Bookreviews

Author

Frederik Pohl

Rating

At a glance

Although Man Plus uses many classical SF elements such as travelling to and colonizing Mars, an apocalyptic world view, and the technology-driven transformation of a human into a cyborg body, the actual core of the book is the exploration of what happens in a person's mind if that person becomes disconnected from his or her human surroundings and even his or her own human nature.

Author

Charles Stross

Rating

At a glance

Singularity Sky is a straight technology-oriented story which starts out grippingly, but then, after the initial third or so, loses its initial captivating power. The book dazzles with many good ideas, but story and character development cannot keep up and somehow get lost in the "information overflow". Although the story cursorily explores a few moral and social questions, no new insights can be gained from reading the book.