Love Machine: A Novel from Crosstown to Oblivion

Crosstown to Oblivion

by Walter Mosley

Walter Mosley's talent knows no bounds. Love Machine is one of six fragments in the Crosstown to Oblivion short novels in which Mosley entertainingly explores life's cosmic questions. From life's meaning to the nature of good and evil, these tales take us on speculative journeys beyond the reality we have come to know. In each tale someone in our world today is given insight into these long pondered mysteries. But how would the world really receive the answers?Love Datascriber was supposed to merely allow individuals to share sensory experiences via a neurological link, but its true potential is even more revolutionary. The brainchild of an eccentric, possibly deranged scientist, the "Love Machine" can merge individual psyches and memories into a collective Co-Mind that transcends race, gender, species . . . and even death itself.Tricked into joining the Co-Mind, as part of a master plan to take over the world, Lois Kim struggles to adapt to her new reality and abilities. Is there any way back to the life that was stolen from her, or is she destined to lead humanity into a strange new era, despite the opposition of forces both human and otherwise?

Genres: Science Fiction

352 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 2013

About the author

Walter Mosley (b. 1952) is the author of the bestselling mystery series featuring Easy Rawlins, as well as numerous other works, from literary fiction and science fiction to a young adult novel and political monographs. His short fiction has been widely published, and his nonfiction has appeared in the New York Times Magazine and the Nation, among other publications. Mosley is the winner of numerous awards, including an O. Henry Award, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, a Grammy, and PEN America’s Lifetime Achievement Award. He lives in New York City.

Reviews

[Roger · Rating 2 out of 5]

No, Love Machine is not a biography of The Miracles. In Love Machine Walter Mosley develops the idea of a human Co-Mind; it's a sort of group intelligence that is (allegedly) liberating rather than enslaving. It's vaguely reminiscent of Theodore Sturgeon's idea of homo gestalt from Sturgeon's More Than Human, but achieved through strictly technological means. However I feel obligated to mention that sometimes induction to the Co-Mind is not voluntary and that results in a kind of mental rape. This has no attraction for me. That plus the wild swerve the book takes at the end mean this book loses some stars.

[Road Worrier · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of a neat idea. I like these Crosstown to Oblivion short stories. Mosley goes just far enough to explore a "what if". I feel like the conflict at the end was thrown in by an editor or something who said "a story must have more conflict!" but I think the book would have worked fine if the story ended before that, and the people simply use their newfound connectedness to become bigger and better.

[K2 · Rating 4 out of 5]

An Autistic Mad Scientist was strong mostly until the end, Mosley kinda lost Mi😞 But that’s one of the blessings of Mosley’s writing skills, I never said “I knew that’s was going to happen”, so for that Mosley still gets high ✨ 🌟

[Noam · Rating 1 out of 5]

Is there an unwritten rule that all scifi authors have to write at least one creepy, racist book? I listened to (most of) an audiobook, and the narrator, Sean Crisden, made the unfortunate choice to give the female, Korean-American protagonist a tentative little voice, even when the text suggested that she was being assertive. But the decision to make Javier a stereotype with experience in gangs and little formal education, and who randomly inserts Spanish into English conversations, is all on Mosley. And the randomly naked "exotic" teenage girl? What?

But really, what's the deal with the random "Hola"s and "¿Qué pasa?"s. As someone who has been both a native (in the States) and a foreigner, I can say that I don't randomly respond to people in English. In fact, as an English-dominant Spanish-teacher, I am much more likely to accidentally respond to English with Spanish than any Spanish-dominant people I know.

And who says "Hispanic" anymore?

[Brian Palmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love Machine felt like an inriguing short story expanded into a brief novel. This gave it an advantage over a short story proper in that it could develop some characters at length, while keeping to the core idea of the story.

The ending of the novel felt out of place, bringing a religious spirituality into what had started off with a very different feel ; I don't think it worked in that regard.

[Carrieuoregon · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars for being so prosaic, and then so weird! I've never read Mosley before, although I've intended to. Now I know he is a compelling writer, and his sci-fi is pretty out there.

[Richard Givan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a perplexing little novel. The writing style is engaging, the characters pleasant (mostly), but the plot just gets too wonky, at least for me.