The Noise Within: The Noise Series, Book 1
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Review
There's a lot to enjoy here: the characters, the action, a rogue AI starship, and spooky alien technology... I read it straight through... --Neal Asher
Unreasonably enjoyable. 24 meets Starship Troopers. If you read Reynolds, Hamilton, Banks - read this... --Stephen Baxter
Unreasonably enjoyable. 24 meets Starship Troopers. If you read Reynolds, Hamilton, Banks - read this... --Stephen Baxter
Unreasonably enjoyable. 24 meets Starship Troopers. If you read Reynolds, Hamilton, Banks - read this... --Stephen Baxter
Unreasonably enjoyable. 24 meets Starship Troopers. If you read Reynolds, Hamilton, Banks - read this... --Stephen Baxter
Product Description
On the brink of perfecting the long sought-after human/ AI interface, Philip Kaufman finds his world thrown into turmoil as a scandal from the past returns to haunt him and dangerous information falls into his hands. Pursued by assassins and attacked in his own home, he flees. Leyton, a government black-ops specialist, is diverted from his usual duties to hunt down the elusive pirate vessel The Noise Within, wondering all the while why this particular freebooter is considered so important. Two lives collide in this stunning and innovative space-opera!
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
30 of 33 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
The Noise Within has some promising elements, but ultimately proves to lack any real imagination. Combined with pedestrian writing this produces a disappointing and tedious book.
It presents a future of space travel, colonised planets, and a human society recovering from some sort of traumatic civil war. The setting put me in mind of The Reality Dysfunction by Peter F Hamilton, but without the advanced bio-science. Whates throws a pair of main characters into the story: Philip Kaufman is a rich scientist, whose father invented a particularly good star drive, but also dabbled with an AI/Human interface for piloting ships, with disasterous results. Leyton is a black-ops commando with an intelligent gun, who spends much of the book being sent on various missions. Further characters get brought in for short periods, and one, Kethi, seems to be intended as a future main character.
It's necessary for a book of this type to grab your attention with at least one interesting character, and this is where it falls down. Leyton has potential, and his action sequences are competent, but he never really develops. Kaufman is downright tedious, a spoilt brat grown up with a chip on his shoulder about his father's old AI ship. Whates shows attempts to develop his characters, but seems only able to produce the odd synopsis of their lives rather than writing it into their narratives. The worst example of this is when Kethi encounters someone, and Whates tells us, in one pithy paragraph, that they're good friends, he is madly in love with her, and she will never reciprocate. It's just a cliche chucked on the page with no thought or craft, and never referred to again.
Leyton shows just enough interest to drag you through the opening half of the book, and at this point a tech-orientated writer should have at least have impressed you with his cool new ideas. Not so. It's all very ordinary. There are planets, and ships, and some AI, and it's all stuff that was done years ago: personas in cyberspace - Snow Crash; dead people's personas in cyberspace - Reality Dysfunction series; AI gun - Against a Dark Background; Wormholes - everyone. The worst example is a lovingly described moment when Kaufman and someone else knock their wrist-computers together to become electronic friends. That's not even the future, that's iPhones with Bump installed!
The actual plot eventually winds it way towards assembling the main characters on the AI ship Kaufman's father lost years ago. At this point I was expecting some cool revelations and reveals. Well, no. Despite there being no mention of it on my copy of the book, this is clearly the start of a series, and any real information is clearly to come in later installments. There's a big event, which I won't spoil, which doesn't really tell you much apart from that you'll be shelling out for more books.
Despite the ranting above, it's not actually a terrible book, it's just deeply average. Much worse has been written before, and will be again. There's even a chance that Whates will find his feet and produce good work. But this is a mess of non-ideas and undeveloped characters, tied together with pedestrian prose. I'd buy it to read it on the train for a pound, maybe.
It presents a future of space travel, colonised planets, and a human society recovering from some sort of traumatic civil war. The setting put me in mind of The Reality Dysfunction by Peter F Hamilton, but without the advanced bio-science. Whates throws a pair of main characters into the story: Philip Kaufman is a rich scientist, whose father invented a particularly good star drive, but also dabbled with an AI/Human interface for piloting ships, with disasterous results. Leyton is a black-ops commando with an intelligent gun, who spends much of the book being sent on various missions. Further characters get brought in for short periods, and one, Kethi, seems to be intended as a future main character.
It's necessary for a book of this type to grab your attention with at least one interesting character, and this is where it falls down. Leyton has potential, and his action sequences are competent, but he never really develops. Kaufman is downright tedious, a spoilt brat grown up with a chip on his shoulder about his father's old AI ship. Whates shows attempts to develop his characters, but seems only able to produce the odd synopsis of their lives rather than writing it into their narratives. The worst example of this is when Kethi encounters someone, and Whates tells us, in one pithy paragraph, that they're good friends, he is madly in love with her, and she will never reciprocate. It's just a cliche chucked on the page with no thought or craft, and never referred to again.
Leyton shows just enough interest to drag you through the opening half of the book, and at this point a tech-orientated writer should have at least have impressed you with his cool new ideas. Not so. It's all very ordinary. There are planets, and ships, and some AI, and it's all stuff that was done years ago: personas in cyberspace - Snow Crash; dead people's personas in cyberspace - Reality Dysfunction series; AI gun - Against a Dark Background; Wormholes - everyone. The worst example is a lovingly described moment when Kaufman and someone else knock their wrist-computers together to become electronic friends. That's not even the future, that's iPhones with Bump installed!
The actual plot eventually winds it way towards assembling the main characters on the AI ship Kaufman's father lost years ago. At this point I was expecting some cool revelations and reveals. Well, no. Despite there being no mention of it on my copy of the book, this is clearly the start of a series, and any real information is clearly to come in later installments. There's a big event, which I won't spoil, which doesn't really tell you much apart from that you'll be shelling out for more books.
Despite the ranting above, it's not actually a terrible book, it's just deeply average. Much worse has been written before, and will be again. There's even a chance that Whates will find his feet and produce good work. But this is a mess of non-ideas and undeveloped characters, tied together with pedestrian prose. I'd buy it to read it on the train for a pound, maybe.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The cover of the book says "If you like Hamilton, Reynolds...". This isn't really a fair comparison. There is nowhere near the depth nor standard of writing that Hamilton shows - but all in all, it is well worth a read.
Didn't stop me buying the second in the series. A good plot and some great ideas - I guess I am just used to the likes of Hamilton & Gary Gibson spending 100 pages on a character's background that I find the half a page background a bit short...
Didn't stop me buying the second in the series. A good plot and some great ideas - I guess I am just used to the likes of Hamilton & Gary Gibson spending 100 pages on a character's background that I find the half a page background a bit short...
12 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I happened to pick this book up from a table at a convention, with not the least intention of buying it, but the first few pages had me hooked, so I did, and didn't regret it at all. It's certainly fast paced and I couldn't help warming to the main characters, flaws'n'all. It's not a deep and meaningful read but very enjoyable and I was disappointed to learn that, while there is to be a sequel (and that's obvious from the ending, so don't expect everything to be wrapped up) this isn't going to be the first book of a trilogy. I haven't read a decent space opera in years, and while this isn't Asimov, it did create a believable, though not necessarily ground-breaking, future society. I'd certainly recommend it to science fiction fans who are looking for an easy read, a break from the challenging end of the market.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Clearly an early novel for Whates. Lots of potential.
I really liked this book. It's quite short at only 336 pages, which meant it was a fast read and I could get into quickly. Of course it's not Alastair Reynolds. Read more
Published 8 days ago by Mr. Paul J. Grenyer
Mills & Boon SF?
This novel was fast-paced enough, and had some good ideas. But I'm afraid the style of writing eventually made the book tedious. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Pickwick
Good Pulp Sci-Fi
I actually liked this book. I don't think it made me a better person and it was a bit 'pulpy', if you know what I mean, but as a light read it was ideal. Read more
Published 15 months ago by D Moore
Poor
Cartoon like plot and character development. The worst kind of sub EE Doc Smith (without the 1930s gee whizz) story telling. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Neuromancer
Hard to see how this sneaked past the publisher
The plot? is bitty and disjointed and the pathetic finale is a straight sell for the sequel. Characters are poorly drawn but do occasionally seem to briefly slip into focus before... Read more
Published 16 months ago by Mr. Peter Callaghan
Not good
I'd have enjoyed this book more if I'd eaten it rather than read it.
The characters all speak and think in the same 'voice', details about their lives, motivations and... Read more
The characters all speak and think in the same 'voice', details about their lives, motivations and... Read more
Published 17 months ago by C. R. White
Disapointing
The story was ok but the sci-fi background detail was very weak and unconvincing - the author just threw in stuff as it was needed with no regard to how such technical miracles... Read more
Published 17 months ago by Phil
Very Enjoyable Read
One of the Best Sci Fi books I have read in the last year. Very easy to read, great characters. good story, good ending.
I have just pre-ordered the sequel.
I have just pre-ordered the sequel.
Published 17 months ago by Mr. A. Hirons
Not bad but be aware this is book one in a series.
The good thing about Peter F Hamilton space operas is that if they are part of a series then it says so right there on the cover. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Mr. R. D. Turner
Disappointing
I bought this after reading reviews comparing The Noise Within to "Reynolds, Hamilton, Banks". Don't be fooled. This is not a patch on their works; it lacks character and depth. Read more
Published 18 months ago by J. Warwick
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