SciFi and Fantasy eBook Club discussion

I'm still finishing up my latest book so I haven't started this one yet ... But what does everyone think?

I'm going to keep my comments to a minimum on this book until everyone is reading this, but I will say that this is one of my favorite books. I read it twice last year and a third time for good measure about 2 months ago. I'm really curious to hear what everyone else thinks of it.

I just started last night so I'm only a couple of chapters in. I'm liking the premise, it has that blend of SciFi and mystery that I like. I am puzzled by the small "r"s in the chapter titles. Is there a significance to this that I'm missing?

I think that is just a style thing, there wasn’t any significance that I am aware of.

Edit: The mix of sci-fi and detective/mystery with noir elements is what sucked me into this book so much.

Wow--this got really dark and very gritty! I'm 37% in and it's definitely pushing my boundary of comfortable level of violence. Nothing like reading a chapter about torture while trying to relax and go to sleep just after I shot a rattlesnake outside the front door. http://www.kindleboards.com/index.php...

I am enjoying the story very much though. I'm thinking Bladerunner meets Chinatown.

I went through a couple days of not reading so much so I just finished my Star Trek book last night ... time to switch to this one and something completely different.

Donna wrote: "Wow--this got really dark and very gritty! I'm 37% in and it's definitely pushing my boundary of comfortable level of violence. Nothing like reading a chapter about torture while trying to relax ..."

I've decided not to read this at this time, as life has left me in a situation where I'm not interested in "dark" right now. (Thus I started re-reading Good Omens.)

The whole premise of "sleeving" is really interesting and really weird. The idea that if you are in storage and someone has the money they can buy your body to use as a sleeve is just disturbing.

But I was most struck by the concept of cross-sleeving--downloading your consciousness into a body of the opposite sex. After reading that scene, I actually put the book down for 5 minutes and just thought about that. It would be your consciousness but in a body with the anatomy, the abilities and the hormonal drives of the opposite sex.

So my question is: if you had the ability to do that, and it would have to be for some decent period of time, say at least a couple of years, would you? I find the thought very intriguing and yet intimidating. I just can't decide if I would have the nerve to do it.

I was thinking about creating a separate conversation just on sleeving - I still might. I love the idea. It took me a while to get ok with considering one's body a temporary sleeve but now I'm past that.

I was thinking it would be nice to transmit myself overseas into a different sleeve for one of my business trips and then just transmit back - would be cool. But then I was thinking about the discount sleeves my company would rent and whether they would rent my primary sleeve while I wasn't using it ...

You're wearing the cut rate company sleeve and there's always something wrong with it, it has a weird facial tic or something...

Can you imagine coming across your own body with someone else in it? Creepy...

I didn't really take to the sleeving concept ... I could not figure out how the process would not be cost prohibitive, and frankly, that bothered me enough that I couldn't suspend my disbelief for the sake of the story.

stormhawk wrote: "I didn't really take to the sleeving concept ... I could not figure out how the process would not be cost prohibitive, and frankly, that bothered me enough that I couldn't suspend my disbelief for the sake of the story. "

heh. and I looked at it a lot like copying a big file to a thumbdrive .... sure it takes a couple minutes, but it's relatively simple.

So I got to 50% and realized that I loved the world the book is set in and all its little foibles and interesting concepts - and that I wasn't into the whole noire investigation thing.

I had to put it aside and I'm reading some short story collections I've been putting off. I think I just needed to get into the right mindframe to get into this book.

stormhawk wrote: "I didn't really take to the sleeving concept ... I could not figure out how the process would not be cost prohibitive, and frankly, that bothered me enough that I couldn't suspend my disbelief for ..."

Well, the way I looked at it is that they have done it long enough to make it cost effective. Look at it like any technology that we have today that has been around for a long time, like the telephone.

I don't recall any dates in this book, or in the other two books, but I'm guessing that the story takes place at least 500 years in the future, perhaps even 1000 years.

Edit - The cost prohibitive part is the sleeve, however. I forgot about that part. He does mention that at one point in the novel, though I don't recall where.

Donna wrote: "So my question is: if you had the ability to do that, and it would have to be for some decent period of time, say at least a couple of years, would you? I find the thought very intriguing and yet intimidating. I just can't decide if I would have the nerve to do it. "

I would do it! What an experience to actually be a part of the opposite sex, perhaps long enough to experience things only one gender can experience, like pregnancy. The implications of that would be fantastic for gender relations.

I read Altered Carbon in 2007. I decided I wasn't ready to reread it yet.

If I recall correctly, not everybody can afford a sleeve let alone a good one, so there is cost-probibitive element.

Anyone still reading this? Thoughts? I'm not doing a re-read at the moment as I just read it for the third time a couple of months ago, but I'd like to hear what everyone thinks about it.