Customer Reviews

Frequencies

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I highly recommend this book. Like 1984, Atlas Shrugged, and Brave New World, it considers one possible future based upon trends in both politics and technology. Unlike those stories, however, it makes its point without being particularly heavy handed. The oppression of the frequencies-monitored society is part of the richly-developed back story; it is not a part of a sermon.

((frequencies)) works on several levels. On the surface, it's a sci-fi action story with chases, gadgets, and intrique galore. The novel features several excellently developed characters, and the writing conveys a great deal of compassion as well as irony, humor, and loss.

As I mentioned, the subtext also presents a great deal of food for thought with regard to human nature, the imperatives of committees, and the balance of benefit vs destruction that accompany any technological advance.

Mr. Ortega's greatest strength is developing great characters and putting them into readily understandable situations. The bad guys are not 100 percent evil, and the good guys (with one notable exception) are not completely untarnished. This makes them incredibly interesting and compelling.

Alas, the ending is just a bit open-ended for my tastes. It's very clear that this isn't the end of the story; that at least one (more likely, two) installment will be necessary to tell the complete tale. Assuming the writing is at least as good in the next book, however, I think I can live with that. I definitely want to read the next installment(s)....

So, buy this book, and make it compelling for Mr. Ortega to finish the next one soon!

Joshua Ortega has created an incredible futuristic Seattle without changing it into complete science fiction. His innovative creations of federal agencies and everyday life makes you think....could these things really happen? Some of his predictions have already begun to come true. Freeky! I highly recommend this book for anyone who is interested in a different view of the future - one that we can't imagine, yet we are moving toward. Be careful what you think - control your frequencies.....

This is one of the best SciFi Books I've read in a long time. I'd even venture to say this is the most original in concept and voice since Gibson's "Neuromancer". The concepts and events are very timely to the direction things seem to be moving that it was almost chilling to read. Great characters! Great Voice! Definitely a talent to watch!
Can't wait for the sequels Josh! Or the Movie!

Frequencies was an action-packed adventure set in future Seattle. What imaginative scenery and characters! The issues presented are eerily parallel to the direction in which our society to moving. Very deep concepts and interesting, thought-provoking themes are paired with science-fiction like characters (although they may not be considered so science-fiction in the near future) which cause you to look at our world now and compare it the their world. In a freeky way, the two worlds don't seem very different at all! Action and adventure in this intricately-planned out society keep you wanting to read more and more. Joshua Ortega is a master at creating the picture in your mind to let you feel each character. You definitely want to check this one out!

The first page just sings off the page and grabbed me with the descriptive prose and sardonic voice. I could see Seattle 2051 shimmer and morph before my eyes as the pages turned.

The beginning of the book builds slow as Ortega introduces the reader to intricate, yet well-defined characters who linger in your imagination long after the story ends. Where ((Frequencies)) could once have been considered a stretch of the imagination, it's evident in our post-September 11 world that this novel ironically mirrors life.

In an effort to control terrorists at the turn of the millennium -- following a 7-year stretch of time known as the Terror Years - the government implements a new type of technology that reads brain waves (frequency emissions) like a polygraph detector. The Freemon or FREquency Emissions MONitors (agents of a special division of the FBI) monitor communities for evidence of violators who emit brain waves that fall into the overly active omega range that is typical of subversive thinkers and terrorists. (Side note: "Wired Daily News" reported recently that Lawrence Farwell, a neuroscientist from Iowa, helped develop a real life neuro-imaging test that is being field-tested with some success by the FBI.)

In the government's zeal to maintain peace and control evil, the Freemon are accorded excessive power and lord it over the nation, like Big Brother in the age of Blade Runner. The pace of the novel quickens in a rush, revealing a plot twist that hits with the force of a synaptic disruptor.

On the surface level, this is a highly enjoyable read. Peel back a few layers, and you realize there is a depth and complexity to the novel that is not immediately evident. The infinity symbol and Omega, delta, and alpha characters representative of various frequencies within the electromagnetic spectrum also symbolize main characters in the book. Ortega has included a glossary that not only defines various technical terms and concepts, but contains additional information that was not evident in the story. Detail lovers will find a treasure trove to explore in both the content and book design.

My only critique is that I would have liked to have seen more conflict resolution with a few of the characters - Ignacio, McCready, Ashley and her brother - to wrap up what is promised to be the first in a trilogy. Overall, though, I highly recommend this read. Ortega is an author to watch.

The first page just sings off the page and grabbed me with the descriptive prose and sardonic voice. I could see Seattle 2051 shimmer and morph before my eyes as the pages turned.

The beginning of the book builds slow as Ortega introduces the reader to intricate, yet well-defined characters who linger in your imagination long after the story ends. Where ((Frequencies)) could once have been considered a stretch of the imagination, it's evident in our post-September 11 world that this novel ironically mirrors life.

In an effort to control terrorists at the turn of the millennium -- following a 7-year stretch of time known as the Terror Years - the government implements a new type of technology that reads brain waves (frequency emissions) like a polygraph detector. The Freemon or FREquency Emissions MONitors (agents of a special division of the FBI) monitor communities for evidence of violators who emit brain waves that fall into the overly active omega range that is typical of subversive thinkers and terrorists. (Side note: "Wired Daily News" reported recently that Lawrence Farwell, a neuroscientist from Iowa, helped develop a real life neuro-imaging test that is being field-tested with some success by the FBI.)

In the government's zeal to maintain peace and control evil, the Freemon are accorded excessive power and lord it over the nation, like Big Brother in the age of Blade Runner. The pace of the novel quickens in a rush, revealing a plot twist that hits with the force of a synaptic disruptor.

On the surface level, this is a highly enjoyable read. Peel back a few layers, and you realize there is a depth and complexity to the novel that is not immediately evident. The infinity symbol and Omega, delta, and alpha characters representative of various frequencies within the electromagnetic spectrum also symbolize main characters in the book. Ortega has included a glossary that not only defines various technical terms and concepts, and contains additional information that was not evident in the story. Detail lovers will find a treasure trove to explore in both the content and book design.

My only critique is that I would have liked to have seen more conflict resolution with a few of the characters - Ignacio, McCready, Ashley and her brother - to wrap up what is promised to be the first in a trilogy. Overall, though, I highly recommend this read. Ortega is an author to watch.

I bought this book straight from the hands of the author at Bumbershoot in Seattle. He signed it, put some bookmarks and postcards in it, and we exchanged some words about the book itself. It was a complete impulse buy, and I forgot about the book until I found it in my car a couple months later.

When I finally got around to reading it, I was hooked. It has the feel of being written by a new author with both the ups and downs that come with that. The characters start out a bit stereotypical, but they evolve. The book gets quite good, and I'm excited to read the sequel.

The story tells of a world in the near future where thinking "freeky" thoughts - that is, thoughts that emit high frequencies which indicate more rebellious thought - is against the law. It's perhaps not as "out there" as some may think. Regardless, it's a very fun book.

((FREQUENCIES)) is vivid, fast-paced ride into the Seattle of 2051. Ortega's ideas reverberate from today's world into a vision of the future that is scary, wonderful, and hopeful all at the same time. In the aftermath of the WTO and Seattle's response to the millennium, the political domination of the Frequencies world is omniously real. Things that were once fantastically impossible- cloning, nanotechnology, transhumanism- come to life as we can imagine them doing only in the opening days of the twenty-first century. And things we already know- remote thought monitoring, love and adventure- are revealed in all their multiply-faceted glory. Needless to say, once you start to explore this story, it won't stop with book. The only question I have is, when does the sequel come out?

Obviously there are a number of people who enjoyed this book. It got positive reviews, not just in places not necessarily familiar with SF (like the Seattle Times) but also in places that are familiar with the genre (like Talebones magazine). Tastes vary. For myself, I don't find satire on negative social trends and positive visions of change sufficient by themselves to make a good novel. Joshua Ortega has some very apt observations here: a Redmond-based company called Ordosoft pretty much runs the world; voters anxious for social order after a period of violence agreed to have themselves electronically monitored to such an extent that a special division of the FBI can even track whether your thoughts are in the socially acceptable frequency range (placid and accepting); when a riot is touched off by cops beating three children to death, the rioters and their entire neighborhood are wiped out but the cops are only reprimanded. However, many things mar the book, like too much description and not enough action; a nit-picking attention to irrelevant details like each step of lighting a cigarette; inconsistency (he has a nice little gimmick of putting ® and TM and © after brand names of things being consumed, but doesn't do it all the time); a general stiffness and heavy-handedness in writing. I am glad that more people are self-publishing, and that the market isn't totally dominated by big publishing houses. One of the advantages of a publishing house, however, is that somebody else edits you. Ortega needs a much tougher editor before he publishes the sequels he has in mind.

This is the first time I've enjoyed the "Cyberpunk / Dystopian" genre since Snow Crash & the Diamond Age. Admittedly the little (c), (tm), and (r) all get somewhat annoying -- but the story its self is well written, creative, and beautiful in delivery.

There's nothing overtly new in this book, but brings together a tremendous amount of mediocrity in to one impossible to put down read. If you think 1984 with a dash of Neil Stephenson, and a touch of Tad Williams, you'll likely end up with what we have here. This is a very highly suggested read.