Helpful Score: 2
This is the first book in a series that currently contains 4 books. The books are set in a sort of post apocalyptic United States of America, where everyone has the LINK and America is now a theocracy.
In this book Deidre is an ex-cop who has been excommunicated from her religion because of a crime her cop partner committed. Since government and religion go hand in hand, when she is excommunicated from her religion she has her LINK deactivated and is thrust out of standard human society. The LINK provides access to everything; money, jobs, etc. As someone who is un-LINKed she is forced to eke out a living as an investigator to other unLinked individuals. Another cop Michael saunters into her office and asks her to help show that the miraculous LINK-angles are not actual miracles but a hoax; despite the risk Deidre, is tempted to take the case since Michael offers the one thing for payment that Deidre would give anything to have, he offers to reactivate her LINK. Deidre gets much more than she bargained for.
This book is an interesting blend of post-apocalyptic sci-fi, cyber punk, and paranormal genres. Unforunately for me, although it was an interesting blend, it fell short of fulfilling any of those genres. The world that Morehouse creates, is semi-believable, but feels somewhat contrived. As a more personal paranormal novel; the main character falls short of being believable and comes off as a bit stiff.
I will admit the novel has an interesting premise; although towards the end the mixture of religion and cyber-punk got a bit strange and forced. Also the idea of "the leader of the freeworld" falling into a theocracy is eerily believable and creepy. For the most part this idea of religion taking over everyone's live and religion stunting free-will (woman must where regulation length dresses, birth control is a huge no-no, etc.) makes for an uncomfortable and distrubing read. Sadly though this is a sci-fi topic that has been overdone and has been seen in numerous plots before.
Although I did like the warmer more personal approach to sci-fi that this author took, I still struggled through this book. The book never really grabbed me and pulled me forward; I had to push through it. I would find myself rereading paragraphs just because I lost interest in what I was reading.
Despite all the above cons I have to applaud the author for trying to create a new niche in the sci-fi genre. The world created is also very creative. The main heroine is pretty believable. I own the next two books in the series, so I will probably read them. I hope, though, that they are better than this book. I do think this could turn out to be a great series. Sometimes the initial book has to spend too much time explaining a new world, so maybe that is part of what made this book a bit boring for me.
In this book Deidre is an ex-cop who has been excommunicated from her religion because of a crime her cop partner committed. Since government and religion go hand in hand, when she is excommunicated from her religion she has her LINK deactivated and is thrust out of standard human society. The LINK provides access to everything; money, jobs, etc. As someone who is un-LINKed she is forced to eke out a living as an investigator to other unLinked individuals. Another cop Michael saunters into her office and asks her to help show that the miraculous LINK-angles are not actual miracles but a hoax; despite the risk Deidre, is tempted to take the case since Michael offers the one thing for payment that Deidre would give anything to have, he offers to reactivate her LINK. Deidre gets much more than she bargained for.
This book is an interesting blend of post-apocalyptic sci-fi, cyber punk, and paranormal genres. Unforunately for me, although it was an interesting blend, it fell short of fulfilling any of those genres. The world that Morehouse creates, is semi-believable, but feels somewhat contrived. As a more personal paranormal novel; the main character falls short of being believable and comes off as a bit stiff.
I will admit the novel has an interesting premise; although towards the end the mixture of religion and cyber-punk got a bit strange and forced. Also the idea of "the leader of the freeworld" falling into a theocracy is eerily believable and creepy. For the most part this idea of religion taking over everyone's live and religion stunting free-will (woman must where regulation length dresses, birth control is a huge no-no, etc.) makes for an uncomfortable and distrubing read. Sadly though this is a sci-fi topic that has been overdone and has been seen in numerous plots before.
Although I did like the warmer more personal approach to sci-fi that this author took, I still struggled through this book. The book never really grabbed me and pulled me forward; I had to push through it. I would find myself rereading paragraphs just because I lost interest in what I was reading.
Despite all the above cons I have to applaud the author for trying to create a new niche in the sci-fi genre. The world created is also very creative. The main heroine is pretty believable. I own the next two books in the series, so I will probably read them. I hope, though, that they are better than this book. I do think this could turn out to be a great series. Sometimes the initial book has to spend too much time explaining a new world, so maybe that is part of what made this book a bit boring for me.
Helpful Score: 1
This book made me feel like I was watching a grade-B sci-fi cop thriller filmed in the 80's.
In a post-war New York, theocracy has been imposed.
Everyone except the down-and-out have been hooked in to the LINK - a cybernetic brain implant that gives one access to the Internet (basically).
Lately, everyone's been buzzing about the appearance of 'angels' on the LINK. But are these angels a miracle or a hoax? Things get more complicated when our protagonist, a private investigator who's been kicked out of the police force and off the LINK, meets some all too corporeal (and hunky) 'angels' herself.
Some may be annoyed by this book's somewhat pro-Christian stance - others may find some aspects of the story totally blasphemous. Still others may be offended by its favorable portrayal of Israeli terrorists. Anything else? hmm. Not that I can think of offhand. Not too many people are offended by portrayals of corrupt politicians. wink.gif
But really, it's just fairly cheesy, light reading.
In a post-war New York, theocracy has been imposed.
Everyone except the down-and-out have been hooked in to the LINK - a cybernetic brain implant that gives one access to the Internet (basically).
Lately, everyone's been buzzing about the appearance of 'angels' on the LINK. But are these angels a miracle or a hoax? Things get more complicated when our protagonist, a private investigator who's been kicked out of the police force and off the LINK, meets some all too corporeal (and hunky) 'angels' herself.
Some may be annoyed by this book's somewhat pro-Christian stance - others may find some aspects of the story totally blasphemous. Still others may be offended by its favorable portrayal of Israeli terrorists. Anything else? hmm. Not that I can think of offhand. Not too many people are offended by portrayals of corrupt politicians. wink.gif
But really, it's just fairly cheesy, light reading.
The author of The Archangel Protocol got a little too bogged down in the religiosity, in my opinion, and the book had some very formulaic parts to its initial plot line (former cop, now a PI, meets a stranger who gives the PI an offer they can't refuse to investigate, but there are plot twists). I didn't finish the book, just skimmed it towards the end to see if there was much original in this story. Plus, the idea of the populace of 75 years from now accepting that God/Angels exist simply because a cybernetic creature in the "LINK" can broadcast emotions... well, that's like someone of today thinking that God exists simply because Google Earth can see my house up close. No civilization, in my opinion, would become universally religious simply because of some new technology claiming to be angelic within a cyberspace environment. Just too much of a stretch.
I really liked this series. Seemed really unique at the time. I actually picked up Apocolypse Array (book 2 ) first and read it. Then went back and read books 1 & 3.
I loved this book! Yes, as others have said, it was a bit cheesey, and there was a bit of predictability to Michael and his compatriots, but I still thought that it was great. I liked the world that Lyda Morehouse created, and the characters - from the Gorgons to Mouse - were unique and well thought out (I adored page). All in all it was a fast, enjoyable read, and I am looking forward to reading the rest of the set.
