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
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles...
Sisters in and out of love.
Meghann Dontess is a high-powered matrimonial lawyer in Seattle who prefers sex with strangers to emotional intimacy: a strategy bound to backfire sooner or later, warns her tough-talking shrink. It’s advice Meghann decides to ignore, along with the memories of her difficult childhood, neglectful mother, and younger sister. Though she managed to reunite Claire with Sam Cavenaugh (her father but not Meghann’s) when her mother abandoned both girls long ago, Meghann still feels guilty that her sister’s life doesn’t measure up, at least on her terms. Never married, Claire ekes out a living running a country campground with her dad and is raising her six-year-old daughter on her own. When she falls in love for the first time with an up-and-coming country musician, Meghann is appalled: Bobby Austin is a three-time loser at marriage—how on earth can Claire be so blind? Bobby’s blunt explanation doesn’t exactly satisfy the concerned big sister, who busies herself planning Claire’s dream wedding anyway. And, to relieve the stress, she beds various guys she picks up in bars, including Dr. Joe Wyatt, a neurosurgeon turned homeless drifter after the demise of his beloved wife Diane (whom he euthanized). When Claire’s awful headache turns out to be a kind of brain tumor known among neurologists as a “terminator,” Joe rallies. Turns out that Claire had befriended his wife on her deathbed, and now in turn he must try to save her. Is it too late? Will Meghann find true love at last?
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles (Distant Shores, 2002, etc.). Kudos for skipping the snifflefest this time around.Pub Date: May 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-345-45073-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2003
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