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Dewey Decimal Number: 813 EAN: 9780312862947 ISBN: 0312862946 Label: Tor Books Manufacturer: Tor Books Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 288 Publication Date: 1997-04 Publisher: Tor Books Studio: Tor Books Editorial Review: Amazon.com Review: The colony world Reis had been a Mecca of art and culture, its thriving city attracting the foremost artists, philosophers, and scholars. But a plague forced the city into quarantine, and the only hope for a cure lies with RICE, the artificial intelligence that runs the colony. As RICE slowly churns through the numbers of dead and dying looking for answers, the artists of the city turn their attention to a new medium, the art of death. In their own way they are trying to give death a meaning, knowing but not believing that they could be writing their own epitaphs. Product Description: Once a glittering center of arts and culture, the colony world of Reis is being ravaged by an unchecked plague. As anarchy, cynicism and suspicion spread, a handful of the planet's young artists struggle to keep hope alive, clashing in a deadly game of wits with the seductive artificial intelligence that has taken control of their world--and their minds. Average Rating:
 Rating:  - It could have been goodThe writing and characters aren't bad, but almost every premise is silly. The major premise is that an artificial intelligence with DNA computing elements will go through puberty. Snails have DNA too - why doesn't the DNA based computer grow a shell? And it doesn't advance the story - Asimov, Binder, Ryan, Heinlein, etc. all managed robot/computer coming-of-age stories without such stupid gimmicks. The movie Toy Story doesn't make the mistake of claiming that Buzz Lightyear's existential crisis ... Read More Rating:  - a disturbing and moving commentary on the human conditionMemento Mori pays far more attention to character development and philosophy than most recent work in this genre. It approaches the concepts of aesthetics and value without carrying the baggage of the present. Though her characters clearly owe something to goth culture, Ms Lewitt does not indulge the nihilistic posturing that is so popular today; when her characters are only faking she says so, and when they truly want to express the pointlessness of it all, they shut up and kill themselves. ... Read More |
