Book 33, Nick Sagan's Edenborn
Book 33: Nick Sagan, Edenborn, 311 pages. I didn't realize that this is actually the second book set in a post-apocalypse future Earth, which is why I'm reading them out of order. It has strong cyberpunk leanings (with the internet as IVR), but the tale is not so technically heavy that the casual reader can't enjoy it. Perhaps the science isn't 100% perfect, but the author's skill with characters and plot pacing would far outweigh any scientific nitpicking to me. The size is appealing as well, as Sagan has divided the tale into three reasonable chunks (Idlewild, Edenborn, Everfree) rather than overwhelming a reader by releasing it as one huge 1000 page novel as too much of science-fiction seems to prefer.
The story is told from multiple viewpoints, primarily peacemaker Pandora from Idlewild's generation and two second generation teens: gentle religious Haji and an unravelling psychotic Penny. AI Malachi pops up and skillfully fills in some of the gaps for a new reader who hasn't read the first novel (without feeling like an infodump), and in the latter portions of the book, two other viewpoints creep in to round out the story, one first generation and one second. None of the characters, narrator or otherwise, feel flat or lifeless, and even the "villains" are worthy of sympathy.
There are many ways to revive mankind, and the characters here seem to be trying them all. One branch thinks testosterone played too big a role in Earth's disaster, so they are breeding genetically engineered Amazons (dubbed Waterbabies). Another branch believes that regular humans should find another way around the Black Ep plague that wiped out humanity and tries medications to curb its return and religion to soften its conscience. Still a third brings a child into the world as an experiment of nature versus nurture. The all-too-human mistakes all three theories entail made me hope for them to somehow pull through, and I read the book in one single day, absorbed in the lives of these characters.
A definate "must own" book. 5 stars out of 5. Finish Date: 7 Jun 05.
Currently Reading: Walter Jon Williams' The Rift.
Mount To-Be-Read: Richard Matheson's Earthbound, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's The Palace & Tempting Fate, Piers Anthony's Bio of a Space Tyrant: Refugee, Michael Connely's City of Bones.
En Route via Bookrings/Trades: Bram Stoker's Dracula, Nancy Collins' Sunglasses After Dark, and Greg Bear's Forge of God.
2005 Reading List
The story is told from multiple viewpoints, primarily peacemaker Pandora from Idlewild's generation and two second generation teens: gentle religious Haji and an unravelling psychotic Penny. AI Malachi pops up and skillfully fills in some of the gaps for a new reader who hasn't read the first novel (without feeling like an infodump), and in the latter portions of the book, two other viewpoints creep in to round out the story, one first generation and one second. None of the characters, narrator or otherwise, feel flat or lifeless, and even the "villains" are worthy of sympathy.
There are many ways to revive mankind, and the characters here seem to be trying them all. One branch thinks testosterone played too big a role in Earth's disaster, so they are breeding genetically engineered Amazons (dubbed Waterbabies). Another branch believes that regular humans should find another way around the Black Ep plague that wiped out humanity and tries medications to curb its return and religion to soften its conscience. Still a third brings a child into the world as an experiment of nature versus nurture. The all-too-human mistakes all three theories entail made me hope for them to somehow pull through, and I read the book in one single day, absorbed in the lives of these characters.
A definate "must own" book. 5 stars out of 5. Finish Date: 7 Jun 05.
Currently Reading: Walter Jon Williams' The Rift.
Mount To-Be-Read: Richard Matheson's Earthbound, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's The Palace & Tempting Fate, Piers Anthony's Bio of a Space Tyrant: Refugee, Michael Connely's City of Bones.
En Route via Bookrings/Trades: Bram Stoker's Dracula, Nancy Collins' Sunglasses After Dark, and Greg Bear's Forge of God.
2005 Reading List