Rating: 
Summary: A fast-paced page-turner with DEPTH
Review: I couldn't put this book down. I was immediately engaged in Moriarty's world. From the first chapter the story had me completely sucked in. But the best thing is that all the great storytelling is backed up by substance: the characters are as real as people you know, and the intellectual and emotional underpinnings are as real and powerful as it gets. If it's been awhile since you've read a book that made your heart pound and your palms sweat, get Spin State!
Rating:
Summary: Oh WOW-- Just, Well-- WOW!
Review: I know that if I build this book up too much someone is going to read it and be really disappointed. So I'm going to lay down some ground rules. In order to like this book you: 1. Must like science fiction
a. with strong female characters (good and bad)
b. be tolerant of what the future might bring in
social changes
c. Enjoy convoluted political plots. It would not hurt if the reader has some knowledge of the history and present state of the coal mining industry but that is not required because the author does a very good job of presenting the troubles of a mining planet, it would just enhance your enjoyment. Above all the reader should enjoy fast action (C. J. Cherryh & Kristine Smith comes to mind) and one of the more unusual romantic relationships in recent SFF. Thank you Chris Moriarty, I really needed this.
Rating: 
Summary: Impressive effort; falls a little short
Review: I've given this a book four stars for the sheer scope of it, plus her work with one of the characters. Moriarty has built a complete "world," most of it post-Earth. Her treatment of AIs and their search for acceptance as equals in a system made up of post-humans, constructs, and sometimes fledgling AIs was the most fascinating part of the story for me. I would have love to seen more of it. Cohen, one of the system's most developed and ancient AIs, is in my opinion the best-drawn and most sympathetic character in the book.
There are two problematic areas in the storyline. One is the main character, Catherine Li. Despite a promising backstory, she's one of the most unsympathetic and unlikeable characters I've read: basically, a hard, driving, secretive exterior masks a hard, driving, secretive interior--yippee. The character of Cohen was what kept me reading the book; if it had been all Li, I'd have tempted to throw this book out. Yet, despite Li's unlikeability, at least two of the other characters in the book are seemingly helplessly attracted to her... actually a common situation when an author has fallen in love with a character but his/her readers haven't.
The second problematic area is that the book tends to be (in majority) a straight, contemporary mystery framed in some fancy quantum physics, with a little slightly advanced technology thrown in. Humanity has made it to the stars and is traveling faster-than-light, but it hasn't managed to extract coal from a mine any differently than we do in good old 2004... and other such.
Still, for a first-time novelist, this was a tremendous effort. Had it not been for the character of Li, I would have considered five stars, and I don't give that rating often. I definitely intend to follow Moriarty's career!
Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic writing but too slow.
Review: If just about any other writer gave me 300+ pages of almost all dialog, I'd chuck the book across the room and grab another. Even my favorite authors couldn't get away with that. But Moriarty's skill in writing kept me plugging along if for no other reason than to see how she would keep arranging words on the page. She really is a writer and not just a person interested in science who happens to write--the feeling I get from many SF authors (even some I really like).
In some ways the writing reminds me of William Gibson in that a LOT of what's actually going on is just hinted at and the reader is trusted to figure it out. There is absolutely no hand holding, here. The novel regularly transistions in and out of cyberspace without a hint of notification, for example. And there are undefined terms the meaning of which must be deciphered by the reader soley by context. This may be the author's first novel, but it should definitely not be anybody's first SF novel.
Even though I rate this a marginal novel, I'm excited for the potential of Chris Moriarty. If she keeps the great characters and writing in "Spin State" and punches up her next novel with a bit more action and suspense, she'll have a huge hit on her hands.
Rating:
Summary: Pretty good first novel
Review: If you like science fiction about genetically modified people, AIs with personality, lots of fighting -- then this is a pretty good action-packed book. What, I think, makes it actually worthwhile, however, is that the main character, Catherine, is well drawn. Unfortunately, some of the other characters are rather cardboardish. As I understand it, this is the first book in a series, so maybe we'll learn more about motivations in the future books. But certainly, this is worth a nice afternoon of reading. I look forward to reading more of the author's books in the future.
Rating: 
Summary: Cliche and derivative . . .
Review: Moriarity does an admirable job of world-building but his characterizations tend to be two-dimensional and predictable. The personalities and dialogue will be familiar with anyone who has watched 70's era cop show. All that's missing is the cheap jazz background. The villains don't twirl black capes and laugh maniacally and neither do the power brokers stroll around in smoking jackets and ascots but the characters come too darn close to that for my tastes. Pass this novel up unless you consider eye rolling a sport.
Rating: 
Summary: Science Fiction At Its Worst!
Review: Spin State could've been so much more. This novel had the opportunity to be one of the best I've ever read. Mr. Moriarty saddles himself up beside other authors who chose to incorporate their own language (nouns, verbs, etc) into their work. Much like Tolkien and A/V's Clockwork Orange. The problem is that Chris doesn't explain any of it. For every word that he makes up, it pushs the reader that much further into confusion, and ultimately, oblivion. I was so confused by the end of this novel that I wasn't certain exactly what happened. Sure, the novel takes place in the future, and new technologies will develop... but the reader is still here in the 21st century. If you're going to conjure several dozen futuristic words out of thin air, at least explain them to the reader!!! The book is so vague and gray without these definitions that it seriously hinders the reader. I almost didn't finish the story. VERY DISAPPOINTING!
Rating:
Summary: Great new SF author
Review: Spin State is a cornucopia of recent SF themes put togather by first time author Chris Moriarty. She pulls it off like a grizzled veteran. It took me a couple of chapters to get acclimated to her style after which the story flowed by with nary a jarring word. The story takes place several centuries in the future where FTL travel has been accomplised but not mastered. There are consequences for using the system, mainly memory loss. The main character,Li, has made thirty seven such trips and struggles with the accuracy of her memories. She wonders how many people are using her for their own purposes. AI's have become sentient and use humans that are equipped with "shunts" to interact with the physical world. Other humans can "use" the shunts too which can become confusing if not paid careful attention to. Li has a love-hate relationship with an AI named Cohen that is the underlying fascinating rollercoaster ride through the pitfalls of human-AI ineractions. The story flip-flops between physical reality and the "spinstream." The spinstream can be a dangerous place for both humans and AI's. The story also contains a hard science element with forays into geology, quantum teleportation, many worlds theory, entanglment and others, but it is worked in in a manner that is painless. The book contains many other elements that I have not touched on but are done in a most competant way. Spin State is a solid SF book.
Rating:
Summary: Essential cyberpunk reading
Review: Spin State is one of the books you can't put down once you start reading. It's an excellent blend of various SF themes, future technologies and present social issues, entangled in the gripping tale of Major Catherine Li. Chris Moriarty is on the best way of becoming one of the big names in SF. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: A Quantum Romance
Review: Spin State packages itself as a far future military space opera/murder mystery on the rear cover. It fits these sub-genres, but is also a thoughtful romance of quantum theory that tackles cultural identity, bigotry, imperialism, and has a fully developed political universe.
Catherine Li is assigned to investigate a delicate and suspicious accident at a vital mine on her homeworld. The mine contains a type of crystal needed for interstellar communication and whoever controls the source of these crystals basically controls known space. Li's presence doesn't settle things down, with military factions, oppressed locals, cut-throat corporate executives, and a genetically modified splinter of humanity jockeying to control and exploit the situation.
Catherine Li is a terrific protagonist. She had a tough background that was honed by experience - or did she? Spin State is a universe where individuals store their memories while traveling cryogenically frozen to avoid decoherence - the bleed of information from the soft tissue. Long term travelers begin to lose their identity unless bolstered by computer backed memories. But if you wanted to hide something, would you remember it? Would it be erased in the next flight? I think this central question of identity hasn't been fully appreciated by other reviewers.
Spin State works on a number of levels. The mystery story element is passable, but not great. The military ops sections are exciting and fluid, but infrequent. The political scene Moriarty creates is rich and fascinating. Moriarty's thoughts on imperialism and worker's rights are neither shallow nor moralizing. But Li's search for herself and her feelings were unusually compelling for a science fiction novel. I like SF, but unconvincing love interests are the norm. I found myself really pulling for Li to get it together. By the end of Spin State so will you.
Much of Spin State revolves around political maneuvering and relationship issues. If you are expecting "Altered Carbon II - Now With a Girl!" you will be sorely (and deservedly) disappointed. To enjoy Spin State you should: A) enjoy the science in science fiction, B) appreciate a detailed political backdrop, and C) like a good romance.
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