Customer Reviews

The Modular Man (The Next Wave, No 4)

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

 

 

I thouroughly enjoyed this book.

It wasn't just science fiction, it discussed some pressing moral issues such as euthanasia and the right to die with dignity.

It discusses the social implications of immortality and the associated hoarding of wealth (which applies today to inheritance).

It had a very positive outlook on life...my favourite quote in the whole book after a crippled woman is asked why she chooses to go on was "because it feels good to be alive" and that about sums it up for me.

The Modular man was written in 1992 about a time we have not yet reached; but that we are fast approaching. MacBride has summed up in this book the core issues of the ethical debate that is suffusing our current discussions of health care reform.

We have serious topics here but they are wrapped in a great combination of adventure and mystery.

On the one hand is the argument that everyone should have the same access to health care and on the other acceptance that the rich will always get something better. How much can and should we do for life extension? What are the ultimate implications of our decisions? Does outlawing expensive private procedures actually hurt everyone as R&D is reduced? How are these issues handled in an intensely political environment, especially where one side is committed to "winning at all costs". What can a few determined individuals do against "the System".

I bought the book because I was re-reading an old "Analog" that contained the first part of the book as a serial and I could not find the next issues. Such was the impact that I just had to get the rest of the story. I was not dissapointed! A great read!

This is a standard philosophical sci-fi novel with little action and lots of digression. The central issue is the very meaning of humanity. Should you look concentrate on the physical 'human being' when defining a human being? How much of your body should be original before you are a legal cyborg?

A wealthy man and his wife were hurt severely in a vehicle accident and barely cling to life. The man, David, realizes he is going to die very soon and sets up a mindload into a modified cleaning robot. His robot shell is prosecuted for murder because he survived 'his' own suicide. His wife Suzanne, a trial lawyer rendered quadriplegic by the accident, takes up her husband's case using a remotely controlled body.

Personally I thought this particular science fiction novel rose above the normal space opera and speculative futures so common in the genre. Without a science fiction backdrop, it could easily be called modern literature. The characterization of the supporting cast is a bit rigid, but 'Modular Man,' as the story of David and Suzanne, is an excellent novel. The middle may be a little slow, but the end makes the entire experience worth it.