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thehappybooker's review against another edition
5.0
Abrupt ending and obviously a cliffhanger for the next book. It was good up to that point.
readerbot_lu's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Did I like it? No
Do I recommend it? No
Do I recommend it? No
Positives
The most interesting part of this sequel was its discourse on augmented, “transhuman” life and Eleanor’s elitist perspective of futuristic human life.
Negatives
Many of the characters were passive or powerless, which was really frustrating because they either didn’t take action or didn’t know how. The whole pedophilia plot with Fred was incredibly disturbing and impacted my entire experience with the novel. I also hated the ending because it was such a blatant attempt at a cliffhanger and then there was never another installment. Ultimately, I think you can get what you need from Counting Heads and don’t need to read this installment.
randalm's review
2.0
This book forces you to hit the ground running and rarely lets up. Often I like to be thrown into new worlds where I have to figure out what's going on from context. This book, however, hurled so many names of clone lines and such at me that I had difficulty keeping up. Many of the characters' personalities were underdeveloped. With a couple of exceptions, they seemed to exist mainly to advance the plot. What this book does have going for it is a fascinating examination of biological and technological ethics in a richly envisioned universe.
harisadurrani's review
5.0
David Marusek's MIND OVER SHIP is the best novel I've read in a long time. A mashup of Philip K. Dick, Aldous Huxley, William Gibson, and, of course, the author's own signature spry, satirical, occasionally beautiful, and frequently off-the-hook literary touch, MIND OVER SHIP is a stunning literary and intellectual feat. While it's difficult to rival the sheer power of the first third of MIND OVER SHIP's predecessor, his powerful debut COUNTING HEADS (borrowed from his acclaimed novella "We Were Out of Our Minds With Joy"), this sequel makes up for COUNTING HEADS's occasional irregularity of tone and pace while maintaining the intricate world-building and eccentric cast of characters which made COUNTING HEADS such a pleasure for the mind and spirit. MIND OVER SHIP delves deep into everything from genetics, clones, transgenic animals, bioethics, artificial intelligence, the singularity, the Other, economics, corporate takeovers, legal disputes, social hierarchies, psychological colonization, biological and cultural evolution, identity, the nature of consciousness, and reality versus perception. In its final acts, the novel even flirts with space opera, generation ships, deep-space colonization, socialist rebels, extraterrestrial life, environmental disaster, and the nature of life (human and otherwise) itself.
While it's easy to think of Marusek's novel as merely dabbling in a plethora of ideas, the reality is contrary: Marusek has developed a world (begun in COUNTING HEADS) which is vastly complex and real, and probably the most full-realized future I've encountered since Asimov's FOUNDATION novels or Frank Herbert's DUNE. What Asimov did for the fall of the Roman Empire, what Herbert did for the modern Middle East, Marusek has done for our modern social hierarchies and economy.
The first 100 pages or so start off well, but gradually Marusek's novel develops into something unimaginably deep and intricate. It may tax readers with its intellectual rigor and juggled plots, but those who apply themselves will reap the benefits. It's well worth reading COUNTING HEADS -- which on its own is incredible -- in order to enjoy this superior sequel.
Marusek has a way not only with words and characters, but with the power of speculation. He's developed a world where corporate juggernauts manipulate the masses; invasion of privacy is an inevitable invasion of body, mind, and identity; AIs and clones suffer existential crises; obedience is a matter of genetics and computer code; death and birth are meaningless anomalies; and everyone has spies and secrets. His motley crew of characters struggle with increasing difficulty to remain human, to remain alive, in a world crumbling around them. It's a wild ride to MIND OVER SHIP's finale, which is -- for all the social, political, technological, and moral upheaval of its story -- a surprisingly elegant testament to the endurance and beauty of human (and "other") life.
Science fiction at is best: speculative, allegorical, and undeniably human at its core.
http://www.amazon.com/Mind-Over-Ship-David-Marusek/dp/B005K6RUZC
While it's easy to think of Marusek's novel as merely dabbling in a plethora of ideas, the reality is contrary: Marusek has developed a world (begun in COUNTING HEADS) which is vastly complex and real, and probably the most full-realized future I've encountered since Asimov's FOUNDATION novels or Frank Herbert's DUNE. What Asimov did for the fall of the Roman Empire, what Herbert did for the modern Middle East, Marusek has done for our modern social hierarchies and economy.
The first 100 pages or so start off well, but gradually Marusek's novel develops into something unimaginably deep and intricate. It may tax readers with its intellectual rigor and juggled plots, but those who apply themselves will reap the benefits. It's well worth reading COUNTING HEADS -- which on its own is incredible -- in order to enjoy this superior sequel.
Marusek has a way not only with words and characters, but with the power of speculation. He's developed a world where corporate juggernauts manipulate the masses; invasion of privacy is an inevitable invasion of body, mind, and identity; AIs and clones suffer existential crises; obedience is a matter of genetics and computer code; death and birth are meaningless anomalies; and everyone has spies and secrets. His motley crew of characters struggle with increasing difficulty to remain human, to remain alive, in a world crumbling around them. It's a wild ride to MIND OVER SHIP's finale, which is -- for all the social, political, technological, and moral upheaval of its story -- a surprisingly elegant testament to the endurance and beauty of human (and "other") life.
Science fiction at is best: speculative, allegorical, and undeniably human at its core.
http://www.amazon.com/Mind-Over-Ship-David-Marusek/dp/B005K6RUZC
nwhyte's review against another edition
3.0
https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/3036653.html
Mind Over Ship is quite closely linked to the first book - the combined sequence of events takes place over a short period of time, and the reader is banged right into the action. But if you can catch your breath, there are a lot of great ideas here - the collective and individual politics of clones, the manipulation of the launch of generation starships, the character whose severed head is attached to a slowly growing new body, another character whose consciousness has been transferred to a swarm of fish. And yet the plot doesn't quite resolve, and some years later we are still waiting for the third volume of what feels like a trilogy. Maybe when that emerges we'll see the form of the whole more clearly.
Mind Over Ship is quite closely linked to the first book - the combined sequence of events takes place over a short period of time, and the reader is banged right into the action. But if you can catch your breath, there are a lot of great ideas here - the collective and individual politics of clones, the manipulation of the launch of generation starships, the character whose severed head is attached to a slowly growing new body, another character whose consciousness has been transferred to a swarm of fish. And yet the plot doesn't quite resolve, and some years later we are still waiting for the third volume of what feels like a trilogy. Maybe when that emerges we'll see the form of the whole more clearly.
edward_evjen's review against another edition
4.0
I think about this book fairly often. It is brilliantly imaginative. The characters weren't persuading me. Everyone was so immensely cool or brilliant or both. This made the dialogue stiff, just enough to carry an OK plot.
The setting is immensely captivating. The technology is readily believable and counterintuitive. And, even better, the social dynamic responds. The world feels lived in like a pair of temperature regulating nano-tech socks with a built in fitness app.
The plot point that relies on a engineered genocide is ironclad brilliant. You'll only see it in retrospect and with awe.
The setting is immensely captivating. The technology is readily believable and counterintuitive. And, even better, the social dynamic responds. The world feels lived in like a pair of temperature regulating nano-tech socks with a built in fitness app.
The plot point that relies on a engineered genocide is ironclad brilliant. You'll only see it in retrospect and with awe.
bucketheadmary's review against another edition
3.0
That was a strange trip. Lots of fish, and lots of clones.
pussreboots's review against another edition
1.0
Made it to page 50. It clearly relies too much on the first book. I don't know who anyone is. Nothing is happening. There's no clear motivation for the plot. The metalanguage is stupid.
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