Vast (Hardcover)

Characters are ok, some are skimmed, some are filled in, overall I think I'll remember a couple of them but not in detail. Didn't affect my enjoyment of the book though.

I would strongly recommend this to anyone who likes hard SF. Another one that makes me want to talk about it with someone else who's read it.

Even though Vast appears to be part of a series, I had no problems slipping into the book's flow. Indeed, I found it refreshing to enter the action straight away, though naturally it was a little harder to identify with the characters and some of the events.

The book is best classified as hard sci-fi - mostly of a nano/bio nature - although it doesn't contain the depths of scientific detail that some authors (eg Greg Egan) would include, and it only gives a brief look at how people might respond to the 'philosophy' of existing in multiple states (electronically or physically) at the same time, or modifying/editing ones behaviour and feelings.

Linda Nagata's writing style is 'free and easy' - one doesn't have to concentrate hard to work out what is happening, which is good because some of the action in this book would be difficult to follow otherwise. Her characterisations are a little flat - athough the characters do have distinct personalities, they don't seem to develop that much over the course of the book. This could be in part because the book is part of a series, or in part because the characters freeze or ghost themselves so often that they don't exist in an alive state long enough to develop. However, given the experiences and physical engineering they undergo, I would have expected more from them.

The focus of the book meanders a bit - rather than being on a mission to seek the Chenzeme (who are attacking human colonies and ships), one gets the impression that the whole journey is a river adventure - just floating along and seeing what happens next. Similarly, character focus tends to float too, to the point where some characters are almost forgotten or ignored. As such, we don't get to explore their inner self as much as I would have hoped, adding to their 'flatness'.

The story itself is okay, though nothing outstanding. However, Linda Nagata tells it well, and I am not disappointed with it. With a bit more character development and a tighter plot, this book would be pretty good.

In summary, Vast is definately worth a read, and Linda Nagata is an author to watch out for in the future.