Rating: 
Summary: liven it up a little, please!
Review: I think I'm giving up wilson's books. His stories have no excitement whatsoever. His one is no different. Could have been a great story instead its a cure for insomnia.
Rating: 
Summary: Professioanl conflicts and scientific possibilities excel!
Review: I'm completely taken in by anything that is science or sci-ficton or dealing with space. I was totally engrossed from the very begining of this skillfully written novel to hating to see it end many pages later. You have some skillfully developed characters in Nerissa Iverson and Raymond Scutter. They face personal and professional conflicts since their recent divorce, and she believes there are features common to all sentient beings' thought, while he believes that culture is arbitrary and aliens will always be incomprehensible. It goes on and on and you will be so taken with the quality writing, that when you flip the final page, you say, "What, ist's over? I want more!" Although costly, you will not find a dull moment while reading this excellent novel. Five Star recommendation.
Rating: 
Summary: Just okay- not as good as I expected after Chronoliths
Review: I've read several of Wilson's books now. The Chronoliths was great. However, both Darwinia and this book, Blind Lake, struck me as much weaker. Perhaps this is because I am a biology fan, something of an amateur student of evolution and adaptations. Darwinia depended too much on, literally, a deus ex machina (it was all a machine after all...), and this book depends on, well, nothing really. There's no REASON given for anything. We have lots of plot, lots of dialogue, lots of drama- but the aliens really have no reason for being, and their place in the plot could have been taken by any other contrivance without changing the plot at all. We end without really knowing- was this all hallucinations? Are there really aliens? Can there really be a science of xenobiology before we actually meet aliens in person? Those are questions raised during the book, and never answered.The resolution of all the subplots is inconsistent as well. We never do really figure out whether Tessa has Asperger's, and if she does, why her mother, someone who works in the sciences and with biologists and physicians, doesn't get more diagnostics done on her. Inconsistent, I thought. And why was Tessa a little strange even before the incidents in the book? And why does that, in particular, make her more susceptible to communication with - whatever-it-is. And the whatever-it-is, Mirror Girl as Tessa calls it- is also not resolved. Why should there be such a thing? Why should "she" say that there are others, her "sisters"? What reason do they have for existing? That sounds as though I'm asking a lot of questions, and that expresses my frustration with the book. I like books that raise questions, and make me think, which this book does- but I also like, in fiction, to have an ending, a resolution, at least one of the problems solved. And this book doesn't do that. Raises several interesting questions, doesn't propose any solutions. Even the personal problems of the characters don't get much in the way of solutions; the violent ex-husband problem is resolved, but in an unsatisfactorily arbitrary manner. So- long and short of it is, there's some excitement, there's interesting subplots, there's interesting characters, there's aliens, all of which are items that hold great potential- and none of which lived up to their potential. I suspect Wilson is just stronger on physics than he is on biology or on people, and that's why a book like Chronoliths, where much less of the plot depends on explaining why characters act the way they do, works better. Your mileage may vary, however; if you pay attention to the physics and astronomy and don't really care about the subplots involving personal lives, then you may be happy just to have the questions raised, and not unhappy with the lack of resolution.
Rating:
Summary: Wilson's best book by Far
Review: I've read three Robert Charles Wilson books before Blind Lake, Darwinia, The Chronoliths and Bios, and while all three books intrigued me, I had certain problems with each and every one of them. For instance, Wilson begins to introduce us to the entire rationale of Darwinia halfway through the book and finally we understand that nothing we've understood made the least bit of sense. Chronoliths and Bios both left me rather cold as well.
Wilson departs from strenuously bizarre premises in Blind Lake, and I finally found a book like his that I could say I enjoyed through and through. Short of a few editing problems within, and a character on the book back cover that doesn't exist within the novel, Blind Lake is a wonderful and imaginative journey in the near future.
Central to the book are Chris, the author of a widely read and devastatingly unauthorized biography leading to the apparent suicide of its subject, Marguerite, the chief observer and exozoologist and watcher of a distant, alien, specimen, Tess, her odd 10-year old daughter that suffers from hallucinations and Asperger's Syndrome, and Tess's estranged father, Ray, who is the default head of the Blind Lake instillation.
Early on in the novel, Blind Lake becomes quarantined from the outside, with nobody knowing what is taking place, so the novel takes place in sort of a limited setting. The entire installation is following the passage of this one alien creature, using a novel and not-yet-understood self-replicating computer technology known as O/BECs.
Unlike Wilson's prior work, he maintains a consistent story throughout, with a slightly surprising but not strenuously outlandish explanation for the quarantine and the discovery of new life. Everything is plausible and fits in with the time period.
I enjoyed Blind Lake and finished most of it during my Thanksgiving trip to my mother's.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting...but Piers Anthony did it better
Review: If the premise of BLIND LAKE intrigues you, check out Piers Anthony's MACROSCOPE, published, oh, 25 years ago. It's huge, difficult, and rewarding.
Blind Lake is a thoughtful and smart page turner. The ending, however, is strangely unsatisfying.
Rating:
Summary: A New York Times Notable Book of the Year
Review: Need I say more? Wilson is consistently one of the finest writers in OR OUT of the science-fiction genre, and this book, like several of his previous novels, has been named a "New York Times Notable Book of the Year." The premise is fascinating, and developed in surprising directions: new quantum-computing technologies allow the imaging of day-to-day life on alien worlds. A pair of US government labs -- Crossbank and Blind Lake -- are devoted to watching the action unfold on two separate extrasolar planets. But suddenly Blind Lake is locked down: no one can get in or out, and no communication with the rest of our world is possible. Why are the all-too-human researchers there being quarantined? And what happend at Crossbank to warrant this? Beautiful, often poetic prose; finely nuanced characters; science right at the cutting edge; and great metaphysical/philosophical ruminations. What more could one ask? Let's hope this one snares Wilson his well-deserved Hugo and Nebula Awards.
Rating:
Summary: The (not-so) New Master
Review: Once again Robert Charles Wilson has quietly issued a sublime novel which reminds the reader that great works of science fiction are not strictly relegated to the past. Indeed Wilson's latest effort could be likened to Clarke's CHJILDHOOD'S END. But the depth of his characterization, the human element in Wilson's works elevates BLIND LAKE to the realm of timeless classics. David Pringle take note. Read this book.
Rating:
Summary: Science fiction that is always believable
Review: Robert Charles Wilson is one of my favorite SF writers by far. He doesn't write far-out space operas (which I happen to love, e.g. Vinge, Bear, Brin, Simmons, etc.), but rather "down-home" SF which is always on the edge of the possible, meaning, you think these things just might happen some day. I think of Wilson as a philosopher who happens to write SF. There is depth and lots of feeling; whenever I finish one of his books, I feel fully rewarded. This is what a reviewer in the Daedalus Books catalog said about a collection of his short stories: "This collection showcases Robert Charles Wilson's suppleness and strength: bravura ideas, scientific rigor, and three-dimensional human beings facing hard choices." Several interesting and viable themes are interwoven in 'Blind Lake', and as usual the #1 thing I love in Wilson's books, a great fullness and depth of FEELING. And if you're interested in the burgeoning topic of Quantum Computation, as I am ('The Fabric of Reality' by David Deutsch is a popular-level masterpiece on this topic), then Blind Lake is a book to read, and I think events similar to those in this book could easily take place within another 20 years.
Rating:
Summary: Great effort from an improving author
Review: Robert Charles Wilson keeps getting better with each new novel. I started with Darwinia, which was not bad, then moved to The Chronoliths, which was better. Now comes Blind Lake, his brand new novel, and it's his best so far. The novel centers around a research installation which uses quantum technology to investigate nearby stars and in particular, a planet which supports sentient life forms. When the installation is quarantined and cut off from the rest of the world, stranding residents and visitors inside for an unknown reason, the characters struggle for understanding in a time of chaos. The only problem I had with this book was its tendency to be a bit melodramatic. But this story is certainly character-driven, with strong, deep personalities intermixed with fascinating speculative science. The antagonist, the female lead's ex-husband who flips out when he has a bit too much power thrust upon him, seems a little over-the-top until I realized that there are all too many people quite like him: control freaks who are anal-retentive to the point that it's frightening. I found that part of the novel to be all too realistic at points. I also think Wilson could have gone into much greater detail in dealing with the alien culture in this novel, but that's also sort of the point. All we can do is watch and try to piece together bits and pieces of the infomation that comes through the quantum telescope to form a coherent picture of them. We learn about them, finally, through a sort of chosen representative, and that was certainly interesting enough. If there's ever a sequel to this book, I'd certainly like to learn more about them. But I also think that the best books are somewhat satisfying but also leave you wanting to continue the story. This book accomplishes both very well. I don't think Wilson has written his best novel yet; that's probably still to come, but he improves with every novel he writes and I look forward to the next one.
Rating:
Summary: A unique story with memorable characters and much suspense
Review: The writing and characters in Blind Lake set this story in the top of its genre. Again Wilson has a truly unique concept - quarantine (for unknown reasons) at a research community observing alien life on a distant planet. The story has many angles - cosmic justice, technological mysteries and limitations, personal dramas, and scientific ethics.
Tensions rise during the months-long siege at Blind Lake which ends abruptly after much suspense. I think the best parts of this story lie more in the middle of the tale than in its conclusion. Not that the outcome is disappointing (in fact it's quite unpredictable) but it doesn't seem to be the focus. Since many science fiction stories take the opposite approach, this one's a pleasant switch.
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