Counting Heads is David Marusek's extraordinary launch as an SF novelist: The year is 2134, and the Information Age has given rise to the Bo...
read full description
reviews
Jan 22, 2008
Lauryl
rated it: 
"On March 30, 2092, the Department of Health and Human Services issues Eleanor and me a permit...There was a baby in a drawer in Jersey with our names on it. We were out of our minds with joy."<i/>
The first paragraph of this book may go in my top ten all time opening paragraphs, it's so good.
I haven't read a good sci-fi book in a long time, so this was really, really satisfying. I'm finding myself sort of at a loss to describe it, even though I enjoyed More...
The first paragraph of this book may go in my top ten all time opening paragraphs, it's so good.
I haven't read a good sci-fi book in a long time, so this was really, really satisfying. I'm finding myself sort of at a loss to describe it, even though I enjoyed More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jul 06, 2011
Andreas
rated it: 
Marusek’s debut novel is set in a futuristic Earth of nanotechnology and cloning. Society is divided up roughly into four groups. Affs are the very rich, practically immortal beings who seem to spend their time spinning webs of power. Free Rangers are the middle class, living often in Charters, a sort of communes. The lower class is made up of clones, everything from Russes to Evangelines to Jennys, bred for their dominant traits. Jennys are nurturing and often work in healthcare, Russes are loy
More...
Jul 31, 2010
Ryun
rated it:
Frederik Pohl once said, “A good science fiction story should be able to predict not the automobile but the traffic jam.” David Marusek has taken this to heart with COUNTING HEADS, an incredible extrapolation of the future of human community and the joys and troubles that come with it.
The biggest fault with COUNTING HEADS is not the novel itself, but its billing. While the dust jacket sells the book as an adventure story, it’s really a throwback to the great social explorations of Ro More...
The biggest fault with COUNTING HEADS is not the novel itself, but its billing. While the dust jacket sells the book as an adventure story, it’s really a throwback to the great social explorations of Ro More...
Oct 23, 2010
Erika
rated it:
Samson Paul Harger was born in 1951 and died in 2092. Unfortunately, he still has over 40 years left to live; watching his body deteriorate at a rate normal for that of a man living in the 20th Century is only going to prolong his sense of injustice. In Samson’s lifetime, mortality is more of a distant bother than a reality. Humanity has experienced a technological boom, neé—a renaissance of medicine, cloning, and that ever elusive font of youth: immortality.
Shortly after getting ma More...
Shortly after getting ma More...
Dec 16, 2009
Previous
rated it:
This is one of those science fiction novels that is full of plausible descriptions of customs and gadgets and governments that really make you think about where the future is headed. For example, people live hundreds of years due to life enhancement technologies, and they have loyal “mentars” – essentially personal concierge/nano-robots – that are implanted into their bodies and speak to them inside their heads. It’s worth reading just for the vivid imagination of the author, but be prepared to
More...
May 30, 2010
AdultFiction
rated it:
Teton County Library Call No: SF MARUSEK
Dawn's Rating: 3 stars
This is one of those science fiction novels that is full of plausible descriptions of customs and gadgets and governments that really make you think about where the future is headed. For example, people live hundreds of years due to life enhancement technologies, and they have loyal “mentars” – essentially personal concierge/nano-robots – that are implanted into their bodies and speak to them inside their heads. It’ More...
Dawn's Rating: 3 stars
This is one of those science fiction novels that is full of plausible descriptions of customs and gadgets and governments that really make you think about where the future is headed. For example, people live hundreds of years due to life enhancement technologies, and they have loyal “mentars” – essentially personal concierge/nano-robots – that are implanted into their bodies and speak to them inside their heads. It’ More...
Feb 18, 2009
patrick
rated it: 
As a 'first novel' I found this book to be less than satisfying. While it's densely packed with all sorts of futuristic scenarios and interesting technological 'stuff', the plot is hard to parse. Partly due to a glaring lack of clear delineation of terminology he uses in the book. Perhaps if one has followed his other writings in various anthologies and such some of it would be more clear, but if you're looking for an introduction to Marusek's writing this isn't the one More...
Mar 25, 2010
Aurélien
rated it:
I have mixed feelings about this book, but overall it's really good. It is really innovative and full of great ideas, all very credible. Marusek explores the future of nanotechnologies with brio, describing a scary future where nanobots give you near-immortality but also zero privacy.
The plot is a bit complex, maybe too many characters, but it also gives you a good sample of the different kind of people who coexist in this not so distant future: an ex-star who lost his nanobots and is now More...
The plot is a bit complex, maybe too many characters, but it also gives you a good sample of the different kind of people who coexist in this not so distant future: an ex-star who lost his nanobots and is now More...
Feb 05, 2009
Critics compared this debut SF novel to works by Charles Stross, Rudy Rucker, John Wright, and even Philip K. Dick. Marusek examines present-day trends in technical and scientific advances, projects the social, biological, economic, and political consequences of such progress__and runs with it. Yet, although the author "is unstintingly generous in his speculations," notes SciFi.com, he is also "convincingly realistic." Inventive set pieces, complex and clich_-free characters
More...
Jun 18, 2011
David C.
rated it:
This is the best "post-singularity" novel I have read to date. This author combines a tremendous imagination for his future setting with believable and admirable characters. This is an emotionally warmer book that the other "post-singularity" works I have read by other authors and I am looking forward to reading the second novel in the series, "Mind Over Ship." Not since reading Donald Kingsbury's "Psychohistorical Crisis" have I been so entertained by
More...
Jan 12, 2010
Brian
rated it: 
Best book I've read in a while; it's a massively complex story being told through at least half a dozen different perspectives that don't really coalesce until the very end in a spectacular way.
It's the future. Disease is mostly gone, except for virulent nanomaterials that salted the Earth in the last war. Civilization is ordered, and humanity is experiencing a marvelous renaissance through technological salvation. Except when it doesn't. Murder, corruption, manipulation, pull back More...
It's the future. Disease is mostly gone, except for virulent nanomaterials that salted the Earth in the last war. Civilization is ordered, and humanity is experiencing a marvelous renaissance through technological salvation. Except when it doesn't. Murder, corruption, manipulation, pull back More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jan 25, 2011
Julie
rated it:
This book was a brilliant saga, with a diverse range of interesting characters and a tense, taunt plot. The portrayal of the future felt scarily real, and the society was complex enough to be believable. It was a very immersive book, with amazing attention to detail. Audacious. Visionary, even.
Unfortunately, the end did not thoroughly satisfy me. I felt I needed more explanation; it felt too loose. The 'ends' for many of the characters seemed under whelming to me--I'd lived with them f More...
Unfortunately, the end did not thoroughly satisfy me. I felt I needed more explanation; it felt too loose. The 'ends' for many of the characters seemed under whelming to me--I'd lived with them f More...
Apr 26, 2009
Michael
rated it:
I re-read Counting Heads again because I wanted it fresh in mind when reading Mind Over Ship, the sequel that came out in January. Counting Heads is hands down the best science fiction book written in the past ten years and even better than I remembered it. Marusek can build a future world with the best of them, but he has a few things a lot of other hard science fiction world builders lack: a great, wry, and cutting sense of humor; and an ability to create compelling characters and let the plot
More...
Feb 21, 2009
Siefker
rated it:
I believe this is Marusek's first novel. I found it uneven, but worth the read. You have to be willing to not understand things, because he does not usually explain new concepts when they're introduced. He generally gets around to an explanation and it's usually well integrated with the plot.
The annoying part: About 3/4 through, he tries to invoke a feeling of drug induced confusion by not using quotation marks and not identifying who the character is interacting with. It was effect More...
The annoying part: About 3/4 through, he tries to invoke a feeling of drug induced confusion by not using quotation marks and not identifying who the character is interacting with. It was effect More...
Jan 10, 2009
Liviu
rated it:
This is a novel I bought on publication four years or so ago, and tried to read many times and stopping after the brilliant novella introduction told by Sam, when it just degenerates in cold jargon that meant nothing to me.
Since I got an arc of book 2, I decided to get over once and for all with this book, so I fast read the second, larger part and it's such a waste of a great setup.
I hope book 2, Mind Over Ship will fulfill the promise of the brilliant 46 pages More...
Sep 09, 2010
Marissa
rated it:
Another recommendation from the unerring John Van Deren, Counting Heads proffers a vision of the future that rings truer than any other I've seen in print or onscreen. Marusek extrapolates modern advancements in technology to their most logical end, creating a nuanced and fascinating world. This book (and its world) stayed with me well after I finished, not because the plot was left unresolved but because its setting was so engaging. Thankfully his second novel, Mind Over Ship, continues the
More...
May 12, 2009
KMO
rated it:
Marvelous! What will the world look like after a few more iterations of Moore's Law and several more steps down the economic path that concentrates wealth in the hands of a privileged few? Most of the work in Marusek's imagined world is done by robots and millions of clones of a few very capable human beings. Most of the benefit accrues to a minority of "affs" (the affluent), and a disappearing middle class whose members struggle to find a means of continued existence. A great book. Ca
More...
Sep 18, 2008
Andrew
rated it:
I liked this one. Nice future vision. A little too omnipotent anything is possible for me, but I suppose it could happen. The main problem that I had with this book is the same that i have with most sci-fi, and that is that so much of the book is spent explaining the setting, events, technology and so forth, that it seems like that ends up being the entire book, or you end up being lost by a reference you missed. I can definitely see technology making a large portion of humanity obsolete as the
More...
Oct 21, 2007
http://nhw.livejournal.com/536633.html[return][return]Excellent. I tend to find myself unexcited by the possibilities of nanotechnology to change society; authors who are excited by it often write only characters who are equally excited, or else appalled, by it. David Marusek here has an entirely believable society, with love, parenthood, age, and death - and loneliness, in a world of material plenty - which happens to also have vast amounts of nanotechnology. (I confess I did find the summary o
More...
May 19, 2008
Jeremy
rated it:
What makes this novel really good is it's incredible speculative range. Counting Heads reminds me of Charles Stross' <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17863.Accelerando>Accelerando in that every other page contains an idea guaranteed to twist your perception of the possible.
Some of the constituent pieces are not necessarily new: clones, artificial intelligence, nanotechnological terrorism, anti-aging treatments... But the form these tropes take, and the social an More...
Some of the constituent pieces are not necessarily new: clones, artificial intelligence, nanotechnological terrorism, anti-aging treatments... But the form these tropes take, and the social an More...
Jan 09, 2011
Fran
rated it:
Complex world with interesting, intelligent characters--thoughtful, some light humor, multi-layered, intrigue. Marusek portrays a corporate civilization where clones are second-class citizens and privacy is a distant memory. I found Counting Heads an engrossing read and a fascinating exploration of a possible human future that was more than a little uncomfortable to contemplate. Highly recommended for readers who enjoy writers like Peter Hamilton and Ian Banks.
Oct 02, 2009
Andrew
rated it:
I happened upon this book at my local library and decided to ignore the horrible cover. I know you aren't supposed to judge a book by its cover, but some science fiction books just have really, really bad covers. This book started slow, but then sucked me in. Marusek's imagination comes in overflowing bucketfulls, and it's a simple pleasure just to wonder what new idea he's going to spring next. A very fun must-read for any lover of science fiction.
Jul 27, 2011
Nicholas
rated it:
Great book! Marusek develops a great society based on the impact of nanotech/biotech. The characters are compelling and the pace made it hard to put this book down. My only minor nit is that the story ends rather suddenly (one reviewer aptly said that the story crashes head on into the last page, rather than ending). I am looking forward to Marusek's second novel, as well as his upcoming collection of short work.
Jun 03, 2009
I didn't finish this book, which is why I'm not giving it a star rating. I thought I would enjoy this book, but so far the science fiction aspects have been tiresomely boilerplate. It seems like its only originality lies in the fact that it's a pastiche of so much SF at the same time (most notably, Brave New World and Gattaca. I thought I detected some Zardoz in there as well)
And it says something when a Star Trek fan can't finish a book because of all the technobabble. If a novel is More...
And it says something when a Star Trek fan can't finish a book because of all the technobabble. If a novel is More...
Nov 29, 2010
Bill
rated it:
Marusek creates a fleshed out believable advanced world of humans, clones and AI's. Enough action and mystery to draw you rapidly through the story (and through the follow up 'Mind Over Ship'). I found the clone who is ostracized for 'going against type' was memorable long after putting the book down. I hope Marusek writes more books based in that world.
Feb 13, 2009
Ben
rated it:
I couldn't put this down. Murder, melodrama, intrigue, AI, and killer action. Most exciting SF I've read since Neuromancer, and less one-dimensional. Marusek's Mind Over Ship is the sequel to this one.
Apr 19, 2011
Glenn
rated it:
Incredibly imaginative and clever. Full of concepts and plot points that were obviously the result of serious research. But it does not bog down in details.
The book buys into the whole Tech. Singularity creed, which I believe is crap. But it doesn't matter. The book is must-reading for any scifi fan.
The book buys into the whole Tech. Singularity creed, which I believe is crap. But it doesn't matter. The book is must-reading for any scifi fan.
Sep 16, 2011
mark
rated it:
enjoyable and perplexing in equal measures. despite the hyper-futuristic setting, warm humanistic values are carefully embodied by every major character - a welcome surprise for a novel with so many inventions and so much jargon flying at the reader willy-nilly. especially enjoyable are the clone couple, adorable in their basic clone personality templates but increasingly intriguing as they begin to push at the boundaries of their existence. the central character of the nearly-senile, curmudgeon
More...
0 comments
like
(9 people liked it)
Jun 09, 2010
Ari
rated it:
So excited to discover this author. Amazing stuff. Like the best speculative fiction, this book is full of ideas all of which would be game-changing in our own world. Each sets off a chain of thought exercises - and that's just the landscape! In the tradition of Gibson and Sterling.
Aug 11, 2011
A science fiction novel that completely immerses you into it's future Earth. Not for the faint of heart though,as the concepts and tecnology come hard and heavy. If you enjoyed this ,you may enjoy the work of Walter Jon Williams.
