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The Bohr Maker (The Nanotech Succession #2)

by Linda Nagata (Goodreads Author)

3.85 of 5 stars 3.85 · rating details · 183 ratings · 22 reviews

Where it’s legal and regulated, nanotechnology has created worlds of wealth and wonder; where it’s outlawed, the black market rules. In the backwater slums of Sunda, a young woman named Phousita becomes infected with the Bohr Maker—a stolen nanotech device that allows her control over the biochemical processes of her own body, and in time, over that of others. Nikko is the...more

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Published November 5th 2010 by Mythic Island Press LLC (first published March 1st 1995)

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Dec 24, 2011 Invadozer Saphenousnerves Circular-thallus Popewaffensquat rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

This book is the first Linda Nagata book I've read. I'm pretty happy with it. It's as if someone took SNOWCRASH, chopped it down to bite size and stuffed it full of a different garbage dump Earth.

I really enjoyed the whole bit with the different virus/makers that would reprogram dna and brains into something else. Some evicted tenants who were mutating into solid gold buddhas. Genius writing. The main character who accidently gets the Bohr Maker program stuck in her is excellent in personality a...more

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Aug 10, 2011 Jeffrey Gershom rated it 5 of 5 stars

Just finished rereading The Bohr Maker, by Linda Nagata. I originally read it in paperback back when it was published in 1995. Linda, at that time, was my instructor for a SF writing correspondence course by Writer's Digest. I got the book to experience the style of her writing and was very impressed. I knew then, that my instructor knew what she was teaching!

Yet, now I read it on my new Kindle, which by the way, I love! It was like revisiting an old friend...and in a way, it really has produced...more Just finished rereading The Bohr Maker, by Linda Nagata. I originally read it in paperback back when it was published in 1995. Linda, at that time, was my instructor for a SF writing correspondence course by Writer's Digest. I got the book to experience the style of her writing and was very impressed. I knew then, that my instructor knew what she was teaching!

Yet, now I read it on my new Kindle, which by the way, I love! It was like revisiting an old friend...and in a way, it really has produced such an event. With the use of my very primitive "atrium", which is the internet and social media, I have been able to briefly communicate with her when she's not working and/or spending time with family. It's nice to have some kind of contact with authors of books we enjoy, and this is what makes the SF/F genre so special. These kind of writers like to make themselves accessible, even if it is limited to "virtual" contact or conventions.

The novel was, I believe, a bit ahead of its time; or at least, coexisted with Neal Stephenson's "The Diamond Age", both published in 1995. The use of the "really small" has been used in SF for a long time, but that of the "really, really small", a billionth of a meter, is new. The Bohr Maker tells a story where such technology is common place...in as far as being affected by them, but only used in a daily routine by those who can afford it.

Through government bureaucracy and police control, some nanotechnology...the makers, are strictly controlled to have "dull" intelligences and any having anything more than that is strictly prohibited. So, what does one do when told not to do it? You got it, and so this story is told with characters you care about, fast pace action, intelligent retrospectives and masterful plots within plots.

If I have been a bit vague, forgive me, but it's on purpose. I don't want to give too much away. Please read this book, you won't be disappointed! Then as you read this novel, I'm going to read the next installment of the Nanotech Succession, "Deception Well".

Thanks Linda for the great read!(less)

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Dec 30, 2012 Tsana Dolichva rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Bohr Maker was Linda Nagata's debut novel and won the Locus Award for Best First Novel in 1996. It is about nanotechnology and about privilege and poverty.

Phousita is a slum girl in a future country/region that doesn't exist at present but which I read as being in southern Asia (I don't think anything specific was mentioned though, and it's possible I missed a reference). Her country isn't part of the Commonwealth, meaning that nanotechnology is less present and when present unregulated. The Com...more Bohr Maker was Linda Nagata's debut novel and won the Locus Award for Best First Novel in 1996. It is about nanotechnology and about privilege and poverty.

Phousita is a slum girl in a future country/region that doesn't exist at present but which I read as being in southern Asia (I don't think anything specific was mentioned though, and it's possible I missed a reference). Her country isn't part of the Commonwealth, meaning that nanotechnology is less present and when present unregulated. The Commonwealth enjoys sticking its nose into other countries affairs and takes it upon itself to police everyone's nanotechnology. But it doesn't care about minor offences, only major ones which could threaten its way of life. So when Phousita is poisoned with nanotech that stunts her growth, or when her friend has his face disfigured no one cares. But as soon as an Important Person inadvertently infects Phousita with the potentially dangerous Bohr Maker (the general term for a nanotech system), the Commonwealth is all over it and Phousita is in different trouble to anything she could have imagined.

There was a lot to like about The Bohr Maker. I very much enjoyed the worldbuilding; one of my favourite things was the nanotech introduced into the river running through the slum (which was downriver of the rest of the city) which changed the water from foetid to clear with edible "fluff" floating on top of it that some of the poorest residents of the city collect to eat. Obviously, it sucks to have to eat river fluff, but how neat is the technology? It would be an awesome invention to carry through to the real world.

I liked the juxtaposition of the high technology belonging to rich people — including space stations, a sort of brain-to-brain communication system, and of course the nanotech — and the very low-tech world in the poorest regions on Earth. Phousita and her cohorts don't know what nanotechnology is and interpret as magic and curses. When Phousita is infected by and gains control of the very advanced Bohr Maker, she thinks she's possessed by a sorcerer and is becoming a witch. When she heals people with the technology, they see it as a spell. All of which makes perfect sense given the context.

What I didn't like about this book, was many of the characters. I liked Phousita, who was genuinely a nice person, and I didn't mind her friend Arif, who wasn't a nice person but understandably so, given his circumstances (actually, I thought he was OK until Phousita started getting more power and threatening his power in their little family). Nikko, a genetically engineered human designed to survive vacuum (a character like him features in Nagata's short story In The Tide, briefly reviewed here), was the other main protagonist and I liked him too. He finds himself in the rather intolerable position of having a fast-approaching expiration date on his genome. When his father created him, the Commonwealth forced him to put in the expiration date 30 years in the future, which he agreed to under the assumption that by then the law would have caught up and he could remove the fail-safe. It didn't. Nikko sets out to try to steal the Bohr Maker (before it's passed onto Phousita) to try to save himself. In the course of events he gets caught up with Phousita (and gets his brother caught up in the trouble as well).

The central character I really hated was Kirsten, the Chief of the Commonwealth police force. She was a horrible person and an unnecessarily large part of the narrative was told from her point of view. I say unnecessarily because while I acknowledge that she instigated a lot of plot-relevant things (she was the one trying to track down the Bohr Maker and get both Nikko and Phousita executed), there were also chunks of worldbuilding exposition filtered through her point of view. And really, it was her point of view that repulsed me. She didn't see Nikko as a person, but as an animal (despite, prior to the opening, conducting an affair with him) and had zero compassion for anyone. She righteously upholds the spirit of the law (not the letter) by any means necessary, with her convictions reinforced by a zealous religious belief that the Bohr Maker and any other unsanctioned nanotech threatened the sanctity of natural life on Earth (unless it was minor nanotech making lives harder in the slums). I simply could not stand the religious zealotry. I'm not sure if she was supposed to be a partially sympathetic character, but she wasn't and I felt I was inside her head too often. She wasn't the sort of antagonist I love to hate either. At one point I had to put the book down for the evening because I couldn't bring myself to finish the current chapter and get back to her sections. However, depending on your particular set of prejudices, your mileage may vary.

The only other thing that bothered me a little bit were a few slow points throughout the book. It wasn't a particularly long book but there were a few bits when I wished the plot would hurry up because I wanted to know what happened next. However, they weren't enough to ruin my enjoyment except for the slow bits with Kirsten
In all, there is a lot to like about The Bohr Maker. Particularly notable is that almost ten years later, this book didn't feel at all dated. I will definitely be picking up the next book in the series (or indeed any other science fiction of Nagata's that crosses my path). I've now read her debut novel as well as her most recent novel (which I loved, and which was rather more fast-paced), and I see no reason not to fill in the blanks. I strongly recommend The Bohr Maker to fans of reasonably hard science fiction (although the technical details aren't discussed in detail) as well as fans of sociological science fiction.

4 / 5 stars

You can read more of my reviews on my blog.(less)

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Jul 26, 2012 Jenny Knippa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: heretics-and-rebels

I was hesitant when a friend handed me his copy of "The Bohr Maker" I'd never heard of it, nor had I any interest with science fiction up until then. He would not let up, so I gave in. I complained throughout the first sections as the plot and subplot felt disjointed, but when they collided, there was an explosion of ginormous proportions!

Ms. Nagata accomplished in print back in the 90's what James Cameron only recently managed to do on film. This book examines Fascism, bio-ethics, and asks read...more

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Aug 21, 2011 Andreas rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

These three very loosely connected novels span thousand of years. Nagata writes competently about a future in which humanity is first technologically lifting itself off earth, and finally scattered about a hostile universe. I enjoyed them even though Nagata does two things which annoy me. The first is that the novels are in parts rather boring. Nothing much happens. The other thing is that she can be very depressing. Vast especially makes me feel just a bit too small in a vast (heh) universe.

htt ...more

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Mar 31, 2013 Brittany rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I greatly enjoyed the first technical book in Linda Nagata's The Nanotech Succession - however, through no fault of Nagata, I have mental limitations which prevented me from enjoying it to its fullest - some of the high science fiction descriptions, I just could *not* get my head around and understand. If you've ever read one of Koontz's wonderful books in the Odd Thomas series, where he describes the pier scene, that is what happened to me - I understood what Nagata was meaning as a whole, but...more

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Mar 27, 2013 Dany rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I want an illustrated picture of the bioengineered man Nikko now. This "kisheer" thing of his has me perplexed. And the "fluff" that they skim off the top of the river to eat doesn't tempt me at all. So far so good.

I noticed that this is the 2nd book of 4 of a series by the author. I'm assuming the first book isn't needed. This may have already been pointed out and I forgot what was said.

When I finished I had some kind of nanobot outer body experience. I think my ghost has no atrium and I'm in d...more

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May 09, 2013 Zack rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Zack by: Linda Nagata (the author)

An interesting book exploring the far-reaching power of nanotechnology (mostly bio-based) and restrictions placed by a government trying to control that. The book seemed a little brisk and could have used more text devoted to exploration of the setting and the various cultures involved. I also would have liked to see more context to the lives and views of the various actors, but none were unbelievable.

I would recommend this book to people who enjoyed Neil Stephenson's 'The Diamond Age'. Similar...more

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Aug 09, 2010 Tim rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Some really big, far-reaching ideas presented in a clear, enjoyable-to-read way...my only complaint is the terribly flat characters (or rather, a set of bordering-on-dull characters who each seem to embody a single characteristic or plot point)...but at least the flat characters were engaged in some really cool stuff with nanotechnology. Nanobots save the day!

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Jul 26, 2009 Chris rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

This was actually a very difficult book to read. Nagata's writing is very sophisticated, and her ideas are advanced way beyond the typical adventure level. She's very mental. The book is a challenge to the imagination.

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Sep 24, 2012 Dave Smeds rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In my opinion, this was the best debut novel in the sf genre for its year. I was not surprised when it won the Locus Award for that very distinction.

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Sep 03, 2007 Cindy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy-sf

This one was way better than Tech-Heaven. If the characters were outlandish, they matched their environment - which was fascinating. How far could nanotechnology go? Could it make humans godlike? From dystopia to world building to immortality, it's a fun ride. Some aspects reminded me of The Diamond Age and Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom. I did wonder why there was little discussion of the distinction between the death of the body and the death of brain/mind patterns. (April 15, 2006)

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May 08, 2009 Rachel rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'm not a huge sci-fi fan, but I still found this book interesting. The science was reasonable, as was the topic.

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May 08, 2013 Hans rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Interesting concepts buy somewhat hard to follow - uses terms that are not full explained

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Dec 22, 2010 Eddie Novak rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I rank this with HYPERION by Dan Simmons and ENDER'S GAME by Orson Scott Card as my favorite science fiction experience in novel form. Yes, even ahead of the great RENDEZVOUS WITH RAMA by Clarke.

It has some of the best plotting I've read; handling multiple POV's attached to a single thread and weaving them into a seamless tapestry of delight. The science amazes, the characters live on in your biological Atrium long after the read, and the climax fires neurons into overdrive attempting to reach n...more

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Feb 02, 2010 Rob rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In my top 10 for Science Fiction. A fantastic read.

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May 05, 2011 Mary rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was very original and an enjoyable read.

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Feb 29, 2008 Shane richey marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi-that-will-change-your-life

I have not read this book, I found out about it on io9's list of 20 science fiction books that will change your life and added it here so I would remember to read it.

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Sep 05, 2012 Laura (Kyahgirl) marked it as to-read

Shelves: sci-fi-fantasy, did-not-finish, maybe-try-again-later

I'm not rating this and putting it back on the shelf. I made it about 100 pages in and just couldn't carry on. I found the plot and world building had promise but it never grabbed me enough to keep working past the confusing aspects.

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Nov 12, 2012 Rob marked it as to-read · review of another edition

see also:
• http://io9.com/361597/the-twenty-scie...
• http://io9.com/5959618/20-books-about...

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Jun 15, 2012 Karen added it · review of another edition

Shelves: to_read

IO9's The Essential Posthuman Science Fiction Reading List

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Nov 14, 2011 Peter rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, cyberpunk

Unexpectedly cyberpunk, and quite good.

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May 18, 2013 James rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

May 18, 2013 Robert Laird rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

May 17, 2013 Jcshumate marked it as to-read · review of another edition

May 13, 2013 Chris rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Apr 30, 2013 Alex Banks rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Apr 28, 2013 QM marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Apr 28, 2013 Katie marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: not-downloaded

Apr 28, 2013 Daniele marked it as to-read · review of another edition

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About Linda Nagata

Linda Nagata grew up in a rented beach house on the north shore of Oahu. She graduated from the University of Hawaii with a degree in zoology and worked for a time at Haleakala National Park on the island of Maui. She has been a writer, a mom, a programmer of database-driven websites, and lately a publisher and book designer. She is the author of eight novels including The Bohr Maker, winner of th...more

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The Bohr Maker (The Nanotech Succession #2)

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