3 or 4 times. It was inane.
Lastly, comparing post-human brain functions to things like double-clicking a folder... really? That's just lazy, Mr. Naam.
1.5 stars for the story, 1.5 for the subject matter, post-humanism in a cyberpunk setting.
Also, if this book contained one more fake death, I was about to fake my own death! There was at least 1 fake death per chapter, sometimes 2 or 3. Some characters fake died 3 or 4 times. It was inane.
Lastly, comparing post-human brain functions to things like double-clicking a folder... really? That's just lazy, Mr. Naam.
1.5 stars for the story, 1.5 for the subject matter, post-humanism in a cyberpunk setting.
kenzier94's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Moves too fast and is too plot focused to get any attachment to the characters.
h3dakota's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 Stars. Even better than the first book! This series is fantastic. YOU SHOULD GO READ IT NOW! I think my favorite parts are the updates at the end of the books providing factual "here is where we are today with this type of technology". It's kind of eerie to think about how close we might be to actually developing such tools & how they could be used and/or abused. Which might we accomplish first? Nexus or destroying ourselves with WMD or global warming? If we accomplish something like Nexus first & are able to group think on a global scale, perhaps we could actually stop both of those issues... one can dream, right? ;)
I only had one quibble with this book.
I only had one quibble with this book
Spoiler
Sam really should have thought to purge Nexus before she was coerced into killing Kevinameserole's review against another edition
3.0
Another book that took me forever to finish - but I fully blame work and other audios.
Crux was a really interesting book. It's the second installment of the Nexus series. I kind of wish it had either more or the same amount of action like the first book did - however, it didn't. Which means I did find myself being bored a little here and there.
The Nexus world is so freaking interesting and entertaining. I love getting to know more about the pros and cons of it all. I also really hope that this NEVER becomes a thing in real life. I'd probably freak out. Now of course with smart technology, I feel like anyone always thinks about the cons of it. For example, a car that drives itself.. you might be like..
"Could someone hack into my smart car and take over it??"
Although, it could just be me - which is why I would never own one. If you do think about this possibility though - it sort of happens in this book. Someone hacks into Nexus and ends up controlling anyone that has it. It was insane and again, freaked me out.
Overall, I liked the book but thought that things could have been a bit more dramatic? Or I just really wanted more action. Either way, I feel like something was missing and that's why I was a bit disappointed with this book. Still enjoyed it though and can't wait to dive into the next book.
Crux was a really interesting book. It's the second installment of the Nexus series. I kind of wish it had either more or the same amount of action like the first book did - however, it didn't. Which means I did find myself being bored a little here and there.
The Nexus world is so freaking interesting and entertaining. I love getting to know more about the pros and cons of it all. I also really hope that this NEVER becomes a thing in real life. I'd probably freak out. Now of course with smart technology, I feel like anyone always thinks about the cons of it. For example, a car that drives itself.. you might be like..
"Could someone hack into my smart car and take over it??"
Although, it could just be me - which is why I would never own one. If you do think about this possibility though - it sort of happens in this book. Someone hacks into Nexus and ends up controlling anyone that has it. It was insane and again, freaked me out.
Overall, I liked the book but thought that things could have been a bit more dramatic? Or I just really wanted more action. Either way, I feel like something was missing and that's why I was a bit disappointed with this book. Still enjoyed it though and can't wait to dive into the next book.
tomrrandall's review against another edition
4.0
More moving parts in the second installment of the series, and more excellent sci-fi. The tech is all plausible and the story keeps me guessing.
hank's review against another edition
4.0
Reading Crux was like looking at a stained glass window slowly moving away from you. At first there were all these pretty colors and shapes, simple, interesting yet fractured and confusing. As the window moves away, some of the shapes start forming patterns and your brain takes note. Once the window is a sufficient distance away the whole beautiful pattern emerges.
Ok the reading experience was sort of like that. It is tough to call this book beautiful but it was suspenseful and exciting. The first half was a bit of a tedious mess for me and I wasn't really engaged. Too many story lines that I didn't see the potential in. The second half really delivered on the first's setup. I was fully engaged with everyone. I felt some sympathy for Holzman, I was rooting for all of the kids, I felt Sam's pain many times over. Most of all however, I wanted to repeatedly slap Kade in the head. I get the fact that he is essentially a kid like Rangan but seriously... some of his decisions killed me.
Solid 4 stars, there is one huge plot hole that kept bugging me throughout the entire book and detracted from the great story and vastly improved writing
Great book, I was on the edge of my seat for the last 100 pages.
Ok the reading experience was sort of like that. It is tough to call this book beautiful but it was suspenseful and exciting. The first half was a bit of a tedious mess for me and I wasn't really engaged. Too many story lines that I didn't see the potential in. The second half really delivered on the first's setup. I was fully engaged with everyone. I felt some sympathy for Holzman, I was rooting for all of the kids, I felt Sam's pain many times over. Most of all however, I wanted to repeatedly slap Kade in the head. I get the fact that he is essentially a kid like Rangan but seriously... some of his decisions killed me.
Solid 4 stars, there is one huge plot hole that kept bugging me throughout the entire book and detracted from the great story and vastly improved writing
Spoiler
If you have code to close a back door in software that is actually running inside your own head, what is the first thing you are going to do with it? This is such an obvious move, Naam deserves some serious criticism for not having Kade do it. Patch yourself so the bad guys can't take you over. I would have even believed that the act of patching the hole would prevent Kade from hacking into everyone else but Naam didn't even throw me that bone. Bad plot holeGreat book, I was on the edge of my seat for the last 100 pages.
sfstagewalker's review against another edition
4.0
Like the middle chapter of most series, Crux offers the bleakest and least hopeful view of what lies in store for this world. As mentioned in my review of Nexus, Naam does an impressive job of telling a tale not only of specific people, but of governments and culture. I did find the book exhausting and disheartening, but again ... it's a middle chapter.
tensy's review against another edition
4.0
This novel picks up the story a few months after [b:Nexus|13642710|Nexus (Nexus, #1)|Ramez Naam|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1347149654s/13642710.jpg|19257521] ends. The characters have disbanded all over the world and are trying to deal with the consequences of the dispersal of Nexus, the program that allows humans to communicate mentally with each other. While not as interesting as Nexus, Naam writes a high speed, adrenaline-fueled story that will keep you moving fast through the 500 plus pages. The ending is worth the wait and wraps up a lot of loose ends, and of course, leaves it open for the next book in the series. While this is definitely science fiction, Naam has written a number of non-fiction books, [b:More Than Human: Embracing the Promise of Biological Enhancement|274638|More Than Human Embracing the Promise of Biological Enhancement|Ramez Naam|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1386922092s/274638.jpg|266308] and [b:The Infinite Resource: The Power of Ideas on a Finite Planet|16291969|The Infinite Resource The Power of Ideas on a Finite Planet|Ramez Naam|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1362081373s/16291969.jpg|23389875], that describe the advances in technology which could lead to a future where Nexus is indeed a possibility.