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Title: Spin State by CHRIS MORIARTY ISBN: 0-553-38213-6 Publisher: Spectra Pub. Date: 30 September, 2003 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $11.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.16 (19 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Intriguing characters and technology never get fleshed out
Comment: "Spin State" starts out full of promise for fans of "hard" sci-fi, the sub-genre that loads stories with lots of plausible technology and science. It is a good debut novel. However, after a solid beginning that has the reader's mind racing to keep to pace, the book backs away from its potential, dragging on far too long before concluding in a rather predictable and unsatisfying manner.
It is clear that Moriarty has done her homework on quantum mechanics. This is one of the only sci-fi books I've read that supplies a bibliography of dozens of academic papers and books on the subject. She writes convincingly about a quantum-based communications system that is one step shy of actual teleportation -- even sensations like taste and temperature are conveyed through the magic of quantum entanglement.
Other cool features of Moriarty's far-out future include urbane yet shadowy AIs, hardware enhancements for the body, mind and memory, and people who have had their genetic makeup so radically altered that they aren't legally considered to be human any longer.
Although this theme of genetics is supposed to be central to the development of the main character, I felt the theme was never really fleshed out. Indeed, perhaps the book's greatest flaw is that most of the characters -- with the exception of the AI called Cohen -- come across as two- or even one-dimensional. The main character is a decorated commando running from a murky past. We meet a greedy and corrupt mine boss, a manipulative and ruthless general, a selfish and naive beauty, and a selfless and brilliant scientist. Not many surprises.
There are quite a few similarities between this work and "Altered Carbon" by Richard Morgan. Specifically: 1) both books are set a few hundred years ahead in a future where the UN is the chief political authority 2) the heroes are special UN commandos haunted by brutal past missions who are called on to investigate mysterious deaths 3) in "Spin State", the hero is from a planet called "Compson's World", in "Altered Carbon", the hero is from "Harlan's World" 4) both books feature bionic enhancements ("neurachem" in AC, "ceramsteel in SS") 5) in AC, human consciousness is backed up by a hardware "stack", in SS, memories and knowledge are backed up in hardware. I read these two books very close together, so the similarities really stood out.
Spin State's story revolves around the investigation of a mining disaster that killed society's pre-eminent quantum scientist, who had been conducting secretive experiments that could turn humanity's interstellar order on its head. I had trouble keeping track of the minor characters who disappeared for long stretches only to reappear later with no reference to earlier actions. The story had trouble holding my attention and I found myself slogging through the second half mainly out of obligation to just finish the book.
I give this book serious credit for painting a detailed picture of quantum, genetic and computing technology a few centuries hence. For hard sci-fi buffs that will probably be more than enough to offset the thinly drawn characters and convoluted plot. Moriarty obviously has a lot of skill and ambition, and I hope her future efforts -- hopefully in the Spin State universe -- are able to deliver on the promise of this book.
Rating: 1
Summary: Science Fiction At Its Worst!
Comment: Spin State could've been so much more. This novel had the opportunity to be one of the best I've ever read.
Mr. Moriarty saddles himself up beside other authors who chose to incorporate their own language (nouns, verbs, etc) into their work. Much like Tolkien and A/V's Clockwork Orange.
The problem is that Chris doesn't explain any of it. For every word that he makes up, it pushs the reader that much further into confusion, and ultimately, oblivion. I was so confused by the end of this novel that I wasn't certain exactly what happened. Sure, the novel takes place in the future, and new technologies will develop... but the reader is still here in the 21st century. If you're going to conjure several dozen futuristic words out of thin air, at least explain them to the reader!!!
The book is so vague and gray without these definitions that it seriously hinders the reader. I almost didn't finish the story.
VERY DISAPPOINTING!
Rating: 5
Summary: Moriarty certainly knows how to "spin" sci-fi!
Comment: This book captures your imagination and attention from the beginning and catapults you into the fantastic just as other books along similar lines: "Stranger in a Strange Land", "Foundation", "Ringworld", "I,Robot", "Rendezvous with Rama", "Childhood's End", "Advent of the Corps", and so forth.
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Title: Broken Angels by Richard K. Morgan ISBN: 0345457714 Publisher: Del Rey Pub. Date: 02 March, 2004 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Altered Carbon by RICHARD MORGAN ISBN: 0345457684 Publisher: Del Rey Pub. Date: 04 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: The Golden Age (The Golden Age) by John C. Wright ISBN: 0812579844 Publisher: Tor Science Fiction Pub. Date: 14 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: The Phoenix Exultant (The Golden Age) by John C. Wright ISBN: 0765343541 Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: 19 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: The Golden Transcendence: Or, the Last of the Masquerade (The Golden Age) by John C. Wright ISBN: 0765307561 Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: 15 November, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
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