I was disappointed that this turned out to be so short - novella - as I enjoyed it a lot.
Imagine a world where nanites have made us all rich, but at the cost of taking away all the difficulties of life that keep us interested. Some have rebelled against this, and in the midst of all that, there has been a murder, and a young woman must figure out why she did it. (no, thats not a typo!)
If Sanderson and Kowal collaborate again, I will be reading it!
There are some interesting ideas in the book, and I liked it overall. It was fun to listen to two of my favorite authors together, in a way. There were a few places where the character/world-building disconnect was interesting to note - both definitely come from different authors.
I have a feeling that writing this helped Brandon somewhat in the character development for [b:Rhythm of War|49021976|Rhythm of War (The Stormlight Archive, #4)|Brandon Sanderson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1599911216l/49021976.SY75.jpg|23840265], but that just might be wishful thinking.
World-building/setting: There were a few places where I chuckled because of the clear parallels with Aadhaar (and other digital ID systems) based surveillance. It wasn't intentional, but being a "checkout" (the in-universe equivalent of being without an Aadhaar) it made the setting more fun to explore, in a way.
Character: Full props to the authors. Loved Holly's thoughts, very well done - you do get in her head …
There are some interesting ideas in the book, and I liked it overall. It was fun to listen to two of my favorite authors together, in a way. There were a few places where the character/world-building disconnect was interesting to note - both definitely come from different authors.
I have a feeling that writing this helped Brandon somewhat in the character development for [b:Rhythm of War|49021976|Rhythm of War (The Stormlight Archive, #4)|Brandon Sanderson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1599911216l/49021976.SY75.jpg|23840265], but that just might be wishful thinking.
World-building/setting: There were a few places where I chuckled because of the clear parallels with Aadhaar (and other digital ID systems) based surveillance. It wasn't intentional, but being a "checkout" (the in-universe equivalent of being without an Aadhaar) it made the setting more fun to explore, in a way.
Character: Full props to the authors. Loved Holly's thoughts, very well done - you do get in her head over time and really understand her motivations.
Plot: There's some obvious foreshadowing and twists, but I guess that's expected from a short book.
This has made me interested in near-future-SF that tackles ID systems (or government surveillance). If someone has suggestions, happy to hear. Would like to pick up something along those lines in 2021.
