Customer Reviews

Metaplanetary Msr

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Remember when Nasa Held a press briefing 2 years ago decribing an "interplanetary highway" charted by mapping the projected positions of planetary and solar gravity wells? This "highway" charts the least fuel costs needed for interplanetary travel by using gravity assists to send space probes to their intended destinations.

Tony Daniel took the report literally, and his characters travel through physical highways strung between the earth and mars, earth and the moon, earth to mercury, etc etc. Nevermind that such planets spin around the sun, and the cables between planets would plunge into the sun when the planets they are connected to are in solar opposition. All these plot problems are solved by the modern magic of nanotechnology!

Tis a shame, as the rest of the book's ideas about the civil rights of artificial intellegences are sort of interesting.

_Doug

A common or garden quest-and-conflict plot, characters complex enough to engage but not disturb, interwoven with an extraordinary web of the best techno-fantasy around. I've also read "Warpath", and it is also a perfect sci-fi blend of mind-stretching escape and cosy goodies/baddies. The only reason this guy isn't better known is the way he's being handled by his publishers. "A novel of inter-planetary civil war"??? Bring on the ray-guns!

First of all, get over the fact that the physics of the Met (a nanotech-created transportation system) simply don't hold up - the story here includes so many dazzling ideas and unique characters (human, artificial intelligence, animal, and all combinations of the above) and so much non-stop action that it transcends its own limitations. The philosophical and political aspects of the story alone make it worth reading - when you add the extrapolations in technology, and their associated moral dilemas, this becomes one of the most fascinating and enjoyable books I've read in years - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED - waiting impatiently for the sequel!