Lock In

This is the kind of SF I want more of! No time travel, multiverse, or space cowboy crap. I love the premise of the Hadens and threeps and all of the political/business angles. Looking forward to more from the Lock In future.

Great book, somewhere between 4 and 5 stars. The plot moved along really well, and I enjoyed the characters. Before I read it, I knew that the main character's gender was never revealed. But I was surprised at how seamlessly the author pulled that feat off. I doubt I would've noticed it if I hadn't known about it before. I did notice in [book:The Android's Dream 7081] that we never learn Sam's gender, but Sam is in the story primarily as someone's partner, while Chris is the point-of-view character here, which I think would be much more difficult to write. So I think this book is interesting from a technical standpoint, although it would also be interesting to learn how readers see this character - do we expect different behaviors from male, female, nonbinary characters? My only complaint about the book is that Chris is overpowered. They (I'll use that pronoun in my review) are kicking ass every few chapters, even though it's only their first week as an FBI agent. Chris is also very talented at getting along with people (so much so that another character compliments them on it), and everyone they meet seems to like them, at least at first. Other than a need for approval, Chris doesn't have any flaws. However, this trait didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book, because it's very plot-driven.I also like all the random lgbt people (well, lgb characters - the premise would lend itself very well to trans characters, but no one is explicitly trans, although there is a line that I think is referring to trans people in general - that some people prefer integrators that don't match their own assigned gender). The gay couple seems much more three-dimensional to me than several of the other minor characters, because we see a little bit of what their relationship is like; actually, they are both kind of awful people. But we don't know anyone's orientation; it's treated like an inconsequential thing. I like near-future sci-fi which is optimistic in this way. The Haden situation parallels a few real-world issues that marginalized groups face or have faced, but the book never feels heavy-handed, although I feared it might go down that road a few times. In fact, when someone else makes a comparison between the Native Americans and the Hadens, Chris shuts them down right away. Some of the facts of life for Hadens are very grim, because of the prejudice they face - for example, that businesspeople have to inhabit a borrowed body sometimes in order to succeed in the business world, because people aren't comfortable not dealing with a “real” person. I don't know if that would be true or not, but it might. As usual with Scalzi's books, I laughed out loud a few times and felt like crying once or twice. Johnny's plot is really, really sad, especially his video, not just because he's dead, but because he was a pawn of evil and powerful people. Scalzi is really good at making the reader think seriously about ethically complex situations, sometimes by showing how badly corporate and government policies can hurt individuals. I'm glad I read this, and I'm looking forward to the sequel.

Pros: great premise, diverse cast, complex plot

Cons: Chris's connections start to feel contrived, Chris's wealth

First off, had I not read when the audio book came out that there were two versions, one with a female narrator and one with a male, I might not have noticed that Chris's gender is never specified. Hence my use of his/her.

The book deals heavily with disabilities - the language used to talk about it, how people with disabilities are perceived by those without disabilities, there's a very brief conversation about whether cures are the best course of action, etc. It's great to see a book deal with these issues in a frank way. It also goes into discrimination in some ways, for example, while Haden's sufferers are able to use threeps, no one else can, including people with other debilitating physical conditions - like quadriplegics.

I loved some of the technology used in the book, particularly the 3D crime scene maps and the agora.

The plot was pretty complicated and had a lot of great twists. I did start to feel that a few of the connections Chris made were contrived - Tony being the exact person they need to help with their case, meeting with the heads of the pertinent Haden corporations the week everything's happening. They're realistic given the context, their location, and the number of Haden's concentrated in DC, but they still felt a bit too lucky.

It started to annoy me how quickly Chris was to throw money at his/her problems. Yes he/she is rich, but he/she can't afford to do this kind of thing on every job - replacing threeps, paying for services people he/she meets on cases can't afford, agreeing to pay Tony whatever he wants, regardless of the budgetary concerns of restrictions of the FBI (they don't even see if the FBI has their own contracted programmers who could do the work for them before hiring him).

I thought it was a great mystery with some thought provoking ideas.

A good story. I love Scalzi's earlier stuff. He does not disappoint in this action sci-fi. The universe is fantastically detailed without derailing the story.

Sold! I really liked this book! I liked the craziness, the mystery and the surprising emotion it brought out. It helped that Wil Wheaton narrated because, well, Wil Wheaton!

Some of it was very compelling, but mostly, it just felt long and the plot was rather simple.

Scalzi is one of my favorite dialogue writers out there, and Lock In is another showcase for his skills in this area. Othere than that trademark snark, though, this book is very different from other Scalzi books I've read. It is a murder mystery at heart, but one set in a future where a large percentage of the popuation suffer from a disease that locks their bodies up, but not their minds. Therefore, these people exist either in an online space or interact with the world via robot bodies, affectionately called “threeps.” This brings into play concepts of racism, classism, and other awful isms we have to deal with in the real world. It's probably not my favorite Scalzi (Redshirts will always have a special place in my heart), and it almost might have been a little too light with its subject matter, but I'll always take too light over too heavy. Also, Scalzi's extreme fondness for “said” speech tags seems to be fading as at least this time, it didn't often interrupt my reading. It's a short read, a good mystery, and a fine addition to any sci-fi collection.

This wasn't what I expected it to be. I think there is a potential for a real psycho horror story here, which if I am honest, was what I was expecting. However, it turned out to be an interesting crime story with moral issues to think about even when the book is finished. So, although I had a completely different story in my head, I enjoyed this book immensely.

Pretty good book. There were parts that were a bit childish to me, but overall the story line kept me engaged.

Solid political thriller with a science fictional setting. Maybe a bit too talky of a novel but I recommend as a fun entertaining read.

Not bad, but the pervading sense of political correctness was stifling.

Read it in one sitting and really enjoyed it. Plausible political thriller, interesting near-future setting which is mostly believable, and a very engaging main character. (I knew from reading the author's blog that the gender of the main character was deliberately not revealed. I still found myself thinking that “Chris” was male, to be honest...)

Interesting premise, not great writing.

When I first heard about “Lock In”, I thought it was just another pandemic book based on the descriptions. I was completely wrong! This book is much more of a combination of “Surrogates”, “I, Robot” and “Caves of Steel” – a detective novel with a sci-fi touch in a world facing a pandemic. The pandemic is different than the usual ones though. Instead of killing those affected, it locks them in, making them unable to communicate or move their bodies. This is where the ‘Surrogates” comparison comes in. The government develops a way for those affected to control robots which act as proxies for these people in the real world.

I enjoyed the world building in this one, as well as the main characters. The dynamic reminded me a lot of Caves of Steel, but without quite as much “Ohhh, of course that's it!” to the story.

When I first heard about “Lock In”, I thought it was just another pandemic book based on the descriptions. I was completely wrong! This book is much more of a combination of “Surrogates”, “I, Robot” and “Caves of Steel” – a detective novel with a sci-fi touch in a world facing a pandemic. The pandemic is different than the usual ones though. Instead of killing those affected, it locks them in, making them unable to communicate or move their bodies. This is where the ‘Surrogates” comparison comes in. The government develops a way for those affected to control robots which act as proxies for these people in the real world.

I enjoyed the world building in this one, as well as the main characters. The dynamic reminded me a lot of Caves of Steel, but without quite as much “Ohhh, of course that's it!” to the story.

Really interesting idea, pretty boring execution.

really good read. super interesting world

Very well done. Great characters as to be expected from Scalzi. I felt that the premise was not as original as I had expected, but a good true-crime cop-drama/whodunit story.

Loved it! Couldn't put it down. Of course, I've never read anything by Scalzi I didn't love, but this one reminded me a bit of Alien Nation (which I loved) with the odd match up of partners. It's super smart, funny, and completely original. Fingers crossed this will be a series. Scalzi, you rock.

Any novel by John Scalzi is going to be worth reading, and while this one wasn't my favorite of his work, it was certainly an entertaining way to spend a few hours. He does an interesting thing with gender in this novel, and after I figured it out I was fascinated to see it followed through until the end. My biggest quibble with the book is that it seemed to end very abruptly - like it was building to a climax, and then for some reason he just quit writing. It felt a little bit like the two-hour premier of a new series - lots of build-up, and then a bit of an unsatisfying ending to draw people in for the next installment.

That said, even my least-favorite Scalzi is a lot more entertaining than many things, and I will, as always, be early awaiting his next project.

It was okay. Not really sure how to explain it. I would call it a made for TV movie. With cops. From the future.

I don't think it was as good as his earlier books. Very interesting premise.

Every other scalzi book I've read in a day. This took 3. Just wasn't as exciting as some of the rest.

Not bad, I'd just recommend his other books more.

Short review: Another very good book by Scalzi. This is a near future Police Procedural (or FBI Procedural). Chris Shane has just started the FBI when a case comes up that is not what it seems.

Chris Shane is the poster boy for Haden's Syndrome. Haden's is a virus that starts with flu like symptoms, then for a sub group moves to meningitis like syndromes then for another subgroup moves to Lock in. About 1% of survivors have lock in where they can no longer move, interact, speak or participate in the world. But through technology Haden's syndrome victims can move around via robots or even other humans. So when someone a crime involves a haden's sufferer or a robot, the FBI is called in to determine who it was that actually committed the crime. The problem is this crime goes much deeper.

This is a good thriller/mystery with very good scifi elements. Scalzi does a great job with just enough humor and plot. But he also is good at characters. These are people that you want to find out more about. And also deftly inserts issues, medical ethics, government overreach, business regulation, etc. Never feeling like these issues veer into propaganda.

Well worth reading.

Executive Summary: Another fun Scalzi book. That shouldn't really surprise anyone at this point.Audio book: I opted for the [a:Wil Wheaton 37075 Wil Wheaton https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1356706649p2/37075.jpg] version of the audio since he's the way I prefer to consume Scalzi books. However thanks to the Audible pre-order sale, I got a free copy of the [a:Amber Benson 27209 Amber Benson https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1231537678p2/27209.jpg] version that I definitely want to listen to at some point now that I've finished.I will say the run time of 10 hours (11 for the Benson version) is a bit deceptive because the last 2hrs and 15mins or so is actually a multiple reader version of the prequel Novella: [b:Unlocked: An Oral History of Haden's Syndrome 21805681 Unlocked An Oral History of Haden's Syndrome John Scalzi https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1397572655s/21805681.jpg 41068587]. I didn't listen to this since I had previously read it on tor.com, but if you haven't, I'd recommend you skip ahead (Chapter 27 I believe) to listen to it first before jumping into the book itself as it gives you more background than the book itself does.Full ReviewI think before last year I hadn't read a single book by John Scalzi. Before 2012 I hadn't even heard of him. Now he's one of my favorite writers and I've listened to just about everything he's written.I tend to read more fantasy than sci-fi. I seem to prefer my sci-fi in TV/movie form instead. Maybe because I like lighter sci-fi, which Mr. Scalzi writes very well. I also love his snarky sense of humor which I think Wil Wheaton does well.This might be my favorite book of his yet. It's not as funny as some of his others, but it's still a lot of fun. I really love the world he built with some hand wavy science fiction that is really just used to set the stage for a murder mystery. He said that he's got an idea for another book in this world if it does well, so everyone go out and buy a copy because I want him to write it!Our protagonist Chris is a rookie FBI agent on their first week with one major difference. They are “Locked-In” to their body since childhood due to a global pandemic. Chris uses a remote controlled robot nicknamed a Threep (after C-3PO) to be present in the world due to being unable to speak or move.Writing the previous paragraph was very difficult because I wanted to keep it gender neutral. Because this entire book is as far as I can tell written that way. Mr. Scalzi probably had an easier time of it than I did because 1) He's an experienced and professional writer and 2) It's written in first person. Still it's an interesting approach to a story.Since I did the Wil Wheaton version (and because I'm a guy myself), I assumed Chris to be a guy, only to realize we never really know if that's true or not.It goes to show that for all the emphasis on racial and gender differences it really doesn't matter when telling a good story. When your protagonist is interacting with everyone remotely with a robot what does gender or race matter? They look like a robot. Chris is a capable FBI agent because of their mind, because when you're Locked-In that's really all that matters.This is another fun and quick read from a master of writing those kinds of stories. Highly Recommended.