I went into this novel not knowing what the story was about, and really let my mind wander and take guesses along the way. At first I sat there really enjoying this great original new Earth that the author had created, and revelled in the advances that the human race had made. But then when it descended into a story about self-aware computers taking revenge, I have to admit I became a little disappointed and worried.
The story had been so fun and original up to that point, that I was a bit bummed that such a cliched and generic storyline had been used, and didn't want to sit through an uninspired novel. But that wasn't the case! Even though I've seen a million and one Hollywood movies with this same theme *cough* I, Robot *cough* this one was a little different, and really fun to sit through.
Firstly, I have to say that I LOVE the world that David Simpson created in this novel, and I think the thing I love most about it is that it takes place mostly on Earth. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my sci-fi on other planets and with aliens, but it's so refreshing to see one that takes place on an earth that hasn't turned to crud. I loved how "normal" everybody seemed despite the technological changes, and seeing mentions of the Brooklyn Bridge, even if it was utterly useless in this new era on earth
I also loved how human beings had evolved so much with the help of technology, and how happy they were: it was really fun reading about how they could fly to Texas in the blink of an eye, and the "nans" in their bodies would self-repair any wound, and they could conjure up any food instantly with a food replicator. They seemed so happy and hedonistic, and even though they were technically part robot, they still retained a lot of their humanity.
I also enjoyed the contrasting Big Brother theme though - because with these technological advancements came a lot of drawbacks, in that their whole lives are up for scrutiny by the Council and the nans. At least in novels like Orwell's 1984 the characters could somewhat hide from the government, but having nanobots in your brain that report on you if you even somewhat think about cheating, sucks!
I also really enjoyed reading about how humans had learned to extend their lives indefinitely, but had banned divorce and adultery so as to avoid overpopulation. Again, this amazing step in evolution comes at a pretty awful cost. A recent indie sci-fi novel I read, Galaxy of Heroes, had a similar theme in that humans had 'turned off' the aging gene, and therefore could potentially live forever - but this one had no repercussions, and I remember sitting there wondering about overpopulation.
I also looooved the two factions - the 'Calculator Heads' and the Purists. As soon as I realised this story was going to be about self-aware computers I hoped there would be some groups on Earth that had refused to assimilate, and I found that in the Purists. It was funny seeing how the Calculator Heads and Purists clashed, and how both factions were disgusted at the lives the others led. It reminds me a lot of the aboriginal colony and 'The Smoke' occupants in Scott Westerfeld's The Uglies Trilogy series.
At times it seemed a little bit preachy though with the vegetarianism messages, particularly Rich's disgust over the Purists still eating meat. It wasn't a huge thing, but I did sit there and wonder about the author's own beliefs and eating habits ;]
I have to admit that it also seemed a bit preachy in terms of being a cautionary tale against heavy reliance on technology, but it didn't bother me to the point where I was like 'OKAY I GET IT, TECHNOLOGY IS EVIL'. I suppose it would be hard to write this kind of story without that coming up, and I think the author did a good job of reigning it in at the end and coming to a pretty neutral conclusion.
(Randomly though, the nans reminded me a LOT of the cloud that happens at the end of the remake of The Day The World Stood Still. Just sayin')
One other little thing that annoyed me was Thel. At the beginning I quite liked her (or maybe it was more that she didn't bug me) but she grew kind of annoying as the story progressed. She seemed to become more irrational and quite useless - I forgot that she was supposedly some genius scientist to have been hired for the Venus project - and her running around the Purist colony unhinged and zapping employees to get to James annoyed me. I can understand her being emotional, but at times it just seemed like she was an obnoxious stereotype of women being irrational. Maybe it's just me since I don't feel I'm like that
But overall, it was a really fun YA sci-fi read, that I'm glad I took a chance on. I'm getting into sci-fi from relatively unknown authors lately, and it seems to be paying off. I loved the 'universe' David Simpson created in this novel, from the technology, to the Purists, to its setting on Earth. At times it seemed a little preachy, but I really liked the themes in general. I wouldn't mind reading more sci-fi from the author in the future.
*I received this product for review through the Goodreads First Reads program, but that doesn't affect my opinion. Honesty ftw!
