Crashland

October 1, 2014
The fallout from Twinmaker (2013) and Clair's role in the hugely disruptive shutdown of teleportation technology put her in even more danger than before. The d-mat artificial intelligences that govern and safeguard teleportation are gone; the man who ran (abused) the network has been defeated. Clair's suicidal attack left her less-than-dead, due to the mysterious AI Q's decision to break "parity" in order to reproduce her pattern and bring her back (triggering debates over when-if ever-it's OK to bring back the dead). But Clair isn't the only one-the dupes (copies of people's patterns with different minds in them) are increasing in number, and they are after her. Puzzling out who's controlling them sends Clair into a strange tangle of alliances. There's her d-mat Abstainer boyfriend, Jesse, establishment peacekeepers and a representative of RADICAL, an organization with a libertarian outlook on technology and a desire to safeguard humanity from nonhuman threats, such as Q. Everyone's looking for Q (including Clair), to no avail. The large cast spends the first act of the book continually running from threats and making little progress, plotwise, along their convoluted paths. (With all the characters' mileage, the lack of grounding description leaves readers disoriented.) Once Clair and co. stop running, the plot picks up, leading to some knife-in-the-gut twists and a gasp-inducing ending. Despite confusing pacing, the implications and moral questions raised by the technology give the story weight. (Science fiction. 12 & up)

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September 1, 2014

Gr 6-10-In this sequel to Twinmaker (HarperCollins, 2013), 17-year-old Clair works to unravel an increasingly complex political conspiracy related to the now-defunct dematerialization system (both as a means of transportation and as a method for creating consumer goods). Two separate rebel groups vie with conventional OneEarth leadership in the wake of the destruction of "demat." Groups of "dupes," beings with the faces of deceased people with someone else's brain replicated into them, plague Clair at every turn. Clair has the key to untangling all the layers of corruption and becomes an unwitting rebel leader. How a society would deals in the wake of losing such an integral technology would make for an interesting story, but instead, the novel follows the rebel groups as they develop super-secret ways to continue to use demat technology outside of the main worldwide system. As one would expect from this genre, there is a love triangle, lots of action, and an abrupt conclusion that makes another sequel inevitable. The science fiction elements are overly complex and confusing. In particular, the details of who is privy to which online chats, and just how the dupes always know plot details make for convoluted and confusing reading. In spite of these issues, the book will appeal to fans who can't get enough of the genre but don't want to think too hard about it. Purchase where Twinmaker has been popular.-Kristin Anderson, Columbus Metropolitan Library System, OH

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2014
Grades 9-12 Williams returns to the girl who broke the world and gives her a whole new set of complications in this thrilling futuristic follow-up to Twinmaker (2013). After bringing the planet to a screeching halt, Clair Hill begins to see the horror that the replication machines have wrought. An infinity of duplicates swarm the earth, wreaking chaos and mayhem while Clair attempts to find Q, the artificial intelligence that could save them all. Williams explodes the narrative he set up in the first novel with deep philosophical questions about the power of technology. While some use d-mat tech to heal people, others struggle to figure out to whom the consciousness inside a duplicate belongs, and still others realize that duplication is an excellent way to consolidate and maintain political might. The story powers on to a relentless, shocking conclusion that will leave readers howling for more. Recommend alongside other sci-fi titles with ethical complexity and logical quandaries, like William Sleator's The Last Universe (2005), Neal Shusterman's Unwind (2007) and Mary E. Pearson's The Adoration of Jenna Fox (2008). HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: An octopus-armed marketing campaign is in the works to help Williams, a best-selling writer for adults, capture a wide youth readership. Expect some demand from grown-up readers, too.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)