Nanotime

Rating:
Summary: Nice Try, But Get a Better Editor Next Time
Review: Some scientists can "cross over" and become brilliant authors of fiction, and others... well... let's just say that Bart Kosko may get there eventually with the help of a good editor. The first thing that greets your eyes in this book is the map of the Middle East, Turkey, and south Europe. There is a body of water labeled "Capsian Sea". Come on, Avon--has none of your editors heard of the Caspian Sea? Off to a questionable start, we soldier bravely on, stuck on a plane flight with nothing else to read. Suspension of disbelief kicks in quickly--backing up someone's entire brain to a chip; a highly implausible Saudi missile attack on Israel (which has 300 nuclear missiles ready to launch); dialogue that ranges from passably believable to stilted and forced, in the best pulp tradition.

Then there is the matter of our protagonist, John, whose wife gets her brain swapped out for a super chip. When he notices the obvious surgical scars on her scalp while making love, she immediately attacks him (Curses! He's uncovered our evil plot!) and he is forced to kill her in self-defense, a gruesome act which is over with very quickly. Lucky thing this naked nano-tech scientist happens to have the killing instincts of a trained assassin. Oh, and was there any remorse? Any tears? None that we notice. This is a pulp hero straight out of the 1920s: a Doc Savage type who never displays any emotion except for anger at traffic cops. Well, we could go on, but you get the picture.

Despite the utter lack of characterization and the halfway plausible plot line, we give this book 3 stars because bad as the fiction is, the science is top-rate. Kosko knows his stuff when it comes to computers, and clearly he's thought a lot about what the world may be like forty years hence. Keep it up, Dr. Kosko, and here's hoping you find a better editor to help you polish your next book.

Rating:
Summary: Nice Try, But Get a Better Editor Next Time
Review: Some scientists can "cross over" and become brilliant authors of fiction, and others... well... let's just say that Bart Kosko may get there eventually with the help of a good editor. The first thing that greets your eyes in this book is the map of the Middle East, Turkey, and south Europe. There is a body of water labeled "Capsian Sea". Come on, Avon--has none of your editors heard of the Caspian Sea? Off to a questionable start, we soldier bravely on, stuck on a plane flight with nothing else to read. Suspension of disbelief kicks in quickly--backing up someone's entire brain to a chip; a highly implausible Saudi missile attack on Israel (which has 300 nuclear missiles ready to launch); dialogue that ranges from passably believable to stilted and forced, in the best pulp tradition.

Then there is the matter of our protagonist, John, whose wife gets her brain swapped out for a super chip. When he notices the obvious surgical scars on her scalp while making love, she immediately attacks him (Curses! He's uncovered our evil plot!) and he is forced to kill her in self-defense, a gruesome act which is over with very quickly. Lucky thing this naked nano-tech scientist happens to have the killing instincts of a trained assassin. Oh, and was there any remorse? Any tears? None that we notice. This is a pulp hero straight out of the 1920s: a Doc Savage type who never displays any emotion except for anger at traffic cops. Well, we could go on, but you get the picture.

Despite the utter lack of characterization and the halfway plausible plot line, we give this book 3 stars because bad as the fiction is, the science is top-rate. Kosko knows his stuff when it comes to computers, and clearly he's thought a lot about what the world may be like forty years hence. Keep it up, Dr. Kosko, and here's hoping you find a better editor to help you polish your next book.

Rating:
Summary: Worth reading
Review: There are a number of sci fi books I have enjoyed more, but Nanotime is a worthy read.