Customer Reviews

The Phoenix Code

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

 

 

Catherine Asaro continues to give us another excellent Science Ficton novel with a good romantic plot. The novel tells the story of a young scientist, Megan O'Flannery who is offered the chance to develop a self-aware android, Aris. A shy robitics genius, Raj Sundaram, aids her after Aris becomes unstable.

The tempo of the book keeps you riveted. I stayed up til 2:00 AM to finish it. An excellent protrayal of an autistic character adds to the realism.

I highly recommend the book to anyone enjoys Science Fiction, Robotics, and Romance. Warning: You will not be able to put down the book until the last page is read.

I found "The Phoenix Code" to be a bit repetitive and heavy handed throughout most of the middle of the book, but the beginning was skillful enough to capture my interest, and the ending was exciting, well done and sufficiently rewarding that I can recommend this book.

The characterization was very well done, with Megan, Ander and Raj quite fleshed out (an android pun?) and believable. The plot was not very complex, but I found it intriguing and worthwhile.

All in all, not an important read, but a good one.

In 2021, humanity is on the brink of combining artificial intelligence with a perfect robotic body that will lead to Homo superior. Some conservative scientists fear the future for mankind, but the Department of Defense believes their superman is the ultimate operative.

Robotics expert Megan O'Flannery sees both sides of the issue, but concludes that a hybrid is the best next step. Working for cutting edge company, MindSim, Megan secures the assistance of Raj Sundaram in teaching the prototype robot Aris how to be human. However, Aris' circuits scramble and he takes his mentors hostage. While in captivity, Raj and Megan fall in love with one another, but what will happen to their future once his secret is revealed to her?

One of the pioneers of science fiction romance, Catherine Asaro creates another exciting, sensual tale that will elate sub-genre fans. Cleverly, the author provides no solutions to complex ethical questions that leave readers with lingering thoughts about right and wrong. The romance is hot, but this novel is clearly science fiction first with a dynamic climax that will stun the unsuspecting audience who will fail to break THE PHOENIX CODE before Ms. Asaro reveals the ending of this keeper.

Harriet Klausner

This book takes the reader on a fast paced ride. Great plot! I started it one evening, intending to read some before I went to bed, and before I knew it I had stayed up most of the night. Don't start this book at night if you have to get up early in the morning.

Another strong point: characters. The three leads, Megan, Raj and android, are beautifully done. Megan is a strong, self-confident scientist. Asaro has obviously had experience in that job, and it shows. Raj is also well done, a nuanced portrayal of a reclusive genius that rings true.

Asaro writes smart people really well, making them likable and modest, not at all the stereotypes. Her books portray people in a way that seems real to me, even as they experience situations that most of us would never encounter. Her people are mature; they don't act stupid or bicker like children. What makes Megan unusual compared to many female characters in science fiction is her self-determination. She is strong without being harsh, tough without being hard. I liked her.

The science speculations are fascinating. The discussions about the android as he comes into his own fit well with what I've read about the development of robots. Parts even caught me by surprise.

I didn't find the romance all that strong. I did like it, though. There is a sub-plot with a love story, and yes, it does have one love scene (tasteful and sensuous). The two characters, Megan and Raj, act in a mature way toward each other, and can love without being needy or clingy. Asaro uses their relationship to develop some complex thoughts about what it means to be human - and asks some tough questions about how humans will fare in the era of machine intellience that we may have to face not so long in the future.

Asaro manages a good, solid balance for all the components that go into a story - character, science, plot, relationships, and that extra something that makes me, as a reader, sit up and say "Yes!"

Very few books have affected me the way this one did. I read it in bits in pieces, because I simply didn't want it to end. Every layer of every character had to be savored and thought about as we, the readers and they, the characters, try to answer what it means to be human? Do we have the right to create a new species - robot? What will that mean to us? To them? Will they have the same morals? Ethics? Needs?
Put a wonderful love story into that, with two brilliant if slightly dented people.
As usual, Asaro uses the convetions of both science fiction and romance to build something more, something deeper than the sum of both parts
The story revolves around and is told from the POV of Megan O'Flannery, a sweet, lonely robotics engineer who is hired to work on an Android. Along for the ride is the brilliant, sexy and seriously eccentric Raj. Then the Android goes off the deep end and all havoc ensues.
Pros:
1. Rich language
2. Layered characters
3. Deep questions
4. Wonderful love story
5. Ander - he is wonderfully developed. We never experience that clunky writing that sometimes appears when an adult writer is trying to remember being a child.

Cons:
1. Too damned short!

I found this book thought provoking and hard to put down. The characters are well developed along with twists & turns that keeps you on the edge of your seat! This is my third book by Catherine Asaro and I look forward to more of her sci-fi thrillers. If you haven't read her before, this would be the perfect time. If your worried about a lot of science mumbo jumbo, none of that is present here or should I say that it is not as heavy handed as her previous books. Again, this is a page-turner, I couldn't put it down and I kept thinking about the story, the characters, long after that last page was turned. Excellent story! Bravo Ms. Asaro! Look forward to your next book!

Dr. Megan O'Flannery dodges her parents' questions about her love life (their goal: grandchildren!) and pursues her career. When she accepts her dream job, helping an experimental android develop a sufficiently "human" personality to make him successful in his destined role as an intelligence operative, she has no idea she'll soon be isolated in an underground complex with the android and the world's greatest robotics genius: Dr. Chandrarajan "Raj" Sundaram. Nor does she imagine that she and Raj will wind up kidnapped by their android protege, or that she'll soon be forced to make repeated choices between trusting her mysterious colleague and trusting the human-created being that she regards as humanity's great hope for the future.

Despite its familiar theme, this book succeeds as both science fiction and romance novel. It's an exciting, fast-paced read (that cliche really does fit), with engaging characters and a plot twist that is foreshadowed but never given away beforehand. The one problem I had was, oddly enough, with Megan. I love strong, brilliant female protagonists, so I found it surprising when I couldn't fully inhabit this one's skin. That's because I couldn't quite buy into her willingness to let herself be abused and endangered by her creation, sexually as well as in other ways, over and over, in the name of nobly advancing science. Your mileage may vary.

--Reviewed by Nina M. Osier, author of "High Places" and 2005 EPPIE winner "Regs"

The romance of the story didn't bother me. I was more interested in the mystery of the story. Asaro keeps the ending a mystery almost to the very end. Once she reveals the 'who dun'it' the plot barrels along with almost no sense. Characters acting with seemingly one motivation suddenly reverse course. Minor characters become major factors etc. Overall a book that I wouldn't read again, but makes a good book to pass the time on say a long plane flight.

Being different isn't bad, but I didn't enjoy this book. The mix of romance and sci-fi just didn't work for me. The only character I found interesting was the MindSim android Aris. In particular, the lead male character seemed very wooden. (Perhaps turn-around is fair play given how often male writers portray women as one dimensional) Regardless, the read was easy and the story fast paced. I just couldn't relate to it.

Here comes a good SciFi read which will take you on a journey that is filled with all kinds of ride.

Ander is an advanced android who looks and acts and behaves exactly like a human being.If you see Ander along with a human being you cant tell the android apart from the human being.Now this particular android can also fix itself. So far so good. But always there is a "ghost in the machine". There is a self evolving code within Ander's positronic brain which can put humanity to danger. What if an android can think and have similar emotions to ours? Two scientists are in charge of this Robot. They fall into a web of games and deciets.Thats the fun part of the story.

Catherine Asaro has explored pitfalls of AI to some good extent in the story.She also uses Asimov's three robotic laws to make her plot interesting.Overall if you are looking for good quick sci-fi read then I will recommend you this.Things are bit repetitive in the story.But the plot is good.