Rating: 
Summary: Strong characterization and gripping twists of plot
Review: A scientist dies during a forbidden experiment with nanotechnology, and her death and a journalist's probe lead to the release of a science which may ultimately transform mankind in this gripping story of a technological experiment gone awry. Strong characterization and gripping twists of plot keep this fast-paced and hard to put down.
Rating: 
Summary: A Fine Effort from One of Nanotech SF's Best Writers
Review: I concur with a previous reviewer who finds Nagata's "Limit of Vision" to be an inferior repetition of Greg Bear's splendid "Blood Music". Although Nagata does an excellent job describing LOVs and the politics of the mid 21st Century, her writing never seems as sharp or as lyrical as Bear's. Still I must commend Nagata for writing a fine debut hardcover novel. Fans of nanotechnological science fiction and hard science fiction will unable embrace Nagata's latest novel.
Rating:
Summary: A Fine Effort from One of Nanotech SF's Best Writers
Review: I concur with a previous reviewer who finds Nagata's "Limit of Vision" to be an inferior repetition of Greg Bear's splendid "Blood Music". Although Nagata does an excellent job describing LOVs and the politics of the mid 21st Century, her writing never seems as sharp or as lyrical as Bear's. Still I must commend Nagata for writing a fine debut hardcover novel. Fans of nanotechnological science fiction and hard science fiction will unable embrace Nagata's latest novel.
Rating: 
Summary: Great ideas, but it needed more
Review: I give mucho applause to Linda Nagata for her efforts in writing a book with so alien a plot. As an avid sci-fi and history reader, I'm always interested in moments of discovery and the unforeseen consequences.The author takes us on a very interesting ride through this story of computer/living matter confluence, and performs many aspects of plot-building and character creation very admirably. I have to say that I was truly intrigued with most of the book. The problem I have with this book is that it sounds like the author is trying to sound like a scientist without the benefit of being a scientist. A story this intriguing and mind-bending needed a lot of scientific extrapolation, and well-done extrapolation would have added a tremendous amount to the plot. I'm sure it sounds like I'm being picky, but this is very important for me as a reader. I don't want to have to fill in many, many details of the plot using my own belief system. Another problem was the ending. Very shaky and ill-conceived. I think Linda Nagata was trying to establish a creative and dramatic climax, for which I applaud her, but there were so many issues in the book that were left unresolved. I had no true feeling of conclusion when I finished the book. I don't think Linda Nagata did either. Great ideas, but it needed more focus, better scientific extrapolation, and more questions answered.
Rating:
Summary: Nagata's best book yet -- 4.5 stars
Review: I thought Limit of Vision was Nagata's best book yet -- she's gaining full knowledge & control of the novelist's toolkit. And I admire her essential sweetness of vision: that probems have solutions, & that most people, given half a chance, will act decently and kindly. Except the bad guys, of course... Hghly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: a hot start with a cold follow-up
Review: I was riveted for the first 60 pages or so... the implications of the story at this point are profound, a thriller which places the contest of ethics and science on stage. Then, inexplicably, Nagata changes pace and it slows considerably. After losing the science/thriller pace, the story leaves doesn't drive to a full examination of the theme; other central characters, including the enigmatic "Mother Tiger," remain forever obscured by mystery. Entertaining, but the utterly profound examination of the central question, having been abandoned, the novel languishes. After almost finishing, I left the remaining 40 pages or so many days before I summoned up the gumption to finish it.
Rating:
Summary: a hot start with a cold follow-up
Review: I was riveted for the first 60 pages or so... the implications of the story at this point are profound, a thriller which places the contest of ethics and science on stage. Then, inexplicably, Nagata changes pace and it slows considerably. After losing the science/thriller pace, the story leaves doesn't drive to a full examination of the theme; other central characters, including the enigmatic "Mother Tiger," remain forever obscured by mystery. Entertaining, but the utterly profound examination of the central question, having been abandoned, the novel languishes. After almost finishing, I left the remaining 40 pages or so many days before I summoned up the gumption to finish it.
Rating:
Summary: Different from Nagata's earlier work, but a great read
Review: I've read all of Linda Nagata's previous books. As a group, all of her previous books were enjoyable and reasonably well written. The characters were well described and the plots were interesting. The only complaint that I had was that the books really weren't that accessible because of the level of technical detail. While I enjoyed her "hard science" approach in her earlier books, I think it also kept her from getting a wider audience. From that perspective, I think that _Limit of Vision_ is an excellent attempt to broaden her audience while still remaining true to her original "hard science" roots. In addition, I think that with each book, Nagata's ability to create a thought provoking and challenging story has increased. _Limit of Vision_ is set in the near future. A trio of scientists has been working on a project for a corporation basically exploring the feasibility of using organisms named LOVs (since they exist at the limit of human vision) for any practical purposes. Unfortunately, the scientists are hampered because all biotechnology is strictly regulated b/c of a horrible sounding accident caused by biotech gone awry. So, their LOV experiment actually lives on a space station in orbit around Earth. Before the LOVs were taken to the space station, the scientists stole some of them and implanted them on their foreheads. This book is about the unexpected and unpredictable consequences of that action. Some of the questions that were raised in the book include: what defines consciousness? At what point does an organism stop being "animal" and start being something else? If an organism has consciousness, then do we have the right to just destroy it? And if we don't destroy it, does it pose a threat to the very things that define us as humans? It's not a perfect book. It does leave some loose ends. It might even be missing some details throughout the book. But, that said, I absolutely had a GREAT time reading this book. It read almost like a thriller rather than some dry biotech story. In my mind, it encompassed many of the things that make sci-fi fun to read - a fast moving plot, lots of technology well used, a real concern about what might happen in the future. With a little stretching, I could absolutely see the vision Nagata created in _Limit of Vision_ as being a realistic possibility of what our future might look like. I was also really impressed by the strides that Nagata has made in creating realistic characters. I also want to stress that Nagata is not some "new SF author" attempting to re-write Bear's _Blood Music_. First of all, she's been around for quite a while. She has several other books out there that are really well written, although in a much different style than _Limit of Vision_. Second, Nagata has written about nanotechnology in basically ALL of her earlier books. She's not attempting to re-write _Blood Music_, she's continuing in exploring a subject that she's been talking about for quite a while. In my opinion, even if you just look at the quality of the WRITING, _Limit of Vision_ is a far superior novel.
Rating:
Summary: Different from Nagata's earlier work, but a great read
Review: I've read all of Linda Nagata's previous books. As a group, all of her previous books were enjoyable and reasonably well written. The characters were well described and the plots were interesting. The only complaint that I had was that the books really weren't that accessible because of the level of technical detail. While I enjoyed her "hard science" approach in her earlier books, I think it also kept her from getting a wider audience. From that perspective, I think that _Limit of Vision_ is an excellent attempt to broaden her audience while still remaining true to her original "hard science" roots. In addition, I think that with each book, Nagata's ability to create a thought provoking and challenging story has increased. _Limit of Vision_ is set in the near future. A trio of scientists has been working on a project for a corporation basically exploring the feasibility of using organisms named LOVs (since they exist at the limit of human vision) for any practical purposes. Unfortunately, the scientists are hampered because all biotechnology is strictly regulated b/c of a horrible sounding accident caused by biotech gone awry. So, their LOV experiment actually lives on a space station in orbit around Earth. Before the LOVs were taken to the space station, the scientists stole some of them and implanted them on their foreheads. This book is about the unexpected and unpredictable consequences of that action. Some of the questions that were raised in the book include: what defines consciousness? At what point does an organism stop being "animal" and start being something else? If an organism has consciousness, then do we have the right to just destroy it? And if we don't destroy it, does it pose a threat to the very things that define us as humans? It's not a perfect book. It does leave some loose ends. It might even be missing some details throughout the book. But, that said, I absolutely had a GREAT time reading this book. It read almost like a thriller rather than some dry biotech story. In my mind, it encompassed many of the things that make sci-fi fun to read - a fast moving plot, lots of technology well used, a real concern about what might happen in the future. With a little stretching, I could absolutely see the vision Nagata created in _Limit of Vision_ as being a realistic possibility of what our future might look like. I was also really impressed by the strides that Nagata has made in creating realistic characters. I also want to stress that Nagata is not some "new SF author" attempting to re-write Bear's _Blood Music_. First of all, she's been around for quite a while. She has several other books out there that are really well written, although in a much different style than _Limit of Vision_. Second, Nagata has written about nanotechnology in basically ALL of her earlier books. She's not attempting to re-write _Blood Music_, she's continuing in exploring a subject that she's been talking about for quite a while. In my opinion, even if you just look at the quality of the WRITING, _Limit of Vision_ is a far superior novel.
Rating:
Summary: Thought-provoking SF
Review: In my opinion, "Limit of Vision" is tied with "The Bohr Maker" for Nagata's best book ("Bohr" has some really neat ideas; "Limit" is more accessible). She has always concentrated on nanotechnology, but a few of her books have been difficult to follow. "Limit of Vision," on the other hand, can be read by even those who aren't intimately familiar with SF. "Limit" is thought-provoking in that it made me wonder how I would react to this situation: protect the LOVs because they're an exciting new lifeform, and humanity could use a little competition? Or hunt down the LOVs because they may pose a serious threat to humanity since they obviously cannot be easily contained? There is also a great deal of social commentary, as in how humanity chooses to deal with displaced persons. I also enjoyed Nagata's extrapolations of how the Internet may work in the future. Nagata's writing is not your run-of-the-mill SF. She's definitely worth checking out.
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