Rating: 
Summary: A great work by a great author
Review: I was very impressed with Nancy Kress's "Beggars in Spain." The characters, the story, and the entire world created by Kress are an exciting look into the true nature of the human race.Kress pays quite a bit of attention to detail in creating the fictional world of Leisha Camden. Just the extent of technological development was amazing to me. She also developed her characters very well. The politics and conflict between the Sleepless and the Sleepers was very believable. I would recommend this book to anyone with an active imagination and an eye for detail. It's also a great read for anyone who ever wondered what it would be like to not have to sleep. Overall, I'd say this is one of the best books I've read this year.
Rating:
Summary: One of my favorites!
Review: I'm a science fiction and fantasy addict, and this book is a prime example of why. Nancy Kress' socio-political extrapolations spinning from a nifty genetic-engineering breakthrough (making sleep unnecessary for folks modified in pre-embryo-hood) create shiverings of joy in my mind every time I read this novel. The well-developed ideas, characters, plot, and great pacing of this book make it an incredibly pleasurable read.
Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining light science fiction
Review: This short novel is a clever and entertaining insight into the lives of the "Sleepless" - those genetically altered humans who can get by without sleep. At this level it is clever science fiction - not too heavy and cleverly written. But this is of course something much deeper than that - it is an interesting study of our fear and resentment of something that's different, and it is this element that makes the story truly interesting. A very worthwhile read.
Rating:
Summary: I was sleepless after reading this book...
Review: Imagine a simple fact - some people do not need to sleep. Now try and figure out the macro consequences of this fact. An oridnary writer would have these people take a few sedatives. But Ms. Kress is not an ordinary writer. Based on this simple premise she creates a world that is terrifying, amazing and exalting. Its like beautiful fractal objects of immense complexity that can be created by the simplest mathematic rules. The technology of genetic engineering will have consequence that we cannot even begin to imagine - complex, beautiful and terrifying. If you had any doubts about it they will vanish as you come to the startling conclusion of this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Intriguing
Review: I like the way this book faces squarely a very real possibility -- that thanks to genetic technology, the next time we get paranoid over a kind of person, it could be a kind of person that really is better than we are. Kress avoids easy answers, yet writes a satisfying novel that's only occasionally preachy (and, which is very rare, becomes LESS preachy rather than more as it approaches the end!). I think the way I read Beggars in Spain is best -- I read to the end of what was clearly the part of the book that was the novella that won the Hugo and Nebula, then put the book down for a week and read another one, then picked Beggars back up. The novella is the best part, and if the book had ended there, it would have been a better story. However, picking up after a while and reading the rest as though it were an inferior sequel, I was able to appreciate the novella and still enjoy the rest of the book for what it offered without judging it too harshly.
Rating:
Summary: Good story.
Review: Even though I still can not make up my mind about whether toconsider this hard sci-fi, or almost hard sci-fi, I really liked thisbook. Kress explores what would happen if people did not have to sleep, along with some political and economical consequences. A little reminiscent of the mutant hatred on the X-comics, and Gattaca (the movie). This book is easy to absorb and fun.
Rating:
Summary: Thoughtful exploration of compelling social issues.
Review: Current and near-future technological developments, including genetic modification and nanotechnology, pose the potential to bring about great changes in society. Kress looks at how some of these changes might play out, contrasting a variety of viewpoints and characters. Those interested in finding out more about nanotech should read "Unbounding the Future" by Eric Drexler et al. How equipped are our social institutions to grapple with a world in which few need to work to produce an abundance of goods? The more one thinks about it, the more it becomes clear that it is a staggering question. For a more optimistic take, try James Hogan's "Voyage from Yesteryear," in which the source of the abundance is fusion, rather than genetics. Either way, we are facing some major issues and need to put our thinking caps on, now.
Rating:
Summary: Excelent, but... Spain a country full of beggars? Come on...
Review: An excelent book. But... Spain a country full of beggars? Come on... Are you kiddin? I've been in Spain last year and there are proportionally more beggars here in USA.
Rating:
Summary: MSW Students Can Enjoy Kress in a Public Policy Course!
Review: Fun read that raises fundamental questions of living in community. My graduate social work students in an introductory social policy course have the opportunity to read this along with welfare policy, sociological and political theory books. Kress' characters and conflicts raise issues that launch productive discussions.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best of the DECADE!
Review: How I love this book! Some of the strongest storytelling I've ever come across in science fiction, and one of the most moving novels I've read in a long time. I came to care DEEPLY about all the characters--yes, even Jennifer Sharifi--and was fascinated as their stories moved smoothly over an arc of ninety years. Strong sociological speculation adds to the well-developed future world. ON TO THE SEQUEL!
| 
