Great Concept executed with too much ambition: 3 & 1/2 Stars
585263
Director Steven Norrington did such a good job with Blade, that you would believe he would wrap this up with staunch precision.  Something went wrong in the mix.  Either there was a different Director of Photography, or producer or something.  There were many rumors of Sean Connery and Norrington butting heads on the set as well as the movie being delayed due to budget...but so was Blade.  Myself, I enjoyed it, to a point.  I thought the concept was facinating, if not simple; bring together characters from Victorian literature (extremely intresting) to battle a world power hungry villian (cliched).  The characters are good and most of them are well cast.  The father/son subplot between Quartermain and Sawyer is nice, but it is being beaten to death in many action movies these days.  The romance subplot between Harker and Gray is more instresting.  Although the special effects are good, it does seem like the budget ran low in some spots.  Don't nit pick this movie, the action scenes are good and the pace moves it right along in most areas and it is very entertaining.  But overall you're left with a sense of longing for character development.  As if something else was supposed to take place, but didn't.  But hey, it is just an action flick.  The cheezy ending may ruin it for some as well, if you are easily thrown off by one far fetched gesture.  I do recommend this one, but I would recommend another teams superhero movie more, X-2: XMen United which came out at the same time, had better reviews and made a lot more money.
394163
The concept underlying this novel is intriguing and thought provoking. The world and the characters are believable and generally well-rounded. They really captured me and kept me invested in the story. However, the novel doesn't do more than scratch the surface of where the basic premise could be taken.  There are various story lines that are well-told, but nonetheless seemed superfluous, including the mid-story twist. I will not reveal it but in order to sustain it, the author had to sacrifice a lot of opportunities to flesh out his world, and challenge the reader further. The same goes for the reincarnation angle, and some adventures in the second half. Again, all these elements were well-crafted so I didn't suffer through them. But the most powerful ideas were only partially explored. I would recommend reading this novel, I just think it could have been even better.
3475825
"Doctor Illuminatus" is the first of what promises to be three books, and I was quite undecided on whether to give it two stars or three. Finally I clicked three, but what it really deserves is two and a half stars, putting it exactly midpoint between good and just fair. Though it has an interesting premise and full of fascinating facts and ideas, it often falls short on several accounts.

Pip and Tim are two twins that have just moved into an old, mysterious house called Rawne Barton: your standard beginning for a fantasy story of this nature. Before long, the siblings have uncovered a strange boy hidden in the walls of the house named Sebastian who claims to be the son of a medieval alchemist. He has been in a drugged sleep for the last six centuries, and now awoken in order to battle his father's enemy de Loudeac. In league with the devil himself, de Loudeac plans to create a homunculus, a being made out of dead matter that will do his bidding. Sebastian tells the twins that even now de Loudeac is gathering the ingredients he needs from the countryside.

Whilst Sebastian goes about his own mysterious business, the twins do their best to continue their day to day chores, but inevitably they are caught between Sebastian and de Loudeac's struggle. Martin Booth's strength throughout the story is also his weakness, and that is that he incorporates a lot of real history and facts about alchemy into the work. These touches are excellent, as they brought a sense of resonance and `realness' to the story, but at the same time they will only be appealing for those that already have a basic understanding of some of these historical figures and alchemical principles.

I was halfway in the middle, enjoying and appreciating some of the touches that were not just put in the story for their own sake, but actually *used*, but at other times struggling to sort out the myriad of names and facts and figures that he gives us.

Despite this however, Booth wonderfully matches ancient alchemy with their counterparts in modern day.

The characters are also quite problematic: Sebastian is an interesting enigma that lights up the page, but the twins are less enjoyable. Tim spends most of the beginning of the book denying that all the weird and wonderful events around him aren't real - this is a waste of time considering 1. They obviously are happening, and 2. When a reader opens a fantasy book, they are already agreeing to the rules of normality being broken - the author doesn't need to over-explain or justify the supernatural. Second of all, Pip isn't actually a strong heroine. Looking at Booth's previous publications, which are mostly war and survival stories (with boys as the protagonists), I came to the conclusion that Booth simply doesn't know how to portray females. Throughout the story, she is mostly shown gardening, shopping and being attacked, whilst Tim does the most to push the story along. When the final conflict does come, the boys use her as a decoy (though to be fair, she does manage to knock an enemy on the head with a rock).

Some things are introduced only to be forgotten, such as the mysterious bottle at the school and a cameo appearance from the devil, but I assume these are devices will be continued in the second book. Despite all my complaints I was intrigued by the story, and I will track down the next installment "Soul Stealer." Eventually.
481057
A book written around a great premise, but sadly one that can't hold up an entire book.
3006858
The one thing that you can unequivocally say about John Barnes is that he has exciting ideas.  Great, wonderful concepts that if properly executed would form some classic sci fi novels.  The disappointing part is that he tends to fall flat on his face when it's time for execution.  Especially disappointing are his endings and how he tends to rush through them.
The concepts of A Million Open Doors were very promising.  Humanity spreading out and colonizing worlds.  Loss of communication between the colony worlds.  New technology making instanteous travel possible.  Earth Made of Glass is based on these same concepts, with a subplot of a marriage somehow gone wrong tied in.  It's with that whole subplot that this story degenerates from an exciting tale of cultural prejudice and how technology is stirring up the pot into a story of how two people can no longer relate to each other.  I'm not saying that this doesn't belong in a sci fi story. I'm saying that Barnes' inability to execute that subplot well drags the entire rest of the book down the drain.
I thought the first 100 pages of this book were GREAT!  Very exciting, getting to learn about new cultures and how the instantaneous travel technology was affecting their relations.  Then, Barnes goes into his standard "I will philosophize them relentlessly and they will understand the world better" mode.  For example, three pages of the prophet Ix explaining while it is better to love rather than to hate is a bit much.
I wish that Barnes would collaborate with someone who would teach him to take himself a little less seriously.  Also, it would be great if he could get an editor who would correct his grammer and style.  My pet peeve, in addition to the grammer gaffs noted in other posts, is that Barnes uses parentheses in the speeches given by characters... how the heck does that make it past an editor?  We're not talking about a character whispering an aside to someone during his conversation -- we're talking about an integral part of a speech given by a character!
All in all, the most disappointing part of this novel is the rushed ending.  Barnes rolls out all kinds of different technology, revelations about the personal lives of characters, etc, etc in the last few pages to wrap up some dilemmas.
I love that Barnes doesn't take the easy way out for his characters -- not everything is beautiful in their lives at the end of the book.  I just wish that he could do a better job in writing about his ideas.
4542170
There is definite skill depicted within the first half of Lepucki's debut - the careful pacing and unfolding of the climate shift and post-petroleum world and the protagonists' place within it; their special skills and particular viewpoints, their histories and sorrows, both separate and collective.  Even in the place they find themselves and the others they encounter.  And their reason for seeking society once more.  But unfortunately the second half is ruined by too many undeveloped tropes, convenient coincidences, too much exposition, and sloppy pacing so that the plot can boil over in the conclusion.  Although I know publishers loath doorstoppers these days it really could have used at least another two hundred pages to do justice to the kind of story Lepucki *wanted* to tell.  It really did have such great potential.  I think they picked the wrong title for it, The Land would have been more apt - vague enough but nicely ominous, because despite what has been noted in the publicity materials, it doesn't really matter *where* this story takes place, and you certainly don't get enough atmosphere to specifically understand the geography, in my opinion.  The end is chilling in its implications, but knowing what a rushed journey it was to get there lessened its' impact all the more.  I don't regret giving this book my time and money, I'm just disappointed it couldn't have attained the promise implicit in its concept.
3083147
Based on Cornelia Funke's novel, Inkheart presents a supremely fascinating concept with limitless possibilities - unfortunately the direction it takes falls into the predictable realm of formulaic fantasy (it's as if a quota must be reached for daring escapes, rescue attempts and damsels in distress). The basic plot is as convoluted and faulty as time travel, and without very finite ground rules, the details and conclusion feel contrived - unnaturally forced in order to neatly right the predicaments. Several characters are wasted and the most adventurous avenues are left completely unexplored, but for a fun-filled fantasy film Inkheart isn't entirely a letdown. First-rate special effects and well-paced action put this inventive picture well above the utter failures of Eragon or The Seeker.

Mortimer "Mo" Folchart (Brendan Fraser) has a rare magical gift that allows him to bring to life anything he reads out loud from a book. It's more complicated than it sounds - when he reads aloud, the elements in each passage are transported into his current location, as if directly from the world defined in the book, and someone from his own time is sent into the book in exchange. This implies that every written story must create an environment that exists on a unique timeline, and that those creations exist somewhere in three dimensions. Further confusion is introduced when one of the characters Mo brings to life (or rather out of the book's life) worries about how his story will end, hinting that each book also has a timeline concurrent with present time - and later that the characters in books can change the course of their destiny, even though it's cemented in unchanging printed words.

Mo's troubles start because he is unaware he has such an ability (humans with this skill are known as Silvertongues). He reads the story of Inkheart to his young daughter and wife, unleashing the dastardly villain Capricorn (Andy Serkis), along with the roguish fire-juggling Dustfinger (Paul Bettany). Mo's wife vanishes and Capricorn sets about building himself an army of storybook henchmen. Mo vows never to read another book out loud and so twelve years pass without incident. His daughter Meggie (Eliza Bennett) has grown up and wonders about Mo's obsessive quest to obtain another copy of the Inkheart book to try and correct his decade-old error. When he finally finds another copy in an antiquarian bookshop, Dustfinger reappears, begging the Silvertongue to return him to his world; when Mo refuses, the ilk of Capricorn is summoned to force compliance.

There are well-intentioned themes (involving the power of reading and writing among others) floating around in the story of Inkheart, but the film fails to fully illustrate the creativity of the major concepts. The villains are of course unthreatening (this is a kid's movie after all), Helen Mirren's supporting role is wasted, and each of the characters is designed in the most generic manner. For a plot that is already incredibly outlandish and difficult to accept, it's odd to cast Brendan Fraser, who brings an instant air of goofiness and tongue-in-cheek humor to a character that would have been more effective if played seriously.

In one scene a Silvertongue is forced to read out of various books to prove her skill; as the camera pans across the room the audience can see Cinderella's glass slipper, Huckleberry Finn's raft, a gingerbread house from Hansel and Gretel, the Sword in the Stone and many more recognizable storybook entities. It's at this moment, with countless novels at the creator's disposal, that we acknowledge the biggest disappointment: imagining what could have been. What an amazingly unique concept with such mediocre execution.

- Mike Massie
4001900
What a fabulous idea: a novel that follows the adventures of the adult Jack Dawkins, aka the Artful Dodger of Oliver Twist fame. And the plot that Charlton Daines whipped up was in fact promising. Unfortunately the writing--well, when the phrase "he thought to himself" appears on the first page, you know you're not in the company of a master wordsmith. (To whom else could he think?) So many scenes that begged to be fleshed out were perfunctorily described: What did Jack and Oliver talk about during their several-hour conversation at Twist's house? What was the inside of the train--a novelty to Jack and most other Londoners at the time--like when Jack rode it for the first time? When Jack was noting that the various neighborhoods he walked through differed from one another, why not show us how, rather than leave it entirely up to our imaginations? All in all, the book was an exercise in frustration for me, because I wanted the execution to at least approach the concept in terms of quality.
338730
Tracy Chevalier had a terrific idea when she thought of the plot of this book.  The concept of a modern woman who investigates an ancestress, and has her life forever changed by the mysterious story of that long-dead woman, is truly a brilliant and compelling one -- a plot that makes for an amazing, hauntingly well-written book which everyone should read.  Unfortunately for Chevalier, that book is A.S. Byatt's _Possession_.  Comparisons may be odious, but _The Virgin Blue_ tries to do something so similar to Possession, that its failures are painfully glaring next to Byatt's success.
Nice story concept, not bad writing, creative twists - but the characters (particularly in the modern time) are ill-drawn, their motivations (particularly the narrator's) are murky, and the end leaves you with a stale taste in your mouth.  Try Possession instead; you won't be disappointed.
2965527
This book has some very interesting elements. I love the concept, but the execution is lacking. Things that bothered me:

1. The relationship between the two main characters runs way too smoothly. They never have a fight. Brishen appreciates everything that Ildiko does. They get along wonderfully despite the fact that they are supposed to be from wildly different cultures and not even initially attracted to each other. It didn't ring true for me. Way to much telling us they are from different cultures--not enough showing.

2. Brishen is too affectionate for a man who is not attracted to his wife. He's a good guy, so he would treat her with respect--fair enough--but from the beginning he is touching and hugging and kissing her. Don't tell us he's not attracted and then make his act as though he is.

3. Ildiko is way too good at adapting to a culture where she is generally despised. We are told she has little understanding of the culture, but every step she makes is right. She is still learning the language, but she uses it perfectly. Is the culture really so different? Show. Don't tell.

4. Brishen's mother is supposed to be the horrible, wildly dangerous person, yet Ildiko gets away virtually unscathed with being mouthy and rude. The general impression that leaves is that the mother is just a spiteful old cat without claws. To be honest, right up until the epilogue, I couldn't see what all the fuss was about. Even her sins against Brishen did not seem sufficient to justify his hatred--his alienation, yes, but not his active hatred. Generally children are not so completely alienated that easily from their parents. I think more explanation was needed--or even better some internal conflict. Why wouldn't Brishen want to hope his mother could be better than she is?

5. Too much gratuitous description of sex. I accept that this may be a matter of taste, but having the bulk of a chapter committed to this sort of thing does not add anything to the book for me.

Overall, I wish there had been more showing of conflict and less telling of it.
4648165
I discovered David Gilbert's THE NORMALS by chance and picked it up with delicious anticipation based on its story premise. Billy Schine is a drifting and disaffected young man, as distant from his Asian girlfriend as he is from his parents, college educated but working as a temp, buried under $60,000 worth of student loans - a "normal"GenXer. In a misguided effort to evade a knee-breaking collection agency, he enrolls as a human guinea pig in a paid pharmaceutical research project for Hargrove Anderson Medical (HAM). Along with a dozen other people, Billy commits to a paid, two-week study in which the physical and psychological effects of an unspecified drug will be carefully monitored to establish its baseline impact on the unsick, the "normals."

Given this premise, an infinite range of possibilities blossoms before one's eyes. Could THE NORMALS be another ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST, with every subject saner than Randall McMurphy (Jack Nicholson's character in the movie)? Could it be an exploration of the irrelevance of the concept of normalcy in modern society? An attempt to redefine it? Or maybe it could be an examination of the role of pharmaceuticals in a grossly over-medicated society? Or a treatise of the ethical quandaries of drug testing, or their misuse and manipulation?

So many choices, none taken. Mr. Gilbert, inarguably a gifted crafter of cutting sarcasm and a wonderfully clever wordsmith, opted instead to surround his Everyman with a carnival sideshow of dysfunctional characters and a bizarre plot twist that moves his story from comic cynicism to outlandish science fiction. Billy Schine's "normal" colleagues turn out to be freakish stereotypes: a lone female striking a nymphomaniac's pose, an religious zealot named Jay ("Do") Rami who suffers from violent impulses and refuses to bathe, a pair of thuggish droolers named Ossap and Dullick who ultimately reveal a bizarre political agenda, a self-styled acting genius named Lannigan who shaves his entire body, and a misfit named Frank Gershin whose hobby involves paying exorbitant sums to have gunshot wounds inflicted upon himself (body piercing and cutting apparently having given way to stronger stimuli). Billy befriends a black version of Nurse Rached who, like all similarly stereotyped black women, really has a heart of gold (her name is Joy, naturally) beneath that gruff exterior. He also discovers that the doctor in charge of monitoring and administrating these studies, Honeysack, is also an absurdly unlikely researcher into cryogenics who is looking for a volunteer. Combine all  this with the simultaneous saga of Billy's father's imminent plan for a double suicide of himself and his Alzeihmer's-afflicted wife, and the entire brew makes the cast of characters from Gilligan's Island the The Addam's Family look like "the normals."

The dissolution of Gilbert's premise and plot line is particularly disappointing when set beside his estimable writing talent. His prose is sparklingly pyrotechnic, filled with wonderful observations and memorable turns of phrase that make you want to dog ear every page and highlight for future recall. Gilbert's writing alone makes this book a worthwhile read, and it promises the hope for deeper and more meaningful things to come.

Good satire can be entertaining and funny when it has a point. The problem with THE NORMALS is that it's only point seems to be that there is no point, that life is simply too absurd to take anything seriously. This is fine as the world view for an eighteen-year-old adolescent, but it's simply not the stuff of good literature. The book's paperback cover cites an irresponsibly lavish quote from Publisher's Weekly, "Gilbert writes in the vein of Vonnegut, Heller, and Kesey, updated for the 21st Century." If THE NORMALS is 21st Century Vonnegut, woe betide us for the next ten decades. Readers in 2099 will still be celebrating Mr. Vonnegut's genius, but by then, THE NORMALS will have faded to dusty yellowed parchment -- or its digital equivalent.
247029
Premise slightly convoluted, but overall a very good read
556958
Great start--a page turner--then ridiculous complications.
1057113
I really hesitated whether I would give it a chance after I read "The Mind Pool" by Charles Sheffield, which started excellent, but ended as a big mess. But then I saw that people had given "Tommorow and Tommorow" such good reviews, and I figured Charles Sheffield deserves another chance.

The book started really well: the story is set at the end of the 20th century and tells about Drake Merlin, a musician and a composer. Drake and his wife, Ana, live a happy life. Both do not pursue money or power but instead concentrate on their professions (Ana is a singer), and live in bliss. But this doesn't last for too long, as Ana contracts a strange and lethal disease, leading to her death in a fairly short period of time. Drake is heartbroken, but decides not do despair. He contacts a company called "Second Chance", and freezes Ana in a cryotomb - hoping that sometime in the future technology would be high enough to revive her and cure whatever she has. Afterwards, Drake works for a few years, collecting knowledge which he figures would be very useful in the future as well as making money so he could afford keeping Ana frozen for a long period of time, and also afford to freeze himself. Drake hopes that in some time in the future, both of them will be revived, Ana be cured, and they can continue their life. His love for Ana is really strong, and he is determined not to give up. The time comes, and Drake is frozen - only to be awaken 500 years in the future, in a totally changed society.

This is but one of the many times Drake will be frozen only to be woken up in the yet farther future.. things have not gone as smoothly as Drake had hoped..

This took exactly one half of the book, and was really fantastic. The author built a completely believable future (actually, several futures), and the story was very captivating:
I totally thought I had misjudged Charles Sheffield, and couldn't put this book down.
However...
Then Drake wakes up, and the book takes a very strange twist. Apparently in the very, very distant future, Drake (as an "ancient and primitive human") will be needed to save the descendants of the human race, as they are fighting for their survival against a force from outside our galaxy which cannot be fathomed. Drake must take control, find out what is the problem, and then solve it. Other reviewers commented on the accuracy of the science in this part. I agree. However, it is still very boring. For me it was a distraction of the main story, and frankly, I think this shouldn't have been put in this book. I read the entire second half of the book in one long evening, because I really wanted to get to the end, which wasn't very satisfying (but better than not reading the end at all). I really wanted to see whether Drake and Ana will be united.

To summarize this book: first part is really good, but the second part might disappoint you. Overall it is still definitely worthy of a read.
4748519
I think this may be the first of Bear's novels that I've read, but I've already added a few more to my To Read pile. This is a hugely ambitious book, and one that plugs into many of my personal obsessions. The first moment that one of the characters started talking about the "fictional encyclopedia" commissioned in the 1920s by an Argentinian named Borges, I knew that this was a story for me. (Though, interestingly, the story seems to take place in an alternate history in which Borges never wrote fiction.) The mentions later on about the "Last Redoubt" only sealed the deal.

The action in City at the End of Time alternates between modern day Seattle and the Kalpa, the titular city at the end of time. In Seattle we follow a teenage runaway and a busker, both of whom visit the end of time in their dreams, and both of whom are able to affect causality in the near term, and a vagrant who is possessed by a consciousness capable of shifting from one parallel worldline to another. In the Kalpa, we follow two young "ancient breeds" (genetically engineered humanoids who are approximations for what primordial humanity--i.e. us--might have been like), who play host to the two dreamers in modern day Seattle, and a "Keeper" involved in a last-ditch effort to stem the time of unreal Chaos that threatens to engulf the last remnants of the universe.

The far future sections of the novel are really far future, and it's here that the novel really starts to sing. The following are two paragraphs from just one of the many potted histories that are threaded through the book, hinting at the vast gulfs of time connecting now to then.

  "As for the late Trillennium, in the shadow of the Chaos: broad legends describe the age of the Mass Wars. Bosonic Ashurs had returned from their mastery of the dark light-years, seeking ascendance over all... and were subdued by the mesonic Kanjurs, who in turn were defeated by the Devas--patterned from integral quarks. Devas were then forces to give way to the nootics. Nootic mater was hardly matter at all--more like a binding compact between space, fate, and two out of seven aspects of time.

  The nootics--calling themselves Eidolons--gathered survivors from the last artificial galaxies and forced nearly all to convert. The last remnants of old matter were preserved and transported to a number of reliquaries with the longest continuous histories--including Earth."

This is a terrifically smart book, but in many places a very funny one as well. While not overlong, it is considerable dense in places, and having finished the book I tend to think that the journey might have been more enjoyable than the destination. But it's a wide-ranging, mind-expanding trip of a book, and something that science fiction needs more of. Recommended.
4294692
"Late Bite" is centered on a fascinating premise and is told from an equally-fascinating point of view, but the story's narration, structure and organization make it difficult for the concept to reach its full potential. Matsui's primary characters, a public defender and a vampire-esque person accused of several crimes, lead readers on a well-conceived story, beginning when the accused is taken into custody and when the attorney meets him in his holding cell. For fear of spoliers, I'll leave off discussing plot particulars here; suffice to say, though, that the story is interesting and the characters developed, and there's a twist readers probably won't expect toward the end of the story. There's an aspect of the conclusion that leaves a bit to be desired, however, but I can't mention it because it'd be a HUGE spoiler.

The narrative itself leaves a lot to be desired as well. It proceeds linearly -- think "day 1, day 2, day 3..." -- which isn't necessarily a bad thing, though in this case it leads to a lot of repetition and to a lot of wordiness; such hampers the action in the plot and bogs-down the reader in details that have been established earlier in the narrative (sometimes more than once). Additionally, some scenes seem out of place throughout the story; that is, the importance of some scenes, and their relevance and relationship to other scenes, isn't immediately clear. Basic things like paragraphing were also lacking in the edition I read, as were essential punctuation and structural elements, such as questions marks and indention of paragraphs.

That being established, "Late Bite", all of its warts included, was an interesting and fun read. Matsui raises an interesting premise regarding vampires -- or Homo Sanguinus, as they prefer to be called in his story -- and their relation to Homo Sapiens. It'll make readers think.

*I received a complimentary review copy of the book in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.*
2312100
Mindscan is another of Robert J. Sawyer's award winners -- rather inexplicably, to my mind, it won the John W. Campbell Award for Best Novel. The central idea here is upload to robotic bodies. Are such new bodies "human", in a moral or legal sense? And what about the (in this book, still living) "original"? Who gets the property?

Jake Sullivan is a very rich man -- heir to a beer fortune. He is also ever guilty -- afraid he provoked his father's fatal stroke -- and every afraid -- because he shares the genetic malformation that actually led to his father's stroke. Thus he has spent his life afraid of commitment to other people. Then a new process becomes available: one can upload one's mind into a robotic body -- more of an android, really, capable of most things normal bodies can do, though not all (for example, sex: yes, but eating, pretty much no). It's very expensive. Most people who choose the option are quite old, but Jake jumps at it only in his 40s. The kicker is, the company doing the process requires that the "new" person, the android, inherit the identity of the "original", while the "original" is sent to the Moon, to live out what will presumably be a short life -- in conditions of luxury but isolation.

The new Jake quickly finds love, with Karen Bessarion, a fabulously successful novelist (think J. K. Rowling). But Karen soon has a problem -- her original body dies, and her son sues -- he argues that his mother is dead, and he has a right to inherit her estate. But of course the "new" Karen Bessarion feels she is the "real" Karen.

Jake himself represents the opposite side of the debate. His "original" decides he isn't happy stuck on the Moon, especially when a cure for his condition is found. He wants to reclaim is original life. But that would cause problems for the new Jake.

This is, let's be clear, a fascinating setup. And it could address some pretty interesting ideas. But Sawyer bungles the whole thing. Partly, he doesn't consider some fairly elementary dodges to avoid some of these legal problems -- the company offering the uploads could arrange to be paid essentially the entire fortune of the original, but hold it in some sort of trust to be dedicated to the support of the original for the rest of its life, and also to the support of the upload. I think such an arrangement would for the most part sidestep the problem of heirs. But more than that, the basic idea at the core is monstrous: the "original", Sawyer seems to think (or at least this book seems to think -- Sawyer may not necessarily hold these ideas) is really just so much worthless remnant garbage, kept alive in comfort for convenience's sake, but not really a person. My goodness, how horrifying! Of course these are still people! The book argues eloquently enough for the "humanity" of the uploads -- I'm fine with that -- but then totally dismisses any argument that the original is also still human.

Add to these issues some more general plot and character issues. I was never really convinced by Karen Bessarion's love affair with the new Jake (the old Jake was plausibly messed up, could the new Jake really be a better man so soon?). And the plot resolutions -- a hoary courtroom drama plus a thoroughly unconvincing violent standoff with a convenient conclusion -- just didn't work for me. Another frustrating outing from Sawyer.