_Limit of Vision_ by Linda Nagata is an interesting relatively near future science fiction thriller, one that was a little slow going and perhaps even choppy at first, with disparate storylines and at least at first with characters fairly light on detail, but about a quarter of the way into the book became a riveting narrative with a brisk pace, great tension, and a wonderful sense of escalation. Though at least one of the main characters remained to me at least not as well formed as I would have liked and I thought the opening was a bit too open-ended, revolving some but not all (or even most) of the story's problems, it was all in all an enjoyable book.What is it about? I will try to avoid spoilers, but here goes. At first, we have two entirely unconnected storylines. The first plotline introduces the reader to two daring young researchers (so daring in fact that they are conducting experiments in violation of international law). These two men, Randall Panwar and Virgil Copeland, employees of a company called EquaSys based in Honolulu, are illegally experimenting with something called an LOV (acronym for limit of vision), a tiny symbiotic synthetic species that is basically comprised of an artificially-created neuron called an asterid housed in a transparent silicate shell (the shell not only protecting the asterid but also permitting optical communication, as the colonial asterids communicate with pulses of visible light). Originally developed to be transplanted onto humans (where they would be visible on the host's head - generally the forehead - as glowing gemlike structures, easily concealed in a person's hair) who suffered from unbalanced brain chemistries, the LOVs would help stabilize the neurochemistry and emotions of those that possess them. It was found however that the semi-sentient LOVs could mutate and produce unwanted results, including deadly ones. After a mysterious event which we never learn anything about (referred to as the "Van Nuys Incident"), the LOVs were confined to a low-earth-orbit research facility called the _Hammer_ so that they could not escape into the environment and possibly pose a threat to people or animals.Unfortunately, Panwar, Virgil, and their friend Gabrielle Villanti illegally removed some LOVs and transplanted them on to their persons. Conducting experiments in secret, they are discovered when Gabrielle dies (this happens during the first few pages of the book so I am not giving away any big secret here). Though I thought it quite remarkable that their bosses did not recognize the LOVs that they implanted on themselves (later this is explained away by the fact that Panwar, Virgil, and Gabrielle worked in a very loose administrative environment with fairly minimal supervision), the reader is not given much time to ponder this as their actions set into event a chain of events that includes the public discovery of LOVs on Earth, knowledge of a mutation of an LOV colony on the station to something approaching real sentience, and its escape from the station to avoid destruction.The second plot thread at first seemed to have nothing to do with the one involving the LOVs, Virgil, Panwar, etc. The reader meets Elsa Suvanatat, a roving freelance Thai reporter, connected to a distant agent online (Else, like nearly everyone else in the setting, uses a sunglasses-shaped and sized item of headgear called a farsight, a device that allows one to be online all the time, pull up large amounts of information, make use of a personalized nearly sentient and individually customized computer program called a ROving Silicon Agent or ROSA, and even see in the dark). Virtually broke, she comes across a strange story covering a cult-like, locally feared group of kids in Vietnam called the Roi Nuoc (a Vietnamese name that means "Water Puppets"). The Roi Nuoc are a group of orphans and street kids who are fiercely independent, leery of authority, nonviolent but not exactly working within the law, united by a ROSA that is both motherly and aggressive by the name of Mother Tiger. Elsa also meets an another important individual in the book, a Vietnamese man by the name of Ky Xuan Nguyen, a locally influential businessmen who she thinks is either the head of (or a head of) the Roi Nuoc or possibly one of their members grown into adulthood (as apparently all Roi Nuoc members are kids and teens).I don't think I am giving away too much when I say that the escaping LOV colony ends up in Vietnam and the events surrounding it entangle the Roi Nuoc, Elsa, and Ky. At this point in the book the separate plot threads unite and the story becomes fast and very interesting.All in all a pretty good book. As I mentioned, I don't think all of the story elements were resolved and while it doesn't necessarily beg for a sequel, it did have an unfinished feel to it at the end. The LOVs themselves are very interesting and it was fun to read about their evolution. I also liked the fact that the book was set in Vietnam, not exactly a common locale for science fiction stories. I also like the title, which on one level simply mentioned the subject of the book, the artificial lifeforms, but at another level addressed the main problem of the authorities and the powers that be of the book's setting; their limited vision of the potential uses and benefits of the LOVs as well asan appreciation for the LOVs for their own sake.
This is the sort of book where it was enjoyable as I was reading it, but I have a feeling that 6 months from now I'll have very few specific memories of it - it was a pretty straightforward thriller; didn't really leave any deep and indelible marks on my consciousness.A team of scientists is illegally working on a banned project - artifically engineered, diatom-like lifeforms that form colonies, seem to exhibit intelligence, and can be used as a symbiotic neural implant. When one of the scientists drops dead, an investigation reveals the illegal activity.The scientists, who have 'infected' themselves with these "LOVs," seem to be unnaturally attached to them - but is the appeal the enhanced abilities that the LOVs give them, or is an alien intelligence affecting their minds, seeking to protect itself?Only one of the scientists, Virgil, escapes the biological ethics committee, and escapes to a Vietnamese jungle, where he meets up with a down-on-her-luck journalist who gets involved, along with a rich businessman and his collection of street kids, who, with the help of a computer AI, he can form into a tribe/cult, as a sociological experiment.Together, this assortment of people withstand an embargo from the outside world, who regard the LOVs as a biohazard. Are they? Or are they the future of humanity?The result is a sort of cross between cyberpunk and alien-invasion tale.Unfortunately, the book doesn't resolve a lot of the issues it brings up.Nagata seems to want to compare the bio-enhancements of the LOVs with the technological "farsights" (sorta like a PDA, in sunglasses, with an AI assistant on the desktop) - but there's no real discussion of it, except to show that computer AI's can get out of hand too.The question of whether the LOVs actually make their human symbionts smarter is never answered. The infected characters certainly don't act particularly intelligent.Are the LOVs self-aware? Do they have an agenda?What was businessman Nguyen's motive in giving the street kids farsights and hooking them into a network?What did happen to the sick kids with LOVs who were airlifted out of the jungle?What is the agenda of the AI known as 'Mother Tiger'?What will happen next?It's all a big and rather unsatisfying setup for a sequel... which, as of yet, doesn't seem to exist.
What do You think about Limit Of Vision (2002)?
Bought it, started reading, stayed up until I finished it. I didn't like all of the characters, but I liked the ideas of it. Almost 5 stars, but didn't quite like the characters enough, although I like that there were good guys on all sides. It could have explored further, but the lack of a neat ending fitted well with the overall book.
—Heidi
