Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining and thought provoking
Review: What an intelligent and well-crafted book! With the rampant disinformation about cryonics circulating about the media these days, it's refreshing to read a technically accurate and imaginative story based on science and rational thought. Mr. Halperin's hero is brave and honest, and uses technology to enhance his life. His vision of the future is both optimistic and inspiring. The First Immortal makes for an interesting, enthusiastic read. --David Hitchcock, author, VIRTUAL LIFE and PATENT SEARCHING MADE EASY
Rating:
Summary: Watch out - here comes the cryonics meme!
Review: You can tell right away that James L. Halperin's second novel is a winner if you flip to the back and see "Virus of the Mind" in his list of recommended reading. Any believable account of the future must be based on a solid understanding of what makes ideas spread. In this, Halperin succeeds. The First Immortal is a shockingly believable account of a future in which people live essentially forever, thanks to cryonics (freezing one's body) and nanotechnology. As the likelihood of resuscitation from freezing grows, the idea of preserving one's body in hopes of eventual revival becomes less and less loony. I finished this book seriously thinking about getting myself frozen. Halperin's writing has matured and you'll find The First Immortal as fast-paced as his first novel The Truth Machine but with considerably richer characters. An unapologetic optimist, he paints a scintillating utopian picture of the future - perhaps enough to launch the cryonics meme into full orbit. --Richard Brodie, author, VIRUS OF THE MIND: The New Science of the Meme
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