Peter's Reviews > Spin Control

Arkady's a clone from the Syndicates, a post-human offshoot of humanity that mass-produces genetically superior bodies and considers them one, distributed, person. In practice, it doesn't quite work quite so well, there is variation between clones and sometimes they think of themselves instead of the superorganism. Arkady, in particular, a meek scientist specializing in ants, has defected to Earth, a ruined landscape with low birthrates and constant wars on the few settled areas, in order to sell a potential weapon that he discovered on a Syndicate mission. But his motivation is more than simply profit, and there are lots of players interested in what he knows... it's a game of spies and double-crosses and him getting out alive might not be in the cards.

This is a sequel to Spin State, which I kind of liked, although the focus shifts away, slightly, from Catherine Li and the AI Cohen. They're still major viewpoint characters, but they share the spotlight with Arkady. The book works much better than the first one, not just because of this, although I think that's a factor.

It extends the setting of the first book with a detailed look at the life inside the Syndicates, and on the surface of Earth which is barely hanging on with low birth rates, and both are compelling and feel natural and organic to the universe. Even though a lot of characters are similar types (there are a lot of spies and soldiers in the book) there's enough difference between them than I found many memorable characters. And some remarkably funny moments that I can't even explain because they require too much setup, but, knowing the characters and universe, worked really well.

While it's not the outright focus of the book, the relationship between Li and Cohen might be one of the hearts. And it's a bit weird to say, but that is remarkably vivid and realistic. In fact, it might be one of the most realistic depicitions I've read in science fiction of a relationship that (despite both players deeply caring for each other) is troubled and potentially headed for a collapse that both people can see coming but can't manage to avoid. Which is doubly remarkable because one person's a genetically engineered ex-soldier and the other's a suave rich artificial intelligence hundreds of years old. Yet it works remarkably well, not just as a relationship but as one that keeps in mind the nature of the participants. Cohen may be remarkably human on the surface, but enough page space is given to exactly how he exists and is different that I don't feel cheated as I sometimes do, with an AI that's pretty much just a human who happens to have certain powers.

As a story, I can see that it might not be to everyone's tastes. A lot of it is dense in scientific investigation and although there's action, a lot of the spy stuff is low-key maneuvering pieces into place and manipulating people into acting the way desired. The way I found myself coming back to, when I think of how to describe it, is that it's rarely EXCITING, but it's relentlessly INTERESTING. To me, at least. Some people might not be as interested in descriptions of ant social organization and complexity theory and how it relates to humanity's future. But I'm just that kind of nerd.

In terms of flaws, I do think that certain elements of the ending do recapitulate elements of the first book... like, where it'd be fine if this was a stand-alone book, but when you think "Didn't you JUST do that same sort of thing to end the last book?" it feels like a mark against it. And it shares some of the flaws of the first book but they're not as bad, so on the whole it feels like an improvement.

The first time I read this, there were only two books in the series and one was expected somewhere down the line. For whatever reason, I never got around to buying book three when it came out, but rereading this one, not only did I feel like revising my score upward, about halfway through I decided to just go ahead and order book three, Ghost Spin, because this one impressed me so much (after a mixed reaction to the first book) and I wanted to see if the author could keep raising her game.