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Terminal Mind
Dans un futur proche, le monde a ete marque par la Guerre des Hemispheres. Les Etats-Unis sont divises et seules quelques cites ont survecu a l'apocalypse. La technologie a suivi des avancees importantes et le reseau informatique mondial est desormais directement implante dans l'esprit des gens. Dans un centre secret, la conscience d'un enfant est projetee dans l'univers virtuel du reseau mondial. Ceux qui le controlent, possedent un pouvoir incroyable en accedant directement a l'esprit des gens. La maladresse de deux jeunes libere l'esprit de l'enfant qui envahit le reseau mondial. Ces anciens maitres veulent le remettre sous controle, ses ennemis veulent le detruire et sa mere veut le retrouver.
360 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2008
18 people are currently reading
411 people want to read
About the author
David Walton
11 books277 followersDavid loves to read science fiction and lives near Philadelphia with his wife and eight children. His latest series, LIVING MEMORY, is a thriller in which paleontologists save the world.
"Walton has brought hard sci-fi roaring back to life."
—The Wall Street Journal
“One of my favorite science fiction writers, Walton consistently delivers exciting thrillers packed with likeable characters and big ideas.”
—Craig DiLouie
"...gives the reader exciting insights into the threats and the promises that are coming our way."
—Vernor Vinge
"Walton has brought hard sci-fi roaring back to life."
—The Wall Street Journal
“One of my favorite science fiction writers, Walton consistently delivers exciting thrillers packed with likeable characters and big ideas.”
—Craig DiLouie
"...gives the reader exciting insights into the threats and the promises that are coming our way."
—Vernor Vinge
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
October 8, 2020
-Tonos, estructuras y tropos de un Young Adult sin que lo sea en absoluto.-
Género. Ciencia ficción.
Lo que nos cuenta. El libro Juego mortal (publicación original: Terminal Mind, 2008) nos lleva a una Filadelfia del futuro, una ciudad-estado dentro del territorio de los Estados Unidos que se ha convertido en un reino de taifas dominado por corporaciones, que ha perdido su predominio mundial y cuyo gobierno federal es poco más que un mero maquillaje. La sociedad está dividida, de forma oficiosa pero real, según el dinero, los implantes y las biomodificaciones de los ciudadanos. La aparición de un virus informático llamado Rebanador, que termina por ser mucho más que un virus, pone en marcha un complot para dar un golpe de estado en Filadelfia.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
https://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com...
Género. Ciencia ficción.
Lo que nos cuenta. El libro Juego mortal (publicación original: Terminal Mind, 2008) nos lleva a una Filadelfia del futuro, una ciudad-estado dentro del territorio de los Estados Unidos que se ha convertido en un reino de taifas dominado por corporaciones, que ha perdido su predominio mundial y cuyo gobierno federal es poco más que un mero maquillaje. La sociedad está dividida, de forma oficiosa pero real, según el dinero, los implantes y las biomodificaciones de los ciudadanos. La aparición de un virus informático llamado Rebanador, que termina por ser mucho más que un virus, pone en marcha un complot para dar un golpe de estado en Filadelfia.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
https://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com...
April 5, 2020
If you, unlike me, are able to just go with the story without letting it's issues annoy you, the premise is fun and interesting, but I kept stumbling while reading and this reduced the joy in my experience.
I don't like how stereotype Walton seems to paint his villains across books, making them hard to believe, especially if they make a turn from good to bad. This is his third book I've read, Three Laws Lethal is overall better, but with this same issue.
The closer the book comes to the end the faster events take place, to me it felt rushed, especially since it takes some time to get into the book, like as in other scifi the reader has to get to understand the new world first.
Using underlining instead of bold is different from what we are used to. Especially when this is also used to represent text messages and also thoughts it can cause irritations.
Am I happy to have read this book? Yes. Would I read it again, knowing about its issues? No.
I don't like how stereotype Walton seems to paint his villains across books, making them hard to believe, especially if they make a turn from good to bad. This is his third book I've read, Three Laws Lethal is overall better, but with this same issue.
The closer the book comes to the end the faster events take place, to me it felt rushed, especially since it takes some time to get into the book, like as in other scifi the reader has to get to understand the new world first.
Using underlining instead of bold is different from what we are used to. Especially when this is also used to represent text messages and also thoughts it can cause irritations.
Am I happy to have read this book? Yes. Would I read it again, knowing about its issues? No.
September 25, 2013
I think the idea was great, and there were some good themes, but the writing needs some work. The characters needed depth, and the social themes were too shallowly explored. Also, it irks me that the ebook formatting needed a lot of help.
May 29, 2009
Interesting, messy, bloody minded stuff. Lots of food for thought re: migration to digital personas.
January 13, 2014
Éste es sin duda un libro difícil de reseñar. Empezando con la horrible traducción del título y el error en el año del galardón, ya que fue ganador del premio Philip K. Dick en el 2008 y por empate y no en el 2010 como dice la portada. Y al poco de empezar… otro error monumental:
—No somos nada de es —respondió Mark—. Los hackers son criminales. Se cuelan en nodos para robar o destruir. Los crackers, por el contrario, lo hacen para divertirse, por la emoción, por el desafio intelectual que eso supone. Y esto… —Sonrió—. Esto es una hazaña de crackers.
Patabum!!! El mundo al revés. Y luego más tarde lo vuelve a repetir por si no te había quedado claro.
Pero vamos a lo que es la novela.
Contiene muchos factores que en efecto me recuerdan al grande Philip K. Dick. Una Filadelfia futurista, tiempo sin concretar, donde hay dos estados sociales, los “combers” y los “rimmers“. Los combers son pobres y viven amontonados en una especie de gueto, mientras que los rimmers son ricos y hasta físicamente distintos gracias a las diferentes modis que se pueden implementar en su cuerpo.
En la novela tiene mucha importancia la informática, ya que nuestros dos protagonistas, un comber y un rimmer, dejan escapar sin querer un virus del tipo rebanador, que consta de un cerebro humano conectado a la red, provocando grandes desastres. El rebanador no tiene ningún problema para desencriptar cualquier código y puede acceder a los sitios más remotos de la red, pero tiene personalidad, basados en su pasado humano, y tiene ciertas dudas a la hora de hacer lo que hace. Y esa curiosidad hace que se ponga en contacto con el rimmer para saber quien es, hasta que al final aparece la madre y descubre que “el malo maloso” tiene su otro embrión fertilizado para hacer una versión mejorada del rebanador.
Mientras tanto, la política de la ciudad sufre cambio y los sentimientos de los dos amigos se separan hacia sendas distintas mientras no dejan de suceder cosas que no puedo explicar para no hacer spoilers.
Conclusiónes finales: La idea es muy buena y está bien llevada, salvo en algunos momentos puntuales que me ha decepcionado un poco. El final es bastante sorprendente, en parte, ya que algo te imaginas, pero no que acabe de esa manera (hasta aquí puedo leer). La lectura es rápida y los motivos de ficción son fácilmente asimilables al más puro estilo Philip K. Dick.
Puntuación (1/10): 7 Puntos.
—No somos nada de es —respondió Mark—. Los hackers son criminales. Se cuelan en nodos para robar o destruir. Los crackers, por el contrario, lo hacen para divertirse, por la emoción, por el desafio intelectual que eso supone. Y esto… —Sonrió—. Esto es una hazaña de crackers.
Patabum!!! El mundo al revés. Y luego más tarde lo vuelve a repetir por si no te había quedado claro.
Pero vamos a lo que es la novela.
Contiene muchos factores que en efecto me recuerdan al grande Philip K. Dick. Una Filadelfia futurista, tiempo sin concretar, donde hay dos estados sociales, los “combers” y los “rimmers“. Los combers son pobres y viven amontonados en una especie de gueto, mientras que los rimmers son ricos y hasta físicamente distintos gracias a las diferentes modis que se pueden implementar en su cuerpo.
En la novela tiene mucha importancia la informática, ya que nuestros dos protagonistas, un comber y un rimmer, dejan escapar sin querer un virus del tipo rebanador, que consta de un cerebro humano conectado a la red, provocando grandes desastres. El rebanador no tiene ningún problema para desencriptar cualquier código y puede acceder a los sitios más remotos de la red, pero tiene personalidad, basados en su pasado humano, y tiene ciertas dudas a la hora de hacer lo que hace. Y esa curiosidad hace que se ponga en contacto con el rimmer para saber quien es, hasta que al final aparece la madre y descubre que “el malo maloso” tiene su otro embrión fertilizado para hacer una versión mejorada del rebanador.
Mientras tanto, la política de la ciudad sufre cambio y los sentimientos de los dos amigos se separan hacia sendas distintas mientras no dejan de suceder cosas que no puedo explicar para no hacer spoilers.
Conclusiónes finales: La idea es muy buena y está bien llevada, salvo en algunos momentos puntuales que me ha decepcionado un poco. El final es bastante sorprendente, en parte, ya que algo te imaginas, pero no que acabe de esa manera (hasta aquí puedo leer). La lectura es rápida y los motivos de ficción son fácilmente asimilables al más puro estilo Philip K. Dick.
Puntuación (1/10): 7 Puntos.
October 26, 2019
It took a little bit for me to warm to the characters of the book. Once I did I got into the story. This is a good read!
Mr. Joe
Mr. Joe
December 30, 2019
I really enjoyed premise of this book, however the story could have used some work and the writing was annoying. for some reason he like to underline stressed words, to make matters worse he also used the same underlining for the dialog for when the terminal mind spoke.
December 12, 2022
The city-state of Philadelphia. Late twenty-second century, more than a hundred years after the Conflict. The federal government has little clout now, and the United States of America is no more. The city’s poor crowd the Combs, an overpopulated slum in the immense crater carved out by a Chinese thermonuclear weapon. The rich—superrich, really, by contrast—live in opulent mansions on the Rim. The Combs seethe with discontent. But a five-member Business Council and platoons of mercenaries (“mercs”) maintain order, protecting the Rimmers. This is the setting for David Walton’s award-winning thriller about breakthroughs in brain science, Terminal Mind.
BIOLOGICAL MODIFICATIONS OFFER UNLIMITED POSSIBILITIES
Young Mark McGovern is the son of the wealthy chairman of the Business Council, perhaps Philadelphia’s most powerful citizen. As the novel opens, he and his sister Carolina, are attending a party of the city’s richest and most fashionable people at their father’s behest—and he’s hating it. All around him the city’s elite parade in their “mods,” or biological modifications, made possible by highly evolved genetic engineering.
A few have extra limbs, such as a surgeon with two thumbs on each hand. Others, well past one hundred years of age, look fifty or even younger. They all sport Visors, sensors implanted into their brains with ports on their foreheads that allow them to connect with the worldwide optical network and to communicate telepathically. They’re all beautiful physical specimens. And all are unbearably colorful, with brightly hued hair or beards that blink and shimmer like rainbows, complementing their designer attire. Yet far more consequential are the breakthroughs in brain science that permit experiments in downloading consciousness and power this fast-paced novel.
A YOUTHFUL PRANK GOES HORRIBLY WRONG
For Mark, the party is a nightmare. His best friend, Darin Kinsley, is a Comber. The two young men reject the pretensions of Rimmer society and are more apt to be out on the town seeking small ways to rebel. And this night, once he manages to free himself from the party, Mark joins Darin and their friend Praveen Kumar in a prank. They’re “crackers,” well-intentioned hackers out for a bit of fun—a “crackerjack.” They send a stream of code speeding toward a satellite overhead, connecting at random with an unknown recipient at the Navy base in Norfolk, Virginia . . . and all hell breaks loose.
By some diabolical coincidence, the young men have chosen precisely the wrong person to target in their prank. She is Marie Coleson, a young widow who works in the Navy’s anti-viral lab, where she battles the most vicious and damaging forms of malware that plague the world of the late twenty-second century. And the most alarming of the endless varieties of malicious code is a “slicer,” volatile software “generated from a human mind. It’s just as complex and flexible and, well, intelligent as the original.” By ever so briefly opening up a channel from Marie’s lab to the satellite, the prank has released a slicer she had imprisoned. It’s the mind of a four-year-old. And he or she is under the control of a sociopathic physician bent on seizing control of the city.
ASSESSING THIS NOVEL
If you’re a science fiction fan and you read this book quickly without thinking about it too deeply, you’re likely to enjoy it. Walton’s dystopian future America is clever and well-developed. The action is fast-paced, the plot ingenious, and the principal characters likable—except for Dr. Alastair Tremayne, a comic-book version of a villain. And if you make the mistake of pondering the characters’ motivations and the coincidences that lie at the heart of the story, you may be disappointed. Terminal Mind is a good read, but it doesn’t end up high on the plausibility scale.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Here’s what David Walton writes about himself on his author website: “I live near Philadelphia with my wife and seven children. I enjoy playing jazz and musical numbers on the piano, long walks with my family, and playing Chess and Go. I work as an engineer for Lockheed Martin. I’m a member of Tenth Presbyterian Church.
“I love reading and writing science fiction. Science fiction is a genre where the big ideas of life, what it means to be human, what our future will be like, and how things could be different than they are, can be explored from every possible angle. I’m continually astonished and thrilled that get to be a part of this dialog, writing stories that contribute, in a small way, to the canon of ideas that great writers before me have built, and continue to build.
“I am a Christian. Unfortunately, these days Christianity gets associated with certain political views, most of which I do not hold. As a Christian, I am for the oppressed, the downtrodden, the helpless, the poor, the immigrant, and the refugee. I am for all voices being heard, and all lives being valued. I believe we gain knowledge and wisdom by listening to those who are different than we are and learning to understand what life is like from the perspective of those most unlike ourselves.”
BIOLOGICAL MODIFICATIONS OFFER UNLIMITED POSSIBILITIES
Young Mark McGovern is the son of the wealthy chairman of the Business Council, perhaps Philadelphia’s most powerful citizen. As the novel opens, he and his sister Carolina, are attending a party of the city’s richest and most fashionable people at their father’s behest—and he’s hating it. All around him the city’s elite parade in their “mods,” or biological modifications, made possible by highly evolved genetic engineering.
A few have extra limbs, such as a surgeon with two thumbs on each hand. Others, well past one hundred years of age, look fifty or even younger. They all sport Visors, sensors implanted into their brains with ports on their foreheads that allow them to connect with the worldwide optical network and to communicate telepathically. They’re all beautiful physical specimens. And all are unbearably colorful, with brightly hued hair or beards that blink and shimmer like rainbows, complementing their designer attire. Yet far more consequential are the breakthroughs in brain science that permit experiments in downloading consciousness and power this fast-paced novel.
A YOUTHFUL PRANK GOES HORRIBLY WRONG
For Mark, the party is a nightmare. His best friend, Darin Kinsley, is a Comber. The two young men reject the pretensions of Rimmer society and are more apt to be out on the town seeking small ways to rebel. And this night, once he manages to free himself from the party, Mark joins Darin and their friend Praveen Kumar in a prank. They’re “crackers,” well-intentioned hackers out for a bit of fun—a “crackerjack.” They send a stream of code speeding toward a satellite overhead, connecting at random with an unknown recipient at the Navy base in Norfolk, Virginia . . . and all hell breaks loose.
By some diabolical coincidence, the young men have chosen precisely the wrong person to target in their prank. She is Marie Coleson, a young widow who works in the Navy’s anti-viral lab, where she battles the most vicious and damaging forms of malware that plague the world of the late twenty-second century. And the most alarming of the endless varieties of malicious code is a “slicer,” volatile software “generated from a human mind. It’s just as complex and flexible and, well, intelligent as the original.” By ever so briefly opening up a channel from Marie’s lab to the satellite, the prank has released a slicer she had imprisoned. It’s the mind of a four-year-old. And he or she is under the control of a sociopathic physician bent on seizing control of the city.
ASSESSING THIS NOVEL
If you’re a science fiction fan and you read this book quickly without thinking about it too deeply, you’re likely to enjoy it. Walton’s dystopian future America is clever and well-developed. The action is fast-paced, the plot ingenious, and the principal characters likable—except for Dr. Alastair Tremayne, a comic-book version of a villain. And if you make the mistake of pondering the characters’ motivations and the coincidences that lie at the heart of the story, you may be disappointed. Terminal Mind is a good read, but it doesn’t end up high on the plausibility scale.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Here’s what David Walton writes about himself on his author website: “I live near Philadelphia with my wife and seven children. I enjoy playing jazz and musical numbers on the piano, long walks with my family, and playing Chess and Go. I work as an engineer for Lockheed Martin. I’m a member of Tenth Presbyterian Church.
“I love reading and writing science fiction. Science fiction is a genre where the big ideas of life, what it means to be human, what our future will be like, and how things could be different than they are, can be explored from every possible angle. I’m continually astonished and thrilled that get to be a part of this dialog, writing stories that contribute, in a small way, to the canon of ideas that great writers before me have built, and continue to build.
“I am a Christian. Unfortunately, these days Christianity gets associated with certain political views, most of which I do not hold. As a Christian, I am for the oppressed, the downtrodden, the helpless, the poor, the immigrant, and the refugee. I am for all voices being heard, and all lives being valued. I believe we gain knowledge and wisdom by listening to those who are different than we are and learning to understand what life is like from the perspective of those most unlike ourselves.”
September 26, 2018
Me revoici avec un roman de science-fiction qui a obtenu un Philip K. Dick Award en 2008 (ex-aequo avec Emissaries from the Dead, d’Adam-Troy Castro). Terminal mind nous propose de plonger dans un monde futuriste qui devrait générer pas mal de réflexions sur notre société moderne. C’est un roman qui n’est pas déplaisant mais qui, disons-le clairement, ne devrait pas non plus me laisser un souvenir impérissable.
L’auteur essaie pourtant de créer un monde qui, par bien des aspects, devrait faire froid dans le dos. Dans une ville où les inégalités entre riches et pauvres sont démultipliées des suites d’une guerre qui a modifié toute la géopolitique mondiale, on suit les pas de deux jeunes hackers. Par désoeuvrement plus que par malice, ils libèrent sans le vouloir un virus informatique d’un genre nouveau : un cutter. Cette chose va créer des dégâts considérables dans la cité, en commençant par tuer plus de trois cent individus.
J’ai trouvé le concept du cutter plutôt original, même si des histoires d’intelligences artificielles qui prennent le contrôle, on en a déjà lu et relu. Créé à partir d’un esprit humain, le cutter était à l’origine une personne, dont le cerveau a été découpé en tranches, les neurones étant ensuite recopiés dans une simulation numérique. En l’occurrence, c’est celui d’un enfant de quatre ans qui a servi ici et son créateur le manipule à coups de gâteries et de douleurs virtuelles. Bon, très clairement, c’est un peu compliqué pour qui ne connaît rien à l’informatique, et c’est dommage parce que tout l’attrait du livre réside là-dedans !
Ce qui l’est encore plus, c’est qu’en prenant un tant soit peu de recul, on se rend compte que tout cela n’est, en définitive, pas très crédible. Nous sommes dans une société post-apocalyptique. Techniquement, j’ai un peu de mal à croire qu’ils aient réussi à maintenir un tel niveau, à la fois scientifique et informatique, après cette guerre mondiale à laquelle seules quelques cités sont censées avoir survécu. Mais bon, passons là-dessus et concentrons-nous plutôt sur les aspects sociétaires de l’histoire. Malheureusement, là encore, le propos est trop appuyé, trop manichéen, et les personnages sont de tels clichés qu’on ne peut s’empêcher de hausser un sourcil dubitatif.
Au final, cela donne un roman qui se lit certes bien, car plein de rebondissements plus ou moins attendus, mais qui manque un peu d’intérêt. Une déception parce que, malheureusement, dans deux ou trois semaines, j’aurai complètement oublié ce livre et son auteur !
L’auteur essaie pourtant de créer un monde qui, par bien des aspects, devrait faire froid dans le dos. Dans une ville où les inégalités entre riches et pauvres sont démultipliées des suites d’une guerre qui a modifié toute la géopolitique mondiale, on suit les pas de deux jeunes hackers. Par désoeuvrement plus que par malice, ils libèrent sans le vouloir un virus informatique d’un genre nouveau : un cutter. Cette chose va créer des dégâts considérables dans la cité, en commençant par tuer plus de trois cent individus.
J’ai trouvé le concept du cutter plutôt original, même si des histoires d’intelligences artificielles qui prennent le contrôle, on en a déjà lu et relu. Créé à partir d’un esprit humain, le cutter était à l’origine une personne, dont le cerveau a été découpé en tranches, les neurones étant ensuite recopiés dans une simulation numérique. En l’occurrence, c’est celui d’un enfant de quatre ans qui a servi ici et son créateur le manipule à coups de gâteries et de douleurs virtuelles. Bon, très clairement, c’est un peu compliqué pour qui ne connaît rien à l’informatique, et c’est dommage parce que tout l’attrait du livre réside là-dedans !
Ce qui l’est encore plus, c’est qu’en prenant un tant soit peu de recul, on se rend compte que tout cela n’est, en définitive, pas très crédible. Nous sommes dans une société post-apocalyptique. Techniquement, j’ai un peu de mal à croire qu’ils aient réussi à maintenir un tel niveau, à la fois scientifique et informatique, après cette guerre mondiale à laquelle seules quelques cités sont censées avoir survécu. Mais bon, passons là-dessus et concentrons-nous plutôt sur les aspects sociétaires de l’histoire. Malheureusement, là encore, le propos est trop appuyé, trop manichéen, et les personnages sont de tels clichés qu’on ne peut s’empêcher de hausser un sourcil dubitatif.
Au final, cela donne un roman qui se lit certes bien, car plein de rebondissements plus ou moins attendus, mais qui manque un peu d’intérêt. Une déception parce que, malheureusement, dans deux ou trois semaines, j’aurai complètement oublié ce livre et son auteur !
August 22, 2017
Si te gusta el Cyberpunk tienes altas posibilidades de que esta novela te guste. Creo que solo le faltan las drogas y el mundo virtual para tener todos los elementos propios del subgénero (vale, son dos cosas con mucho peso en el Cyberpunk, pero no se nota mucho su ausencia).
Una especie de IA prácticamente omnipotente liberada, un malo muy malo, unos rebeldes que luchan por detener a la IA y por la revolución social... Después del planteamiento inicial, los dos primeros tercios pueden hacerse un poco áridos, con demasiado panfletismo de lucha por los trabajadores, y una relación amorosa que no termina de cuajar, pero al final las cosas van encajando y la lectura se acelera, básicamente porque apetece más leer cuando ocurren cosas.
Lo mejor:
· Es un sota, caballo y rey de la literatura Cyberpunk. Si te gusta, ahí lo tienes todo.
Lo peor:
· A nivel de estructura de la historia, tiene sus deficiencias.
Una especie de IA prácticamente omnipotente liberada, un malo muy malo, unos rebeldes que luchan por detener a la IA y por la revolución social... Después del planteamiento inicial, los dos primeros tercios pueden hacerse un poco áridos, con demasiado panfletismo de lucha por los trabajadores, y una relación amorosa que no termina de cuajar, pero al final las cosas van encajando y la lectura se acelera, básicamente porque apetece más leer cuando ocurren cosas.
Lo mejor:
· Es un sota, caballo y rey de la literatura Cyberpunk. Si te gusta, ahí lo tienes todo.
Lo peor:
· A nivel de estructura de la historia, tiene sus deficiencias.
November 2, 2018
Long but not longer than it needed to be. Good hard sci-fi. My only real gripe is that I'm not a huge fan of kid-speak in books. IN fact, this has revealed to me how irritating I find it. With that said, top notch premise. As stated in my updates while reading it, it reminds me a lot of Bobiverse. I don't feel they exploited that element of it enough but I understand that if they had, the plot wouldn't have worked out. The antagonist was.. a bit much to say the least. I mean, yeah, classic narcissistic personality disorder and sadist but, nevertheless, over the top.
June 9, 2017
Would love to read more in the same world.
December 2, 2018
Drags on a lot in the beginning and is hard to understand. But true to what I've come to expect from David Walton by the end you learn more about science and everything makes sense. A good book.
Want to read
December 15, 2020A good story for those who enjoy lots of tech in their SF.
August 3, 2021
Pretty good!
April 27, 2023
I personally found this book tedious.
March 9, 2017
kept me on edge of my seat
Best for lovers of hard tech Science Fiction with a
solidl
a humanist physiology and an appreciation for strong female characters.
Best for lovers of hard tech Science Fiction with a
solidl
a humanist physiology and an appreciation for strong female characters.
December 9, 2015
When I first started reading this book, the ideas of slicers and mods and Rimmers were mildly intriguing. I found myself thinking, 'well, okay. I mean, it's not like I've read similar books with a lot of the same or similar things, but let's see where this goes. Maybe the author will add some kind of twist or something.' Unfortunately, I was pretty disappointed for the most part. Although, I did like that children had to be sliced in order for the procedure to be successful and that
I also found myself more interested in Marie's side plot than the actual plot. Even though her discovery of what really happened to her husband and children made my heart ache, I was much more compelled to stay up and finish the book when I was reading her story line.
The actual plot I found slightly dull and boring. It didn't really grab me or make me care about any of the characters (except Sammy and Marie). Plus, it seemed like there was nothing stopping the main characters from taking down Alastair towards the end of the book. In my opinion, the conflict wrapped up all a little too neatly, and I didn't like how
At the start of the story, I actually really liked Darin's character and his background. I also liked his brother, Vic, and found the idea of DNA rot kind of interesting. However, as the story progressed, I found myself liking Darin less and less. Most of this I blame on the author for portraying him as a simple, flat character,
I might recommend this book to someone just wanting to read for pleasure or wanting to get their feet wet in the vast waters if sci-fi, but I would never recommend this book otherwise. I didn't completely hate it, but it had far too few redeeming qualities for me to like it.
I also found myself more interested in Marie's side plot than the actual plot. Even though her discovery of what really happened to her husband and children made my heart ache, I was much more compelled to stay up and finish the book when I was reading her story line.
The actual plot I found slightly dull and boring. It didn't really grab me or make me care about any of the characters (except Sammy and Marie). Plus, it seemed like there was nothing stopping the main characters from taking down Alastair towards the end of the book. In my opinion, the conflict wrapped up all a little too neatly, and I didn't like how
At the start of the story, I actually really liked Darin's character and his background. I also liked his brother, Vic, and found the idea of DNA rot kind of interesting. However, as the story progressed, I found myself liking Darin less and less. Most of this I blame on the author for portraying him as a simple, flat character,
I might recommend this book to someone just wanting to read for pleasure or wanting to get their feet wet in the vast waters if sci-fi, but I would never recommend this book otherwise. I didn't completely hate it, but it had far too few redeeming qualities for me to like it.
February 4, 2015
I thoroughly enjoyed Terminal Mind and it's easy to see why it won the Philip K. Dick award in 2008. Walton's future Philadelphia is sharply drawn and frightening, and the story moves quickly. There are so many things to love about this book, but my three favorites are the way he portrays the lives of the poor, his concept of a digitized mind, and the main villain of the story.
In Walton's future Philadelphia, the poor live in a low-lying area of town called the Combs. Buildings are smaller and closer together until they start to completely run together into a warren of rooms, tunnels and staircases. The poor who live there cannot afford the mods that those who live on the affluent Rim can. If a rich person were to lose eyesight, they could afford to have a new eye mod. In the Combs? Not so much, though you may be able to wire your brain to your dog’s optic nerve via a special leash so you could use your dog’s eyes to see. Totally disturbing and totally awesome!
Also disturbing in this story is the digitizing of the human mind. In Terminal Mind, digitizing adult minds is possible, but not fully successful. Why? Because they go crazy "living" in an electronic state. Once uploaded, a mature mind cannot handle the completely different environment and its different stimuli. This is not something that I've seen other authors consider, and I love it when the reason the process is problematic is not because of the technological factor but because of the human one. It's so smart because it makes perfect sense while subverting a time-honored SF trope. It also allows for an especially evil villain.
I adore Alastair Tremayne, the main villain of Terminal Mind. Not as a person, obviously, but as possibly the most evil fictional villain I’ve ever encountered. He can’t hide behind the defense of crazy; he is as sane as they come. And although his villainy lacks broad scope, I would argue it’s because he is still early in his career. In terms of personal, one-on-one evil, Darth Vader and Voldemort could take some notes from Tremayne.
While tackling all these unsettling things, it would be easy for an author to descend into ultra-vivid violence to get his point across. David Walton, however, does it without being overly graphic, relying more instead on the psychological situation of his characters to convey the horror. So, yeah, I’ve been totally converted into a David Walton fangirl. Both of the books of his that I’ve read have kept me up stupidly, irresponsibly late. Woo hoo!
In Walton's future Philadelphia, the poor live in a low-lying area of town called the Combs. Buildings are smaller and closer together until they start to completely run together into a warren of rooms, tunnels and staircases. The poor who live there cannot afford the mods that those who live on the affluent Rim can. If a rich person were to lose eyesight, they could afford to have a new eye mod. In the Combs? Not so much, though you may be able to wire your brain to your dog’s optic nerve via a special leash so you could use your dog’s eyes to see. Totally disturbing and totally awesome!
Also disturbing in this story is the digitizing of the human mind. In Terminal Mind, digitizing adult minds is possible, but not fully successful. Why? Because they go crazy "living" in an electronic state. Once uploaded, a mature mind cannot handle the completely different environment and its different stimuli. This is not something that I've seen other authors consider, and I love it when the reason the process is problematic is not because of the technological factor but because of the human one. It's so smart because it makes perfect sense while subverting a time-honored SF trope. It also allows for an especially evil villain.
I adore Alastair Tremayne, the main villain of Terminal Mind. Not as a person, obviously, but as possibly the most evil fictional villain I’ve ever encountered. He can’t hide behind the defense of crazy; he is as sane as they come. And although his villainy lacks broad scope, I would argue it’s because he is still early in his career. In terms of personal, one-on-one evil, Darth Vader and Voldemort could take some notes from Tremayne.
While tackling all these unsettling things, it would be easy for an author to descend into ultra-vivid violence to get his point across. David Walton, however, does it without being overly graphic, relying more instead on the psychological situation of his characters to convey the horror. So, yeah, I’ve been totally converted into a David Walton fangirl. Both of the books of his that I’ve read have kept me up stupidly, irresponsibly late. Woo hoo!
December 5, 2014
I read "Terminal Mind" mainly due to reviews on Goodreads and Amazon; and because it won the Phillip K. Dick award in 2008. Unfortunately, I think its quite overrated. The writing is not crisp, there is way too much dull dialog, to many characters have little or nothing to contribute, and there are dead-end plot lines (and semi-romances) that do nothing to advance the main story.
Author David Walton includes several very interesting sci-fi ideas: the breakdown of the United States into many small semi-independent entities following some kind of conflagration, the replacement of government power with corporate power, segregation and control of society through control of advanced technology, and some intriguing weapons technology. All of these could be the basis for a good sci-fi story, but none are developed. His main premise, the development of a super intelligence through the replication (and destruction) of a human mind is also very intriguing; but it also is not well developed. I would have liked to see Walton jettison a lot of the peripheral filler material and hone in on the main idea with a lot more detail. He also needs to streamline his writing - cut silly dialog, let readers figure the obvious rather than spelling it out, and seriously ask himself what parts of the story really advance his tale and what is he including just to fill out a book.
I cannot recommend "Terminal Mind".
Author David Walton includes several very interesting sci-fi ideas: the breakdown of the United States into many small semi-independent entities following some kind of conflagration, the replacement of government power with corporate power, segregation and control of society through control of advanced technology, and some intriguing weapons technology. All of these could be the basis for a good sci-fi story, but none are developed. His main premise, the development of a super intelligence through the replication (and destruction) of a human mind is also very intriguing; but it also is not well developed. I would have liked to see Walton jettison a lot of the peripheral filler material and hone in on the main idea with a lot more detail. He also needs to streamline his writing - cut silly dialog, let readers figure the obvious rather than spelling it out, and seriously ask himself what parts of the story really advance his tale and what is he including just to fill out a book.
I cannot recommend "Terminal Mind".
December 14, 2014
La portada es horrible y el título aun peor, pero por alguna extraña razón decidí sacarlo de la biblioteca. Me ha gustado mucho (me encantan las distopías), tiene un ritmo muy rápido y el planteamiento me parece muy bueno. La psicología del rebanador me ha parecido muy interesante (desde mi desconocimiento de la materia), aunque no así la de los otros personajes (Daryl, ¿qué diantres?).
Daryl sobra, o al menos el modo en que degenera su parte. Al principio el muchacho prometía pero...buff ¿a qué viene eso?
Es un libro con giros impredecible, en parte porque algunos de estos giros son un pelínabsurdos rebuscados. Pero bueno, alguna sorpresita de vez en cuando no viene mal y está bien que halla libros raros...bueno sí, creo que raro es la palabra.
Me alegro que la portada y el título no me espantaran.
Daryl sobra, o al menos el modo en que degenera su parte. Al principio el muchacho prometía pero...buff ¿a qué viene eso?
Es un libro con giros impredecible, en parte porque algunos de estos giros son un pelín
Me alegro que la portada y el título no me espantaran.
July 6, 2012
What makes this book great is how the author describes in detial the technology of the future. I found this really contributed to creating a world where the basic premice of the story could take place. I just wish that the author took as much time developing the characters as he did their surroundings. Most of them tend to be two dimensional and stereotypical. It was hard to relate to any of them. The relationship between Mark and his best friend was very awkward and seemed overly contrived. A good story that could have been a great one.
June 9, 2015
This is a hugely exciting novel. It reminded me a little of Ramez Naam, and I found myself keen to read even when it wasn’t quite appropriate. Walton’s no stranger, but I’ve yet to pin him down (each of his other works is so different in tone and style as to seem written by someone totally different). This impressive multi-hatism is marvelous to read and I can guarantee that picking up all of his published novels to date will not bore you.
November 22, 2015
It had a few interesting parts, like the slicer thing (and the childhood thing). Otherwise, it was really simplistic and as another reviewer said, fell into the path of least resistance. I didn't like what happened to the interpersonal relationships. They didn't seem at all realistic (and I'm not expecting realism from sci-fi, but I am expecting people to act according to how they're written).
For those of you unfamiliar with my goodreads rating, two stars really does mean "it was ok" so it is worth reading if you have some time to kill and feel like it.
For those of you unfamiliar with my goodreads rating, two stars really does mean "it was ok" so it is worth reading if you have some time to kill and feel like it.
January 17, 2016
Having stumbled upon Walton's second novel, "Quintessence", and loving it's creativity, and originality, I determined to find this book, which won the Philip K. Dick Award. If anything, this book is AS creative, and original, leading me to believe that Walton has a bright future, if he can keep it up. Terminal Mind has everything I look for in a book: a good plot, interesting characters, a little action, and a great pace. I'm seriously looking forward to his next book, "Quintessence Sky". I'll also add Walton's name to my ever-growing list of authors to keep an eye out for.
December 4, 2012
True science fiction without all that Fantasy in many of the current "SciFi" genre. There are no dukes, kings, wizards or other distractions. This is a new look at the future with some very good mind challenging concepts and identifiable characters. I enjoyed the ideas and the story witch kept you turning pages. The idea of a thinking computer is made more human by combination rather than imitation. A provocative idea which is presented in a believable context.
November 16, 2014
The Gerbils hit a homerun.
This is a well thought out story that roars along at a breathtaking pace. The notion of merging mind and computer has rarely been handled so well. The method partakes of the horror genre without being horrific. The love stories are sensitive without being graphic or maudlin. My only quibble is the abrupt ending. Perhaps the gerbils grew weary. (You have to read the afterword to understand who wrote this book.)
This is a well thought out story that roars along at a breathtaking pace. The notion of merging mind and computer has rarely been handled so well. The method partakes of the horror genre without being horrific. The love stories are sensitive without being graphic or maudlin. My only quibble is the abrupt ending. Perhaps the gerbils grew weary. (You have to read the afterword to understand who wrote this book.)
September 17, 2013
Both Christianity Today and World have given good reviews to David Walton's latest book named. Quintessence. I found this earlier novel on Amazon for a bargain price. It was more than worth adding to my bookshelf. It starts a bit slow as the author builds the world and pulls you in. The story gave some surprising emotional kicks to this tender hearted grandpa.
January 18, 2014
A surprisingly well-written, exciting, technology-driven story of a not too distant future. I thought the technology was fascinating, and really made the story believable.
I couldn't help thinking of the Daemon books by Daniel Suarez, and I think anyone who enjoyed those would enjoy this one. This Philip K Dick award winning book does not disappoint.
I couldn't help thinking of the Daemon books by Daniel Suarez, and I think anyone who enjoyed those would enjoy this one. This Philip K Dick award winning book does not disappoint.
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