Lock In: A Novel of the Near Future

Svizna knizecka. Naka akcicka. Na pozadi nenasytna korporace. Vse v kulisach celosvetove nevylecitelny choroby. Programovaci jazyk "Chomsky" pro interakci s mozkem lidi jako tresnicka na dortu. V poho lepsi oddychovka, klasickej Scalzi.

PS - Kdo vymyslel slovo "třipík" at si liskne ... aspon dvakrat ;-P

Great Sci-Fi Near Future setting. Great Detective Story.

It's a bit eerie reading this story—published in 2014 and set in the "near future" about "a new, highly contagious virus"—during the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Lock In is billed as science fiction and mystery. It's markedly different in tone from Scalzi's other books (i.e. no humor or silliness, which is generally what I seek when I turn to Scalzi). The mystery is not at all challenging. [Mystery has long been my favorite genre, so this is mildly disappointing.]

As I mention often, character- and relationship-development figure prominently in my ratings. This has enough of both that I'll read the sequel. [It doesn't hurt that I already own both books.]

скалзі... мабуть, він мій новий кінг! вміє закрутити сюжет, вміє вигадати вірогідно-фантастичне тло для нього, вміє оживити персонажів, — і, що найважливіше, розповісти історію так, що не хочеться відкладати книжку!

While I still enjoyed the story, Amber Benson's narration didn't draw me in or keep me engaged. I found myself distracted by her inflections for various characters and would end up rewinding chunks at a time because I realized I wasn't actually listening to the words but the sounds of the words instead.

The plot is a bit confusing as it is so having to rewind because of the narrator made it aggravating at times.

I still recommend the book, maybe just try the Wheaton or eyeball versions.

It took me two tries to get into the book - the first was several months ago - but this time around, it held my attention tightly. The story and sci-fi aspects were very interesting. Glad I tried it the second time.

Now I'm going to listen to the version narrated by Amber Benson.

An excellent whodunnit with business intrigue set in a world changed by an interesting disease

Spoiler alert:
Don't read this before you've read the book:
http://whatever.scalzi.com/2014/09/22/in-which-tor-com-reveals-a-thing-i-did-with-lock-in-lock-in-spoiler-thread/
Don't!


extra: www.tor.com/stories/2014/05/unlocked-an-oral-history-of-hadens-syndrome-john-scalzi

Fascinating concept, great execution.

Had trouble deciding between a 3 and a 4. The concept is awesome, but I've had my fill of crime and mystery stories. Still, engaging and interesting.

A modern day whodunnit with a dash of technothriller thrown in for good measure.

Interesting characters and a well crafted mystery tied in to the issues surrounding the Haden's Syndrome sufferers.

I liked it. The protagonist's FBI partner was especially interesting and added an important tone to the narrative. I would have liked to see some of the presented upper-level sci-fi ideas explored more deeply, as it felt like we only got a taste of the Angora or what's different about life with a threep. Still, this was a solid start to what could potentially become a great series.

Better than I expected.

This novel very definitely has a "big idea", and doesn't let you forget it. It's probably a shame that I read this closely after re-reading Redshirts, simply because the former completely absorbed me despite the big ideas, whereas the Big Idea of the Lock In was so front and center here. That said, Scalzi is a masterful storyteller, so while I didn't find this to be his best book, it was still a damn fine one.