(no subject)
several flaws in David Marusek's first novel. I checked it out because of the incessant praise on BoingBoing but the praise is hyperbole.
first, Marusek creates a world where people are concerned enough about population control to construct an entire religion around it, a world where you have to be licensed to reproduce and real live babies are incredibly rare. also in this world: clones. shitloads of clones. unimaginable numbers of clones, all cloned from a very small number of originals, for their utility to corporations and the affluent. giant contradiction there. all the extremely affluent and extremely powerful people want to have children, but can't, because of overpopulation; but there are these giant armies of clones. so overpopulation is a problem, and we're going to solve it by filling the streets with Xeroxed people? it makes no sense.
second, the first 50 pages are lifted straight from this novella Marusek wrote called We Were Out Of Our Minds With Joy. it's beautiful, it's wonderful, it's magical, it's perfect. the remaining 280 pages are the longest 280 pages you will ever read in your life. he got a book deal and his sole priority was to churn out as much bullshit as he possibly could to fill those pages.
third, Marusek extrapolates out from things that aren't true. he's got this world where people get to live forever, because medical technology is so advanced. but here's the thing: medical technology sucks. I have four metal tubes in my coronary arteries, holding them open, and guess what? not one of them is necessary. they're in there because they generate profit for corporations, hospitals and doctors. it was unnecessary surgery that increased my risk of death by heart attack. when I realized that going along with this bullshit was just going to land me back in the hospital again and again, I did some research, found a vegan dietary alternative, and resolved all my symptoms that the cardiologists couldn't fix.
so the thing is, flash forward to the future, more medical technology is not going to make anybody live forever. we live in the golden age of medical technology and we have an epidemic of obesity as a consequence. here's something most people don't know about medical technology: it is virtually impossible to do real scientific research on surgical techniques. nobody is willing to risk getting substandard care. that means you can never establish a control group.
it is virtually impossible to establish with scientific certainty whether many procedures are necessary or even useful. read The China Study for more information about that one - it's some fucked-up shit - but the point is, advances in medical technology do not imply, as people might assume, advances in medical science. in some cases, all that really happens is that the witch doctor, who sacrifices a chicken to his voodoo gods on your behalf, gets to work with an unusually shiny chicken.
Marusek's conceit, about people living forever, is based on the idea that something we do now, which doesn't work, will work perfectly in the future. he assumes that medical technology is the same thing as medical science. his medical ideas are ridiculous.
fourth, Marusek's plot is terrible. it wanders all over the place, there's no character arc, and it's frequently unclear what (if anything) is happening, to whom, or why.
long story short, I can't recommend this book (Counting Heads) at all.
first, Marusek creates a world where people are concerned enough about population control to construct an entire religion around it, a world where you have to be licensed to reproduce and real live babies are incredibly rare. also in this world: clones. shitloads of clones. unimaginable numbers of clones, all cloned from a very small number of originals, for their utility to corporations and the affluent. giant contradiction there. all the extremely affluent and extremely powerful people want to have children, but can't, because of overpopulation; but there are these giant armies of clones. so overpopulation is a problem, and we're going to solve it by filling the streets with Xeroxed people? it makes no sense.
second, the first 50 pages are lifted straight from this novella Marusek wrote called We Were Out Of Our Minds With Joy. it's beautiful, it's wonderful, it's magical, it's perfect. the remaining 280 pages are the longest 280 pages you will ever read in your life. he got a book deal and his sole priority was to churn out as much bullshit as he possibly could to fill those pages.
third, Marusek extrapolates out from things that aren't true. he's got this world where people get to live forever, because medical technology is so advanced. but here's the thing: medical technology sucks. I have four metal tubes in my coronary arteries, holding them open, and guess what? not one of them is necessary. they're in there because they generate profit for corporations, hospitals and doctors. it was unnecessary surgery that increased my risk of death by heart attack. when I realized that going along with this bullshit was just going to land me back in the hospital again and again, I did some research, found a vegan dietary alternative, and resolved all my symptoms that the cardiologists couldn't fix.
so the thing is, flash forward to the future, more medical technology is not going to make anybody live forever. we live in the golden age of medical technology and we have an epidemic of obesity as a consequence. here's something most people don't know about medical technology: it is virtually impossible to do real scientific research on surgical techniques. nobody is willing to risk getting substandard care. that means you can never establish a control group.
it is virtually impossible to establish with scientific certainty whether many procedures are necessary or even useful. read The China Study for more information about that one - it's some fucked-up shit - but the point is, advances in medical technology do not imply, as people might assume, advances in medical science. in some cases, all that really happens is that the witch doctor, who sacrifices a chicken to his voodoo gods on your behalf, gets to work with an unusually shiny chicken.
Marusek's conceit, about people living forever, is based on the idea that something we do now, which doesn't work, will work perfectly in the future. he assumes that medical technology is the same thing as medical science. his medical ideas are ridiculous.
fourth, Marusek's plot is terrible. it wanders all over the place, there's no character arc, and it's frequently unclear what (if anything) is happening, to whom, or why.
long story short, I can't recommend this book (Counting Heads) at all.