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Title: Nekropolis by Maureen F. McHugh ISBN: 0380791234 Publisher: Eos Pub. Date: 12 November, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.94
Rating: 5
Summary: Nekropolis: slavery, prejudice and love.
Comment: This is the first book I read from this superb author. Not only is the story beautifully crafted, the situations keep you connected and tense until the end. The book is constructed in five chapters, each narrated in first person by one of the main characters. I will not bore the reader explaining what the story is about (read the other previous reviews), but I will say that the author has found a very unusual, touching and profoundly unsettling way to approach delicate issues, such as prejudice, fear of rejection, genetic engineering of beings and its consequences, social stigma, sex and love among different sub-cultures. It's magnificent in every way, the proof that a good sci-fi book doesn't need a huge amount of complicated paraphernalia to be interesting and powerful, or to keep the reader involved. As a matter of fact, it would be extremelly limiting to classify it as a "sci-fi" book; instead, let me just say it is an incredibly well crafted book, by an undeniably gifted author. A must read for book lovers.
Rating: 4
Summary: painfully beautiful
Comment: Nekropolis is an excellent novel though painful to read. The story of two misfits wanting to belong is made more powerful by McHugh's minimal prose; the sad emptiness of Hariba and Akhmim resonating in the author's sparse language.
Hariba tries to escape her lonely life through "jessing," a chemical alteration of a servant's mind that enhances loyalty to the person they are sold to. She hopes the artificial loyalty will satisfy her needs of acceptance and belonging, but finds it isn't enough.
"I learned the sad fact that I couldn't give my life away, that anywhere I went, there I was."
Instead, her loneliness lurks under her manufactured happiness, drawing the attention of the harni , Akhmim. The Harni are an artificial intelligence designed to satisfy the needs of humans. Akhmim can't help but respond to Hariba's sadness and in doing so, is impressed upon her. Being able to sense all her unspoken needs, he creates in himself the ideal lover. Beneath his programmed love for her lies his longing for the completion and comfort of others like him, only with other harni does he feel true happiness. These lives of artificial loyalty and love left me feeling empty, unsatisfied and extremely sad. But that is the wonder of Maureen McHugh's books. She creates beauty from despair. Her stark and penetrating prose pierces the reader's bubble of self satisfied comfort and makes them wonder if they are truly happy. Nekropolis is a story you can never forget.
Rating: 2
Summary: A Wonderful Recipe Only Half-Baked
Comment: I don't know if it's fair to review a book that one has not read completely, but I had to put down Nekropolis despite all the good things I have read about it... The author introduces us to an artificially constructed man, and can't seem to make up her mind whether he has no human emotions, some of them, or all of them. McHugh also confuses us with the idea of jessing, where one is biochemically and emotionally linked to another, then treats such a supposedly strong bond as if it were weak and easily breakable. Also, the romantic story here is forced for the sake of the plot. I put it down before too long, unwilling to suspend my disbelief. Sadly, this story needed another revision before publication.
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Title: Mission Child by Maureen F. McHugh ISBN: 0380791226 Publisher: Eos Pub. Date: 09 November, 1999 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: The Chronoliths by Robert Charles Wilson ISBN: 0812545249 Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: 2002 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: China Mountain Zhang by Maureen F. McHugh ISBN: 0312860986 Publisher: Orb Books Pub. Date: 1997 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: Half the Day Is Night by Maureen F. McHugh ISBN: 031285479X Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: 1994 List Price(USD): $21.95 |
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Title: Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds ISBN: 0441009425 Publisher: Ace Books Pub. Date: 28 May, 2002 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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