Truth Machine

Rating:
Summary: The best kind of mind-expanding fiction.
Review: I thought "The Truth Machine" was one of the most insightful and thought-provoking works of fiction I've come across. I'm very excited about reading Halperin's new book. Everyone I've recommended "The Truth Machine" to has been waiting for me to recommend another book as well-written and debate-inspiring. Nothing has lived up to their expectations, but I'm betting "The First Immortal" will!

Rating:
Summary: Presents an amazing entertaining view of the future
Review: The First Immortal and its predecessor The Truth Machine look at two big problems of the late 20th and early 21st century - death and litigation. As a species we have emerged from a primitive existence which endured for centuries and started to end by the close of the 15th century. We have achieved the status of magicians in terms of what people in the time of Columbus would have considered possible. In less than 100 years from the invention of heavier than air flying machines men got to the moon and sent probes to most of the planets of their solar system. In 50 years from the production of the first electronic computers, costing millions of pounds in today's terms, most homes now have some sort of a computer and linkage to the Internet - the biggest "single" computer imaginable. Yet most of us consider death and the risk of litigation to be inevitable. We are still in enslavement to the medical and legal professions, the latter sucking talent and funds from our progress and advancement. Jim Halperin's two novels look at a future when this enslavement will end. He considers that we are entering a period rather like that when European discovered the Americas. It will be a period of immense change brought on by technologies that to most people are as unimaginable as space probes would have been to those government scientists in the early 1900s who said that manned powered flight was impossible, or those government scientists who told Columbus that he would fall off the edge of the world. The Truth Machine describes a substantial diminution of the power of the legal profession by the invention of a perfect and unbeatable lie detector. Alongside the actions of the protagonists (key people in the development of the device) we get a potted "history" of what the rest of the world is doing. It is the same world in which the actions of The First Immortal takes place, although the latter starts during the Second World War. The First Immortal describes the end of death and disease and suffering - and the effect on the medical profession. Again its protagonists are key people in the development of the new technologies. These technologies have their origins in real work that is being done today on cryopreservation, and Mr Haplerin has made a great effort to be accurate in his presentation of the development of this as far as we know it today. Readers are encouraged to follow this up if they too want to become part of a scenario similar to that which these books predict.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty good, but not Orwell
Review: In a nutshell, this was an engaging, thought provoking book that raised some great issues. However, a lot of the plot twists were predictable, and some aspects seemed rushed. The characters were good, but at times too simple. None of this really distracted from the book, because it really isn't meant to be one of those comments on the state of the world books, just some entertainment for people who like to think. It's not of the caliber of say, Brave New World or 1984, but it's good and well worth the time you would put into reading it.

Rating:
Summary: SUPER BOOK! Enjoyable and stimulating.
Review: This is a very original, very enjoyable book that provokes much thought. It is sci-fi in the best tradition, because it involves science and depicts a world that really could--and should--exist. The author's credentials as a futurist add spice and information to the story, and the premise of the book has practical, real world, political implications for our society. This is one of twelve required books in a Psychology course I teach; the students not only love it, but rate it best of all. I highly recommend this book to all readers.

Rating:
Summary: Ingenious
Review: The Truth Machine is an excellent novel, with truly visionary ideas. Mr. Halperin presents an ingenious, (and I think eventually necessary) solution to the problem of terrorism. I think several of the product ideas he presents in this book could be commercially viable today, especially the his licensing scheme for pharmacies. We might see space-colonization happen on a faster time-table, though. Another book I'd recommend to people who liked the Truth Machine is the Millennial project, by Marshall Savage. In this book, Savage presents a workable plan for space-colonization led by private industry. One of his best ideas is that before we colonize outer space, we should colonize the oceans. We obviously need a Truth Machine, but is any company currently working on making a perfectly accurate lie detector? In a recent column, writer and super-genius (I.Q. 225) Marilyn Vos Savant wrote that if she were given three-hundred million dollars for law enforcement, she would invest it in creating a 100% accurate lie detector. I wonder if she came up with this idea independently?

Rating:
Summary: Excellent vision
Review: This book provides an excellent vision into the future. Very creative. If you are a futurist you will enjoy the The Truth Machine.

Rating:
Summary: Incredible
Review: This is an absolutely wonderful book. It's so believable--the first few chapters take place in the present, and there are summaries of the current news stories for each chapter. At first the summaries are what actually took place, just a few months ago, and then they move into the future. The news changes so subtly from chapter to chapter that you believe Halperin's predictions. For instance, when he said that in 2000 Al Gore is inducted as President, I let out a big "Oh, that SUCKS!" like I believed it! This kept happening as I got further and further into the book. The news stories are definitely distracting from the main plot, but the book is very fine, and very scary, and absolutely fascinating. I was really annoyed when I finished, not only because I wanted it not to finish, but because looking at it I realized it wasn't my book--and you don't just borrow someone else's Bible.

Rating:
Summary: A tight, believable, rich, worthwhile and fearless story.
Review: Rarely does a novel come along that combines a simple yet world-shaking premise with excellent writing, a believeable world, and characters the reader can care about, while still leaving the reader's worldview radically changed at the end of the work. The Truth Machine, by James Halperin, is one of those few novels.

Halperin takes a simple premise and runs with it...with the grace and power of an Olympic athlete. The writing is tight, clear, and easy to read. The characters are beautifully constructed, and the world is very well-realized. I initially picked up the novel in hardcover, a rarity for me, being in college and making half-hearted attempts to stick to a budget. Something about the blurb in the jacket grabbed me, and even now, looking at it, it's hard to quantify. I bought it, went home, read the book virtually non-stop. I became a Truth Machine convert the same day.

Since then, I've had lengthy coffehouse conversations with friends regarding The Truth Machine, and the variety of reactions to the concept never ceases to amaze me.

The Truth Machine is the story of Randall ("Pete") Armstrong, who, at the beginning of the novel, is a young and incredibly gifted child. He witnesses the kidnapping of his younger brother, Leonard, and that kidnapping leads to a murder. Life leads Pete to create a "truth machine" -- a lie detector that is 100% accurate. No mistakes. Pete is surrounded by a small, tight cadre of supporting characters, all of whom are believable, well-constructed individuals that leap off the page. Pete's friends are of similar character to his own, and respectable individuals. His adversary, Charles Scoggins, is admirable for his intellect and little else... While most of the roles would appear to be somewhat cliche (the evil genius, the good-intentioned law student, the brilliant-scientist-driven-by-family-tragedy), Halperin writes them like a master -- I legitimately cared about every one of the "good guys" and despised Scoggins.

The writing strikes me as being in the style of most creative non-fiction, and while some would claim that this is a dry, boring style, I find that it complements a story of this magnitude. The timeline odoesn't distract from the story in the least. In fact, what I thought was a really nice touch was that each new chapter opens with a small news blurb, as if it came off the UPI wire -- some of them set the stage for the chapter, some round out the future world, and they do nothing to hinder the novel. This is a simple idea, and Halperin makes each one a solid addition to the work.

One of the things that I have noticed lately is a lot of science fiction still has the negative overtones of the 80s works that predicted a grim future for humanity. (Like the discrimination present in James Alan Gardner's Expendable, or the overwhelming apathy of Americans present in Stephen Baxter's new work, Titan.) Overall, the feeling I get from The Truth Machine, is that the future will be less dystopian, more stable. Granted that the time leading up to the conclusion of the novel isn't all fields of daisies and doe-eyed forest animals. Baghdad gets toasted by the Israelis, Sarejevo is also nuked, Spain goes through a civil war, and so forth. But still, when I set down the book, I was left with a good feeling. I felt optimistic about things.

It's not often that a book overwhelms me like this. It entertained me, and more importantly it made me think about a lot of things. And it left me hoping that someone actually does build a truth machine.

Problems? No complaints out of me. Really. The only complaint I have heard voiced was by my friend, Angie, who has a bachelor's degree in PoliSci and is currently at law school. She noted that David's ascendence to the Presidency was a little unbelievable...but all in all, she was a fan of the novel as well.

In closing, Halperin has woven a tight, believable story with rich, worthwhile characters; he doesn't fear to tread on issues that are touchy today -- such as the right to die, the issue of cryogenic storage of live human beings, individual privacy versus the public good, reformation of the American judicial system -- and confronts them in a straightforward, unflinching manner that lends strong support to his ideas, without sounding preachy or contrived. Looking for a good present to give someone for Christmas? Need a book for your next trip? Bored? I highly recommend The Truth Machine.

Rating:
Summary: Good read, but nothing more
Review: I bought this book on the strength of the reviews it had received and was intrigued by THE IDEA.

But that's about as far as it goes. I'll grant Mr. Halperin that he had a great IDEA, but it just goes downhill from there. Combine 'Ender's Game', 'The Demolished Man' and one of the many biographies of Bill Gates with the IDEA and you have the 'Truth Machine', albeit badly written. Perhaps the whole story would have been better served in a comic book format.

True, it was highly entertaining and I read it in one sitting, and I'll grant that Mr. Halperin is a good storyteller, but a good writer he is not. I cannot help but marvel at all the people in this review section who compare this book to '1984' or even deem it a cult classic of sorts.

Read it for good entertainment and to while away the hours, but shelve it with the Ludlums, Crichtons and Grishams, not with your valued Simmons', Ellisons, Heinleins or Le Guins.

Rating:
Summary: THE best future book I've yet read.
Review: Fabulously done, and all at times incredibly intense. What I really enjoyed was that the characters had depth and strength and love, even though the plot was global... twas a beautiful book.