Review: Amped (ad astra cruentus)
Overview
Genre: Science FictionThings We Liked:
Inventive ideas/ I Well written characters / BelievableThings We Hated:
Short/ I More to be done with this ideaAmped, Daniel H. Wilson’s second novel, is awesome. That’s the long, that’s the short. There is a good reason why someone has contracted him to write novels and it is not for the money. He gives us characters that step off of the page in such a way that the reader forgets that they’re taking [...]
Amped, Daniel H. Wilson’s second novel, is awesome. That’s the long, that’s the short. There is a good reason why someone has contracted him to write novels and it is not for the money. He gives us characters that step off of the page in such a way that the reader forgets that they’re taking the time to sit down with a book. I’ve had a difficult time finding sci-fi that actually said anything recently, and this makes up for it in spades.
Wilson’s first book Robopacalypse was critically acclaimed and his follow up will surely continue that trend.
Here we are in the mind of Owen, a school teacher who finds out rather violently that the machine that is placed inside of his head, presumably to just stabilize epileptic seizures, is actually something quite more involved. We are given the sense that this enhancement designed to amplify the brains ability to function has enhanced humans to a point where those without them, are terrified by those that have them. Amp is the derogatory word associated with those that do. Quickly this becomes an interesting study in race and class-isms.
Owen’s amp, unbeknownst to him, is something special. Turns out that his father was a surgeon that installed them for military personal, and up until the beginning of this story, his son has no idea what rests in his head. In the midst of a public fear-based firebombing and police raid, Owen’s father steers him in the direction of an Amp safe haven called Eden, there he will learn the secrets of what rests in side his head.
After that, the story goes bonkers in the best possible ways.
There is no denying that what this book is addressing is social inequality, with a backwards slant. The people who become outcast from society are considered dangerous because, on the whole they are better. Better thinkers, better strategists, better people. The pure humans, those without a trace of amplification, follow in the shadow of someone who is smart enough to wrangle them and tell them what to think. In the absence of rationality, mob mentality (fear) rules. So of course where cool heads do not prevail, war equals solution.
I’m not a junkie for interstellar star ship combat. I’ve never thought that the emotional struggles of millions of tons of metal floating in space with thousands of lasers was all that compelling. If I were giving recommendations the first words out of my mouth would probably be, “Have you ever read Issac Asimov?” because he focuses on the people that the story revolves around. You get a glimpse into their minds and you understand their struggles. By the time the story is over you feel like you’ve gone on some weird (awesome) trip as the personification of their consciousness, sitting on their shoulders.
That happens here as well. I can’t say that the hand is as deft as Asimov quite yet but the results are similar. You meet characters here who are interesting and real. (yeah, even for a book about machines in people’s heads and super awesome fight-scenes) The social topics are not hammered home, rather you are left able to make the choice to include them on your own or include them to give the story more real-world meaning.
Amped will be released 6/5/12. if you’re looking for something to fill the void until then check out Cline’s Ready, Player one. Its another sci-fi gem that got mislabeled as generic fiction. If you’ve played MMO’s and have any nostalgic memories based in the 80′s you can’t possibly be disappointed.
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