Less Than Human [Mass Market Paperback]

Maxine McArthur (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2004

When a factory worker is mysteriously killed by a robot, cybernetics engineer Eleanor McGuire is unwilling to call the incident "human error." In a different part of Osaka, four teenagers are electrocuted in an apparent group suicide, and Police Inspector Ishihara isn't convinced it was self-inflicted. When their investigations cross paths, the foreign scientist and the aging cop find a trail that will lead them to more murders, corporate crime, and a strange online cult led by a secretive guru who promises immortality to his followers if they help him destroy civilization. But how can McGuire and Ishihara stop this psychopath if he doesn't seem to exist?

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Aspect (October 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446613428
• ISBN-13: 978-0446613422
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1.1 x 6.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,307,384 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Decent near-future Japanese SF whodunnit. "B-", February 16, 2005

By 

Peter D. Tillman (Taos, NM USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Less Than Human (Mass Market Paperback)

_____________________________________________
McArthur's third novel is a near-future police-procedural whodunnit set in Japan. The Japanese setting is the most interesting part of the novel, I thought -- the author lived there for 16 years, returning to Australia in 1996. The protagonist, a female gaijin robotics scientist working in industrial R&D, is well-drawn and sympathetic. And the book is smoothly-written. Do you see the upcoming "but"?

The sfnal McGuffin, a high-tech cult called the Silver Angels -- their leader, Adam, wants to rule Japan (today Japan -- tomorrow the world!) -- didn't work nearly as well, imo. The cultists' bafflegab computer-tech is confusing and unconvincing. The cult's leaders/bad guys are, well, central-casting cardboard. Well-researched cardboard, mind, but novelistically unconvincing. And their Eevil Deeds are all too obviously tailored to the story.

Plus, it's bloody startling to hear tough Osaka cops speaking in Australian, mates....

Still, a decent novel, which might be of particular interest to Japanophiles. "B-" for me -- I preferred her first novel, TIME FUTURE (2001).

Happy reading--
Pete Tillman
Google Groups for my review of Time Future

3.0 out of 5 stars for anime fans?, August 7, 2007

By 

D. Anthony "reads a lot" (Raleigh, NC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Less Than Human (Mass Market Paperback)

Dropping hints right and left as the hero compares himself to a character from police manga, and the heroine exchanges graphic novels with her niece, I believe that this novel is nothing less (but much more) than an extended pro-written, mass-market-published, fat-novel-length fanfiction prequel to Evangelion.

The heroine may be considered typical of self-insertion stories, her name "Eleanor McGuire" resembling the author's unmistakably, but despite her red hair and sexier than average figure, there's more Susan Casper than Mary Sue in this robotics engineer investigating a series of deaths by robot.

Then again, she's also married, though she neglects her husband to work on her humanoid robot, Sam. But he and his family draw her attention as her niece, Mari, gets involved with the Silver Angels, a cyberpunk style cult led by the inventor of its high tech salvation, known publicly only as Adam.

McArthur's story of the origins of Adam and the Evas / Angels is completely readable by anyone, whether or not familiar with anime, but fans of Evangelion who enjoy good gen fanfic will probably get twice the kick out of this novel. Whether you see it as I do, or only as a bit of homage and nod to the anime - give it a read, maybe you will enjoy it as much as I did.