[TVA]∎ PDF Coils Roger Zelazny Fred Saberhagen Ron Miller 9780523485393 Books

Coils Roger Zelazny Fred Saberhagen Ron Miller 9780523485393 Books

Download As PDF : Coils Roger Zelazny Fred Saberhagen Ron Miller 9780523485393 Books

Coils Roger Zelazny Fred Saberhagen Ron Miller 9780523485393 Books

Great read! I read this when I was in college lo, these many years ago, and it occurred to me to read it again. Looked the title up in Amazon & there it was! Loved it again.


Tags : Coils [Roger Zelazny, Fred Saberhagen, Ron Miller] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Angra Energy Corporation kidnaps Donald Belparti's lover in order to force him to use his special ability to directly influence computers,Roger Zelazny, Fred Saberhagen, Ron Miller,Coils,Tor,0523485395,Science Fiction - General,Science fiction.,FICTION Science Fiction General,Fiction,MASS MARKET,P26109900,ScholarlyUndergraduate,Science Fiction,United States

Coils Roger Zelazny Fred Saberhagen Ron Miller 9780523485393 Books Reviews

Klackerdikonk!
No, not really but if you translate the Company name Angra with M$ it makes the reading more interessting... )
Klickerdiklack!
Clicclacclonc!
A moderately interesting collaborative novel between Fred Saberhagen and the late, lamented Roger Zelazny. It feels a little dated in its treatment of computers, but somewhat entertaining nevertheless.
Yes, it is a little dated, especially from MY viewpoint. But Zelazny & Saberhagen do a great job of anticipating the rise of the machine civilization which is even now poised to sweep you pitiful humans away. What does it matter that one notebook computer today has about 3 times the power of their whole network? It's the thought that counts.
O.k so the stuff about the computers is funny. Still the spirit of Zelazny hovers around and make you forget thet your'e just reading a book as it tells you of a psichic-battle or soars in descriptions of the hero feelings when he's precticing his weird psi power.
The plot gives a promise of action ( it does'nt fail )and a great cast of charecters with fun-to-read powers.
Having decided to read everything Z. published, I had to read this. Basically, Hero Guy can wirelessly jack into computers, which is pretty cool, considering how old this one is. But it ends up mainly being an adventure novel with the SF element taking back stage, or at least mid stage. You get the feeling that they cranked out this one fast, rigidly adhering to a pre-determined plot, instead of really taking off into what could have been a kickass, trippy novel. It's all about getting from A to Z with this one, with a lot of boring crap that doesn't really add anything to character, much less plot.
Having met a new love, Don decides, on an impulse, to return home and have her meet his family. Imagine his surprise when he realizes that he has never been to his hometown! Apparently his entire past has been implanted, and he is determined to discover the truth of his life.
What follows is a VERY well-written tale in a very classic style. He meets up with former associates who were happy with his amnesiac state. They of course object most strenuously to his recovering memory, and they try to arrest his progress in increasingly lethal degrees. Eventually they resort to kidnapping the only loved one Don has, and that is beyond tolerance.
This novel is not very long, taking just a couple hours to read, but there are moany things that the authors foresaw (in 1982) that have more or less come to be, like universal access to facilities like banking from any computer outlet (one of the minor such cases). He is aided by a very unique ability, the reason his associates fear him, that of a sort of machine telepathy. He is able to send his consciousness into any electronic device. This you can bet comes in very handy in such a technological (1994!) setting.
I have only recently begun tracking down all of Zelazny's books, this being the third I have read, and I consider this to be a great novel. There is good character advancement, well-written first-person perspective, and action without excessive gratuitous violence.
This thoughtfully illustrated little book will provide anyone with a fine day's entertainment. For Zelazny fans, it is something more - even a mediocre Zelazny is better than most writers' best. Fred Saberhagen's contribution was not so obvious to me, although no doubt it had to do with the "conscious computer" aspect of the plot.

The action moves right along from the start, in a version of the "Wait a minute - I don't know who I am!" scenario that appears in Edward Dmytryk's movie "Mirage", Heinlein's short story "The Strange Profession of Jonathan Hoag", A.E. van Vogt's "The World of Null-A" and Desmond Bagley's fine thriller "The Tightrope Men".

Challenged by his new girlfriend Cora, Don BelPatri begins to wonder about his idyllic existence. Living in Florida, comfortably well off, enjoying life day to day, he has only vague recollections of his earlier life. But when he takes Cora to see his parents, he finds that he has never before seen the town he thought of as home. When he has himself examined by a psychologist, the man is found dead the very next morning. Then Don discovers that his mind can reach out and "see" the internal states of computers - and even change them.

The tension is built up skilfully as more and more of the truth is revealed, and Don finds himself up against formidable and ruthless enemies. Although his growing ability to control all kinds of electronic equipment gives him a huge advantage, in the end he needs all the help he can get from his friends - and even some of his enemies.

Don's ability to exercise direct mental control over computer circuitry remotely is a mixture of inspiration and naivete that only a handful of authors could pull off. "Coils" was published four years before William Gibson's first novel, "Neuromancer" appeared in 1986, but Alfred Bester had explored similar ideas in "The Computer Connection" (1973) and subsequent work. Bester's thinking seems to have paralleled Zelazny's, as can be seen from their later collaboration on "Psychoshop".

Zelazny was to take the theme much further, for instance in "24 Views of Mt Fuji, by Hokusai" (in "The Last Defender of Camelot") and his last, unfinished, novel, the magisterial "Donnerjack"...
Great read! I read this when I was in college lo, these many years ago, and it occurred to me to read it again. Looked the title up in & there it was! Loved it again.