Crosstalk
Crosstalk, by Connie Willis
It's Connie Willis' latest book! I had fun with it.
Twenty minutes into the future, Briddey's life looks perfect. She has a great job at a big tech company which competes with Apple smartphones. Her boyfriend Trent is the catch of the office and he wants to get married. Her only problem is that her family doesn't know the meaning of privacy; they always either want to give her advice or ask her to fix things for them, and they really don't like the idea of her getting the new empathy-enhancement surgery with Trent. It's just a simple little brain surgery to increase their emotional connection before they get engaged, no big deal...
But Briddey wakes up connected to someone else. Suddenly she has a telepathic link to the weird geeky programmer downstairs. As the chaos and the pressure mount, everything goes very pear-shaped indeed.
This is classic Willis stuff. Lots of rushing around trying to avoid disaster and screwball comedy, plus unexpected romance (for the characters, anyway), culminating in revelation. If you like Willis--and I do--you'll enjoy this story.
Connie Willis does tend to go too long; some of her books could be more tightly edited. It's possible to get tired of the constant interruptions and inability to finish a conversation or a thought. Then again, this is a book about how our cell phones and connectivity constantly interrupt us, so...
It's Connie Willis' latest book! I had fun with it.
Twenty minutes into the future, Briddey's life looks perfect. She has a great job at a big tech company which competes with Apple smartphones. Her boyfriend Trent is the catch of the office and he wants to get married. Her only problem is that her family doesn't know the meaning of privacy; they always either want to give her advice or ask her to fix things for them, and they really don't like the idea of her getting the new empathy-enhancement surgery with Trent. It's just a simple little brain surgery to increase their emotional connection before they get engaged, no big deal...
But Briddey wakes up connected to someone else. Suddenly she has a telepathic link to the weird geeky programmer downstairs. As the chaos and the pressure mount, everything goes very pear-shaped indeed.
This is classic Willis stuff. Lots of rushing around trying to avoid disaster and screwball comedy, plus unexpected romance (for the characters, anyway), culminating in revelation. If you like Willis--and I do--you'll enjoy this story.
Connie Willis does tend to go too long; some of her books could be more tightly edited. It's possible to get tired of the constant interruptions and inability to finish a conversation or a thought. Then again, this is a book about how our cell phones and connectivity constantly interrupt us, so...
Ugh, I should have grabbed this one with my Christmas gift card but I went with Norse Mythology instead. Now I want this! Well, my birthday is in April ... ;)
ReplyDeleteAnd I can't wait to get my hands on Norse Mythology!
ReplyDeleteI keep meaning to check this out! I really must.
ReplyDelete