Genom

Tipping Point #1

by Alan Dean Foster, Kerstin Fricke (Translator)

Menschen mit Federn auf der Haut, Kiemen im Hals oder Augen im Hinterkopf ... Auf der Erde der Zukunft sind solche genetischen Manipulationen ein alltäglicher Anblick. Auch der Dieb Whispr hat sich modifizieren lassen: Er ist unnatürlich dünn. Eines Tages stiehlt er einen Silberfaden, anscheinend eine Art von Speichermedium, nicht ahnend, dass er dadurch mitten in eine tödliche Verschwörung gerät. Schon bald sind ihm Attentäter auf der Spur. Und die Veränderungen an ihren Körpern dienen nur einem Zweck: zu töten ...

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Audiobook, Speculative Fiction, Cyberpunk, Ebooks, Young Adult

349 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Bestselling science fiction writer Alan Dean Foster was born in New York City in 1946, but raised mainly in California. He received a B.A. in Political Science from UCLA in 1968, and a M.F.A. in 1969. Foster lives in Arizona with his wife, but he enjoys traveling because it gives him opportunities to meet new people and explore new places and cultures. This interest is carried over to his writing, but with a twist: the new places encountered in his books are likely to be on another planet, and the people may belong to an alien race.

Foster began his career as an author when a letter he sent to Arkham Collection was purchased by the editor and published in the magazine in 1968. His first novel, The Tar-Aiym Krang, introduced the Humanx Commonwealth, a galactic alliance between humans and an insectlike race called Thranx. Several other novels, including the Icerigger trilogy, are also set in the world of the Commonwealth. The Tar-Aiym Krang also marked the first appearance of Flinx, a young man with paranormal abilities, who reappears in other books, including Orphan Star, For Love of Mother-Not, and Flinx in Flux.

Foster has also written The Damned series and the Spellsinger series, which includes The Hour of the Gate, The Moment of the Magician, The Paths of the Perambulator, and Son of Spellsinger, among others. Other books include novelizations of science fiction movies and television shows such as Star Trek, The Black Hole, Starman, Star Wars, and the Alien movies. Splinter of the Mind's Eye, a bestselling novel based on the Star Wars movies, received the Galaxy Award in 1979. The book Cyber Way won the Southwest Book Award for Fiction in 1990. His novel Our Lady of the Machine won him the UPC Award (Spain) in 1993. He also won the Ignotus Award (Spain) in 1994 and the Stannik Award (Russia) in 2000.

Reviews

[Mike (the Paladin) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have read several books by Alan Dean Foster. He wrote at least one series that resides on my favorites shelf (I think).

This one won't get there. My review here bounced back and forth between 1 and 2 stars..though at first I thought it would be higher.

What we have here is an interesting world but one of wild differences and assumptions. The people here can if they choose become "melds". What apparently started as advances in cosmetic surgery has evolved into a branch of medical science that can do almost anything.

Want to run faster...new or even extra leg tendons. Want to be thin, light...adjusted metabolism and I mean majorly adjusted. The melds range from minor adjustments (you can now look exactly like anyone you want) to very great adjustments (humans changed so they can live on Mars or Titan).

Our protagonists is a very tall very thin "guy" melded to move fast and quiet...his moniker is, "Whisper".

Sadly the novel itself never drew me in. I frankly just didn't care. it was pretty predictable...and some of that was because it was repetitive. By the time I got to the end I was purely and simply ready for this book to have it's misery (and mine) ended. Just shoot the poor thing.

You see the book opens with our protagonist killing someone for a "meld hand" he can sell on the black market (yeah there are "back street melders".) When he does this he comes across something unusual, a strange thread implanted in the person they just killed for his hand.

But, let's not call it a thread here for purposes of this review we'll call it the..."MacGuffin". You see throughout the rest of the book everyone wants the "MacGuffin". The "MacGuffin" itself serves very little specific purpose in the book except that people are ready, willing and able to kill, torture, maim and or other "stuff" to get it.

Our main villain is shown torturing and questioning people about the "MacGuffin"...time and time again. Question-torture-kill, rinse repeat.

And by the way no spoilers but the book ends with us still chasing the "MacGuffin". Tune next volume.

Anyway, don't think I will. Enjoy if it's your cup of tea. I can't bring myself to recommend this one. Sorry. Disappointed.

[Libby · Rating 4 out of 5]

OK. So I'll admit I'm frustrated. I followed this bizarre futurist treasure hunt through murders, chases, characters being gnawed to death by crocodiles and body modifications from Hades. Our viewpoint characters are a moderately stupid lowlife named Whispr, and Dr Ingrid Seastrom. In the commission of another crime entirely, Whispr comes into possession of the McGuffin of this little tale, a "Thread" made of an impossible metal, possibly containing information but encoded beyond his ability to understand. Whispr is a Meld, gene engineered and biologically enhanced to be exceptionally thin, the better to gain entrance to places he shouldn't be. Shot with tracktacs during an escape from the law, he turns to Ingrid, a Natural, an unmodified human, and a physician with a reputation for sympathy with pro bono patients. Whispr knows that the authorities are searching for him way too hard, and comes to the conclusion that he needs to know more about this thread. He asks Dr Seastrom to use her sophisticated scanners on it. Ingrid has no more success deciphering the thread than Whispr, BUT she has seen this impossible metal before in a bead taken from the skull of a teenager who had suffered a badly done meld. This bead had literally disappeared from Ingrid's grasp, defying the laws of physics and beginning the creation of an obsessive need to KNOW. Ingrid enlists a colleague who is attacked and badly beaten, escaping with his life by a fluke. Whispr and Ingrid team up and go on a quixotic quest to find out about the McGuffin. All of the action takes place in a future world, steaming hot and full of invasive biota from the South, moving into new niches. For example Miavana is a tourist destination on stilts, surrounded by salt marshes and swamps; the Florida Keys and a lot of other expensive real estate is under water. Not only is this world a paradise for reptiles, but it has spawned a flourishing semi-criminal culture. Ingrid and Whispr fall into peril and escape by the skin of their teeth more than once. All of this is created with skill and verve. I REALLY wanted to find out what this thread was and what it meant! But I don't know yet. That never sufficiently to be darned Foster has left Whispr and Ingrid on a flight to Africa, and not only do they not know what happens next, neither do I! ARRGGGHH! I have to wait for a sequel. SOOOOO, Alan Dean Foster, you just hurry up and scribble faster 'cause I'm an old lady.

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good solid SiFi story. Nice action and flow with and interesting plot. Recommended

[Brigham Prophet · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am very glad that I got this book from the library as I would be very upset w myself if I had paid any amount of cash for it. I actually found this book because I liked the premise. When I looked it up I found that Alan Dean Foster was a NYT best seller so he should be good right? Nope.
I was taken out of the story in about the second chapter after the millionth time that the author reminded me that in his world future America is flooded because of climate change. I get it, it's flooded. If I am expected to follow the character's inner dialogue (that is spoken at the collegiate proffesor level regardless of thier own lack of "book smarts" as the author puts it) I will remember that this future world of "Namerica" is flooded.
The decriptions continue like this throughout the book including a page long rant by one character describing how his name is pronounced Moh-Lay and not Mole. Since he's talking to someone he's just captured and not explaining his name tag only the reader would even think anything along these lines, not the characters. That also took me right out of the story.
Around this time we were introduced to the other MC Dr. Seastrom, whose unbelivable curiosity makes her acrifice everything she has worked for in her life, to investigate this thread that has been obtained by a street thug. At this point I was questioning why I had picked up this book and the second book in the trilogy. If the second book was going to be this bad I was not going to read it.
I forced myself to finish this book because I wanted to give the author a chance at redemption. That never happened and I now feel like I have wasted several hours of my life. I will not be finishing the rest of the trilogy and it will be a long time, if ever, until I give Alan Dean Foster another read.
Ending the first book of a series with some questions is okay. In fact you need some unanswered questions to make people want to read the rest of the series and care about the over arcing story line, but absolutely no resolution, to anything, will turn readers bitterly against your work.

[Chris Baker · Rating 2 out of 5]

While conceptually interesting, this book is rife with stilted dialog, unrealistic interactions between characters of disparate classes, and an absence of any meaningful plot. I found the structure of the novel to be formulaic and predictable to the point of tedium, and almost quit reading it several times.

Our main protagonists tour the criminal underworld like visiting foreign nationals on a trip to Disney world. The central theme, chasing after information about a thread (a mysterious thread, no less), serves as nothing more than a vehicle to introduce us to various criminals with (in a nod to the novel's concept) various extreme and unrealistic body modifications while our friends Wispr and the doctor blunder from one seedy location to the next. They leave behind them a wake of dead criminals and hapless high-tech police, illustrating a future populated by both incompetent idiots and incompetent machines.

Wispr, with his edgy 21st century lack of a final vowel, alternates from witless dummy to cunning criminal mastermind, able to navigate the complex technical demands of changing identities and hacking computer systems yet unable to comprehend the most basic leaps of logic. Oh, and he has puppy love too, of course. The doctor wavers between a sort of naive Ivy League hippy and an action heroine like some kind of female Indiana Jones. Her motive for abandoning her career to traipse around the underbelly of society is no more complex or grand than the laughably vague "science", leaving the reader constantly wondering why this lady (or the reader!) is even bothering with all this. We end the novel unable to decide if the pair will become romantically entangled, and more importantly, unable to care either way. One can be sure there will be more zany melds, whatever the case.

The non-climatic climax of the book leaves us with no characters to care about and no progress made on their ineffective and inane search for answers (of which only one of the pair will apparently understand). No desire to read the sequel. Easily the worst book I've read in 2014.

[Barb Middleton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sci-fi mystery with incredibly creative characters. I thought the ending abrupt.

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite the interesting and well executed concept and criminal plot, The Human Blend suffers from over descriptive narrative and some difficult-reading dialogue.

The science and tech-fiction elements rein supreme as we follow a small cast of characters; a professional criminal, and a 'natural' doctor as they traverse a dangerous future Earth landscape in pursuit of knowledge and wealth.

Although the story doesn't provide closure, it does satisfy, in part due to the authors creativity with human melding and the biological enhancements of his characters, and the omnipresent sense of danger and sustained urgency. Clearly written as a series, The Human Blend sets the tone for the second book.

My rating: 3/5 stars.

[Sharfa]

I'm withholding judgment until I read the rest of the series. It really stinks how the story abruptly stops. There isn't a segue, it just stops.

[Peter Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Human Blend (The Tipping Point Trilogy Book 1) by Alan Dean Foster

Please give my Amazon review a helpful vote - https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-re...

Alan Dean Foster returns to his gritty cyberpunk future. In this future, global warming is a reality with most of the Atlantic seaboard underwater. Cities like Savannah are either flooded, on stilts or behind walls. The human population has split between "melds" and "normals." "Melds" are people who have modified their bodies in whatever way they want with cyber or biological augmentations; some people have elongated their lower limbs so that they can jump like, and look like, crickets; others have built up their strength to Herculian dimensions.

In Savannah, Jiminy Cricket and Wispr murder a tourist by overriding his cyber-augmentations and steal his cyber hand and a length of data storage "thread."

And, then, their troubles begin.

At the same time, Dr. Ingrid Seastrom finds an odd implant among a malfunctioning meld of a young girl. The implant disappears when it is scanned but not immediately.

The story is about Whispr and Ingrid's search for the riddle of the thread. Their journey takes us through a different world. The story moves along and makes for an enjoyable read. Alan Dean Foster's characters are usually nice allowing us to empathize with them. These two are no exception, although there is a criminal edge to Whispr that is disquieting. We will have to see how that turns out.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jiminy Cricket and Whispr are both products of meld. People who have been regenerated into half-human/half-machine. The people are known are “melds”. Jiminy and Whispr renamed themselves after their alternations.

Jiminy and Whispr kill a man. They take his artificial hand. Whispr sees a silver thread sewn inside the man’s pocket and takes it as well. They plan to sell the hand. Before they can sell the hand, the police and assassins are after them. Jiminy is killed leaving Whispr to fend for himself. When Whispr is injured, he goes to a clinic and is treated by Dr. Ingrid Seastrom. Whispr shows Dr. Seastrom the thread. What Whispr holds in his possession could change things as they know it.

The Human Blend is the first book that I have read by author, Alan Dean Foster and the first book in The Tipping Point Trilogy. I have not read many sci-fi novels. I thought that this book was nicely done. While the beginning did feel like I had jumped into the middle, I was able to quickly figure out what was happening. Mr. Foster did a good job of explaining things without going into too much detail. I liked all the different “melds”. I could imagine a world like this, possibility coming true. While I did like Whispr, I wanted him to be more assertive. Dr. Seastrom seemed a bit out of place. For a doctor who worked in this world you would have thought she would have been a little more used to crazy things happening. She was isolated in her own world. The person for me that really stole the show was a character called Napun Mole. I hope that he appears in the next book. I want to know more about him. The ending did suddenly stop. You could tell that this book was the first in a trilogy. It left you hanging for the next book.

[John Biddle · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Human Blend is based on an interesting concept, a future where technology has advanced to the point where human bodies can be manipulated in almost unbelievable ways. Some people merely make themselves better looking or give themselves better bodies. Another group, slightly more adventurous, make themselves visual clones of famous people, living or dead. Then you have the ones we mostly deal with in this book, those who take the human form way beyond anything you're likely to even imagine. Learning about them was a big part of the limited fun in this novel so I'll not spoil it.

I knew going in that this book was the first book in a series. What I didn't know but should have been informed of, is that it's more like chapter one of three (or maybe more). As a standalone it is completely unsatisfying. You chase around trying to find the Maguffin while others are also and are willing and able to kill and maim to do so. The book ends with no resolution. It's very violent and especially gory with very little to balance it out.

Not Recommended.

[Scott Shjefte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worldbuilding seems similar to Kim Stanley Robinson's NEW YORK 2140 with sea level rising and heatwave continuing. The universe of humanity seems a painful and dangerous place. Whispr loses his associates regularly and it is difficult to see why so many help him. The story has action but few advances in understanding what is worth all this commotion.

[Lea · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really tried to like (and finish) this book. Sometimes Alan Dean Foster (I feel the need to use all his names, do you?) is really really good. Sometimes it seems like it would be great, but is just so dull I can't focus. This was the latter.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spoiler alert!

Entertaining but toward the end, my suspension of disbelief became unsuspended--the whole "let's go to South Africa and infiltrate a mega-corporation ... and on the way, stop to see the lions." It just lost me. I did like the Whispr character. Ingrid was beginning to wear on me. Her obsession seemed just too much of a stretch.

[Mary S · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid SiFi story. Reasonable characterization, nice world building, but the story is a bit thin. The ending came up too fast. Maybe the author had a hard time deciding where to split this book from the next in the series.

Still, a read good enough to get me to look at the next in the series. Recommended.

[Derek · Rating 1 out of 5]

Now, I really like Alan Dean Foster. Sure, he's the undisputed king of movie novelizations (Star Wars: A New Hope, Star Trek, Alien) but when he writes his own novels, they range from delightfully entertaining (Pip & Flinx) to very good (Midworld). So I was looking forward to this.

I should have known it was too good to be true when I read the blurb: "This gripping adventure reveals a place where criminals are punished through genetic engineering and bodily manipulation—which poses profound questions about what it means to be human."

Wow, I'm currently rereading Perdido Street Station by China Miéville where they do exactly that. It would be interesting to see their different takes on the issue. It still would be, but I don't think it's an unreasonable spoiler to tell you that if criminals are ever punished that way in Foster's books, it isn't in this first volume of the Tipping Point series. In this book, the genetic engineering and bodily manipulation ("melding") is all voluntary.

But in another, very telling, way, there's a surface similarity to Miéville. Miéville plays with words. He delights in using words he's almost certain you'll never have read or heard before, and when you look up a word in your best dictionary you'll see that if it has four possible meanings, he's used it in a way to make the best use of all four. In this book, Foster also delights in using words I'm certain you've never read — because they don't exist! At the very beginning, two young thugs murder a man for his artificial hand. But they don't just cut it off his dead arm, oh no! They "ampuscate" it. Never mind that, as far as I can tell, ampuscate is only a word in Romanian, Foster proceeds never again to mention the artificial hand without calling it the "ampuscated [hand/appendage/organ]".

So, the writing was bad, the plot pitiful, the characters barely one-dimensional and he's no China Miéville. Sorry, Alan, you may have just caught me at the wrong time, but I won't be reading volume two.

[Jay French · Rating 2 out of 5]

Points off for misleading book description. This is advertised as the first in a trilogy. If you look up trilogy, one of the definitions, the one I’m familiar with, says that a literary trilogy is three related, possibly sequential novels that are independently complete. “The Human Blend” is really more aptly the first third of a longer novel. Nothing wraps up at the end of this one, and there’s not really much more known after the final action segment than before. The only thing that set this apart as a separate entity is that the main character starts acting strangely demanding to see animals in the wild in Africa – this isn’t explained in this story so must be some kind of setup for the next.

Some of the plot is incredulous. The bad guys have excellent tools that don’t work about half the time. And the conversations right after escaping a bloody battle could as easily been held in a posh bar – no one seems very upset. This is similar to a number of mysteries I’ve read recently. Ugh. On the plus side, though, is the interesting world that Foster builds – where bionics and body modifications have “evolved” to enable style to become a consideration. The characters are also charming in their own way.

[EJ MACK · Rating 3 out of 5]

INTERESTING CONCEPT

[Brendan Powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not bad...interesting ideas in this book...I'll read the next to see if it develops more.

[Ron · Rating 1 out of 5]

Crap.

[J.L. Dobias · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Human Blend (Tipping Point Trilogy) by Alan Dean Foster

I don't have much in my collection from Alan Dean Foster and that's all pretty ancient. So I thought I'd try this one out and see how his writing has improved. The premise is pretty good and the first chapter kept my interest; but then something happened and it might be related somehow to the fact that the author has quite a few film adaptations to his credit.

The story starts out with two melds, Jimney and Whispr, as they roll another meld for his parts, or at least his advanced hand. Jimney is employing a device that stops the man's melded heart and his intent seems to include knowledge that this will kill the victim. Later Whispr makes a statement that either sounds like he didn't know all of that or he's trying to downplay what really went down. The bottom line is that the man has a piece of interesting tech woven into his clothing and they sign their own death warrants, when they take that. They are soon to be pursued by the police and two other shadowy agencies.

Elsewhere Dr. Ingrid Seastrom discovers a rather interesting added bit of tech in a meld done through some of the cheaper meld markets. The tech seems to be some sort of impossible metal that is quantum-ly entangled and over a period of time vanishes leaving her with no evidence. We later discover that Dr. Seastrom may have some hazy edge to her practice that borders on illicit; though possibly she has twisted moral reasoning behind what she does. This is not well defined and almost comes as a surprise although as a reader I was certain that the goal was to ultimately mix Dr. Seastrom with Whispr.

The next part of the novel is the cinematic influenced dance with death and destiny that brings Whispr through one desperate situation after another until he reaches the doorstep of the Dr Seastrom. In his wake are a number of victims who are mostly killed by way of brief association with Whispr. This part has the same feel as the movie Into the Night with Jeff Goldblum and Michele Pfeiffer. This made each meeting of Whispr with a new contact quite predictable in that the reader knows someone will soon show up and his contact would be permanently silenced. Many times the climactic scene was right while Whispr was there making the escape more thrilling. Oddly something happens, inexplicably, with the meeting with Dr. Seastrum and it takes much longer for the brute squad to catch up. By that time they have enough warning that the two have escaped.

There is a bit of haziness about why Ingrid ends up finally on the run with Whispr; though there could have been any number of fair reasons it seems mostly an almost clinical yet obsessive interest in the new technology and what it might potentially mean to her patients (yet even that is unclear). Murder and mayhem now follow at a slight bit slower pace; the possible excuse for that being that the two together make a better team against those in pursuit. In fact, it seems that that isn't so; as the reader will see that that is more of a self delusion; while coming up close on the end.

This is a serial so while the end is somewhat complete for this story the reader is left with a sense there is a lot more to come and we'll have to check those out to find the rest of the story.

This is a fair offering in the SSF department and has element familiar to steampunk (In the augmented human quantity and the sense of a dystopic future). Though I have this sense that this novel could be compacted by removing some of the excess cinematic specials, there is something to saying that it would then deprive the reader of some of the basic journey to get to the point.

J.L. Dobias

[David Grierson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought about three and a half stars because it is a solid SF mystery written as a fantastic treasure hunt. There are murders, characters being done to death in brutally macabre ways, thrilling chases, torture and a slew of outrageous body modifications.

To me it was never great but it was an enjoyable read, albeit a light one. I enjoyed the variety of his climate changed world and I bow to his world-building imagination. He is almost believable with the hybrid species he depicts, including the two human varieties – those with augmentation by gene melds with any creature you can think of or exotic surgeries to enhance particular skills or abilities - and those who have none.

Foster raises interesting ethical, ecological, biological and philosophical questions and I enjoyed the pace of the plot even though I found it a bit thin in places. That plot is woven around a wonderful piece of tech that should not exist. It serves as an easel for Foster to paint his outlandish world. For me the two main characters offer different strengths to the story. The street thief, murderer, liar and flawed ‘meld’ is the more believable. His female, relatively wealthy and educated professional partner stretches belief. The reason she risks her profession, status and life is given as an abiding need to satisfy her scientific curiosity as to the contents secreted within the stolen piece of tech. In the book it’s called a ‘thread’. The thread is this book’s ‘MacGuffin".

Would she really be that driven for the sake of science? If you read it you will get a feel for the quality of life she gives up with absolutely no guaranteed positives coming her way and she has every suspicion as to the honesty and reliability of her male counterpart. So she throws that all away to investigate the origins and contents of the thread for professional curiosity? I needed a more convincing argument.

Yes, there’s murder, mayhem and cliff-hangers galore and they are well done. The bad guys are interesting but in their own way outlandish and we learn very little about them. Quite a few negatives thus far and the MacGuffin doesn’t star. As the first book of a trilogy, not one of the key questions about the device, its contents, who built it and why are answered which is an interesting technique.

So ‘The Human Blend’ is interesting but dogged by some stilted dialog. As I mention above there some unrealistic interactions between the main characters of very different classes, and with a few other disparate ‘melds’ thrown in. There was also some unnecessary repetition. All with a very thin plot. That said Foster does demonstrate, as he has done in other books, that he is a very clever wordsmith. Some great passages sprinkled through it and he had me grinning more than once with some very clever and witty bits of dialogue.

Still. His story grabbed me despite the weaknesses. I was really interested in how he would weave the plot to allow two inept ‘investigators’ firstly escape the clearly high-end assassins chasing them and secondly garner the information they need hidden within the ‘device’. You will need to read book 2 and maybe you’ll find out. If I see Book 2 in the library or in a second hand bookshop I’ll take a look but I won’t hunt for it.

[Alyssa · Rating 2 out of 5]

"The Human Blend" has interesting ideas but, unfortunately, a mediocre execution. I really liked the idea of the world -- a futuristic world where people routinely modify themselves to be more non-human animal or mechanical -- but the writing was so blah that it took most of the impact away. The book is also very repetitive. Whisper will be talking with someone, someone will attack them, Whisper gets away while the other person is hurt or killed, Whisper talks with someone else, someone will attack them, Whisper gets away while the other person is hurt or killed, and on and on. It got old fast.
Also, while I know the readers are supposed to be rooting for Whisper and Ingrid to become a couple, Whisper's actions toward Ingrid are so creepy and inappropriate (putting the patch on her, kissing her without her showing any sign that she had any kind of interest and then making repeated comments about how she looks and how much he is attracted to her after she's told him she has no interest) that I want anything but that to happen.
Overall, "The Human Blend" isn't awful, but it isn't very good either. I may pick up the next book at the library if there isn't much else that interests me, but it isn't a priority.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing isn't bad. There are two main characters, a woman and a man. I would have enjoyed the book if so many of the male characters had not sexually harassed the woman. In Foster's universe, it's apparently common to kiss a woman without her permission and to comment her on her body and her desirability a lot. Bleah. The woman in this book never complained when she was verbally harassed. She just pleasantly ignored it and changed the subject. It was like it was the 1950s instead the future. When she was touched without permission, she did object, but why are we even including this in the book? This author was born in 1946, which means he lived through the 70s, 80s and 90s, and should know that a more modern way of thinking about men and women is one in which the male characters don't touch women without their permission, and aren't constantly commenting about their bodies. It's too bad. The author is a good writer, and very creative. But I won't read anymore of his books.

[Tyra · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the characters and even the larger storyline are not entirely gripping elements in themselves, the landscape and society created by the author does intrigue me. The kind of world ravaged by natural forces and rising ocean levels coupled with the cultural obsession of extreme body modification is an interesting and not implausible setting of a future we should consider.

It was a bit random in the way the book ended, a not quite natural point of pause before the next installment of a series. I do want to continue reading it for the sake of completion of the journey but I did find this book had a slow start (really only having piqued my interest at the passing mention of my hometown) and the lackluster characters did not help build momentum.

[Lucy Takeda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I tend to have difficulties with folks adapted to achieve impossible feats. That is my fairly major problem with this novel.
Two thieves kill a man to steal his modified hand in order to fence it. Both of the thieves have undergone adaptations, which are considered close to standard in this setting. One thief collects an interesting blue thread that causes a seemingly infinite number of vicious folk trying to track them down. Whispr ends up involved with assassins and highly respected and qualified doctors as well as numerous shady characters.
Yeah, I will go looking for the sequels.

[Wayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

In recent months, I feel blessed that I have come across more than one cyberpunk themed book by random chance. Perhaps this was never considered cyberpunk by the powers that be, but for me, it scratches that itch, and that works just fine. Lots of genetic engineering, body manipulation, and a dark yet compelling future where crime, government, and science, all collide in a whirlpool of reading entertainment. I went to find the sequels (this is the first of a trilogy, of course), and they are not available at my local digital library. Dang. On the hunt for audio editions now...

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

This, along with the two others in the series is an interesting enough read. All three of them are not great, but also not awful. Though one will need to skip forward pages many times to avoid getting bogged down in unnecessary and boring details of aspects not essential to the story. As one reviewer said, ''It suffers from over descriptive narrative.''

But there was enough interesting content to stimulate me to read, as I mentioned, not only this book but the other two in the series...
...as long as you're prepared to flip forward pages now and again.

[Mick · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh. This come up in a random search and I added it because I have enjoyed ADF books before (generally books he has written of other's stories like Star Wars, etc.) I thought I would try this but it started at no where and went no where. I have no desire to read any sequel as the characters are uninteresting and the setting is all about genetic manipulation (the theme) which has so much lost potential.

[Annie Wehrli · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good world building, boring story. Archaic sexism for a future world. After the kiss on the neck, I wanted this cringe worthy story to be over as quickly as possible. We learned almost nothing by the end of the book but met so many underworld melds that failed to move the story along. Ugh. I listened to the audiobook so maybe the voices detracted from the story. In any case, I do not care about any of the characters or where their journey might lead. One and done in this trilogy.