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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Ambitious and exciting idea, slightly disappointing execution, 10 May 2007
This review is from: Mappa Mundi (Paperback)
The premise of this book - a near-future exploration of the government sponsored development of a technology for mind control - is very promising and I got the sense that the author put a fair amount of research and thought into making it convincing. In the end, though, the author is not entirely successful, either as a gritty, action driven thriller type a la William Gibson (the rather simplistic, somewhat naive ending; convenient deus ex machina abilities for Natalie and Bobby X) or as a more character driven piece (the interestingly ambigious Mary Delany, who we seem to be encouraged to feel some sympathy for as a victim of her own ambition, is summarily converted to a cartoon villain and wiped out; Guskov, the lurking chameleonic menace, in the end does little more than unsuccessfully defend his own ideology and has no noticeable impact on the denouement).
All this is to say that the author chose a huge, complex subject which in the end she was unable to do full justice to: a lot of things are left unresolved, or are not resolved satisfactorily, in spite of the book's length. However, I was much more impressed by this book than some of her more recent novels, which are much lighter in tone and seem to have given up on interesting characters - rare and precious in SF - entirely.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A real treat...., 6 Feb 2006
For a second published novel this is a truly exceptional piece of work. The characterisation is hit and miss at times – some seem rounded and relatively consistent, others snapshots with sudden and inexplicable motivations and actions. Where the novel really takes off for me is the beautiful blend of intriguing story-telling combined with intelligent philosophical speculation on a whole range of important and potentially world shattering concepts – from the nature of identity and knowledge to the deepest questions of ontological ’truth’. Of course the science fiction format is perfect for this, but it could be done so much worse than this (and often is). I suppose I have one issue with Justina’s approach (and this applies to other works of hers) – human beings in their fundamental attitudes and activities are somewhat static in her novels – whatever their environment, context, existential condition – they tend to react in the manner of early 21st century Westerners – she does not really touch the question of whether basic characteristics of this era of humanity might not change in very deep ways (something I tend to believe not only likely and possible – but inevitable). Of course an explanation from her on this point could easily be that the characters have to remain broadly recognisable and dealing with the world in familiar ways in order to engage with her work properly – but I still think there’s something missing here. That aside, hers is a much needed blast of femininity in a traditionally male dominated corner of literature. As a long time sci fi buff it has been a real treat for me in recent years to find more and more talented women contributing to this field – and I think Justina Robson is going to be one of the best – of either gender. I found Mappa Mundi genuinely compelling from beginning to end – a real treat of a novel – and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to anyone who enjoys sci fi at its best – exploring fascinating and relevant ideas in an interesting, absorbing and truly enjoyable way.
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17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Intelligent thought provoking read, 24 Mar 2002
This review is from: Mappa Mundi (Paperback)
Looking for something new to read, I came across Justina Robson's Mappa Mundi. It's intriguing title does not suggest the depth of ideas & concepts she has come up with in this book. I was torn from racing through it, because it's a hard book to put down, and taking my time to savour the story, structure and characters. Here is an author who has the power of her convictions and takes her character (and us) on a journey, which reaches an unexpected, but thought provoking conclusions on the nature of self and identity. You do get to know Natalie, Jude, Mary and Dan well, all complex, flawed, and very human. Even the secondary characters like Natalie's father and White Horse; Jude's sister are well crafted. Another aspect I enjoyed about this book was the writing; not too techno heavy, but the writer conveyed the concept of Selfware brilliantly & frighteningly indeed. Although the book is science fiction, the first part of the book it could happily work as just a thriller. There is a level of paranoia that runs nicely through out this book. This mutates into something darker and combined the clever speculative fiction leaves the reader with some profound and disturbing thoughts at the end. A great read & I look forward to reading her next book.
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