A dense, multifaceted story that will appeal to readers looking for a futuristic blend of sci-fi and mythology.
Set 1,000 years in the future, this post-apocalyptic tale predicts that a sentient, sapient computer will eventually save us from the malaise of day-to-day existence.
Wemyss immerses readers in a near-dystopian future in which mankind has ultimately succumbed to the seduction of Metaverse—a fully tactile virtual-reality experience. Life centers have shifted from Earth to the lunar surface, where a new Union of “gods” is charged with maintaining order. Mankind’s physical needs are served by Zee Prime, an artificial, omniscient intelligence, and individuals are essentially free to do whatever they can imagine—so long as they do no harm to others. Molecular engineering allows goods to be created at will, batteries control one’s metabolism, dragons are considered the perfect life form, and karma is the currency of the realm. Hurtful or reckless behavior is punished by karma loss and eventual “liquid” imprisonment. A council of greater gods oversees intelligent life, while laws are enforced by Conservator police who battle threats to humanity. Among the characters drawn from mythology, many are richly portrayed, each with surprising strengths and weaknesses. Ruler Thor’s granddaughter, Mote, recklessly flouts laws and is admonished by Hachiman, the chief Conservator. Considered a wizard, computer hacker Brittany stores commands that control the “fog” to create whatever humans materially desire. While imaginative and well-written, the ponderous story ambitiously reaches wide and far—sometimes too far. With such a vast mix of cultures, mythologies and advanced technologies, Wemyss might have served readers better if the story had begun with the information found in the appendix called Recovered Data, which would have more efficiently brought readers up to speed. Elsewhere, the story occasionally wanders into the mundane, as when the dog Zeus “humps” clubbers while they dance or when Ren and Britz talk food: “Vegan, Ren. I don’t eat meat or dairy.” Though Wemyss is a skilled, imaginative writer, the book lacks a strong story arc, and it’s often difficult to connect to the characters, who, for the most part, tend to be unsympathetic.
A dense, multifaceted story that will appeal to readers looking for a futuristic blend of sci-fi and mythology.Pub Date: May 17, 2013
ISBN: 978-0615816722
Page Count: 522
Publisher: Fractal Moon
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.
Pub Date: July 11, 1960
ISBN: 0060935464
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...
Talk-show queen takes tumble as millions jeer.
Nora Bridges is a wildly popular radio spokesperson for family-first virtues, but her loyal listeners don't know that she walked out on her husband and teenaged daughters years ago and didn't look back. Now that a former lover has sold racy pix of naked Nora and horny himself to a national tabloid, her estranged daughter Ruby, an unsuccessful stand-up comic in Los Angeles, has been approached to pen a tell-all. Greedy for the fat fee she's been promised, Ruby agrees and heads for the San Juan Islands, eager to get reacquainted with the mom she plans to betray. Once in the family homestead, nasty Ruby alternately sulks and glares at her mother, who is temporarily wheelchair-bound as a result of a post-scandal car crash. Uncaring, Ruby begins writing her side of the story when she's not strolling on the beach with former sweetheart Dean Sloan, the son of wealthy socialites who basically ignored him and his gay brother Eric. Eric, now dying of cancer and also in a wheelchair, has returned to the island. This dismal threesome catch up on old times, recalling their childhood idylls on the island. After Ruby's perfect big sister Caroline shows up, there's another round of heartfelt talk. Nora gradually reveals the truth about her unloving husband and her late father's alcoholism, which led her to seek the approval of others at the cost of her own peace of mind. And so on. Ruby is aghast to discover that she doesn't know everything after all, but Dean offers her subdued comfort. Happy endings await almost everyone—except for readers of this nobly preachy snifflefest.
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with syrupy platitudes about life and love.Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-609-60737-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
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