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A review by thearbiter89
Unity by Elly Bangs
4.0
A fresh take on cyberpunk by a fresh new voice.
Unity lives up to its name not just in terms of its use of multi-body consciousness as its central sf-hook, but because it adroitly melds together many contemporary influences to create a work that feels original and serves as an engaging and earnest take on the Singularity - not by machines, but by a mesh of networked human brains sharing a single consciousness - and the precarious moral stakes of having such a being - all-powerful yet still humanly fallible - be the sole backstop against human self-annihilation.
There's underwater cities, Mad-Max style desert wastelands, grey goo as the new nuclear deterrent, Japan-as-cyberpunk-power, itinerant warrior-mercenaries, hyperintelligent amoral scientists unleashing Pandoras' Boxes, creepy eyes in the sky - all skillfully woven into a tautly-paced and cinematic ride that was honestly hard to put down - and I think, perfect for an eventual TV adaptation.
There are some rough edges, such as certain villains being irredeemably evil in a way that screams lack of self-awareness, and perhaps the denouement being won by the Power of Argument was a bit too easy - but these are tolerable in the greater context of what Bangs sets out to do - create a compelling vision of a falling world and meditate on what it means to assume responsibility for it.
I give this: 4 out of 5 wave rifles
Unity lives up to its name not just in terms of its use of multi-body consciousness as its central sf-hook, but because it adroitly melds together many contemporary influences to create a work that feels original and serves as an engaging and earnest take on the Singularity - not by machines, but by a mesh of networked human brains sharing a single consciousness - and the precarious moral stakes of having such a being - all-powerful yet still humanly fallible - be the sole backstop against human self-annihilation.
There's underwater cities, Mad-Max style desert wastelands, grey goo as the new nuclear deterrent, Japan-as-cyberpunk-power, itinerant warrior-mercenaries, hyperintelligent amoral scientists unleashing Pandoras' Boxes, creepy eyes in the sky - all skillfully woven into a tautly-paced and cinematic ride that was honestly hard to put down - and I think, perfect for an eventual TV adaptation.
There are some rough edges, such as certain villains being irredeemably evil in a way that screams lack of self-awareness, and perhaps the denouement being won by the Power of Argument was a bit too easy - but these are tolerable in the greater context of what Bangs sets out to do - create a compelling vision of a falling world and meditate on what it means to assume responsibility for it.
I give this: 4 out of 5 wave rifles