Android: Mimic

Identity #2

by Mel Odom

New Angeles Detective Drake 3GI2RC is not your average Bioroid. First, he’s one of the New Angeles Police Department’s few android cops, and second, he’s haunted by another man’s memories. But even as Drake investigates a very public crime, he must look inward for answers. After all, where does his programming end, and his own personality begin?

Genres: Science Fiction, Cyberpunk

349 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2012

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

aka Jordan Gray

Mel Odom is a bestselling writer for hire for Wizards of the Coast's Forgotten Realms, Gold Eagle's Mack Bolan, and Pocket's Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel book lines. His debut SF novel Lethal Interface made the Locus recommended list . The Rover was an Alyx Award winner. He has also written a scientific adventure of the high seas set in the 19th century entitled Hunters of the Dark Sea. He lives in Oklahoma.

Reviews

[Charles Lupo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Classic example of middle book syndrome. It starts out where the first one left off, meanders around for a while with layers of mystery that I honestly didn't quite understand and got lost in, then ends with really nothing resolved whatsoever. I like that the locale is changing in each book. I don't like that all of book 2 was just setting up more questions to (hopefully) be answered in book 3.

I can't really recommend this book at this point. I enjoyed book 1, and could have left it at that. I hope that book 3 comes thru with a big finish to pull me back in, but I'm not optimistic.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Enjoyable read in the Android universe. Not much new or interesting for people unfamiliar with the world. Interesting to see perspective from the moon. Will read third book to see how the story ends.

[Ryan Somma · Rating 4 out of 5]

There laws of robotics from the Androids perspective.

[Owen]

I'm not entirely sure what genre to classify this as. It's tie-in fiction, and sci-fi, but those are both broad fields. It's about a detective, but I don't think I can call it a mystery. In a mystery, I feel like we should be given sufficient information along with the detective, so that when he or she puts the pieces together, we feel clever if we came to the same conclusion. In this case, two books in I don't think we have all of the information we need. When we do get answers, I feel like they're getting infodumped on us, which doesn't inspire the same satisfaction at how the pieces tie together.

So, not strictly a mystery. There's a lot of action, which is well-executed, but which sometimes lacks an emotional weight. For example, at several points Drake has flashbacks to the life of the person on whose brain his mind is based. They're action scenes, but we know that his 'parent' survives, and neither he nor we know what information he's hoping to gain, so it's hard to feel much tension.

There's some action, and some philosophical questions about what it means to be human, but here as in the first book I feel that the philosophical side is handled better when the book is focusing on other things - when it's discussed it's heavy-handed, but when it's in the background it works a bit better.

So, it moves along, entertainingly enough, but I don't know how much is going to stick around. I wish that there were characters other than Drake who remained constant, but nobody else seems to be sticking around.

Finally, in something of a side note, the book is falling further into the traps of tie-in fiction than the previous book in the trilogy, mostly in ways that are not the author's doing. The cover art and title don't match the content in any way that makes much thematic sense to me.

[Taddow · Rating 4 out of 5]

While not as good as the first book in this series, I found this book to be an enjoyable read. The author does a great job of looking at life and decisions through a bioroid's programming perspective and its constant weighing of decisions and outcomes to be in compliance with its programming. It is also intriguing to see all of the additional options, due to the technological capabilities, that the bioroid character (working in a role as a Police Officer) can do in the background (accessing criminal files and information on locations and people while simultaneously interviewing people and conducting surveillance, to accessing nearby security cameras and mapping programs to coordinate with GPS to assist in pursuit and gathering Intel) that contributes to the efficient performance of its duties. Of course, not being human offers a mix of advantages and disadvantages, and the author does a great job of trying to offer the conundrum of the two aspects working together toward a goal.

[Paul Grindrod · Rating 4 out of 5]

Over the years I've learnt that tie-in novels generally can't be judged following normal rules. There's always an element of "product placement" that interferes with the narrative.

That said Mimic (and the Identity trilogy as a whole) is a decently-paced, action-packed read that adds some nice background flavour to the Android universe. It is very much the middle book of the series though, so plotlines are developed but never fully resolved. I think it's safe to assume that all will be revealed in the finale.

The weakest point of the book is the characterisation. Many characters feel like bit-players in a TV episode. But that's OK because this is Drake's story and he is well done.

Overall a better-than-average tie-in novel but not earth-shatteringly good.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Managed to keep my attention to the plot, but some of the information was repeated for no good reason. Maybe the author was worried I'd forget how bad and lawless the Docklands were and how bioroids operate. Mr Odom, worry not, the first book was great and made me follow the story close enough - no need to repeat the same information over and over again. I get it the first time it appears in a story, even if it's chopped up into different books. Since AGOT this ain't, you don't have to worry I'll forget what happened between book 1 and 5 ;-)

A good Android book, and an OK middle-of-the-story part. Necessary to build the plot out a bit more, but maybe could've been split in two and shared between part 1 and 3, to make it a dilogy.

[Krzysztof · Rating 3 out of 5]

More like a 2.5/5

Mimic suffers from being the second part of a trilogy. For the most part, it's just pointless filler. Stuff happens, but doesn't really push the plot forward in any meaningful way. Character growth isn't playing a big part here - though Drake learns stuff about himself and undergoes a certain metamorphosis, it doesn't really influence his decisions at all. Drake is a tool in this book, a means to an end. What end, in what kind of conspiracy, is only vaguely hinted at and there's not enough interest built in this book to really care all that much about the conclusion of the trilogy.

It was a decent read, but disappointing.

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sadly, not as good as book 1, Golem. While the plot was interesting, the whole thing felt rushed & the style & tone changed throughout - noir stylings were seemingly added as an afterthought and female characters were defined by their hair colour. Still, I'll read part 3 as the development & evolution of the Android Drake is interesting to follow.

[Kristýna Obrdlíková · Rating 4 out of 5]

Čtivá detektivka, která mě sice na zadek neposadila, ale konspirace a zápletka v pozadí člověka spolehlivě udrží na příjmu. Je to určitě primárně určeno fanouškům světa, který je zase o něco zajímavější, celý děj se odehrává na Měsíci a potkáváme tam herní charaktery. Jednička se mi líbila o chlup víc, ale možná je to i tím, že jsem mezitím přečetla sto jiných knížek.

[Jordan Steinhoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent continuation to Drake's mysteries and evolution.

Highly enjoyable.

If you liked Golem, you'll enjoy Mimic.

[Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good bit of cyberpunk fiction, enjoying the main character more and more and the series goes on

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you like the universe, you'll like this book; if not, you won't!