Rating: 
Summary: The future really is now
Review: ((FREQUENCIES)) is vivid, fast-paced ride into the Seattle of 2051. Ortega's ideas reverberate from today's world into a vision of the future that is scary, wonderful, and hopeful all at the same time. In the aftermath of the WTO and Seattle's response to the millennium, the political domination of the Frequencies world is omniously real. Things that were once fantastically impossible- cloning, nanotechnology, transhumanism- come to life as we can imagine them doing only in the opening days of the twenty-first century. And things we already know- remote thought monitoring, love and adventure- are revealed in all their multiply-faceted glory. Needless to say, once you start to explore this story, it won't stop with book. The only question I have is, when does the sequel come out?
Rating:
Summary: A worthwhile book that is very hard to put down
Review: Although the action takes place in the year 2051, this first novel by Joshua Ortega is not exactly science fiction. It's more of a cautionary tale, especially tailored for our age.The setting is the greater Seattle area, where an exponential rate of progress has, in less than half a century, produced a society that no longer has a middle class, where most people travel by ground-limited mass transit, but wealthy individuals --- and government workers, including police and other law enforcement --- take to the sky. "Cars" now fly. They can be flown both manually and by computer. Everything, in fact, can now be done by computer --- and that is the point of this novel --- though it's a kind of computer control different from anything we have yet seen. Our hero is an agent named Marc McCready. He's a Freemon, a kind of mid-21st century FBI guy. His job is to check out deviant thought patterns among the mass of the populace. This is possible because the Ordosoft founder, W.A. Huxton, discovered early in the century that all living things vibrate along a certain frequency. Therefore, they can be monitored on this frequency, and they are --- except the very rich, who can afford to pay the government what it costs for complete freedom of thought. It was desire on the part of the people to have easier, faster access to all that the rapidly advancing technological world has to give that got everybody into this situation in the first place. Have you ever sat in front of your computer seething with impatience for a web page to come up? Looking for no-glitch broadband? Think it would be cool to have your house lights come on as soon as you set your foot in the door? Think it would be even cooler if your house could immediately identify if that foot belonged to somebody else, not you? Think how great it would be if your TV never let you forget the kind of program you usually like to watch, could get your attention and remind you even if you didn't know a particular program was going to be on? Well, see, all this and much, much more is possible --- all you have to do is have this tiny little chip thing implanted, painlessly, in your brain. Having the wrong kind of thoughts is called "freeking." Many words are spelled phonetically 50 years in the future, which is not at all surprising, considering the direction in which the language is already going. When our story opens, ordinary citizens are freeking out in record numbers all over Seattle, and Marc is becoming concerned. He gets sidetracked, or so it seems, when Mason Huxton, father of the founder --- who lives in a huge house that resembles a castle and is literally built in the air above Bellevue Island --- has a wife who freeks. Naturally, he calls on a Freemon for help, and the agency (read FBI) sends Marc. Mason, an interesting guy in his own right, soon finds that his wife's problem is only the tip of the iceberg. The real problem is something or someone called The Presence, who can only be perceived virtually. The Presence has found a way into the frequencies that control all life, and the Presence is a kind of revolutionary force. For good or evil? Ah, well, there's the Big Question. Mason Huxton not only has a wife but also a daughter named Ashley (and a son, who doesn't appear often in the story); since his whole family is threatened, Marc is assigned to be Ashley's bodyguard. She is an interesting character, the future's version of a free spirit. Her inherited wealth means she is free from having her thoughts monitored, though Marc (being equipped, as a Freemon) can do it --- just as he can read the thought levels of Mason's troubled wife, who is a clone of the real, now-frozen wife. Ashley's thoughts are often in the orange and red zones, which are forbidden to most people. Marc's thoughts are often there too, which is the biggest reason for his chosen profession --- he wanted the freedom, and monitoring others was not too big a price to pay for it. Ashley and Marc bear the seeds of revolution themselves and, as the story advances, Ortega demonstrates a powerful ability to draw readers into his created future world. Although getting into it for the first few pages was a bit tedious, I soon found the book hard to put down. Ortega, who by profession is a journalist specializing in the coverage of technological issues, has a lot of worthwhile things to say and he says it well in this work of fiction. We should thank Jodere Group, San Diego publishers, for putting this book in our hands --- and I hope FREQUENCIES will win broad recognition for Ortega, so that he can continue to entertain us and make us think. --- Reviewed by Ava Dianne Day
Rating: 
Summary: A work of art-and a compelling read
Review: As the reviews have said, there are elements of Brave New World, 1984 and Fahrenheit 451, but there are also some hints of William Gibson and Neal Stephenson (even Margaret Atwood). Parts of it also remind me of The Matrix and Blade Runner. While it has some similarities to the above works, ((Frequencies)) is a work of art all its own. Not overly dark like 1984, it explores both the good and bad aspects of technology-and provides for an exciting read along the way. I highly recommend ((Frequencies)), especially if you enjoy your thrillers with some depth and surprise twists (a la Da Vinci Code).
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Summary: Welcome to Dystopia
Review: Dystopian views of the future are hardly new. Aldous Huxley's Brave New World and George Orwell's 1984 are early literary examples of futures where freedom and liberty are merely abstract notions, having ceased to be inalienable rights. Modern day films such as Blade Runner and The Matrix offer up futures that aren't as clean and friendly as we'd hope.
While Joshua Ortega's Frequencies doesn't break new ground in this respect, it is certainly relevant considering the times in which we're living. With our current government able to suspend the Bill of Rights by using tools such as the Patriot Act, the leap to a future society overseen by the thought police Freemons isn't that incredulous.
Frequencies centers around Freemon Marc McCready, and his efforts to protect Ashley Huxton, daughter of Mason Huxton, whose company Ordosoft essentially runs or has a hand in running every facet of life, from home life to business to government. Think Microsoft on a massive dose of steroids. The Huxton family have become targets of a mysterious terrorist, and Mason enlists McCready to protect his free-spirited daughter from attack.
Ortega delivers a world where thoughts are constantly governed, and anyone coming close to a seditious thought is quickly locked up, or worse. Along the way, he gives the reader plenty to chew on, and teases the reader with situations that seem just around the corner from our present day world.
Anyone looking for more in a book than just escapism is highly encouraged to pick this one up.
Rating:
Summary: Welcome to Dystopia
Review: Dystopian views of the future are hardly new. Aldous Huxley's Brave New World and George Orwell's 1984 are early literary examples of futures where freedom and liberty are merely abstract notions, having ceased to be inalienable rights. Modern day films such as Blade Runner and The Matrix offer up futures that aren't as clean and friendly as we'd hope.
While Joshua Ortega's Frequencies doesn't break new ground in this respect, it is certainly relevant considering the times in which we're living. With our current government able to suspend the Bill of Rights by using tools such as the Patriot Act, the leap to a future society overseen by the thought police Freemons isn't that incredulous.
Frequencies centers around Freemon Marc McCready, and his efforts to protect Ashley Huxton, daughter of Mason Huxton, whose company Ordosoft essentially runs or has a hand in running every facet of life, from home life to business to government. Think Microsoft on a massive dose of steroids. The Huxton family have become targets of a mysterious terrorist, and Mason enlists McCready to protect his free-spirited daughter from attack.
Ortega delivers a world where thoughts are constantly governed, and anyone coming close to a seditious thought is quickly locked up, or worse. Along the way, he gives the reader plenty to chew on, and teases the reader with situations that seem just around the corner from our present day world.
Anyone looking for more in a book than just escapism is highly encouraged to pick this one up.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Read
Review: Even though I am not a fan of futuristic books, this was recommended to me and from the first page I was unable to put this book down. I think Joshua is one of the best new authors I have ever read. I can hardly wait for the sequel. Keep em coming Joshua. Barbara
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Summary: This book has some "freeky" parallels!
Review: Frequencies was an action-packed adventure set in future Seattle. What imaginative scenery and characters! The issues presented are eerily parallel to the direction in which our society to moving. Very deep concepts and interesting, thought-provoking themes are paired with science-fiction like characters (although they may not be considered so science-fiction in the near future) which cause you to look at our world now and compare it the their world. In a freeky way, the two worlds don't seem very different at all! Action and adventure in this intricately-planned out society keep you wanting to read more and more. Joshua Ortega is a master at creating the picture in your mind to let you feel each character. You definitely want to check this one out!
Rating: 
Summary: Cool setting, needs serious editing
Review: Had Winston Smith lived in the world of Joshua Ortega's ((Frequencies)), he would have been shot dead before he could put pencil to paper. That's because the Freemen, a division of the FBI, can detect when anyone is thinking too hard without clearance. It turns out all life gives out radio waves, and intellectual thought intensifies the signal. The whole world is in perfect order...except for those few who've gotten clearance to think dangerous thoughts.
There are a couple of interesting ideas in ((Frequencies)). You can get them by reading the glossary at the end. But I would advise anyone who's had contact with science fiction in the past to skip the actual book. It's possible to write good, non-literary science fiction if you're original. It's also possible to write literary science fiction if you can write literature. Ortega tries for option two, but simply doesn't have the expertise. His scene transitions are obvious and clumsy. The plot goes nowhere. He plays what he seems to think are literary games, such as finding different ways to work the same Greek letters into the story over and over. But I can and have forgiven this in the past: I can read and enjoy a stitched-together mess of cool ideas. Ortega, however, is missing the ideas. He's basically put together a list of his favorite clichés. If you're not a science fiction reader, you might find this book helpful as an introduction to futuristic writing. Just don't focus on the writing part.
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Summary: Out of nowhere
Review: I bought this book straight from the hands of the author at Bumbershoot in Seattle. He signed it, put some bookmarks and postcards in it, and we exchanged some words about the book itself. It was a complete impulse buy, and I forgot about the book until I found it in my car a couple months later. When I finally got around to reading it, I was hooked. It has the feel of being written by a new author with both the ups and downs that come with that. The characters start out a bit stereotypical, but they evolve. The book gets quite good, and I'm excited to read the sequel. The story tells of a world in the near future where thinking "freeky" thoughts - that is, thoughts that emit high frequencies which indicate more rebellious thought - is against the law. It's perhaps not as "out there" as some may think. Regardless, it's a very fun book.
Rating:
Summary: good read, stephen king fans will enjoy
Review: i had not heard of frequencies but bought it because it was on sale with dark tower 5 (king delivers again!) i'm pleased i did! it moves fast and has some eerie scenes (wait til you meet the virtual shadow creature). the sf elements are well done without being too 'techie'. the characters are also good and you care what happens to them. not an easy task! i will be keeping an eye open for this authors upcoming works (p.s. go buy dark tower 5 if you haven't already!)
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