Customer Reviews

Armed Memory

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I must have read the 1993 short story this book is based on in a collection somewhere -- at least most of this novel seemed vaguely familiar. "Lingers in the reader's memory"? No, I just barely got any déja vu from it... But I enjoyed it even more the second(?) time.

Young's story is a brisk, short-chaptered cautionary tale, well-paced and intriguing. There are some major plot elements left unexplained -- like how can the Hammerheads be swimming in the ocean at one point, and rampaging through the streets of New York in another -- do they have fins or legs? -- but as long as you're willing to suspend your disbelief, this is great "soft" science-fiction.

The microcoding fashions reminded me a bit of Delaney's "Dahlgren," and the high-tech high-security future is very Bladerunner. However Young's vision of genetic tinkering gone awry is all his own, as far as I know. Proponents of "designer genes" and nanotechnology-as-mankind's-golden-goose would do well to consider Young's alternative future, where not everyone follows a Disney script.

Chilling and (except for a few implausible details) entirely too plausible.

This is a highly enjoyable thriller about a future where extreme body modification - via genetic manipulation - is the latest fad, and what happens when a group of people begin to use it as a route to world domination. A few careless plot gaps and a craving for more keep me from giving the book a higher score, but it doesn't keep me from recommending it to anyone who finds the premise interesting.

While this book was interesting, and I did for the most part enjoy it, there were times when it seemed like parts of the story were missing. The story did not always flow well.
Younger readers would probably get more enjoyment from this book than someone looking for an in-depth detailed, well flowing story; after all, it has cool sharkmen.

In the last two weeks I have read a large number of very good books. One such book is called ARMED MEMORY by Jim Young. This book is a near-future techno-thriller that I found quite engrossing.

The time is the end of the twenty-first century and genetic research has progressed to the point of allowing cosmetic changes at the genetic level. A virus is created that over time will alter your DNA so that you look like Marilyn Monroe, Elvis or a wolfman. Scientist/artists create new designs for the public. At some time in the past a design was created for hammerheads. Part man and part shark. This was a design very popular in the underworld. Now large gangs of hammerheads are a threat to security world wide.

The story is told in a series of testimonies given after the hammerhead disaster. Hammerheads are violent, go on killing frenzies, can hide in the ocean and have the ability to communicate over long distances. Now they want to wipe out all life on land and return to the sea. Their communications ability allows them to access and program computers from a distance. Nuclear holocaust is narrowly averted.

The world as seen in the book is one that could be possible. This is one of the things that makes the book so effective. If you can find a copy (released last month) I recommend reading it if science-fiction techno-thrillers are your style.

I think that this book uses great imagination in order to look into another century and to depict how it might be.I haven't enjoyed a book this much in a while!If you liked this book you might want to check out other books somewhat similair to this one,such as Jurassic Park,The Lost World,or Intensity.I think that this book gets very interesting,but then loses it's flavor,but then it catches back up.Overall it's a good read.

This book was very well itten. I liked very much. Some people think there are gaps in how te hammerhead walked on land and swam in the sea, but all you have to do is read it, and it explains it completely. Anyways, the idea of genetic tinkering intrigue, and shows what we might be able do in the future. the only thing, is that if u were a jones and comitted a crime, you could just microde yourself, and never be caught. Also the concept of moneya little odd, becuase 17 billion dollars didn't seem to impressive to him, as it would be in this day and age.

Very well written DNA-punk novel. Compelling plot with some good irony and socially interesting ideas. Just enough science to inform and lets your imagination fill in the gaps. Good charcter development that doesn't get in the way of the plot. I read it twice about a month apart and enjoyed it equally both times. Lots of good ideas to explore with your mind expand after the book is closed

Yes, in the future you can look like Madonna or Elvis. But why would you step on a subway train with five Elvis' sitting around? How do people tell each other apart? And would you want to look like Elvis if thousands of people already do? These are some of the obvious questions this book overlooks. There's more. The picture of the future is interesting, but foolishly described. The flow of the book is sporadic and I get the feeling the author isn't well versed in biology or genetics to give compelling details of the books creations. I would suspect Junior High boys would love this story. Much of it made me think of storylines explored in the Ninja Turtles cartoons! Cowabunga, Mr. Young!