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"Catspaw" is a clever title, I must say.
All caught up on my webcomickage and friendspage! Now, for a review!
My sister and I went out to the Cheesecake Factory for our birthday (we're twins), and while we were waiting for our table we dropped in at the bookstore. I got two books there – first, Issac Asimov's latest autobiography, and second, a Joan D. Vinge book called "Catspaw".
The greatest strength of the latter, I would say, is the worldbuilding. "Catspaw" takes place in a galaxy-wide (perhaps wider) confederation of planets chiefly under the control of both gigantic mercantile interests (called "combines") and the FTA, whose exact nature and source of power I remain uncertain of. Another dynamic of the book comes with the galactic races, Human and Hydran, the latter being a psychic race containing at least telepaths, empaths, and telekinetics, and possibly other varieties. In the world of the story, furthermore, these two races can interbreed, and the main character is a cross.
To be honest, my feelings about the main character, Cat, are pretty mixed. He's an interesting fellow, to be sure, but he is almost too much the typical fantasy halfbreed (though Joan D. Vinge writes him very well). Further, a few of his actions and inclinations seem a little unrealistic to, like the author had to include a particular plotline. But I digress.
Contrasting with the psi powers of the main character are the data implants common among the 'normal' humans. It is illegal for psis to have them (for reasons I do not recall), but the human characters almost all rely on these for rapid information lookup and, in the case of some music/hologram performers, for better integration of musicians into an ensemble. I believe it is this data network, in fact, that is the source of the FTA's power.
The main part of the story is centered around a group of characters heavily involved with the FTA. I shan't spoil any details I can help, but one of the consequences of this is that the story is set on Earth, a planet which holds the center of government but is otherwise far decayed from its former prime position. The way the Earth is presented in the story is quite interesting, I admit, although I suspect Vinge falls into the common trap of neglecting to think about energy problems. In any case, the plot of the story is quite clever – intricate, consistent, containing the proper setups for later developments, and fairly thrilling. My chief objection is ... well, too many sex scenes. They're well written, so far as a virgin can tell, and plot-relevant, but I still suspect they're superfluous. (As was the alliteration, but that's not the point.)
In toto, I think all I can say is that the book passes the first test ("did it keep me through to the end?"), and possibly even the second ("would I like to reread it?"), and I don't mind that it fails the third ("is it perfectly executed?"), but I'm still trying to decide about the fourth. Is it a worthy book? Does it give you anything to think about that's worth taking away? I can't think of it.
In any case, it was nice way to spend a day, I must say. Now to finish "Blind Lake" by Robert Charles Wilson – loaned to me by my mom, and therefore very likely to be superb. (I'll possibly go back to IF after that, but I don't know. I've still that Asimov....)
Packbat ... out!
My sister and I went out to the Cheesecake Factory for our birthday (we're twins), and while we were waiting for our table we dropped in at the bookstore. I got two books there – first, Issac Asimov's latest autobiography, and second, a Joan D. Vinge book called "Catspaw".
The greatest strength of the latter, I would say, is the worldbuilding. "Catspaw" takes place in a galaxy-wide (perhaps wider) confederation of planets chiefly under the control of both gigantic mercantile interests (called "combines") and the FTA, whose exact nature and source of power I remain uncertain of. Another dynamic of the book comes with the galactic races, Human and Hydran, the latter being a psychic race containing at least telepaths, empaths, and telekinetics, and possibly other varieties. In the world of the story, furthermore, these two races can interbreed, and the main character is a cross.
To be honest, my feelings about the main character, Cat, are pretty mixed. He's an interesting fellow, to be sure, but he is almost too much the typical fantasy halfbreed (though Joan D. Vinge writes him very well). Further, a few of his actions and inclinations seem a little unrealistic to, like the author had to include a particular plotline. But I digress.
Contrasting with the psi powers of the main character are the data implants common among the 'normal' humans. It is illegal for psis to have them (for reasons I do not recall), but the human characters almost all rely on these for rapid information lookup and, in the case of some music/hologram performers, for better integration of musicians into an ensemble. I believe it is this data network, in fact, that is the source of the FTA's power.
The main part of the story is centered around a group of characters heavily involved with the FTA. I shan't spoil any details I can help, but one of the consequences of this is that the story is set on Earth, a planet which holds the center of government but is otherwise far decayed from its former prime position. The way the Earth is presented in the story is quite interesting, I admit, although I suspect Vinge falls into the common trap of neglecting to think about energy problems. In any case, the plot of the story is quite clever – intricate, consistent, containing the proper setups for later developments, and fairly thrilling. My chief objection is ... well, too many sex scenes. They're well written, so far as a virgin can tell, and plot-relevant, but I still suspect they're superfluous. (As was the alliteration, but that's not the point.)
In toto, I think all I can say is that the book passes the first test ("did it keep me through to the end?"), and possibly even the second ("would I like to reread it?"), and I don't mind that it fails the third ("is it perfectly executed?"), but I'm still trying to decide about the fourth. Is it a worthy book? Does it give you anything to think about that's worth taking away? I can't think of it.
In any case, it was nice way to spend a day, I must say. Now to finish "Blind Lake" by Robert Charles Wilson – loaned to me by my mom, and therefore very likely to be superb. (I'll possibly go back to IF after that, but I don't know. I've still that Asimov....)
Packbat ... out!