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Lock In (Lock In, Bk 1)
Lock In - Lock In, Bk 1
Author: John Scalzi
Chilling near-future SF with the thrills of a gritty cop procedural, snappy dialogue and technological speculation.  Not too long from today, a new, highly contagious virus makes its way across the globe.  Most, about 95%, who get sick experience nothing worse than flu, fever and headaches. Four percent suffer acute meningitis, creatin...  more »
ISBN-13: 9780575134348
ISBN-10: 0575134348
Publication Date: 8/28/2014
Pages: 336
Rating:
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 1

4 stars, based on 1 rating
Publisher: Gollancz
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover
Members Wishing: 2
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

SteveTheDM avatar reviewed Lock In (Lock In, Bk 1) on + 204 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
Damn. I read this *fast*. Getting through a book in less than 24 hours is something that *rarely* ever happens to me.

Anyway: what we have here is a police procedural sometime in the next century or so, where (essentially) wheelchairs have been replaced by neural connections and C-3PO chassis.

The amount of world building that has gone on to get to the point of even being able to _write_ a police procedural is kind of remarkable. I can easily imagine that Scalzi's got a world bible that's easily two or three times the size of this novel. But we never get bogged down in info dumps to explain it; instead the novel concentrates strongly on Scalzi's talent: personal interrelationships.

It's rare for me to find a Scalzi novel that I don't love, so it's perhaps not a surprise that I really liked this one too. But I've also found over the last few years that the police procedural is a form that I *really* like (mostly because the scope is smaller than galaxy-shaking events, I think), and so this one hits extra hard in my "desire" spot.

I would, however, recommend reading the "Unlocked" prequel which is available for free on tor.com. (http://www.tor.com/stories/2014/05/unlocked-an-oral-history-of-hadens-syndrome-john-scalzi) I don't know that it's required (I did read it first, myself), but lots of people have complained that the world was hard to understand initially, and that prequel could easily have assisted that jump.

5 of 5 stars.
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reviewed Lock In (Lock In, Bk 1) on + 34 more book reviews
I enjoyed this book. I thought the concept was interesting, as were the characters. The narration flowed well and the characters interacted well with good conversations and easy banter throughout. The concept was a little muddled for me at times and I found I had to go back and read the paragraph again to make sure I got what was being explained. I felt like this might be the first in a series and we will see this world again. I would read the next one if I am right.


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