- Mass Market Paperback: 576 pages
- Publisher: Tor Science Fiction; First Edition edition (Jan 20 2003)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0765342618
- ISBN-13: 978-0765342614
- Product Dimensions: 17.5 x 10.8 x 3.9 cm
- Shipping Weight: 272 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (55 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #439,755 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
Just about everyone's had a day when they've wished it were possible to send an alternate self to take care of unpleasant or tedious errands while the real self takes it easy. In Kiln People, David Brin's sci-fi-meets-noir novel, this wish has come true. In Brin's imagined future, folks are able to make inexpensive, disposable clay copies of themselves. These golems or "dittos" live for a single day to serve their creator, who can then choose whether or not to "inload" the memories of the ditto's brief life. But private investigator Albert Morris gets more than he, or his "ditective" copies, bargain for when he signs on to help solve the mysterious disappearance of Universal Kilns' co-founder Yasil Maharal--the father of dittotech.
Brin successfully interweaves plot lines as numerous as our hero's ditectives and doggedly sticks to the rules of his created dittotech while Morris's "realflesh" and clay manifestations slowly unravel the dangerous secret behind Maharal's disappearance. As Brin juggles his multiple protagonists and antagonists, he urges the reader to question notions of memory, individualism, and technology, and to answer the schizoid question "which 'you' is 'you?'" Brin's enjoyment is evident as he plays with his terracotta creations' existential angst and simultaneously deconstructs the familiar streetwise detective meme--complete with a multilayered ending. Overall, Kiln People is a fun read, with a good balance of hard science fiction and pop sensibility. --Jeremy Pugh --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
Bestselling novelist Brin (Startide Rising; The Postman; etc.) restricts the action to planet Earth, but still allows his imagination to roam the cosmos in this ambitious SF/mystery hybrid whose grasp occasionally exceeds its reach. Thanks to the new technology of imprinting, people in a near-future America can copy their personalities into animated clay bodies (called "dittos" or "golems"), which last a single day. Albert Morris, private investigator, is his own sidekick as he attempts to uncover the murderer of a prominent imprinting research scientist, capture a criminal mastermind specializing in ditto the major ditto manufacturer and pinning the blame on several Alberts. Brin deftly explores the issues of identity, privacy and work in a world where everyone is supported with a living wage and has ready access to duplication technology. The book features the author's usual style, with a lighter touch and punnish humor abounding amid the hard SF speculation. The duplication of the "ditective" makes for a challenging twist on the standard private eye narrative, allowing Morris to simultaneously lead the reader through three separate (and interacting) plot lines. The hardboiled framework and the humor mix a bit uneasily, as does the social background of a libertarian/socialist U.S.A. The book's major fault lies in the diffusion of most of the tension as expendable dittos replace vulnerable humans for much of the action. Still, the work is brightened by Brin's trademark hardheaded optimism.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
It's hard to stay cordial while fighting for your life, even when your life doesn't amount to much. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
It's hard to stay cordial while fighting for your life, even when your life doesn't amount to much. Read the first page
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Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best sci-fi I've read in a year,
This review is from: Kiln People (Hardcover)
Kiln People is a page turner. I've brought this book because it was 80%of and the front page looked good. It was a good choice finaly. I'ts about clones of yourself being made of clay and having limited duration (about 24 hours). They are made for doing the tasks you don't want to do or don't have time to do. When de day is finished, they return to their original to download their memory. It's the only way for a clone to get (continuity of living). In this case, the hero is a detective who's clones disapears and don't comes back for download while doing missions for many rich peoples related between themselves. There's a plot involving the ingenior of the clay people and etc. I highly recommend this book to sci-fi fans.
5.0 out of 5 stars
<insert clever title>,
By A Customer
This review is from: Kiln People (Mass Market Paperback)
I don't usually write reviews, but this book deserves some support.I liked the entire concept, along with the twists and turns that came along with it. Loved the ending. Read it.
3.0 out of 5 stars
A ditto's guide to life the universe and everything,
By Sheena "sheena_in_kl" (Kuala Lumpur Malaysia) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Kiln People (Mass Market Paperback)
WEDNESDAY MORNING'S POINT OF VIEWIn a meeting with the boss, while my rig sits at home reading this book which is about ME! But thems the breaks, dittos don't complain, there's no time really, when you only live for one day. This meeting is really getting on my nerves, i feel an bearable urge to go to the park. I think I WILL go to the park. Oops, i'm out in the park- oh! does this mean I am a frankie? Sigh! Might as well go see some people. Oh dear, someone is trying to kill us. But I am only a dit. Woah, this is getting really strange. All the rules don't apply. I'm confused, this really shouldn't happen to a dit. Am I a hero? Who's the hero? Who is God? Where is God? Ah- should have stayed home and read this book instead!
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