Degrees of Freedom

Samuil Petrovitch #3

by Simon Morden

Winner of the 2012 Philip K. Dick Award

The Six Degrees of Petrovitch

Michael is an AI of incalculable complexity trapped under the remains of Oshicora tower. Petrovitch will free him one day, he just has to trust Michael will still be sane by the time he does.

Maddy and Petrovitch have trust issues. She's left him, but Petrovitch is pretty sure she still loves him.

Sonja Oshicora loves Petrovitch too. But she's playing a complicated game and it's not clear that she means to save him from what's coming.

The CIA wants to save the world. Well, just America, but they'll call it what they like.

The New Machine Jihad is calling. But Petrovitch killed it. Didn't he?

And the Armageddonists tried to kill pretty much everyone by blowing the world up. Now, they want to do it again.

Once again, all roads lead back to Petrovitch. Everyone wants something from him, but all he wants is to be free...

Genres: Science Fiction, Cyberpunk, Fiction, Dystopia, Near Future, Post Apocalyptic, Thriller

384 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 1, 2011

About the author

Aka S.J. Morden
Dr. Simon Morden, B.Sc. (Hons., Sheffield) Ph.D (Newcastle) is a bona fide rocket scientist, having degrees in geology and planetary geophysics. Unfortunately, that sort of thing doesn’t exactly prepare a person for the big wide world of work: he’s been a school caretaker, admin assistant, and PA to a financial advisor. He’s now employed as a part-time teaching assistant at a Gateshead primary school, which he combines with his duties as a house-husband, attempting to keep a crumbling pile of Edwardian masonry upright, wrangling his two children and providing warm places to sleep for the family cats.

His not-so-secret identity as journeyman writer started when he sold the short story Bell, Book and Candle to an anthology, and a chaotic mix of science fiction, fantasy and horror followed. Heart came out to critical acclaim, and Another War was shortlisted for a World Fantasy Award, but with The Lost Art, things suddenly got serious. Contracts. Agents. Deadlines. Responsibility. Scary stuff. The Lost Art was subsequently a finalist for the Catalyst Award for best teen fiction.

As well as a writer, he’s been the editor of the British Science Fiction Association's writers’ magazine Focus, a judge for the Arthur C Clarke awards, and is a regular speaker at the Greenbelt Arts Festival on matters of faith and fiction. In 2009, he was in the winning team for the Rolls Royce Science Prize.

Reviews

[Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This third novel in the Petrovitch books is easily the one I enjoyed the most. But why? Ah, well... because of everything that came before. But why?

Because while this novel takes place years after the first two books, headed far, far away from the time when Samuil used to be a very smart operative and well after the time he was just known as a breakthrough scientist -- adding a true AI buddy named Michael and a true anti-grav device using miniature black holes to his list of accomplishments -- he's still better known for being damn smart. Across many levels.

He's an SF wizard. Like, literally. He's one of the smartest people on the planet and nothing stands in his way. He's also ruthless. And yet, his progress as a decent human being is a huge part of these books. I'm enjoying it. :) Lots and lots of entertainment here. :) And it doesn't hurt that he cuts through problems with the cleverest nuclear solutions. How does he stop all of Europe from being annihilated by the crazy Americans? ooooh goodness.. you just have to read. :)

The author never stints and explaining a scientific concept, which I appreciate, but he does let us (or forces us) make do with the state of the world and any kind of interpersonal changes that might have gone on in the intervening years between books. Don't expect any hand-holding there. Jump in and figure it out for yourself. The journey is as fun as the discovery.

It makes for a slightly more difficult story, but who wants everything handed to them on a platter?

As it is, I'm mightily impressed with the scope of our changed world and just how crazy it has all become in these novels. Our near-future has never been so bleak OR hopeful at the same time. :)

Techno-thriller. Check. Hard-SF. Check. Soft-SF focusing on relationships and our state in the world, including AIs and sociopathy. Check. Higher-than-ever stakes. Check. I think it's a damn fine book. :)

[Metodi Markov · Rating 3 out of 5]

Приличен завършек на трилогията, без да е нищо особенно за съжаление.

Надявах се на повече, защото историята определено има потенциал...

P.S. Оказа се, че имало и четвърта книга, ще я потърся на английски.

[Христо Блажев · Rating 4 out of 5]

Бедни, бедни Петрович! Защо не умря при кулата “Ошикора”?: http://knigolandia.info/book-review/s...

Поредицата за Метрозоната продължава – а Самуил Петрович, неразбраният гений и по съвместителство постоянен спасител на света, пак трябва да е на линия за няколко изключително болезнени часове, в които всичко съградено рухва, предателство дебне отвсякъде, а крехката свобода е на път да бъде изгубена. В “Степени на свобода”, толкова чаканото продължение на “Уравненията на живота” и “Теории за полета”, обаче не се случва нищо чак толкова различно от предишните части и в мен има известно разочарование – повторението може да е майка на знанието, но все пак ми се искаше последната част да надгради предишните две, а не да тъпче на едно и също място, че и по-долу, защото този път липсва бойната масовка от първите две книги. Допадна ми обаче как всяка книга започва с невероятно откритие, което Петрович прави сякаш между другото – с което ми напомни на Грейди от “Прилив” на Даниел Суарес, двамата определено биха се спогодили.

Colibri Books
http://knigolandia.info/book-review/s...

[Brett · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Samuil Petrovitch series is the best thing I have read, hands down, in several years. It's right up there with Kim Stanley Robinson's 'Mars' trilogy as far as favorites. Somewhat different genre to be sure, but beautifully written.

Petrovitch is the type of reluctant hero that only appears once in a great while in fiction and we LIVE his experiences through these words, these novels.

Samuil Petrovitch lives in a world just past madness, still shaking in fear and he is running from his own past as well. Throw in the fact that he is a brilliant self-taught scientist, tactician worthy of Sun-Tu, and has an uncanny way of attracting powerful and dangerous women, it's no wonder he never stops getting into trouble. Thing is though, he's damn good at getting out of it as well.

I'm not going to say much more for the moment. No spoilers yet. Just to say that you MUST read these books! Even if they aren't quite your cup of tea, they are so damn good, you will HAVE to enjoy them!

The NMJ says so!

I need to repeat that this trilogy is fantastic and you MUST read it. Read it now!

[Scott Holstad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Degrees of Freedom is the winner of the 2012 Philip K. Dick award and it's very well deserved, I think. It's the third and final book in the Samuil Petrovitch trilogy. I loved it and I hated to see it end.

Samuil Petrovitch is a nerd/mathematician/physicist living in London's Metrozone, now called the Freezone. He has twice saved the city from disaster (in the previous books). (This is a future dystopia where Japan has sunk into the sea and America is full of "Reconstructionists," crazed religious nuts out to destroy the world, not unlike today's America. He has handed control of the Freezone over to Sonja Oshicara, but he still plays a significant role in its running. The people there are busy trying to rebuild their city.

[SPOILER]

Sam and his oft-separated wife, Maddie, a former nun who is Amazonian in size and carries a big gun, hear there is an Armageddonist with a nuke in a park and they rush to the park. They find the large container housing the bomb and Petrovitch gets in to discover a mummified corpse holding what appears to be a nuke. He inspects it and thinks he can disengage it, but needs some tools, so he sends Maddie to get them. Next thing you know, some thugs show up, break his arm badly while beating him up, and take off with the bomb. He's pissed. And he wakes up in a hospital with his arm in metal rings. Valentina, Tabletop, and Lucy are there, his crew, and they help him "escape" from the hospital, even though he's doing horribly, because he wants to find the bomb before it's used and he wants to stop these men.

He sees a video meant, apparently, just for him of masked men claiming they want the New Machine Jihad back, or they'll blow the bomb. The New Machine Jihad was an AI-based monster that destroyed half the city in an earlier book that Sam thought he had killed. He knows of a group of NMJ worshipers, so he and the gang head off there, hoping to find the bomb. Problem. Sonja has declared him a criminal and claims he has run off with the bomb. So her troops are looking for him.

They get to the place where the worshipers are, and there's no sign of a bomb. However, things seem off, and before they know it, men appear and start shooting! It's the CIA, who have been trying to kill Petrovitch and Michael, the super quantum computer that's possibly alive and that only Sam knows where it is. They want Michael destroyed. Petrovitch and the ladies get in a shoot out and escape, only to see a suspicious van leaving, possibly the people with the bomb, so they follow it. They overtake the van just as Sonja's troops arrive. It's a standoff. They let Sam and Valentina tear apart the bomb, carefully, though and it's a fake -- it's not a nuke. Someone set them up.

They then decide to rescue Michael, which they do with a lot of effort. However, they need to get him to safety, so they use Al Jazeera's satellite to upload him to other computers. He's now active and helping Sam run things.

More stuff happens. Lots of action. Petrovitch and the girls are trying their best to both save the day and escape from harm. Finally, Sam announces that Sonja has screwed up things too badly and he's firing her -- she's no longer in charge. I thought this was pretty naive on his part and it turned out I was right, because shortly after this announcement, some workers in the same park encountered some of Sonja's troops and were fired on and killed. Sam and the women rushed to the park and killed the bad guys. Meanwhile, he's trying to figure out a way to talk to Sonja and get her to stop. He finally decides to just go up to her office at the top of a high rise and talk to her, which seems unbelievably stupid. Until you realize his logic. He tells Maddie, who is pleading with him not to do this, that Sonja has never harmed him, except for the broken arm, and he thinks that was just a mistake. She's had plenty of chances and each time, his life has been spared. He thinks if he just walks through her lines of troops guarding her building and goes up to her office, he'll be safe. Because she's in love with him. Has been for a long time. So he does it. He calls her and tells her he's coming.

He goes to Sonja's office. They talk. She tells him everything she's done, she's done for him. He says horseshit. She claims that the CIA came to her months ago, demanding his head, and this was the only way she could think of to keep him "occupied" and out of their clutches. And now he's ruined everything. He tells her she was wrong. He tells her he's going to go out there and correct everything she's ruined. As he leaves, she pulls a gun out, puts it in her mouth and pulls the trigger.

He's heard the CIA have a nuke with them. They're going to blow up the Freezone and kill Samuil Petrovitch and Michael and everyone else. He's got to stop them. He and Madddie go down into the underground tunnel leading to where Michael had been stored and catch up to the CIA operatives. Maddie kills one. They had already captured one previously. There were five to start with. Petrovitch releases an odd type of bomb he and Lucy have cooked up which doesn't explode -- it turns into a mini-black hole and sucks everything around it into it. They roll it down the tunnel and it gets the third agent. The final two are in Michael's vault. Maddie climbs down and shuts the vault door, locking them in, but they know time is critical, because that bomb is going to go off and they have to warn everybody to get the hell away from there.

As Sam and Maddie are dragged out of a manhole, they tell everyone about the bomb and tell everyone to take off. Sam can barely move, he's so badly injured. Maddie drags him. Fortunately, Sam had thrown his last little black hole bomb into the shaft above the vault, destroying the tower above it and collapsing it. Minutes later, the bomb explodes, knocking everyone to the ground and blowing houses, bridges, and other buildings to smithereens. However, the collapsed tower seems to have helped, because there's no mushroom cloud. There is radiation, however and everyone heads for a radiation Red Cross site, where they are cleaned up. Sam loses an eye. He is probably going to lose his arm too. And he's pissed. At America. As is everyone else. And he knows how to get back at them.

A phone in the White House rings. Someone picks up. Someone claiming to be Samuil Petrovitch speaks and says he wants to speak to the president. He gets an admiral. The admiral says they don't talk to terrorists and is about to hang up when Petrovitch tells him he's about to witness the destruction of his country. The admiral pauses, then hangs up. Sam rings the Situation Room and gets someone there. He demands to talk to the president. He won't talk to Sam. Sam tells them Michael has inserted an indestructible virus in every American networked computer so that when they are powered down, they'll be wiped permanently and the American economy will collapse. The Americans then notice that missiles have been launched from Russia, China, the European Union and elsewhere, hundreds of nukes, all aimed at America. They begin to panic. Petrovitch tells them they're getting what they deserve. The president calls for his own nuke codes, while cities on the coasts start to disappear from the screen. Sam then asks what if this is not real? What if? Should you launch? The president starts reading the code. Someone stops him with two code words left and Petrovitch says to utter the last two, he has almost captured the whole string. The president fires two of his cabinet members, more cities disappear, but interestingly, no missiles are aimed at Washington. He reads the last two code words. Sam and Michael get them. One of the president's men calls his brother in Colorado, which has just been hit. His brother answers and he's asked if there have been any nukes exploding in his state. He laughs and says no. It was all a scam. Sam has scammed them and now has their nuke codes. He says he is going to post them to electronic bulletin board walls. He tells them he's captured the entire conversation electronically and once the American people hear and see it, the president will be toast. He hangs up smiling.

There are a few wrap up things that happen, but that's the gist of it. Sorry for the spoilers. If you like action packed, very violent sci fi that's borderline cyberpunk, then this is definitely the book and series for you. I'm really going to miss Samuil Petrovitch. He was far from perfect. He was even deeply flawed. But he felt real, somehow. You lived his experiences and grew with him as he grew. It was a great ride. Definitely recommended.

[Melanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing story-line; little to no depth for most of the characters; relationships not given a basis. I also really struggled remembering who any of the secondary characters were, not helped by the fact that there were none of these helpful little reminders about how people know each other/what has happened that you usually get in sequels.

Thoroughly disappointing considering how much I enjoyed the first two.

[Roiben · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having really enjoyed the first two books I was quite disappointed by how this one did not scrub up. Yes, still lots of excellent action and maybe I did leave it too long between them but this is the first time it's dragged. The writing seems flaccid, Petrovitch has become a whiney little bitch basically. The best character Maddy is hugely underused. The honeymoon is very much over.

[Charles Dee Mitchell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I let too long a time pass between reading the first two books in this trilogy and finally getting around to this final volume. Each novel is self-contained, they do not end in cliffhangers that make all three one long story. But I had forgotten certain fine points of this post-Armegeddon world, for instance, just what "Armegeddon" occurred, how to differentiate between Armageddon, the New Machine Jihad, and the Long Night. I was just accepting the fact that one character was named Tabletop until something clicked to remind me that was her CIA operative name. So maybe it was the amount of mental catch-up I was having to play that made this third outing with Samuil Petrovitch drag somewhat. Also, since this supposedly concludes a trilogy, there is a lot of wrapping up to do for the final fifty or so pages.

The action is not as relentless nor as outrageously inventive as in the first two novels, but it is still fun. Here's an exchange between Petrovitch and Maddy, the ex-nun who is now his estranged wife.

"We've really fucked this up, haven't we?"

"That depends," said Petrovitch. "We're fifteen meters below a collapsed building, crouching in a small tunnel cut through unstable, quaternary alluvial deposits using miniature black holes, looking for a concrete pipe that might be blocked by fallen masonry, at the bottom of which could be a crushed computer, while above ground, someone wants us to believe they have a live nuclear weapon ready to re-enact the attack on Paris." He watched her face fall then added, "But we're here together. Where would I rather be?"

"Martinique?"

Turns out Petrovitch doesn't feel safe around volcanoes, so Martinique is not a temptation.

[Dea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still going strong with the Gary Stu, I see. There is enough in the book that I find charming, the science and the augments, that I intend to read the next book. But Samuil's outbursts, him always being right, and everyone being in love with him is starting to grate really badly. Friends can save friends just because they are friends, they don't need to want to make babies with the protagonist. And blowing up ten times in as many chapters, punching inanimate objects and throwing tamper tantrums, cheapens his emotions.

It feels a lot like finding a hair in your soup after you have eaten half of it. Yeah the hair doesn't change the fact that you enjoyed the portion you already ate, but it does make you feel bit queasy about the whole thing.

PS: this just might be the result of 'death by a thousand cuts' but I am starting to see Sam as a basement dwelling neckbeard. He smells. He doesn't shower. He has a pasty white complexion one would get after never leaving their basement. And yet scores of attractive capable women want to have sex with him. Take care of his every whim. Put on his dirty socks and help him dress. They fetch him coffee and don't say a word when he tells them to “shut the fuck up”. I get it, he is smart, but he is also a dick to his friends and they don't deserve to be treated like that.

[Robert Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

The finale of the original trilogy, this book brings together the threads that have been left hanging in the other two books in a satisfying way. Characters mature, goals are reached, answers are given...

The hero remains a foul mouthed, selfish street urchin/brilliant physicist, but he matured here into someone who not only cares for those around him, but also has a vision he wants to see the world conformed to. He sacrifices himself, and those around, to the vision, but it's worth it.

Characters are somewhat static by this point, except him the rest of reached their development, so this is more the mystery/working out the details. Still worth reading, but read the others first, this will lose a lot of impact if you don't...

[Borislava Kratunkova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ако трябва да бъда честна, тази книга ми хареса най-много от трилогията за Самуил Петрович. Наблюдава се израстване и у него, и у Мади,и у Люси. Сам започва да вярва в почти нереалното и успява да го превърне в реално. Предаността му към Майкъл е забележителна и достойна за уважение, макар Майкъл да е ИИ. Не мога да не отбележа че Мади до средата на книгата беше доста неадекватна и сякаш и трябваше доста време да осъзнае защо Сам не и е казал за Майкъл. Но бракът им устоя на това и дори на много повече. Самоубийство на Соня е признак на слабохарактерност. Биха могли да се развият нещата при нея по съвсем различен начин, но уви, финалът за нея беше от лесните.
Аз бих допълнила финалът, тъй като ми се струва че свърша буквално в нищото...

[Dale Parnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's an argument to be made that this is the best of the Metrozone trilogy. The stakes are higher, the characters and relationships have matured and there are some genuinely moving moments. And when the villain is revealed it feels both shocking and somehow right, like the three books have been leading you to this point all along (which of course they have, and demonstrates the great ability of Dr Morden to create a coherent and complex story across three books).
I have a huge affection for these books and the characters and I suspect it won't be very long at all before I pick them up once again.

[Charles Haworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still enjoying the series

This starts well and has a level of espionage style thriller through it as the USA and the Yakuza style gangsters all make Sam's life hard in all ways

He still moans and gripes and gets life ending injuries at pretty much every turn. The US don't come out of this very well, but to be fair no group or ideology does in the whole series.

Not quite silly, enjoyable if getting a bit Vince Flynnesque survive scrapes that make him mostly android and good fun

[Roy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The trilogy of Samuil Petrovich books are great fun. This third book leads to a kind of conclusion to the series and a new beginning for Petrovich and his clan. I especially enjoy his description of the kind of society he is aiming for and the Trumpist conclusion of a society that America has become.

[Ivan Bogdanov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Майл става император... Добре де, Вицекрал... Всъщност Петрович му се налага да заеме едно място, което не иска.
А ирландското уиски си е най-добре.
Добър завършек, ама заибаха цялата революция във физиката.

[Bob · Rating 2 out of 5]

Plenty of action from that crazy Russian. Still lots of supposedly Russian phrases that fail to translate, or even be recognized as Russian. Sam is not as much fun on the global stage. The Americans are revealed as religious fanatics. The story has become stale.

[Andy Plonka · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I would have liked this better if I had read the previous books in the series, but it was an interesting journey into the realm of artificial intelligence.

[Stephen Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice ending to an interesting trilogy. I'm hoping to see imperial Americanisms dealt with similarly in our world...

[Paul Bard · Rating 4 out of 5]

By far the best of the trilogy.

[John Hodgkinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just like the first two books, this is packed full of action in a rollicking good story. Onto the fourth and last in the series.

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I swear in Russian now

[usagi ☆ミ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review is one for all three books. Just a warning.

I totally did NOT expect to get sucked into this series as much as I did, and the fact that it’s only a trilogy makes me profoundly sad. This is an awesome, awful alternate present/future that Morden has created, and I’m sad to see it go. But let’s take a look at what makes it so great, shall we?

This world is split off from ours at 2000, says Morden in an interview in the back of the first book. However, he doesn’t say how far in the future the Metrozone exists in – presumably at least 25-30 years down the line, as they have things like implantable/replaceable body parts and the like. Japan is gone, sunk under the sea, and the US is run by a “reconstructionist” religious party (not so far from today, it sounds like?).

I love books that consider alternate histories. It’s the Schrodinger’s Cat idea that gets me the most – instead of choosing A, what if I’d chosen B? What if I’d said no instead of yes? What are the possibilities of those choices? I know Doctor Who did a whole bunch of episodes about that in season 4 (some of the best of that season, and that season was pretty awesome). Morden’s alternate history of what might have happened in the year 2000 forward is a wonderful exploration of the darkest parts of the human psyche – our needs, our wants, and our most base animal parts. This is a dark bunch of books – so if you’re not into dystopian, let alone math-related books, bail out now. This just won’t be your cup of tea.

But if you like cyberpunk, math, thrillers, dystopia all in one insane mix, these books are so definitely for you. The math isn’t overwhelming, but there are some confusing points that I had to google to be sure on. Luckily, the rest are made up (the Ekinobi-Petrovitch Theorem, for example), so if you’re math-stupid like me, you’ll be fine.

I think the best part about Sam as a character and Morden is an author is that you really live through Sam’s eyes the entire trilogy. You’re right there with him, right there next to him, inside of his head. This means everything – from his stuttering heart in the first book, to his broken heart over Maddy by the third book. You see, think, feel, smell, touch everything he does. Morden is a master with sensory language and the amount of showing over telling is overwhelmingly, joyously tipped in the “showing” direction – automatically making me love Morden. It’s so hard to do that, and doing that in a sci-fi genre book/series is even harder. I tip my hat in major respect for him being able to do that.

The pace of these books start out slow but once they get going, don’t let up until you’re panting until the very end. But you know what? It’s a great panting, a great sheen of sweat you feel by the end of each book (especially book three). Never have I been so thrilled and on the edge of my seat for a hard sci-fi novel/series – at least not in a long, long while.

And the best part? OUR HERO IS A NERD. GEEK. DORK. But totally brilliant. He’s not big and brawny and gorgeous – he’s scrawny and pale and geeky. Morden makes math sexy with this hero, though, because I’d totally date Petrovitch. In a heartbeat.

I’m keeping this review spoiler free, so all I can say that’s left is to go read these books if you’re even remotely a sci-fi fan. It may be a pretty dark world Petrovitch and his friends are in, but he’s the light that shines within it, even if he doesn’t want to be. I seriously recommend the “Petrovitch” trilogy and any other future books in this world by Morden, should/if they ever come out. A great summer read, for sure!

(posted to shelfari, goodreads, and witchoftheatregoing.wordpress.com)

[Jacqueline Wagenstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Метрозоната" е изключително успешна поредица романи от британския писател Саймън Мордън. Завладяваща сайбърпънк антиутопия, която ще ви потопи в един изчистен научнофантастичен свят, в който главният герой носи името Самуил Петрович, а интригата се върти около основната му цел - да остане жив!

Саймън Мордън е доктор на науките. Ракетен инженер, специализирал геология и планетарна геофизика и, както много често се случва, намерил истинското си призвание в една съвсем различна област. Макар че образованието му със сигурност е изключително полезно за един автор на научна фантастика, то не му е предоставило кой знае какви кариерни възможности.

Преди да стане световноизвестен като автор на "Метрозоната" и много преди да получи едно от най-престижните литературни отличия за фантасти - наградата "Филип К. Дик" - Мордън работи като училищен портиер, секретар на финансов съветник и помощник-учител в начално училище.

Успехът го връхлита неочаквано, когато продава един разказ. Творбата му е публикувана в антология и е приета възторжено от критиката. С излизането на романа "Изгубеното изкуство" нещата стават наистина сериозни. Договори. Агенти. Крайни срокове. Отговорност. Все плашещи неща.

Мордън обаче се справя завидно добре с лавирането между отговорностите на писателската професия, отглеждането на децата и домашните котки и изобщо с грижата за дома. Освен всички научни титли и писателския талант Мордън притежава и очарователно чувство за хумор.

"Метрозоната" е най-яркото доказателство за това. В центъра на поредицата е колоритният антигерой Самуил Петрович. А историята му започва в романа "Уравненията на живота", за който Мордън получава награда "Филип К. Дик".

Петрович е много неща, но на първо място той е оцеляващ. Човек на правилата и логиката. И винаги има план. Освен това е емигрант, успял е да се измъкне от ядрената атака над Санкт Петербург и когато за пръв път се срещаме с него, той вече е в Метрозоната на Лондон – последния град в Англия.

Петрович е жив, защото едно от основните правила в живота му е да не се меси в чужди проблеми. И когато го нарушава, спасявайки едно момиче, оцеляването му е силно застрашено. Преследват го руски гангстери, якудза и нещо, наречено Новия джихад на машините.

Втората книга от поредицата е "Теории за пòлета". Петрович е оцелял, но това съвсем не значи, че няма проблеми. Даже напротив. Крие опасна компютърна програма (същата програма, която едва не унищожи Метрозоната), градът се разпада и някой се опитва да убие Петрович. Някой, който е готов да унищожи целия град, за да постигне целта си.

Така стигаме до третия роман от поредицата "Степени на свобода", в който, както обикновено, всички пътища водят към Петрович. Някой го обича. Друг го напуска. Трети иска да унищожи света. ЦРУ иска да го спаси. Добре де, не целия свят, само Америка. Армагедонистите се завръщат. И всички искат нещо от Петрович. Той иска само да бъде свободен, а това е много труднопостижимо.

Симпатично досаден, нахално циничен и шокиращо забавен, Петрович със сигурност ще успее да спечели симпатиите ви. Освен това "Метрозоната" си заслужава да й отделите време и заради брилянтното остроумие на Мордън.

"Ако повече политици четат научна фантастика, половината от кашите, които са забъркани в момента, няма да ги има" - казва писателят, а ние можем единствено да се съгласим с него и да допълним, че е добре не само да четат, но и да разбират правилно.

РЕВЮ: www.avtora.com

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a surprisingly well-developed little thriller. I picked it up at the library based on its crazy geometric cover pattern, and I was halfway through it before I realized this was a sequel, in fact the third in a trilogy and that the parts that were unexplained (New Machine Jihad, Reconstruction, etc) would never be explained because they weren't meant to be mysteries, having been addressed in the earlier books. Oops. That aside, I finished the book, because the forward momentum was sufficient and the ideas developed well enough that I felt like I could, for the most part, follow where it was going....

The basic idea is that we have a London post some technological-theological conflagration, courtesy of some combination of the New Machine Jihad and their opposite number, the Reconstructionist USA. It doesn't take a genius to see war on terror resonances here, and this book seems to be the culmination of that, some rejection of Bush-era policies that is dated but still satisfyingly worked out. It also falls, I think, into that strain of British sci-fi that is kind of obsessive about being #2.

There are lots of interesting futurist ideas here-- the most interesting to me is the Freezone stuff, which is kind of like a Utopian/ Free Market Taiwan, maybe? I'm less interested in the religious soul of the machine stuff, though I'm sure that resonates for some readers. All the Russian slang/ profanity I thought was a little over the top, honestly, as was the fact that this improbable hero was desired by all the women in the novel-- you're not an anti-hero if everyone pretty much worships you. And this book shares with many genre novels that flaw of motivation, where secondary characters have no life and desires beyond those that advance the plot. But it's sci-fi, not Shakespeare-- there are times here when I wondered what characters did when they weren't present, but the truth is that they didn't do much. There's a nice idea, that isolation might make the AI Michael go insane, but nothing we actually see suggests that was ever really a possibility, and the same goes for the other characters in the sense of not having anything you'd recognize as even a vector of independent thought.

But it's still a pretty good read. It reminds me, on some level at least, of William Gibson's prime cyberpunk stuff-- not as silly as Mona Lisa Overdrive, but not as down to earth at the Blue Ant stuff, competent techno-thriller material. It's not hack work, exactly, but it's not great, either.

[Radi Radev · Rating 5 out of 5]

Самуил Петрович е един от шестимата най-умни човеци на планетата. Освен това е и най-добре ругаещият. Петрович с еднаква лекота може да използва както генератор на сингуларност, така и думи твърде неподходящи за изискана аудитория.
Самуил се опитва да извади на бял свят погребан изкуствен интелект на име Майкъл. От Конгрегацията на Доктрината на вярата са загрижени дали Майкъл има душа и изпращат отец Джон да проучи въпроса.
Тук почувствах влияние на Робърт Силвърбърг. Най-награждаваният разказ на Силвърбърг се нарича "Добри вести от Ватикана" и в него се разказва за робот, който е провъзгласен за папа.
При Саймън Мордън обаче нещата са много по-различни, въпреки че и той сериозно използва похвата Deus ex machina и в буквалния, и в преносния смисъл.
Петрович открива мъртъв армагедонист и самоделна бомба, която може би е ядрена. Внезапно група от шестима непознати атакуват Самуил и отвличат бомбата.
Петрович е наистина възхитителен образ - един саможертвен герой, идеалист, който отказва да бъде съблазнен от властта и славата. Самуил разбира колко много степени на свобода трябва да премине, за да постигне целта си да живее свободно или да умре.
Интересно в книгата е, че има много женски образи, обкръжаващи главния герой и всички те го обичат и защитават:

"Досега нито веднъж не го беше попитала какво прави и той осъзна, че това не е от безразличие, а израз на доверие, което не можеше да се купи с пари."

Авторът прави много добро съчетание от драма, екшън и комедия в този роман.
Американците и особено техният президент Макензи са лошите в книгата. Те нанасят сериозен удар на Свободната Зона.
Но Петрович има на своя страна толкова развит ИИ, че Ватиканът се кани да го обяви за жив. Освен това притежава и специална компютърна програма с наистина нихилистично име. Самуил определено знае как да действа:

http://radiradev.blogspot.com/2014/12...

[Desmond Reid · Rating 2 out of 5]

In Freezone, formerly London, Samuel Petrovitch has a major problem. The Oshicora Tower has collapsed. Samuel must now free the Artificial Intelligence which calls himself Michael trapped underneath. Meanwhile, he is still estranged from his wife Maddie. Sonja Oshicora still loves him (but is she trying to save him or kill him?) and the CIA and the New Machine Jihad are still out for his blood.

So, when 'Container Zero' is discovered with a nuclear bomb, all roads appear to lead to Petrovitch...or do they?

A quagmire of a book, if you haven't read the last two in this cyberpunk series, there isn't much 'Basil Expedition' explanation to highlight the journey that lead to the creation of Freezone and Petrovitch's place within it.

I have and I still struggled!

I do know that the world thinks the AI now known as Michael was the cause of the mighty destruction of London by unleashing the so called 'New Machine Jihad'....but I digress and you really need to read the first two books in series.

All the principal characters who revere him are here and which made the last two books so rich: the three ex's: ex Russian hitman Valentina, ex CIA agent aka 'Tabletop', ex Vatican bodyguard and now wife Maddy....plus the schoolgirl Samuel previously rescued and now his adopted daughter Lucy.

This literary graphic novel is set in the immediate future of a post apocalyptic London. I can't help thinking this is how Guy Richie might see a very English version of the 'Suicide Squad'.

Having really enjoyed the previous books, this suffered from a laboured read which heavily relies on the reader to interpret what is happening with scant detail and reasoning.

Clearly Petrovitch has been stitched up regarding 'Container Zero' but why?

In the end, it comes down to a fight of good versus evil. Yet, we are not sure who the bad guys are until the very end. While that seems to be the story, getting there was a very bumpy ride indeed. Mah. 6/10

[Marina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Докато четях последната книга за Самуил Петрович „Степени на свобода“ от Саймън Мордън си мислех колко много се е променил като персонаж от първата книга. Докато там той е представен с всичките си положителни и отрицателни черти, то във втората той вече развива чувство за дълг, чест и приятелство. В третата трансформацията е завършена – той отговаря за Свободната зона и то не само на хартия. Той се чувства отговорен за това, което тя означава – свобода. И се бие за нея. Даже почти умира (което погледнато на фона на иначе изключителният му талант да мре, не е чак толкова много, но все пак важен е жеста ). Но освен за Свободната зона и хората в нея, той се бие и за свободата на своя приятел Майкъл, който е затворен от почти година в квантовия компютър на стария Джихад на машините, който се намира под развалините на кулата „Ошикора“. Също така и за близките му, тези които нарича семейство: Маса, Тина, Люси, Мади...Соня.
Третата книга не е толкова за това колко много искат да го убият (което си е перманентна тенденция в трилогията), а за Петрович като личност и развитието му. За да може да получи това, което иска - истинска свобода за себе си, за жените около себе си и Майкъл. Разбира се за тази цел обаче трябва да открие къде е (неистинската) атомна бомба, която му открадват под носа; да открие кой иска да го убие (тук има и препратка към Ромео и Жулиета, което докато го четох се скъсах да се хиля); да избяга на ЦРУ агентите и да проведе кратък приятен разговор с президента на САЩ, обяснявайки му какво „говно“ е.
Погледнато общо върху цялата трилогия, мисля че е подходяща за леко и приятно, неангажиращо четиво. Аз се забавлявах, смях, чудих и клатих глава на Петрович и неговите възгледи и перипетии. Определено бих го прочела отново, дори и само да се посмея на абсурдните ситуации, в които изпада

[Corey Dutson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hey look at that: I've found a trilogy of books that have managed to contain within themselves well-paced, enjoyable stories; characters I can not only relate to, but actually give a damn about; stitch together an over-arching story that actually means something; and actually cleans up all its loose ends (bar one) rather nicely.

Colour me shocked.

The Metrozone trilogy has been an absolute blast to read. If you can get past the collection of Russian cursing (not all of which have I managed to figure out) and the use of the term 'levering' these books offer an enjoyable post-armageddon set story. Petrovitch mirrors in many ways the Doctor from the Doctor Who series, which is always enjoyable. The difference really is that Petrovitch isn't a saint, and it takes a long time for him to figure out what he's fighting for. Through the three books, he evolves from a complete anti-hero into a man that to be proud of. He evolves from a ruthless survivor to something more akin to the current 11th Doctor, complete with stepping back into the shadows.

Well written, well paced, and shockingly human characters make this series a brilliant addition to the genre. Are they the be all and end all of Cyberpunk? No, but goddamn if you won't enjoy them anyways.

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Today is a glad and a sad day. I finished listening to Degrees of Freedom and I am glad to find out what happened but I am sad because there will be no more Samuil Petrovitch for a while. I checked all three audio books out from the library so I can’t go back and listen any time I want just to get a Petrovitch fix. I guess I will have to go buy the books. That will have to last me until the next book comes out and that will be quite awhile.

If you are a fan of Science Fiction I highly recommend the Metrozone series. Samuil Petrovitch is an unlikely hero. My reaction to him reminds me of my reaction to Lisbeth Salander in Girl With a Dragon Tattoo. Sometimes neither of them is very likeable but I could not help but pull for both.

In Degrees of Freedom almost a year has passed since the last book. Sam still is not with Mattie, Sonia still wants him, Michael is still buried under the Oshicora tower, the CIA is causing trouble, and The New Machine Jihad is around again. To add to all of that what appears to be an Armageddonists bomb has been found. Sam is about to have a very busy two days. Just tons of fun for the listener.

Recorded Books produced Degrees of Freedom in 2011.

Toby Leonard Moore narrated all three books and he was very, very good.

[Петър Панчев · Rating 4 out of 5]

Свободата на Петрович е отново под заплаха

Цялото ревю тук: http://knijenpetar.blogspot.com/2014/...
Съвсем сигурно е, че Самуил Петрович никога няма да се откаже от борбата, която води с любителите на апокалиптични сценарии. Вече свиквам с непрестанното му мърморене и повтаряне на едни и същи руски псувни. От една страна това го прави предвидим, но пък от друга - се вижда една постоянна непримиримост, която ми допада. Имах известна нагласа за третата част - постоянни битки, интересни политически ходове, доволно количество (колко грубо звучи!) невинни жертви, - но не и 200 страници ретроспекция на първите две части. „Уравненията на живота“ и „Теории за полета“ си бяха доста впечатляващи, докато „Степени на свобода“ не доказа, че Мордън има желание да доразвива героите си. Спасението тук се крие в тайната конспирация около Петрович, която - до известна степен - го принуждава да стане още по-целеустремен и рискуващ живота си. То такъв живот като неговия едва ли може да се нарече стойностен, но се старае момчето. Може да се каже, че кръвта вода не става - направо невъзможно при Петрович.