A few chapters in and I was feeling a strong sense of not quite deja vu, then it hit me, this book starts out feeling a lot like the beginning of an episode of Dr. Who.

Picture it:

opening scene: a large, generational space ship floats in space, you hear the sound of the TARDIS materializing. Cut to internal scene inside the ship, everything is quite, the grav drive is off, random things float past as the TARDIS fades into view. The Doctor opens the door and he and the companion du jour exit the TARDIS. (I like to picture David Tennant and Catherine Tate) they float about a bit, confused by the seemingly empty ship before finally finding the cloning bay where Maria, the first awake, is pulling herself out of her cloning pod, surrounded by globs of blood and the floating bodies of the crew - including her own, and no memories of how they got there.

But instead of frenetic acting, a bad latex-costumed monster of the week, and the Doctor there to save everyone, there is this amazing story with spectacular writing: fascinating world building and back stories, tense action, paranoia, political intrigue, hacking (both computer, DNA, and mind), slow revelation of a devious mastermind, stunning plot twists and an amazing and satisfying conclusion. there is still a lot of amazing dialog and wisecracking though, all while floating on a spaceship far from Earth with a partially functioning AI, and all the particular troubles that come with it.

Definitely an awesome book, you should go read it.