Who is Richard Jarrow? Is he the unassuming, mild-mannered teacher he thinks himself to be or something much more? And how does the brilliant scientist named Ashling fit into the picture? The Multiplex Man (winner of The Prometheus Award) is an intriguing thriller set in a future where every aspect of life on Earth is micromanaged by authorities who consider any deviation from the proscribed path as dangerous. Off-world colonies are considered dangerous enemies threatening to take Earth's precious resources . Jarrow must find Ashling who hold the key, not only to Jarrow's own identity, but to freedom itself.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
By B. Lowe
Format:Mass Market Paperback
I struggled to get into this, and eventually gave up about a quarter of the way in. I couldn't get a quick take on the alternative world the author was trying to create, which is so important in scifi writing. The plot seemed to be drifting towards some major revelation. But whatever it was came too late for me .. I'd already decided to call it quits long before I got there.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3.2 out of 5 stars
16 reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
An intellectual roller-coaster ride
15 Aug 2002
By John S. Ryan
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Mass Market Paperback
What if you weren't . . . you?
(What if you were a writer _telling the story_ of someone in that situation? How would you organize it?)
If you're the protagonist in this fascinating SF novel, you're probably in for some interesting experiences. But will you get to keep them?
(If you're James P. Hogan, you tell the story in chunks, cycling through the various nonoverlapping personalities and telling the parts of the tale for which each is "present," as it were.)
Who do you turn out to be? Are you one person or several? Which hero saves the day, and which hero _gets_ saved? Are they the same person? Are you sure?
Hogan is in fine narrative form here. I've seen his writing described as "textbook-dry," but that's not likely to dissuade those of us who regard, say, Kernighan and Ritchie's _The C Programming Language_ as the pinnacle of expository prose style. Hogan writes like a _good_ engineer; his prose does the job he wants it to do, and the meat is in the story. (You don't need mannered digressions about the splendid colors of the autumn leaves in a book whose theme is that the universe isn't what you think it is.)
In fact this is a fun book, full of Hogan's trademark mind-blowing coolness. The underlying technology is rendered plausible and the story is interesting from beginning to end. Even if you know what must be going on -- and you will, by midway through the second chapter, even if you hadn't figured it out from the title -- you'll still be kept guessing until the very end about (a) how and why it happened, and (b) how it will ultimately turn out.
Hogan is one of my two favorite living SF writers (the other is Spider Robinson, who doesn't write "hard" SF). If you like SF, you'll like him.
(What if you were a writer _telling the story_ of someone in that situation? How would you organize it?)
If you're the protagonist in this fascinating SF novel, you're probably in for some interesting experiences. But will you get to keep them?
(If you're James P. Hogan, you tell the story in chunks, cycling through the various nonoverlapping personalities and telling the parts of the tale for which each is "present," as it were.)
Who do you turn out to be? Are you one person or several? Which hero saves the day, and which hero _gets_ saved? Are they the same person? Are you sure?
Hogan is in fine narrative form here. I've seen his writing described as "textbook-dry," but that's not likely to dissuade those of us who regard, say, Kernighan and Ritchie's _The C Programming Language_ as the pinnacle of expository prose style. Hogan writes like a _good_ engineer; his prose does the job he wants it to do, and the meat is in the story. (You don't need mannered digressions about the splendid colors of the autumn leaves in a book whose theme is that the universe isn't what you think it is.)
In fact this is a fun book, full of Hogan's trademark mind-blowing coolness. The underlying technology is rendered plausible and the story is interesting from beginning to end. Even if you know what must be going on -- and you will, by midway through the second chapter, even if you hadn't figured it out from the title -- you'll still be kept guessing until the very end about (a) how and why it happened, and (b) how it will ultimately turn out.
Hogan is one of my two favorite living SF writers (the other is Spider Robinson, who doesn't write "hard" SF). If you like SF, you'll like him.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
P.K. Dick, eat your heart out
16 Nov 2004
By Genzo
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Mass Market Paperback
I completely enjoyed this book. Its a story like Total Recall
with strange twists of personality exchange, but gripping from
start to finish. Its also an interesting future, where the US is
a totalitarian state and eastern europe a libertarian utopia
(hence the Prometheus award the book won, which honors best
libertarian fantasy). The political elements are believable
and don't hit you over the head. The plot does.
with strange twists of personality exchange, but gripping from
start to finish. Its also an interesting future, where the US is
a totalitarian state and eastern europe a libertarian utopia
(hence the Prometheus award the book won, which honors best
libertarian fantasy). The political elements are believable
and don't hit you over the head. The plot does.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Multiplex Man is outstanding
20 Sep 2002
By David Spector
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
As most of the other reviews have noted, James P. Hogan here presents a somewhat unevenly written story. However, that being said, there is a class of reader (such as I) that really appreciates clever sf and surprising plot twists.
Multiplex Man does have its moments of annoying polemics so frequent in Hogan's work. However, the incredible entertainment of this book easily makes reading it well worth while. Towards the end I couldn't put it down; the adventure was so exciting, the explanations so satisfying.
If you have difficulty finding this out-of-print book, a little Web searching can reward you with this gem.
›
Go to Amazon.com to see all 16 reviews
3.2 out of 5 stars
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