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Book Review
Apr. 13th, 2019 09:24 pmLock In
by John Scalzi
In Lock In, John Scalzi imagines a near future where a massive pandemic has swept the world, killing plenty but also leaving a certain percentage of the illness' survivors completely paralyzed but also completely conscious - locked in. Since the First Lady of the US is one of those affected, the illness is named Haden Symdrome after her, and those locked in are referred to as Hadens. The other, more important effect of the First Lady being among those afflicted is that the government funded massive research and support efforts to help the Hadens. Thus Hadens gain the ability to hook their minds up to robot bodies so that they can interact with the physical world, or for short periods of time share a body with humans known as "integrators". Plus they have a vast virtual space in which to operate called the Agora. 25 years later, Hadens are fully integrated into society.
The story, however, is basically a police procedural murder mystery in which rookie FBI agent and Haden Chris Shane and his partner Leslie Vann, a former integrator, are called in to investigate a Haden-related murder that leads them into a much more complicated plot. The narrative is well-paced and, with a couple of exceptions, weaves in the world-building very well and without bogging anything down. There were some nice twists, and Scalzi kept me interested all the way through.The characters were solid, although I wish that a few of the secondary characters had been more fleshed out or gotten more time on stage. I especially liked that Scalzi never specifies Chris' gender and that never once did that detract from the story or the characterization. Overall, this was a very enjoyable novel and I am looking forward to the sequel, Head On.
by John Scalzi
In Lock In, John Scalzi imagines a near future where a massive pandemic has swept the world, killing plenty but also leaving a certain percentage of the illness' survivors completely paralyzed but also completely conscious - locked in. Since the First Lady of the US is one of those affected, the illness is named Haden Symdrome after her, and those locked in are referred to as Hadens. The other, more important effect of the First Lady being among those afflicted is that the government funded massive research and support efforts to help the Hadens. Thus Hadens gain the ability to hook their minds up to robot bodies so that they can interact with the physical world, or for short periods of time share a body with humans known as "integrators". Plus they have a vast virtual space in which to operate called the Agora. 25 years later, Hadens are fully integrated into society.
The story, however, is basically a police procedural murder mystery in which rookie FBI agent and Haden Chris Shane and his partner Leslie Vann, a former integrator, are called in to investigate a Haden-related murder that leads them into a much more complicated plot. The narrative is well-paced and, with a couple of exceptions, weaves in the world-building very well and without bogging anything down. There were some nice twists, and Scalzi kept me interested all the way through.The characters were solid, although I wish that a few of the secondary characters had been more fleshed out or gotten more time on stage. I especially liked that Scalzi never specifies Chris' gender and that never once did that detract from the story or the characterization. Overall, this was a very enjoyable novel and I am looking forward to the sequel, Head On.
