Crache

by Mark Budz

When the ecotecture starts to degrade on the asteroid of Mymercia-killing a workgroup on the surface-Fola Hanani miraculously survives. A former missionary, she's hacked a living outof a gengineered ecology built after the Armageddon of overheating, overpopulation, over-everything. Now she has to find out what's causing a catastrophic biosystem failure before everyone else on Mymercia iskilled. Meanwhile, onworld, in a trailer park of migrant workers, a washed-out one-hit wonder named L. Mariachi plays the guitar for a community suffering from a contagious form of soul loss. It's a song thatFola's implanted IA-information agent-thinks she needs to hear. Because what is happening to these lost souls is spreading at quantum speed to everyone else. Something or someone is trying toreprogram the system with the ultimate virus. And as virtuality becomes reality in this post-ecocaust world of plug-in sex components, old-world medicine women, and the cheesiest pop culture, humanity itself is about tocrash.... "From the Paperback edition."

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Peter Tillman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing sequel to CLADE. CRACHE is set in the same well-thought-out universe as CLADE, and there's some good stuff here, including some neat asteroid habitats. But I kept stalling out, permanently at p. 140 (of 368).

Then I read Gerald Jonas's negative NY Times review:

"Unfortunately, any suspense generated by the struggle to save the solar system from a new kind of plague soon dissipates amid the torrents of verbiage necessary to explain what is happening."

Plus, there's a Really Dumb subplot: a Hispanic folksinger named L. Mariachi(!) can sing the deadly bioelectronic virus into submission....

Sigh. Best to give this one a miss.

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

Could not get into this one. Luckily it is from the library and I can give it back. Way to cutesy with the names and terms.

[Michael Schulz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a great book but its OK.