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What happened in this book? I dom't know. Incoherent. ( )

This one did not grip me as much as the Bohr Maker. My life and other books may have been too distracting... In the far future, nanotechnology is fully integrated with humans and may have interacted with alien technology to detriment or for the better? It's never quite sure. Lot has inherited his father's genetic fate - to be a cult leader with senses that can read emotion and faith - come up against a planet that either kills or saves the people drawn to it. (July 09, 2006) ( )

This didn't quite work for me and I'm not sure where the author is going with it. It's the 2nd in a series of standalone novels, and hence has very little connection with the first, being some substantial distance removed in time and space. Humanity has spread from the stars, but with them has come a 'cult leader' virus template, embedded in their nano-tech Makers. Some people are immune, but most are not, and blindly follow whoever has the strongest version, but virus' presence isn't always apparent to the individuals concerned.

Lot is the son of Jupiter, who is a leader. The story picks up on a city at the end of a Space elevator above a green but apparently deadly world. Jupiter is leading an armed assault of the city, in an attempt to get his generational ship's crew down to the planet, which he strongly believes will lead them all into peaceful Communion. The irony is lost on him, and the City people know better. Jupiter doesn't make it, and Lot is absorbed into city life - they're aware he harbours something strange, but don't yet know about the virus. Nor does Lot.

Sadly whilst the author very clearly does have a good indication of what the various motivations and impressions on the characters are, and the characters themselves act very independently, the reader is frequently left somewhat at a loss as to why something's just occurred. Eventually it's all explained, but the main driving force isn't as clear as it could be. There's a neat twist at the end which links back to the 1st book in the series.

Some of the social commentary is quite subtle, there's a clear distinction in the City between the 'real' humans who are >200 years old and the 'ados' who are younger than that - nano-tech Makers defeated old age in the series prelude. But for a lot of the time we don't know the ages of many of the key players, some turn out to have seen events a long time ago, and this influences their judgements today. But overall it's a bit slow and the confusion doesn't clear easily. The planet doesn't seem well realised - if it's all in Communion what do the carnivores feed on? etc.

Not the best, but some interesting thoughts. I'll probably read the conclusion to the series someday. It's prefaced at the back of the ebook, and seems to at least contain the same characters. ( )

Complex well written story. ( )