A review by _b_a_l_
Crux by Ramez Naam

3.0

I read these as a series and am reviewing them as such (although I would like to say that this is a series I enjoyed less and less as I went along, ergo the dropping in stars as we progress).

There are some really great concepts here. Especially in the first book the way that drugs, nanotech and augmentations combine to create near-post-humans and post-humans is beautifully explored. The repercussions of this on society and the way in which people let fear of the unknown dictate their actions equally so. The touches of buddhism and meditation and how it relates to these altered states is interesting and enlightening. And there's some great action.

As it progresses though nothing new is really introduced. The buddhist references become repetitive and annoying, the action becomes frenetic and difficult to follow and the narrative generally fragments.

I'd recommend just reading the first book tbh.