ACROSS THE UNIVERSE: A NEW SCIENCE FICTION COLUMN

'Counting Heads,' by David Marusek

Review by DAVE ITZKOFF

Why does contemporary science fiction have to be so geeky? If
you were to immerse yourself in most of the sci-fi being
published these days, you would probably enjoy it as much as
one enjoys reading a biology textbook or a stereo manual.

David Marusek, whose first novel, "Counting Heads" was one of
my favorite books of last year in any category, is an
exemplary entry in the sci-fi genre.

But what is missing from "Counting Heads" is what you humans
call emotion. Marusek could be the one sci-fi writer in a
million with the potential to make an increasingly
indifferent audience care about the genre again. All he has
to do is to remember to populate his next work of fiction not
only with clones and mentars, but also with some actual
people.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/05/books/review/05itzkoff.html?8bu&emc=bu

Also This Week:

Octavia E. Butler, Science Fiction Writer, Dies at 58

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/01/books/01butler.html?8bu&emc=bu