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Counting Heads
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Stretching from Georgia to Maine, the Appalachian Trail offers some of America's most breathtaking scenery. After living for many years in England, Bill Bryson moved back to the United States and decided to reacquaint himself with his country by taking to this uninterrupted "hiker's highway." Before
… More »Stretching from Georgia to Maine, the Appalachian Trail offers some of America's most breathtaking scenery. After living for many years in England, Bill Bryson moved back to the United States and decided to reacquaint himself with his country by taking to this uninterrupted "hiker's highway." Before long, Bryson and his infamous walking companion, Stephen Katz, are stocking up on insulated long johns, noodles and manuals for avoiding bear attacks as they prepare to set off on a walk that is both amusingly ill-conceived and surprisingly adventurous. John Muir, Henry David Thoreau, and Peter Jenkins never took a hike like this.
A Walk in the Woods showcases Bryson at the height of his comic powers. Meeting up with characters such as Beulah and her fearsome husband, "Bubba T. Flubba," readers risk snakebite and hantavirus to trudge through swollen rivers, traipse up mountainsteps, and develop a new reverence for cream sodas and hot showers. But Bryson also uses his acute powers of observation to conjure a poignant backdrop of silent forests and sparkling lakes, thereby making a gentle but unforgettable plea for the ecological treasures we are in danger of losing. Fresh, illuminating, and uproariously funny, A Walk in the Woods is travel writing at its very best.
« LessLibrary Journal
In the 22nd century, the program to colonize the galaxy has stalled. Heir to a financial empire, Ellen Stark has survived the fiery crash that killed her mother, but as her head strives to grow a new body, her mind ventures down strange pathways, as if deciding all over again what she wants to become. The sequel to Counting Heads proves as deliriously imaginative and fresh as its predecessor. Strong writing and a whimsically cynical vision of the future make this an excellent choice for most sf collections. Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.
Publishers Weekly
This extraordinary debut novel puts Marusek in the first rank of SF writers. Life on Earth in 2134 ought to be perfect: nanotechnology can manufacture anything humans need; medical science can control the human body's shape or age; and AIs, robots and contented clones do most of the work. If only there were a way to get rid of the surplus people. When Eleanor Starke, one of the major power brokers, is assassinated, her daughter's cryogenically frozen head becomes the object of a quest by representatives of several factions, including Eleanor's aged and outcast husband, a dense zealot for interstellar colonization, a decades-old little boy and husband and wife clones who are straining at the limitations of their natures. Marusek's writing is ferociously smart, simultaneously horrific and funny, as he forces readers to stretch their imaginations and sympathies. Much of the fun in the story is in the telling rather than its destination-which is just as well, since it doesn't so much come to a conclusion as crash headlong into the last page. But the trip has been exciting and wonderful. Agent, Ralph Vicinanza. (Nov.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
Booklist
In the boutique economy, immortality is more likely than not, and most people don't have much to look forward to. Eleanor Starke, one of the few with real power, has just married packaging designer Samson Harger, and when she is selected for a governorship on the Tri-Disciplinary Council, it seems she's rocketing to the top. She and Samson even get a permit to have a child. But someone is setting her up. A scan shows anomalies in Samson's genetic footprint, after which he is seared and, hence, legally dead, considered a risk to society, and no longer eligible for parenthood. Forty years on, Eleanor and daughter Ellen are in a plane crash. Eleanor dies instantly, while Ellen's cryogenically preserved head goes missing, with a strange assortment of people looking for it. With subplots exploring the identity problems of clones, the solutions to a particularly nasty overpopulation problem, and the remnants of some invidious biologicals that have required the doming-over of major cities, Marusek presents a gripping conspiracy in an uncomfortably three-dimensional future. --Regina Schroeder Copyright 2005 Booklist
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The description is of A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson.
This book is a blast. It has all of the tropes you'd expect in cyberpunk: massive corporations that rule the world; clone armies; loyal AI retainers; and inscrutable robots on a morally ambiguous mission. Despite that, it remains a light and enjoyable read.
The story is simple: the president of a corporate conglomerate is lost in a crash, her head stored away in a cryogenic container. The good guys want her head back in one piece, while the baddies want to finish her off.
Although there's lots of world building, there isn't much depth: we get to know some of the characters, but the ins and outs of the future world aren't explored too closely. Yeah, there's overpopulation, a ban on unlicensed human reproduction, rampant nanotech terrorism, and rejuvenation treatments; but those are used as part of the setting.
The book contains a few inexplicable events and scenes that feel more like they're there for atmosphere rather than moving the plot along. But they're fun to read, so I can't complain too loudly.
The writing is strong. The Marusek ties four or five plot lines together for a tight ending that is well paced and explicable. Most of the characters are well drawn, with interesting personalities and backgrounds.
Overall: it's a great genre book. If you enjoy cyberpunk, or any near future SF, you'll probably enjoy it. For what it is: highly recommended.