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A review by ponga
Crux by Ramez Naam
2.0
Interesting ideas, somewhat plausible technology(*), but the techno-thriller format puts me off. The post-human condition is apparently chiefly concerned with punching other people in the face more efficiently. That's something that I'd expect from a big screen story; a written story has the opportunity to be somewhat more thoughtful. Unfortunately, with techno thrillers you automatically get cardboard characters straight out of the cliche department.
(*) Destructive mind uploading I can believe in, though the time frame strikes me as a tad optimistic. However, computational infrastructure in the brain, delivered through self-assembling chemical compounds, able to interface comprehensibly with the individual's neurons and sending radio emissions outside the brain pan to others, all without cooking the original wetware... well, cool idea though it is, it might be beyond the physical boundaries of computation, and not just plausible technological advancement. Not to mention the straining-the-bounds-of-credibility of just two people pushing through such a major O/S repurposing, including the device driver interfaces to the wetware!
(*) Destructive mind uploading I can believe in, though the time frame strikes me as a tad optimistic. However, computational infrastructure in the brain, delivered through self-assembling chemical compounds, able to interface comprehensibly with the individual's neurons and sending radio emissions outside the brain pan to others, all without cooking the original wetware... well, cool idea though it is, it might be beyond the physical boundaries of computation, and not just plausible technological advancement. Not to mention the straining-the-bounds-of-credibility of just two people pushing through such a major O/S repurposing, including the device driver interfaces to the wetware!