A review by ineffablebob
The Bohr Maker by Linda Nagata

adventurous challenging tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

The Bohr Maker takes place an unspecified number of decades in the future when humanity has invented artificial intelligence running on nanotech platforms (called Makers), colonized near-Earth space, mastered body modification, and created virtual reality via brain implants. But all these advances are not equally distributed, and the author follows both some of the haves who live without want and virtually move about freely, and the have-nots that struggle to find food and are stuck in slums. The powers-that-be have restricted technological progress in order to maintain the systems that they rule, under the guise of concern for the damage that runaway technology could do to Earth - a valid concern, but used largely to keep the masses down. The story plays out as a techno-thriller with different parties chasing the Bohr Maker, an illegally advanced system that finds its way to a poor woman who sees her new AI abilities as magic. I found it an intriguing read with expansive world-building and largely interesting characters, and the way it all ends certainly left me looking forward to seeing how the world changes in the next book.