Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Hard sci-fi goes soft at the edges, 8 April 2006
Spin state has a lot of good ideas - the focus of the book is the interaction between the main character, a genetically engineered clone, and an AI. This is well done and both are strangely human and well developed.The quantum theory underpinning the book is less well described, and although the author has obviously read a lot of books, it is clear he does not come from a physics background. Contrast the high concept stuff here with that of Alastair Reynolds, for instance. However, this is a readable, enjoyable book, and if the characters continue to grow it will be a worthy series to follow.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A well told spaceaged whodunnit, 28 Mar 2006
I really must stop buying books this engrossing... the lack of sleep they're causing is slowly driving me mad!The tale begins on an action-high, with a covert raid on an unlicensed "wetware" lab... a raid which goes wrong. Our heroine (a battle weary, genetically and cybernetically enhanced soldier) is given the classic get-out-of-jail-free suicide mission to investigate an unusual accident (and death) on the mine planet of Compson World. From this initial premise grows a complex and compelling tale of galactic politics, interplanetary espionage and secret agendas. The characters and locations are elloquently described, providing the reader with a fully fledged mental picture of the scenes. The use of non-alien based lifeforms (purebred humans, genetically enhanced and modified humans and the ever popular AI characters) are well delivered although a good deal of page-inches are spent describing facial expression in an attempt to portray the underlying puppetmasters of the humanoid characters (under the control of almost any other character using the concept of "shunting"). Only one criticism on the story as a whole, which is the centralised concept of the quantum crystal structures which are the lifeblood of interplanetary travel - it all feels a little too Dune / Spice for comfort... Overall, a very compelling read with fine pace, action, characters and a satisfying ending.
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12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Sci fi by numbers, 18 Jul 2006
This is a workmanlike technothriller - enjoyable enough, but hardly living up to the promises of 'compelling speculative fiction' that I read in the reviews.
The story takes a while to get going, and I found myself 'tsk'ing over some of the engineering (the description of Alba's life support system in particular had me rolling my eyes - it didn't sound at all right). The characters are well described, but they all seemed far too normal to me; frankly, I felt the whole story could have been transplanted to a twentieth century diamond mine without losing much at all. The science fictiony bit felt like a veneer - a well applied, good-looking veneer, but a veneer nonetheless.
What Spin State does have is an action-packed, twisty plot, and characters who talk about relationships. Granted, even the AI groupminds sound like they've just stepped out of a Clive Cussler, but the pace is good, and the second half of the book scoots along nicely. Pick it up for entertainment, not philosophy.
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