2006-08-01 Excellent book - brilliantly written, but beware......

After running out of books in the sci-fi genre to read, I went for Nano on a recommendation from another Amazon reviewer - I can't remember his name but thanks for the pointer - this is an excellent book.

The story starts quickly with little character introduction before we are plunged directly into the main storyline. This is a good mix of crime thriller and sci-fi which rips along at a fair old pace and takes a few neat turns. It leads up to the section of the book which several other reviewers are raving about - I have an alternative opinion though.

The storyline drives the two main characters to a situation where they are sitting about with literally nothing to do, so they start postulating about the rights and wrongs of nanotechnology, and its potential impact on the world. This is well written and yet strangely uncomfortable section of the book. Having only really been exposed to Nanotechnology from watching Star Trek, the technical and moral arguments are fascinating and go into areas you would never have thought of yourself. They make you think about the future possibilities of Nanotechnology in considerable depth.

This is clearly a subject that the author has strong opinions on, as can be seen by his self advertising of his website and associated journals and interest groups. Its gets just a little bit high minded and Michael Moore-ish for my liking. Just as I was about to reject the book the story picks up again and the book races to a unexpected conclusion that contradicts some of the earlier arguments against Nanotechnology.

All that aside, this is a excellent book. Don't worry to much about the politics and postulating as it does not distract from what is a well written, superbly constructed and expertly researched book that all sci-fi readers would enjoy.