Review: Intrusion by Ken MacLeod

Intrusion by Ken MacLeod

Published: Orbit, 2012

Awards Nominated: BSFA, Campbell Memorial, and Arthur C. Clarke Awards

The Book:

“Do you believe people should be free to make their own personal choices?  What if they don’t choose what you believe is right? In a perfect world, where everyone has access to all information, perhaps everyone would make the ‘right’ choices.  Since we don’t live in this perfect world, maybe imperfectly informed individuals need to be protected from making the ‘wrong’ choices.  Then again, to what authority could we comfortably surrender that responsibility?

In a near future world with advanced technology, a pill (the Fix) has been developed that, when taken by a pregnant mother, cleanses her fetus’s DNA of any potentially troubling content.  Hope Morrison is pregnant with her second child, and she does not want to take the Fix.  She also refuses to give her decision any socially acceptable justification. In a state that increasingly controls the bodies of its people, in a world that is threatened by nihilistic anti-civilization terrorists, no personal decision is allowed to be as simple and harmless as it first appears.” ~Allie

This is the second novel I’ve read by Ken MacLeod, the first being “The Night Sessions”, which addresses how artificial intelligence might fit within religion. I bought a signed copy of Intrusion at last year’s WorldCon, LonCon3!

My Thoughts:

This is one of the scariest dystopian novels that I’ve ever read, most likely because it is very easy to imagine a similar society rising out of our current world. The central story involves a young couple, Hope and Hugh, whose second child is on the way. Hope does not intend to take the Fix, and refuses to give a rationale for her decision. This doesn’t seem like it should be a problem, since the Fix is not yet legally compulsory, and plenty of parents choose not to take it for religious or philosophical reasons.  However, due to the current political climate, what should be a quiet personal decision begins to be escalated to extreme levels.  From my perspective, her refusal to justify herself is exactly the point of the situation.  It is a question of whether or not Hope has a right to bodily integrity and to make choices for her unborn child.  Once one starts judging the case based on whether or not the reasons behind her decisions are acceptable enough, one has already answered the previous question in the negative.  

This is far from the only difficult issue the story grapples with, through Hope and Hugh as well as through a few secondary characters.  For instance, there was exploration about the compromises made between safety and privacy, in a populace whose monitored lives risk being flagged as suspicious by impersonal computing algorithms.  Similarly, how much should a government intrude in people’s lives ‘for their own good’?  This falls most heavily on women of child-bearing age, who face many restrictions on their lives, ostensibly for the good of a potential fetus. There are also discussions about about civil liberty, terrorism, and governmental use of physical torture. Things could get quite information-dense and confusing at times, especially since I am not particularly well versed in modern-day UK politics and the culture of the island of Lewis. Realistically, though, there are no simple solutions to ‘fix’ society.

This is definitely a book I will remember for a long time for its ideas, though it did not seem to spend quite as much time developing its characters.  I felt a bit like the characters were held at arm’s length--observed through their words and actions, but never allowed to be fully understood. The existence of Hugh’s second sight, also, seemed a strangely fantastical addition to an otherwise grounded near-future dystopian story. I appreciated its role in clarifying the motivations of Hope’s decision, but I did not really understand why it needed to be supernatural. From my perspective, at least, the ideas were so compelling that these minor complaints seem small in comparison.

My Rating: 4.5/5

Intrusion paints a terrifying picture of a dystopian society with policies that do not feel very far removed from those in place in many societies today.  The novel covers many topics in the uneasy relationship between the state and the individual, including, among other things, rights to privacy and to bodily integrity. The story escalates from the decision of a young married woman, Hope, to not take a genetic Fix for her unborn child, and her refusal to provide a socially accepted reason for her choice. While I thought the characters were somewhat distant and the inclusion of one slightly fantastical element seemed a little off tone, I was deeply affected by the topics explored. I think this is a frighteningly plausible dystopia that deserves many readers.

Read-Along: Kushiel's Dart, Part 1

Welcome to the my discussion post for the read-along of Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel’s Dart! This  post will cover chapters 1-8, so all of that content is fair game for discussion.  I’ve never read Kushiel’s Dart before, so I’m not planning on having any spoilers from later in the book or the series. Our list of participants has been updated since my previous announcement post, and now includes:  

Allie (me) at Tethyan Books
Lisa at Over the Effing Rainbow
Lynn at Lynn’s Book Blog
Grace at Books Without Any Pictures
Lauren at Violin in a Void
Celine at Nyx Book Reviews
Jenn at Morrison Girl
Igret at Igret’s Corner
Michael at Nashville Book Worm
Kheya at Not Food Porn
Emma at EmmaMaree.com
Nancy at FaeStruck’s Reviews & More
Kelly at Orange Pekoe Reviews
Susan at Dab of Darkness

Also, I’ve been on vacation for the past two weeks, which is why my frequency of book reviews suddenly dropped off.  I will be back at home shortly, and my usual regular-ish schedule is expected to resume. And now, for the discussion questions:

1) Here we have the earliest days of Phèdre's life, and we have the story of Elua and his followers. Did you note any similarities between Phèdre's beginning and Elua's stories? Do you enjoy having these stories upfront or would you rather have had the stories shuffled in later with an adult Phèdre looking back? 

I was a little more distracted by how the Elua story fit in with Christianity. Now that you mention it, though, they both started life unwanted.  I’m of two minds about the stories.  I find them interesting, but I also feel like they might have been more powerful if they were revealed more gradually as they became relevant to different parts of the story.  As it is, I’ll probably be referring to the wiki entry on the stories to remind myself of details—I’m afraid I was a little more attentive to Phèdre’s story than Elua’s so far.

2) Hyacinthe has become Phèdre's one true friend. Do you think she is the same for him? The dromonde, or fortune telling, fascinates Phèdre. Do you have a fortune telling story? 

I don’t think I really know enough about Hyacinthe yet to say for sure.  It definitely seems like Phèdre is important to him, but I don’t know how much that is just because she is beautiful and unusual (in that she is from a very different environment and upbringing).  Alternatively, Hyacinthe seems important to Phèdre because he is not beautiful (unlike everyone else she’s ever met) and unusual.  I don’t really have any fortune-telling stories. I prefer my life to be a surprise, so I doubt that is something I would ever seek out even if I believed in it!

3) The Midwinter Masque on the Longest Night is a long held tradition in Terre D'Ange. What stood out for you? Have you been to such a fete? 

It reminded me a bit of the welcoming of Durmstrang and Beauxbatons to the Hogwarts castle, with the way that each faction had their own act and style.  The masks also reminded me a bit of Carnevale di Venezia, though I have never been there while it was happening. I’ve never been to anything like that, but it sounds like it was beautiful! 

4) Anafiel Delaunay has many secrets. How do you think those secrets will shape Alcuin and Phèdre? 

Right now, he seems a little like Petyr Baelish to me, and I really don’t have any clear idea of what he wants to accomplish with Phèdre and Alcuin.  He seems to want to educate them, and to use them as distracting ornaments at drinking parties. Given what he has taught them so far, I don’t yet understand how Phèdre being an anguissette matters.  I feel quite certain that this will be addressed in the future.

5) Delaunay has a saying; All knowledge is worth having. Do you believe this is so? 

Well, yes and no.  In an academic sense, sure, all knowledge is worth having. However, as in my answer to the fortune-telling question, I think knowledge of the future could only make life less happy.  Also, I really don’t want to know everything about everyone.  Perhaps it would be different if I were scheming for advantage against everyone around me (I’m not), but there are things about even the people I love that I probably do not want or need to know.  Everyone should be allowed their secrets.  I suppose I would make a poor politician!

Other notes:

—Since I live in France, it was kind of fun to try to work out which regions of France corresponded to each of the fictional regions.  I suppose I’d be from Camlach, and my husband has ties to Eisande.

—Wrong culture, but I couldn’t help thinking of the Japanese yogurt-drink company whenever someone mentioned the drink ‘joie’: http://www.yakult.co.jp/joie/

—It’s nice that Terre d’Ange keeps the French tradition of adding excessive accent marks everywhere :).

—I’m curious about what the Night Court was like in the past, since Phèdre is commenting that the court of her youth was already well past its heyday.  Is it maybe kind of like Oiran, and the Night Court folk are becoming increasingly detached from the current-day culture, so that the pool of people who have the means and interest to be their patrons is becoming more and more constrained?

Review: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Published: Crown Publishers, 2011

Awards Nominated: Locus First Novel and Campbell Memorial Awards

The Book:

“It’s the year 2044, and the real world is an ugly place. Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes his grim surroundings by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia that lets you be anything you want to be, a place where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets. And like most of humanity, Wade dreams of being the one to discover the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this virtual world. For somewhere inside this giant networked playground, OASIS creator James Halliday has hidden a series of fiendish puzzles that will yield massive fortune-and remarkable power--to whoever can unlock them.

For years, millions have struggled fruitlessly to attain this prize, knowing only that Halliday’s riddles are based in the pop culture he loved--that of the late twentieth century. And for years, millions have found in this quest another means of escape, retreating into happy, obsessive study of Halliday’s icons. Like many of his contemporaries, Wade is as comfortable debating the finer points of John Hughes’s oeuvre, playing Pac-Man, or reciting Devo lyrics as he is scrounging power to run his OASIS rig.

And then Wade stumbles upon the first puzzle. Suddenly the whole world is watching, and thousands of competitors join the hunt-among them certain powerful players who are willing to commit very real murder to beat Wade to this prize. Now the only way for Wade to survive and preserve everything he knows is to win. But to do so, he may have to leave behind his oh-so-perfect virtual existence and face up to life--and love--in the real world he’s always been so desperate to escape. A world at stake. A quest for the ultimate prize.” ~WWEnd.com

Ernest Cline’s first novel, Ready Player One, has met with a lot of success, including a deal for a movie that will reportedly be directed by Steven Spielberg.  I have to agree that this novel is a lot of fun, and I think it has a good chance of becoming an excellent movie adaptation as well!  On another note, Ernest Cline is publishing his next novel, Armada, this summer.  

My Thoughts:

I knew going in that the novel was going to play heavily on nostalgia for the 1980s, and that is very true.  The quest for Halliday’s Easter Egg requires all of its candidates to have an extensive knowledge of 1980’s pop culture and skill with the video games of the era, and movies, games, and music are constantly references throughout the story.  It seems like Ernest Cline must have really enjoyed the decade, to naturally have such an extensive bank of knowledge to weave into his story! One thing I wasn’t expecting, but which was quite welcome, was the nostalgia for MMORPGs.  So much about the OASIS seemed designed to trigger happy MMO memories, though it is clear that OASIS exists after the unfortunate migration of games from subscription-based to free-to-play/pay-to-win.  In any case, I would expect this novel to hit some positive buttons for anyone with happy memories of either 1980s or of MMORPGs.

For me, most of the novel was an exciting thrill ride, but the beginning started off a little bit bumpy.  I know it was important to establish the physical world and Wade’s part in it, but I felt like the bleakness of that beginning segment dragged on too long.  It featured a little too much of Wade being alone, thinking about his lack of meaningful family or friends, the environmental and social ruin of the world, and how his life was a miserable march towards death.  For a book that I’d expected to be mostly a fun quest story (and had chosen to read specifically for that reason), I found this dismal enough that I almost decided to start reading something else instead.  Happily, once the story moves to Wade in the OASIS, his virtual friends, and the treasure hunt, the pace and tone both perk right up.

As you can probably gather from the description, this is a quest story, where the main character Wade is trying to acquire three keys and pass through three gates in a virtual world using his knowledge of 1980s pop culture and skill in gaming.  The story really is that straightforward, so it is a credit to Cline’s storytelling ability that it is so engaging and entertaining. Wade’s companion top egg hunters (‘gunters’)-- Aech, Art3mis, and Shoto/Daito--are interesting characters in their own rights, each with their own stories and dreams. There is a stereotypically evil corporation, but its existence makes a certain sort of sense in their dying world--they may impress people into debt slavery, but some people are willing to accept that in exchange for food and shelter.  I was hopeless at figuring out the solutions before the characters, because I’m just not that good at the 80’s, but the riddles seemed both challenging and well-designed.  I’m glad I finally got around to reading Reader Player One, and I’m excited to see what Cline will write next.         

My Rating: 4/5

Ready Player One is a highly entertaining debut novel, which makes excellent use of 80’s pop culture and MMO experience in an Earth that is in environmental and societal decline.  The beginning is a little bit too bleak and full of existential dread for me, but the story soon picks up as the dangerous puzzle quest that Wade has made his life’s goal starts to get underway. The story is pretty straightforward, featuring Wade and some of his enthusiast friends squaring off against an evil corporation in the search for Halliday’s Easter Egg.  However, the pacing, the characters, and the storytelling ability that are on display here are really impressive, and make this one of the most fun books I’ve read so far this year!