Customer Reviews

Mappa Mundi

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

 

 

The first thing I read of Robson's was her LIVING NEXT DOOR TO THE GOD OF LOVE, which I wasn't too thrilled with. However, I recognized a fine writing talent at work, and since MAPPA MUNDI certainly sounded like a very different story, I decided to give Robson another chance.

I'm so glad I did.

First off, I'm still enthralled and amused by the cleverness of this book. It took me a hundred pages to understand why, but the book's divided into four parts: "Legend", "Compass Rose", "Map", and "Update". "Legend" is, at first glance, very odd: each chapter is focused on a character, and they read like vignettes, or short stories. It's odd, but I stuck with it because Robson has a marvelous way of capturing the intangible. Childhood, emotion, human reaction. All of this is jam-packed in the very beginning of the story, which kept me reading, even when I didn't know what was going on.

What I figured out, once I reached "Compass Rose", is that each part is like an element of a map: "Legend" is the key. It sets up the players of the novel by giving you a kernel of who they were at one point in their lives. It's very personal, and makes every single one of them human. "Compass Rose", then, gives us the direction of the story. The inciting incident that brings all the characters together. And of course, "Map" is the story itself. And "Update" is more of a sidenote, an epilogue that lets the reader know what's come out of all these events. A rather non-traditional part of the book, but still cool. Note the mosquitoes.

I can't stress how wonderfully the story is done. In the hands of other writers, this would've been a mess teeming with coincidence, but here, it just worked. I think part of what sold this for me was the fact I met the characters independent of each other, so once I realized their paths were crossing in more ways than one in the story, I was really excited to see how it would all play out. Better still, Robson does an excellent job with her antagonists. Not a single character in here is flat: every one is well portrayed and has its own level of heartbreak. Robson excels at human dynamics in this book.

It's also generally incredibly hard for the reader to know what's going on when their protagonist doesn't. It's easy to see the protagonist as stupid for not seeing the "obvious" clues in front of him/her (anyone who's watched the show Alias knows what I mean), but in this book, it works fabulously. I think it's because Robson takes great care with her characters and plot, making sure that each character is acting true to himself/herself, so that a real tension is created between people because the reader can't wait to figure out how this house of cards is going to collapse.

Plot itself? Very well done. I like how things tie together, and while I always zone out a bit on the science aspects of science fiction (I know, that makes me a bad science fiction reader), this works really well. I liked seeing the different levels of how the science worked in the story (some where this is called a medical thriller, and that would fit the bill), and how everything, in the end, played out like it was supposed to.

Overall, this book left me very satisfied, and it's something I can easily recommend to anyone reading or writing SF. This does just about everything well, and since Robson's a stylist, the prose is almost always a joy to read. I will warn that she has a wonderful handle on metaphor, but because this is speculative fiction, there are times, especially at the beginning, where one isn't sure if what's happening is literal or not. This is definitely not a deal breaker, and this isn't a problem once you get into the story itself. But it is something to be aware of. :)

I'll definitely be looking into more of her books.

In England research psychologist Dr. Natalie Armstrong diligently works on mapping the human brain so that physicians will one day be able to mend traumatized brains and truly cure the mentally ill. She is closing in on her objective thanks in part to MAPPA MUNDI software.

As Natalie knows she nears achieving her life's goal, FBI Specialists Jude Westhorpe and Mary Delany investigate the activities of a Russian defector Mikhail Guskov who has been involved in gene mapping and other scientific breakthroughs. Jude and Mary believe that Mikhail has plans for Natalie's research and are assigned to prevent him from doing so. However across the Atlantic, Jude, though afraid, realizes he is no longer an obscure field agent as someone wants him dead; he assumes it is Mikhail while Natalie is stunned that instead of freeing humanity, her nanotechnology is wanted by powerful entities to mentally enslave people.

This is a terrific thought provoking medical science fiction mystery that grips the audience with its theme that good intentions can lead to bad endings if abused by those in charge. Readers will ponder the options between thought control slaves vs. healthy and happy people as initially most of the audience will say no that is in no way possible, but soon begin to realize it is absolutely plausible; even without the nano technology, manipulation is the norm rationalized to anchor the power base. Justina Robson provides a powerful thriller that will haunt fans who will compare events to what is going on today as science and politics are manipulated to serve selfish purposes.

Harriet Klausner

I am single, cynical & nihilist on romance between men/women - but this book got me believing. I can't believe no one's reviewed it (shame on you Amazon;)...as it's my favourite novel of all time. High tech; with startling visions of a possible Big Brother future. This book also embraces a realistic love between a heterosexual women & a gay man. But there's more to it than that, the characteristaion/narratives presented are deep, insightful & philsophical. A master author. Real treat of a novel. [Written: March 6, 2004].

Justina Robson's MAPPA MUNDI provides engrossing action in telling of a medical nanotechnology advancement which affects psychologist Natalie's research, suddenly catapulted into a sinister mind control project. FBI science specialist Jude is searching for a genius - and getting too close to the truth. The two will find their lives entwined when the Mapa Mundi project reaches a dangerous new level in this engrossing fast-paced plot recommended for any fan of hard science fiction.

Mind control structure struggle.


When I started this it seemed to me to be like something you would get if you crossed Gregory Benford and John Le Carre.

Or, rather interesting from the beginning.

The heart of the matter is research into a project that will enable the altering of people's minds and the way they think via organic programming, even administered as a spreading virus.

In a book like mentioned at the beginning you will of course have conspiracies, from Russia to the USA, whose own federal agencies are divided in what to do with such a discovery. Use it, destroy it, or weaponise it?

All in all, a rather good book about a very disturbing concept.

It annoys me when foreigners writing about the US can't get their details right. A quick reading by an American could have picked up on the Anglicisms that slipped into this novel. But here we have "launderettes" and "surveyors". When the car swerves we almost end up on the "central reservation", and people who go to prison are "sent down". And someone sits down with a pack of cards to play a game of "patience".

The character Mary Delaney, who is meant to be American, meets Miles Roseck of the "Montana Senatorial office". There are two senators for every American state, who may represent different political parties. Each has his or her own staff, and they do not all sit in one office together. That would be equivalent to the prime minister and leader of the opposition of your country sharing 10 Downing Street.

Mary worries that "The current government could easily be toppled by the Republicans..." "Toppled" is an Anglicism, as is "current government". Are the Republicans plotting a revolution? They might topple the administration, but not the entire US government. Anyone in England remotely interested in our current situation (ie, impending war with Iraq) will be familiar with the phrase "The Bush administration".

Mary is also concerned that that interest groups "...would unite in outrage...ending all that the Declaration of Independence stood for, particularly free will." Even a cursory reading should inform an English person that the Declaration of Independence expresses the right to freedom from English tyranny. The Constitution sets out Americans' rights, and it should be immediately obvious that the "right to free will" isn't one of them. Free will is a religious or philosophical concept, not a sociopolitical one.

American politics plays a big part in this novel. It would have been better if it had been researched long before publication. One of the pleasures of reading fiction is the opportunity to cross cultural barriers and explore different worlds. This is a novel that should have stayed at home.