Rating: 
Summary: Impressive
Review: I've had this book on my to-read shelf for over a year, and now I regret putting it off for so long.The story is a deft blend of a spy thriller, a romance, and (yes) science fiction that manages to transcend all of its various genre labels. What really made the story work, for me, was the surprisingly mature understanding of middle eastern politics and religion that the author displayed. In fact, the only detraction that the story held, for me, was the authors choice of placing the action in a fictious Islamic nation, rather than a real-world one. Given her grasp of the culture, I think that this was something of a cheat, on her part. Even so, this is a well recommended book, if you can find a copy. It's a disappointment that a story as well crafted and sophisticated as this one should, so quickly, find its way to the remainders bin.
Rating: 
Summary: SF in a near future middle east and media driven enviroment
Review: Kay Munadi is a burnt out war correspondent journalist who is persuaded to escort a humanoid fabricant (a biological human-based "android") to a middle eastern country that is not known for it's frendliness to the USA or women. (she goes disguised as a man as she is not a "pretty woman") This book is very well written, and unusual for a number of reasons. The author appears to have a very good grasp of Muslim values and the resentment that first world countries (read europe and the USA) have stirred up there, by very effectively using divide and conquer methods. However, all this is just background for a well written character based story as we get to know Kay and the "robot" John Halton better. This is not based in some future where all our problems have been somehow fixed, instead it is based on a continuation and intensification of todays trends. It makes you think about the power of today's media and in the end you come away with a feeling that you have read an outstanding book.
Rating:
Summary: SF in a near future middle east and media driven enviroment
Review: Kay Munadi is a burnt out war correspondent journalist who is persuaded to escort a humanoid fabricant (a biological human-based "android") to a middle eastern country that is not known for it's frendliness to the USA or women. (she goes disguised as a man as she is not a "pretty woman") This book is very well written, and unusual for a number of reasons. The author appears to have a very good grasp of Muslim values and the resentment that first world countries (read europe and the USA) have stirred up there, by very effectively using divide and conquer methods. However, all this is just background for a well written character based story as we get to know Kay and the "robot" John Halton better. This is not based in some future where all our problems have been somehow fixed, instead it is based on a continuation and intensification of todays trends. It makes you think about the power of today's media and in the end you come away with a feeling that you have read an outstanding book.
Rating:
Summary: Talmudic Golem story meets cyberpunk
Review: Like Marge Piercy's HE, SHE, AND IT, this book takes the story of a golem protecting a group of true believers and places it in the near future. But, instead of a magically animated golem, we have an android. But the ending of this novel takes a big turn. In this unique ending, Wood suggests a way out of the usual cyberpunk, offending god ending. This is both wonderful piece of cyberpunk and a light religious read. I loved it. I read 60+ cyberpunk novels and short stories last year and this is one of my top 5.
Rating:
Summary: Talmudic Golem story meets cyberpunk
Review: Like Marge Piercy's HE, SHE, AND IT, this book takes the story of a golem protecting a group of true believers and places it in the near future. But, instead of a magically animated golem, we have an android. But the ending of this novel takes a big turn. In this unique ending, Wood suggests a way out of the usual cyberpunk, offending god ending. This is both wonderful piece of cyberpunk and a light religious read. I loved it. I read 60+ cyberpunk novels and short stories last year and this is one of my top 5.
Rating:
Summary: Good book on questions of identity
Review: This book is not without flaws, but it did keep me up until 3 AM to finish it. The book seems tied up with identity in strange ways: gender identity, human-vs.-fabricant identity, the levels of deception in the identities and roles of journalists, and so on. Wood thinks through this whole issue of concealment more than most. Her characters need to acquire more than just the clothing and the hair cuts, they need to think and react the way their false egos would. There is a slight flaw in that, though LOOKING FOR THE MAHDI was obviously written before the recent cloning announcements, even then reproductive technology had gone far enough that the sorts of definitions of "human" used here would never have been accepted. Still, this is a book well worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: This novel twists the usual story into a much better one.
Review: Whoa, this was not what I expected. I picked up the book because it looked palatable. What surprised me was the welcome deviation from the usual romantic couple. Unusual characters, unusual romance. Also, I did like the story line and loved the physical movement from place to place.
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