Rating: 
Summary: A poorly written book with tremedous concepts to ponder
Review: The Time Machine has some terrific ideas that the American public needs to consider:
Capital Punishment. Law & Order, Crime on the Streets, et al. But the author belobors the issues with trival details and boring dialogue. It is an interesting book because the thought processes that went into the philosophical portions of the book are very admirable. But the overall effect, because of the lame writing, leaves one wondering how/why the book got published in its present form
Rating: 
Summary: I loved it.
Review: As a computer technician, it seemed so believable to me. I enjoyed The Truth Machine and could hardly put it down
Rating: 
Summary: Don't let this man near a keyboard without supervision.
Review: A good premise destroyed by one-dimensional characters, simplistic plot development and complete misunderstanding of human nature, technology development, business and politics. There is no evidence of critical thinking by the author to create a believable background for the later portions of the book
Rating:
Summary: It changed my whole attitude about life.
Review: I am holding in my hand the most thought-provoking, self-evaluating,
terrifying yet inspiring book I have ever read in my short existence on earth. I am only
17 years old and admit my potential and intellect are nowhere near on par with Pete's
genius, but I am happy to say that after reading this book, I have found myself
actually aspiring towards something. I mean, basically my whole life, my grandparents
and parents and all others of preceding generations, claim that the world is going to hell in
a handcart (pardon my French). It is nice, although slightly scary, to think that there
just may be a light at the end of this dismal tunnel. I'm sure I will not be the one to
change mankind forever as Pete and David did, but I am determined to carry the
same hope and compassion for humanity that they did. Perhaps I will contribute more
than I imagine. Who knows? Stranger things have happened.
Rating:
Summary: Really a very bad book.
Review: Possibly the worst book I've read since "Sphere" (a book so bad its working title must have been "Contractual Obligation"). It reminded me of Dean Ing's "The Big Lifters," in which a traumatic childhood event convinces a super genius that -- if mankind is to survive -- freight trucks must, must be replaced with blimps. An improbable character, an unlikely premise, some implausible villains and an absurd goal.
A decent story begins with believable characters and reasonable motivations. The juxtaposition of carefully constructed characters provides interactions - conflicts - that propel the story forward. The reader relaxes and lets the plot unfold because it seems to be a by-product what the characters are doing.
But Halperin is so eager to talk about his truth machine that he'll do anything to make its construction necessary. No character is too flat, no plot device too unwieldy, to remain on the shelf if it might advance his plot toward its ultimate goal. For all of which he takes more than 200 pages to actually produce a truth machine, by which time you'll probably have lost interest in the concept.
The most egregious problem with this book is its reliance on details that simply don't work. Halperin's narrator is a writing computer that looks back from a half-century in the future, recalling the events that led to the construction of the truth machine. The book unfolds chronologically, and at the beginning of each chapter the narrator relates world events against the backdrop of which the characters will act. This is the author's technique for constructing his future, and in the hands of a better futurist it might be effective. But Halperin's details are so flawed as to be a continuing annoyance even to the casual reader. The book's main characters become convinced that only a better lie detector and world government will stop the threat of nuclear terrorists; a character appears on the David Letterman's show and rattles off an entire page of rah-rah, uninterrupted, about the benefits of said government; a towering skyscraper is built in the author's home city, where even a first time visitor can learn that the ground wouldn't support it.
And so it goes for hundreds and hundreds of pages before anything actually occurs in this book. The cumulative effect of these flaws and minor annoyances is a growing incredulity that passes into open irritation. Paradoxically, the most annoying flaws are in anecdotes that do the least to advance the plot. Halperin is squandering his credit with us. Fifty pages into the book, each new "brick" in his future becomes an invitation to disbelief. At one point the narrator provides a footnote to explain that a gardener's appearance pre-dates the widespread use of landscaping robots. For this, I could have watched "The Jetsons." I'd have been more interested in the future of Bill Gates, about whom this book -- in which a prodigy of the future attends Harvard, founds a software company and becomes a billionaire -- remains curiously silent.
One of the worst details is, in fact, the narrator itself. A computer programmed for journalistic writing is actually believable, but who would believe that it could write this badly? The second character introduced is gratuitously described as a black man who, being educated, "never ... resorted to street lingo." "Street lingo"??? As if blackness, or the lack of street lingo (!!!), is considered newsworthy now, let alone fifty years from now. Another character, introduced and then cast aside, is distinguished only by the narrator's description of him as "openly gay."
Of course, the real culprits here are first-time author Halperin's editors, who should have known better than to ship this book in its present form. Science fiction, alas, has more than its share of mediocre writers with good ideas. I don't mind; I read a lot of science fiction. In fact I rather admire writers who open themselves up to this kind of criticism in order get their ideas out. But I think it's up to the editors to keep this kind of schlock to a minimum, and they've clearly failed, to the tune of about 300 pages. Don't quit your day job, James.
Rating:
Summary: The Truth Machine works on many levels.
Review: This is a very good book. Especially impressive work from a
first-time author. I enjoyed it very much. The I22gCP idea is a
pretty clever solution to the problem of the omniscient narrator.
Halperin's book takes a compelling idea and extrapolates it out to
the limit. His analysis is logical and reality-based, and his story also
works as pure entertainment. Whether we like the resulting world or
not, I think the book is quite an achievement.
Rating:
Summary: The Truth Machine works on many levels.
Review: This is a very good book. Especially impressive work from a first-time author. I
enjoyed it very much. The I22gCP idea is a pretty clever solution to the problem of
the omniscient narrator. Halperin's book takes a compelling idea and extrapolates it
out to the limit. His analysis is logical and reality-based, and his story also works as
pure entertainment. Whether we like the resulting world or not, I think the book is
quite an achievement.
Rating: 
Summary: Very intelligent, entertaining and thought provoking
Review: Halperin does an excellent job of writing from the perspective of the
future and he brings his characters to life. I was engrossed with the
book right from the start.
Rating:
Summary: Very intelligent, entertaining and thought provoking
Review: Halperin does an excellent job of writing from the perspective of the future and he brings his characters to life. I was engrossed with the book right from the start
Rating:
Summary: I'm a believer.
Review: *Oh captain, my captain.* (couldn't resist!) A wonderful book. Couldn't put it down.
I especially enjoyed the news capsules at the start of each chapter. By giving
examples of the kinds of things that 'happened' in the future, Halperin underscored
the need for this type of machine. The basic premise that once we get to the point
where a single person has the ability to destroy mankind, the human race is in
jeopardy is a sound one. I'm looking forward to more from Halperin.
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