Customer Reviews

Cyber Way

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

 

 

A fascinating book combining the traditions of the Navaho indian tribes and post modern culture and technology, while at the same time a thought-provoking "how done-it" . The story revolves around the investigations of a Miami detective looking into the bizarre murder of a wealthy business man and its relation to a unique Native American sandpainting. His investigations take him to California where he calls upon the assistance of a local Navaho detective. While there he uncovers links to an ancient alien race, and is called upon to eliminate a possible threat to all mankind

CYBER WAY is one of those rare science-fiction novels that, while not being a pathbreaking contribution to the genre, well repays rereading.

It fuses the kind of mystery pioneered by Tony Hillerman (in which Navaho culture is central to the plot and most of the cast is Navaho) with cutting-edge science fiction dealing with cyberspace. The MacGuffin that drives the plot is not merely a throwaway -- instead, it is central to the action and plausibly, chillingly developed.

There are a few holes -- at first, the Navaho detective treats his out-of-town white-bread Floridian colleague with surface good humor and respect but with an undercurrent of impatience and condescension that is never really explained -- but you forget about them after a while.

I wish that Alan Dean Foster would write another novel or two about Paul Ooljee and Vernon Moody.

This book was a slow starter for a few chapters but became very interesting later on. The plot revolves around a near future detective and an advanced internet for law enforcement. It then incorporates the idea that Navaho sand paintings and associated chants are an aural real world access to an N Dimensional data base left by past visitors to earth. If your interested in philosophy - American Indian history - or computers this is for you. It approaches Colin Wilsons Philosophers Stone in some ways

I really enjoyed this book, could hardly put it down! I haven't read any sci-fi for a while, but this also had elements of a mystery and what greater place than having it on the Navaho Reservation? I wish more writers would place their stories there, having read all of Hillerman also. I highly recommend this book to anyone who would like to take a fictional journey into the future and loves the ambiance and mystery of the desert.

This book's a hoot. It is the sci fi version of the murder on the rez' genre (pioneered by Tony Hillerman.) The book takes place in the not to distance future. The Navajo Indian reservation is now a haven for hi-tech firms (mostly Asian) seeking skilled labor and tax havens.

Although the Dineh have pretty much abandonned the ancient superstition...it turns out that there's something funky going on with the sand paintings. The cops in the book get to explore the sand paintings, Navajo culture and computer technology and more.

As mentioned in another review. The book is not well written. The characters are weak, and the author never really develops the plot or the symbology in the sand paintings. I really wish the author or editors had taken the time to turn this fantastic idea into a block buster.

But if you are willing to overlook the faults, the book is an absolute riot. The concept behind the books is so strong that I give it a five star rating despite the poor writing

doo ahashyaa da

Accidentally picked up this stinker at the airport, rushing to catch a flight. oh my god. prose that whines, bores and tires. granted there is a cute idea wrapped in all the tedium, perhaps enough for a short story or a novella, not a book. truly `a dark and stormy night' quality of writing: ``As Moody's gaze rose from the screen he noted that the wind was no longer blowing across the canyon. Instead it was now blasting toward them, making his own hair and (much more impressively) that of Samantha Grayhills' stream out behind their heads.'' the author attempts to add character development to the story, instead paints caricatures. borded and desparate to kill time i found myself skipping pages at a time to make the pace passable, to get to the end so i could throw this thing out. double ick.