Stuart's Reviews > Lock In

Lock In: Great concept, good extrapolation, and fast-paced story
Lock-In has an excellent concept, the outbreak of Haden's Syndrome, as described in the GR blurb above. In classic John Scalzi fashion, he then explores the concept in fairly rigorous detail, with his breezy style and snarky (sorry, I know the word is overused, but it works) characters. Much like Peter Clines or Michael Crichton, his stories are fast-paced, well-crafted, and very enjoyable. He puts a lot of effort into really imagining the implications of Haden's Syndrome, which is clearly illustrated by the novella at the end, Unlocked: An Oral History of Haden's Syndrome, which in the audiobook version is performed by a host of well-known narrators. I suspect Scalzi may have created that as part of creating the background of the story, but it certainly adds some verisimilitude to the backstory. Of course the main story is narrated by Scalzi's friend and SF community favorite Wil Wheaton, who does an excellent job as always. They are on the same wavelength and deliver a consummate and engrossing 10 hours of SF entertainment.