Nexus: Nexus Arc Book 1

Its a fantastic book. Read all three over a few days. What really got me excited is that the sci-fi world he talks about are mind blowing yet completely grounded in the emerging and expected technological reality. And at the end of the first novel he makes a detailed explanation as to why he thinks so. But it does have quite a few grammatical mistakes, which I found irritating.

Science fiction, helps us understand the changes which are happening at a rapid pace, all around us, better than a research paper, or a technical article.This book is well-written, and explains what we can expect from the future, and how, we are all bound by technology now.It is a fast read, and does not slack any place.

Must read. Predicting the near future of humanity & its technological challenges.AI / Mind Control / Telepathy / Drugs - all in one!

Ho letto questo libro su indicazione di un amico appassionato come me di fantascienza e devo dire che ne sono rimasto rapito, fin dai primi capitoli.. mi è piaciuto molto perché è sì un romanzo fantascientifico, ma quanto accade non è così impossibile da immaginare come un futuro neanche troppo remoto, di cui se ne hanno già le prime avvisaglie (utilizzo di parti elettroniche per sopperire a mancanze fisiche di persone, magari con legami anche profondi a livello di sistema nervoso, a tal proposito l'autore dedica alcune pagine interessanti a fine libro).. l'ho apprezzato anche per i legami con il mondo informatico, dato che si parla di sistemi operativi e pratiche di hacking, trattati anch'essi in modo piuttosto realistico. Senza svelarvi dettagli, la storia mette in luce un contrasto tra due "razze" umane differenti, quella "normale" e quella dotata di potenziamenti (i postumani o transumani), è molto ricca di azione e per quanto mi riguarda non annoia mai.. Devo dire che il romanzo mi ha fatto pensare in parte ad un incrocio tra  Neuromante  e Altered Carbon , entrambi dei capolavori della fantascienza.Unica nota dolente, finito il primo romanzo vorrete sicuramente procedere con i due successivi, ahimè non ancora tradotti in italiano. Speriamo che questa serie abbia successo e che anche  Crux  e Apex  vengano tradotti al più presto. NeuromanteAltered CarbonCruxApex

This was recommended by Neal Asher and I'm so glad I read it. Mind blowing but plausible concept, great action and characters. Sci Fi at its best. I have started the next book, Crux , now.

If you want understand the very basics of how things like cochlear implants work, and the amazing advances being made every day in the realm of direct brain communication/interfaces, this book is utterly fantastic! There's a compelling story, with riveting characters and a plot that will leave you breathless, all the while explaining the science behind it all!Caution - this books has a death toll to rival GRRM. You will meet lots of engaging, interesting characters, only to have they die in some spectacularly graphic ways. I personally loved it, as it made me even more emotionally attached to the story, but if that's not your cup of tea, be warned.

The best books are those that stay with you, that make you think about the questions they ask long after you put it down. In his stellar debut novel, Ramez Naam does exactly that. Naam offers us a near-future, roller-coaster adventure that will grab you by the throat and won't let you go even once you finish the novel. This one will stay with you, and keep you thinking. I'm can't say for sure, but I'm fairly certain, this one is going to be popping back into my brain from my subconscious for a long time yet.In the book, Nexus is a nanotechnology "drug" that allows users to link wirelessly to each other's brains. They can share thoughts, memories, and in some cases, control each other's actions. Previous iterations of the drug burn out of people's systems in a short amount of time. It opens with the main protagonist of the story, Kade, experimenting with the permanent version of the "drug," Nexus 5. He and some friends have created a computer operating system to integrate with the drug, so that it stays with them, and they can add programs and applications to it that make them essentially hyper-human. Needless to say, certain governmental agencies aren't even remotely okay with this. Within the first few pages of the book, Kade and his friends are neck-deep in trouble with the US government, but maybe, just maybe, if Kade helps the government, there might be a way out for he and his friends. And that's as much of the plot as I'm going to give. Anything else would be a disservice to the reader.Nexus is fantastic. It's brilliant. Feel free to tack on as many positive adjectives as you can come up with. It's not just a well-written and thought-provoking book, it's also highly entertaining. The "high ideas" Nexus calls the reader to consider are woven seemlessly into the plot by the characters. Through their interactions, conversations, and private musings, we see many sides of the trans and post human ideas Naam is working with. The best part is that while each character knows exactly where he or she stands on that particular issue at any moment (some characters do change their stance/outlook, and each of these moments of change come organically from the events they experience), Naam does not beat the reader over the head with any authorial agenda. Or, if he does, I had such a great time reading the book and getting lost in the story that I completely missed it.When I sat down to write this review, I tried to come up with pairs of writers I could compare the book to to give possible readers a feeling of what they are going to get. A few of the names bouncing in my head were: William Gibson, James Rollins, David Brin, Michael Chriton, Neal Stephenson, and more. While trying to pair a comparison down to two names I couldn't. Naam's tone and ideas are a unique and fresh voice to science fiction. Do yourself a favor and get on the Ramez Naam band wagon now, so you can say, "I was there when."It would not surprise me in the least to see this on the Hugo ballet for best novel at this year's World Science Fiction Convention.

Nexus is one of the best books I have read in a very long time, and I am really kind of picky. The three main points of a good novel for me are characters, plot and style, and this book has it all in ample supply.It is slightly biased towards action, but still the characters are believable and even likeable. There's no simple "good vs. evil" in this story, every character has motives and emotiones that dictate their actions, rather than twists of fate, like some other writers like to do. The good guys have flaws and the villains have a good point or two. The characters might not be surprising and innovative, now and then leaning towards certain archetypes, but they definitely are not one-dimensional, more like an interpretation of that archetype. The author does not consider himself too good for really getting into their minds, so a reader can always feel and understand them (not to mention suffer with them).Also, I am pleased to for once have a female main character that's not either shrinking violet or in-your-face-powerwoman, but actually a human being. That is hard to find among male authors, no offense.Writing style is wonderful, enough description to feel the atmosphere, without getting lost in tedious details, realistic dialogue that really shows the characters speaking. Perfect mix between thoughts and introspecion and outer description. Necessary background information ist carefully woven into the story instead of drowning the reader in landslides of detached exposition (my perfect negative example being Ian Banks, who always diverts from the story for an entire paragraph to tell us what's happening...)Really, not a flaw I could find.The plot is gripping and without holes (as far as I see), thoughtfully spaced between the main characters - a real page-turner. Naam has had about 50 Beta-readers according to his acknowldgements, and that really shows in a polished, action-packed and yet thoughtful storyline that entirely serves our western culture'S need for a certain line of drama (nothing new here, but it WORKS). Speaking of thoughtful: you really can tell that the author knows what he's talking about, and has given a great deal of thought to the advantages and disadvantages of technology, and then constructed this plot and characters to convey this thoughts and questions. While that may annoy certain readers, I really enjoyed it, had to put the book down more than once to think about what I had just read.Overall, the first five star review I've written in 1,5 years.Go read that book. It's brilliant.