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Counting Heads

Marusek, David. Book - 2005 On Order None on shelf No requests on this item Community Rating: 4 out of 5

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COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Marusek's First Book is a Well Written Vision of a Future Society submitted by gordonl on February 23, 2009, 3:54pm In "Counting Heads" David Marusek creates a remarkably believable society stratified by origins: One group are similar to humans today in that each is a genetic individual and most of these band together in family economic groups called charters, affs are an "upper class" variation on this group, often rich and talented; a second group are the Applied People (among other brands), clans of clones suited for specific duties; and a third are sophisticated AI assistants, called mentars.

Marusek's setting for these characters is an extrapolation of current western society. Terrorist nano-technology is a constant threat, corporations and governments violate individual rights with impunity, and competition on many levels drives the lives of individuals and groups. The plot is tied together by the Harger/Starke family, who are entangled by sabotage, burned by security paranoia, and trying to survive murderous corporate warfare. The individual characters and their challenges are exciting to follow and they have heart.

Like many authors' first novels, Counting Heads is not as tight as it could be, and the ending has less of a punch that it would in the hands of more experienced writer. Altogether, it is a thought-provoking and satisfying science fiction effort. I haven't read the follow-on novel but I've looking forward to it.

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PUBLISHED
New York : Tor, 2005.
Year Published: 2005
Description: 336 p.
Language: English
Format: Book

ISBN/STANDARD NUMBER
9780765317544

SUBJECTS
Twenty-second century -- Fiction.
Overpopulation -- Fiction.
Assassination -- Fiction.
Immortalism -- Fiction.
Rich people -- Fiction.
Cryonics -- Fiction.