Rating: 
Summary: Worth the wait, when's the next?
Review: Read the other other reviews for particulars on this story, my focus is on the author. Mitchell's first book, Murphy's Gambit, has an early Heinlein feel to it. Then Technogenesis had a later Heinlein feel ala The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. I expected The Changeling Plague to build on Technogenesis, but it's different vision and a different feel, let's call it her own style. Mitchell handles the story well, and stays in control when the storyline goes off on a whole different tack.My complaints with The Changeling Plague are mostly minor nits that would be clutter here. The story is good, the ideas are interesting and well worth SF exploration. A couple of things will be much harder to do when science can do them, but that's okay, this is still hard SF. It'll be fun to watch Mitchell's career grow.
Rating:
Summary: Worth the wait, when's the next?
Review: Read the other other reviews for particulars on this story, my focus is on the author. Mitchell's first book, Murphy's Gambit, has an early Heinlein feel to it. Then Technogenesis had a later Heinlein feel ala The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. I expected The Changeling Plague to build on Technogenesis, but it's different vision and a different feel, let's call it her own style. Mitchell handles the story well, and stays in control when the storyline goes off on a whole different tack. My complaints with The Changeling Plague are mostly minor nits that would be clutter here. The story is good, the ideas are interesting and well worth SF exploration. A couple of things will be much harder to do when science can do them, but that's okay, this is still hard SF. It'll be fun to watch Mitchell's career grow.
Rating: 
Summary: Superior medical/cyber thriller
Review: Syne Mitchell's third book, "The Changeling Plague," is another winner. It starts out as a near-future medical thriller, but quickly takes an unexpected turn, because thankfully Mitchell's more interested in showing the relationship between real viruses and computer viruses than she is in writing yet another tale about How They Isolated the Virus and Saved the Planet. And so, in this tale the vaccine is found rather early on in the novel, after which Mitchell turns her attention to what happens next. Most people demand the virus, of course, while a small percentage do not, because they like the body modifications the disease can cause (one character wants wings). As for the victims themselves, they're simply quarantined. There are three main characters: Mitchell's hacker character, Idaho (he wires himself into the net and feeds himself via IV while on line), quickly sees how he can turn his skills from altering the virtual world to altering the real one, by manipulating DNA. He realizes that by doing so he can modify people and he goes about doing just that. The other two protagonists are Lillith, a health worker (she's a save the world type who still wants to keep her day job) who tries to help solve the mystery of the plague while aiding the victims, and Geoffrey, the rich young man who's inadvertently started the whole while looking for a cure for his own cystic fibrosis. As in "Murphy's Gambit" and "Techogenisis," Mitchell creates interesting characters who don't always make the right decisions. You'll probably find yourself caring about them (one especially effective scene is when Geoffrey, who is kept in quarantine as the "patient zero" of the plague, is transferred to a quarantine facility for other victims--it's his old family estate). Mitchell keeps things moving along briskly and efficiently and the book reaches a satisifying and logical conclusion, with room for a sequel although one isn't inevitable. She also raises some ethical issues that are definitely worth pondering.
Rating:
Summary: Superior medical/cyber thriller
Review: Syne Mitchell's third book, "The Changeling Plague," is another winner. It starts out as a near-future medical thriller, but quickly takes an unexpected turn, because thankfully Mitchell's more interested in showing the relationship between real viruses and computer viruses than she is in writing yet another tale about How They Isolated the Virus and Saved the Planet. And so, in this tale the vaccine is found rather early on in the novel, after which Mitchell turns her attention to what happens next. Most people demand the virus, of course, while a small percentage do not, because they like the body modifications the disease can cause (one character wants wings). As for the victims themselves, they're simply quarantined. There are three main characters: Mitchell's hacker character, Idaho (he wires himself into the net and feeds himself via IV while on line), quickly sees how he can turn his skills from altering the virtual world to altering the real one, by manipulating DNA. He realizes that by doing so he can modify people and he goes about doing just that. The other two protagonists are Lillith, a health worker (she's a save the world type who still wants to keep her day job) who tries to help solve the mystery of the plague while aiding the victims, and Geoffrey, the rich young man who's inadvertently started the whole while looking for a cure for his own cystic fibrosis. As in "Murphy's Gambit" and "Techogenisis," Mitchell creates interesting characters who don't always make the right decisions. You'll probably find yourself caring about them (one especially effective scene is when Geoffrey, who is kept in quarantine as the "patient zero" of the plague, is transferred to a quarantine facility for other victims--it's his old family estate). Mitchell keeps things moving along briskly and efficiently and the book reaches a satisifying and logical conclusion, with room for a sequel although one isn't inevitable. She also raises some ethical issues that are definitely worth pondering.
Rating: 
Summary: Flat, cliche'ed genetic-SF thriller. 2.5 stars
Review: __________________________________________
So, here's a new novel of a technogenic plague, from a gengineered virus
intended to cure cystic fibrosis that's gotten loose. The genetics
appears meticulously researched, the book has gotten very good notices,
the author's a babe [note 1], decent hard-SF is never in oversupply. So,
why don't I like this book? Because the characters are thinner than cardboard, and
the cliche'-meter is pretty much off-scale. OK, let me try Amazon's "search inside the book" feature to find you a
particularly repulsive passage: Well, crud, you can look but not copy. And there's nothing horrible
enough in the unencrypted sample at the author's website. Sigh. OK,
fingers, get typing: We're in uber-hacker Idaho's subterranean singlewide: 'She was tall and thin. Today she wore a black latex miniskirt over
red-and-white stockings.... Exeter set the box next to his chair and squatted next to him. She
snaked a heroin-thin arm around his waist. "Idaho," she purred. "I've
brought your supplies." Idaho resisted the urge to push her away. He'd never gotten used to
Exeter's liberties...' OK, this isn't *awful*, but the banalities are cumulative. Usually I can
soldier through this kinda stuff and get on with the story -- I mean, I
like most of Robert Forward's novels, for chrissake -- but this one is
getting to me (I'm at p.99, with the plague getting well established.) So. End of rant. I'll put the thing down, maybe try again later. Maybe
it's just me, since I can't find a single negative comment about the
book online... But, trust me, this is crappy writing. With other merits,
to be sure. Catty thought -- maybe Mitchell caught this from husband Eric Nylund.
But, no, Nylund's problem is bad *science*, not bad writing. Maybe they
should collaborate. Or at least, cover each other's weaknesses. Grumpily, Pete Tillman 1) I know, shallow of me, but I'm a sucker for a pretty face in the
author photo spot. [This was a Usenet post, and drew this reply: "Being a big apocalypse fan, I will read most things dealing
with major plagues, population implosions etc., so I did finish it but I
think I was simply skimming toward the end to see what she did with it. If
you have anything better to do, like clean your belly button or pick your
teeth, I recommend doing that. I can't conjur up a single positive think to
say about this novel." Bob H. Canberra, Australia
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