Completed Ramez Naam’s Crux today. Crux is the sequel to Nexus, which I read a while back. The basic premise rests on the intersection of nano-computation and cognitive augmentation leading to the emergence of post-human capabilities. Bits of quantum computing, climate change, and other speculative technologies are thrown in to boot. Mayhem ensues. In Crux, there are much heavier political and social dilemmas woven throughout.
Crux maintains the rapid action, technothriller pace of its predecessor. Per usual, the breakneck combat and carnage aren’t really my thing, but the rapid plot advances makes it an easy read. It’s been a while since I read Nexus, but I don’t remember a similarly bewildering number of characters as were eventually put in play in Crux.
Relative to other science fiction that I really love, Crux is lacking those slower, interstitial moments where the author paints out many of the unspectacular details of the world. Being almost all chase and conflict, there’s not much time for reflection on how the Nexus drug plays out in the more quotidian aspects of people’s lives.
Of course Crux ends in a cliffhanger since it’s part of a trilogy. I’ll have to read Apex to see how it all ends, but boy are there a lot of threads to tie off.
While it wouldn’t be my first selection off the bookshelf to read, Crux is definitely not time wasted.