Audio Book Review: The Unincorporated Man (Book 1)

Author: Dani Kollin, Eytan Kollin

Narrated by Todd McLaren
Audio Length: 23 hours and 19 minutes

The Kollin brothers have created a futuristic society that is a CEO’s wet-dream. Basically, corporations are good and government is bad. Politically, this topic is a hot potato and I going to stay away from it as best as I can. Based on your political beliefs you will either cheering for the main character, Justin Cord, or relishing his downfall. My advice is not to get to wrapped up in the various arguments, for or against corporations, and just go with story.

Summary

The premise behind The Unincorporated Man is that world economy suffered a grand collapse several hundred years prior to start of the novel. The solution was to incorporate every person on the face of the Earth. When a person is born they have so many shares that are allotted to them and these shares are traded publicly. Corporations and other people are free to buy shares of anyone. Basically, the more successful or popular a person is, this will increase the cost of their individual shares. If a Corporation owns a majority of stock in you then they own you and can dictate the direction of your life. In essence, a person’s goal in life is to make enough money in order to buy back a controlling interest in themselves. In addition, allotments of shares are automatically given to the parents and the government. In theory, your parents will then have an investment in their children and will do what they can to help them become successful.

Review

This is the world that Justin Cord comes crashing into. Justin is a billionaire from 21st Century but he was suffering from a non-curable disease and decides to build a hibernation chamber. When Justin is recovered in the far future, he is cured of his disease and begins a cat and mouse game with the government and the corporations. The problem with Justin is that he was born prior incorporation and the law is unclear on how to handle this unusual scenario.

The rest of story involves Justin fighting off several court challenges regarding his status as the only unincorporated man. Justin firmly believes that incorporation is akin to corporate slavery. There are decent arguments among the other characters that the people of the 21st Century also suffered under a form of economic slavery and their system is much more fair. These discussions were fascinating but only went up to certain point then the authors would back off. In my opinion, if this novel was to be a commentary on economics then they should have gone all out on the good and bad behind the ideals of incorporation. Whether the reader agrees with their principle or not, it would be a truly fascinating topic to have a bull session over.

The one story line that just did not ring true was the reason behind the grand collapse. The authors blame it on Virtual Reality. Nothing more, just Virtual Reality. People became so addicted to their virtual lives that they neglected their real ones and wasted away. In my opinion, the authors just did not fully develop this idea to make it more of a believable scenario.

The majority of complaints that I have read in other reviews have to with one dimension characters. While I have to agree that the characters are basically caricatures this is not all detrimental to the story itself. Most Sci-fi novels are not really character type novels; they are more about the future society and the plot. As with The Unincorporated Man, it is more about ideas of what constitutes a free person and the effects upon civilization. I can live with weak characterization as long the plot is solid, which for the most part The Unincorporated Man is.

There is also side plot that really comes out of the blue. It involves AI and is very fascinating how the authors handle this aspect. I don’t want to go into too much detail for spoiler reasons, but I actually really enjoyed this story line and wish there was more of it in the novel.

Final Word

The Unincorporated Man is an incredibly interesting novel of a very type different of future that is truly unique. Economics is rarely explored subject in Sci-fi which is strange as it is so fundamental to every day life. While the novel did not hit every note for me, it hit enough that I truly enjoyed this story and will be picking up the next one in the series, The Unincorporated War.

                                                           My Rating

Sci-Fi classic book review: The Man in the High Castle

Author: Philip K. Dick

Pedigree

- 1963 Hugo Winner

- Locus Best SF Novels of All-Time

Dust Jacket Summary

It's America in 1962. Slavery is legal once again. The few Jews who still survive hide under assumed names. In San Francisco, the I Ching is as common as the Yellow Pages. All because some twenty years earlier the United States lost a war—and is now occupied by Nazi Germany and Japan.

Good Points

- a unique story set in an alternative history in which the Axis powers won World War II and divided United States into two territories.

Bad Points

- the story is very disjointed and fails to deliver on its premise.

- characters are uninteresting, bland and for the most part unlikable.

- plot elements introduced in the book but never resolved

- page after page of mostly boring descriptions of making jewelry, trading of antiques, etc. 

- the book doesn't so much as end as it just stops.

Final Word

For me, this the first PKD novel that was an absolute disappointment.  It was a chore to read, my mind wandered through out the story and I really dreaded picking the book up.  It finally reached a point that I just didn't care anymore. 

                                                           My Rating

Audio Book Review: Canticle (The Psalms of Isaak, Book 2)

Author: Ken Scholes

Narrated by Scott Brick, William Dufris, Eliza Foss, Peter Larkin

Audio Length: 16 hours and 43 minutes

Canticle is the second in a planned five book series by Ken Scholes. The proceeding novel, Lamentation, was one the most highly regarded debut novels of 2009. The follow up novel, Canticle, was published a mere 8 months later, which in the fantasy genre is minor miracle compared to some of the other series. With Lamentation being so well received Mr. Scholes has his work cut out for him in order to recapture the excitement and fascination in the second novel. Since I enjoyed the Audio version of the first novel, I decided to also purchase the Audio version for Canticle as it was read by the same people. 

Summary

Canticle starts about 9 months after Lamentation ended. Rudolfo and Jin Li Tam’s son, Jakob, was born but is not in good health. The magicked powders that Rudolfo used to help Jin Li Tam conceive have caused serious health issues with Jakob and he is not expected to live unless a cure can be found.

The story begins with the Firstborn Feast, a celebration of the arrival of Rudolfo’s first born child. During the feast, several magicked assassins appear and slaughter several of the high profile guests including Hanric, the Marsh Queen’s Shadow. When the assassins reach Rudolfo, he hears one whisper, “No, not him.” So Rudolfo is the only one left alive among his high profile visitors. Rudolfo learns that these assassins are using blood magick when allows them to move faster than a bird and become much stronger than the normal magick powders. The side affect of the blood magick powders is that once they wear off the user dies.

Petronus also is attacked by maicked assassins and told that “the sins of P’Andro Whym are visited upon his children.” Luckily Petronus is saved at the last minute by the old Gray Guards. But he is now mortal danger from this new threat.

Vlad Li Tam is moving around the Scattered Islands in his metal ships in attempt to form alliances and investigate the unknown people behind the plot that brought down Windwir and House Li Tam. Things do not go well for Vlad in this novel when he finally discovers the people who set up House Li Tam. His story is probably the most heart breaking to read as he forced to endure some very gut retching torture. Surprisingly, Mr. Scholes makes Vlad into a tragic yet likeable character by the end of the novel which is a total turn around from the last novel.

Lastly, Neb ventures in The Churning Wastes on quest to discover Sanctorum Lux. He learns that Sanctorum Lux is supposed to be a copy of The Great Library that was in Windwir. Along the way, Neb discovers something else much more important that will change his course for the rest of the series. 

Review

As you can tell from the small plot summary that I provided, Canticle divides into numerous plot trails for each of the main characters. I only covered the major ones as there are several minor plot threads that are also woven into this story. At times this can be confusing keeping up with each character but Mr. Scholes generally does a good job of checking with character in pretty rapid succession. This is accomplished by keeping the chapters short and the space devoted to each entry limited to a page or two. Basically, if the format the first novel did not bother you then you ought to fell right at home.

Canticle is the typical second novel in a series. It introduces numerous plot threads and builds the characters that will lead into the succeeding novels in series. There is some discovery of the people behind the destruction of Windwir and their motives by the end of the novel but not much else is resolved.

I was somewhat let down by Canticle but I do not think it was the story’s fault. Lamentation began with a horrific event, the destruction of Windwir, and moved at a very quick pace through a war and its resolution. The political maneuvering was fun and kept the tension high through the novel. Canticle moves at a slower pace and tends to drag in spots. There is too much introspection by the characters that covers the same ground and becomes tedious at times. But this is the type of story that has to be written in order for the series to continue.

Once again, the narration is incredible as it adds a new dimension to the novel. The narrators alternate their readings with the characters that they have been assigned. I went back and re-read portions of the book later and I had the voices of the readers in my head. Macmillan Audio went all out on this novel as they did with Lamentation and the effort really shines through.

Final Word

I am still pretty high on The Psalms of Isaak series by Mr. Scholes and eagerly awaiting the next book. I have no real idea where he is going with his story but a gut feeling it will be incredible and highly entertaining. While Canticle may suffer from second book syndrome, it is a worthy successor to Lamentation and for the most part a real joy to read. 

                                                              My Rating