275 pages
English language
Published Oct. 30, 2016 by Tachyon Pub..
A worldwide diaspora has left a quarter of a million people at the foot of a space station. Cultures collide in real life and virtual reality. The city is literally a weed, its growth left unchecked. Life is cheap, and data is cheaper. When Boris Chong returns to Tel Aviv from Mars, much has changed. Boris' ex-lover is raising a strangely familiar child who can tap into the datastream of a mind with the touch of a finger. His cousin is infatuated with a robotnik--a damaged cyborg soldier who might as well be begging for parts. His father is terminally-ill with a multigenerational mind-plague. And a hunted data-vampire has followed Boris to where she is forbidden to return. Rising above them is Central Station, the interplanetary hub between all things: the constantly shifting Tel Aviv; a powerful virtual arena, and the space colonies where humanity has gone to escape the …
A worldwide diaspora has left a quarter of a million people at the foot of a space station. Cultures collide in real life and virtual reality. The city is literally a weed, its growth left unchecked. Life is cheap, and data is cheaper. When Boris Chong returns to Tel Aviv from Mars, much has changed. Boris' ex-lover is raising a strangely familiar child who can tap into the datastream of a mind with the touch of a finger. His cousin is infatuated with a robotnik--a damaged cyborg soldier who might as well be begging for parts. His father is terminally-ill with a multigenerational mind-plague. And a hunted data-vampire has followed Boris to where she is forbidden to return. Rising above them is Central Station, the interplanetary hub between all things: the constantly shifting Tel Aviv; a powerful virtual arena, and the space colonies where humanity has gone to escape the ravages of poverty and war. Everything is connected by the Others, powerful alien entities who, through the Conversation--a shifting, flowing stream of consciousness--are just the beginning of irrevocable change. At Central Station, humans and machines continue to adapt, thrive ... and even evolve.
Re-read before reading Neom, by the same author, in the same universe
3.5 stars rounded down. See previous comment (should be easy to find on the bookwyrm instance itself?), only thing I'll add is that it ended somewhat abruptly.
Looking back, though, the entire work is almost more like a slice-of-life manga than a traditional scifi novel (again: emphasis is very much on mood and place, over plot or conflict) so it's not like it was all that jarring.
I'm glad I read it, but I'm also not likely to rush to seek out Tidhar's other works. (But if I ran across another one recommended in some context like a good friend gushing about it? Sure, I'd give him another shot.)
This was a really interesting book with some really cool tech and fascinating social dynamics around it. I wanted more, not just of the characters, but a little more story. It was a bit more slice of life than I was expecting.
This is what is sometimes called a "mosaic novel" -- a novel made up of short stories that have been tweaked to relate to each other. The stories are masterfully written and the connections between them work well; I enjoyed this thoroughly. The ending felt a bit unfinished to me, but that is also understandable -- unlike many more traditional novels, the lives of the characters don't necessarily reach culmination (there is no "lived happily ever after"), but most reach a place where their lives have changed -- so it is, in a way, more realistic.
In short, it's a beautifully penned series of stories. I recommend it.
A collection of shorter pieces woven into a longer story, perhaps too many different directions at once, but bus stations are like that.
Provocative, challenging, with a deep sense of world building. Books like this don't come around often. Do yourself a favor & read it.
http://fedpeaches.blogspot.com/2016/05/excuse-me-while-i-wipe-up-my-brain.html
