Walter Jon Williams

It took me a while to get into this book but once I got halfway through the book, I was hooked. Unfortunately, there a few unrealistic ideas that prevent me from fully immersing myself into the story. And here's the obligatory spoiler warning, read on at your own risk:

1 - I can't accept that the panzers, a sophisticated form of tank/hovercraft hybrid, are able to cross the USA from coast to coast in what seems to be about 2 days. Having read it while on a road trip, I can't see how these vehicles can go across obstacles such as forests, mountains and buildings at such a fast speed.

2 - On the last page, we learn that Reno overwrites Roon's consciousness. To me it would seem unbearable for the emotionally weakest and vulnerable character to take over the consciousness of the most horrible character especially considering that he's a unapologetic pedophile!

3- I don't understand why there's a division between east and west coast. It seems to be just an elaborate way of manipulating supply and demand but simply selling to everyone seems like the easiest solution. I do believe that in the end, this is the final outcome and makes the world a better place.

Other than that, I loved both of the main characters and how their relationship grew through time. The main plot was fairly solid. The body enhancement concepts were interesting. The control of IT was well done considering the age of the book. Mostly because the author thankfully didn't try to either over explain it or try to pass it along as some kind of metaphor.

I liked this book way more than Necromancer because I understood what was going on! It didn't feel like a dark and gritty cyberpunk novel. Somehow, I always imagined beautiful the characters action taking place on nice sunny days. I even had to read the definition of Cyberpunk just to be sure. But it did portray a brutal and dangerous world that I enjoyed learning about.

I'm definitely going to read this one again later on and add its two sequels on my list. A solid recommendation on my part.… (més)

Arguably a seminal work in cyberpunk fiction after the work of William Gibson and Bruce Sterling. This is a speculative, almost dystopian world with orbital corporations, controlling the Earth from a distance. Featured within our weapons of mass destruction, conspiracies, smugglers, and people just trying to get by. there’s quite a lot of violence involved and some of the cybernetics seems somewhat primitive even by today’s standards. It’s amazing to think that water John Williams wrote this in the 1980s. It was worth a re-read… (més)

Ce roman court de Walter John Williams est un petit bijou, tant par les idées qu'il véhicule que par le déroulement des deux intrigues qui, à plusieurs siècles d'écart, abordent les mêmes évènements.
L'auteur choisit de commencer le livre dans un futur éloigné de quelques siècles où le monde vit dans une économie d'abondance, où chaque être humain génère lui-même de quoi satisfaire ses besoins énergétiques naturels. Michelle, ayant choisi temporairement de vivre dans le corps d'une sirène, est missionnée pour faire des recherche sur le philosophe Jonathan Terzian, ayant vécu quelques siècles auparavant et le premier à avoir évoqué la possibilité de la venue d'une économie d'abondance. Elle va découvrir qu'il a en fait été partie prenante d'une histoire rocambolesque concernant un virus transgénique. Virus qui sera à la base de l'épidémie dite de la Peste du Léopard vert qui apportera aux êtres humains la photosynthèse, à savoir le processus bioénergétique qui permet à des organismes de synthétiser de la matière organique en utilisant l'énergie lumineuse, l'eau et le dioxyde de carbone.
En plus de dénouer parfaitement les deux intrigues, l'auteur se permet de mettre en place une chute complètement inattendue, concernant une sous-intrigue qui semblait mineure, ce qui ajoute encore au plaisir de lecture. Un petit chef d'œuvre, justement récompensé du prix Nebula.… (més)