Beggars And Choosers: Amazon.ca: Books

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11 Reviews

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4.5 out of 5 stars (11 customer reviews)

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5.0 out of 5 stars Great Sequel-Also Great Stand Alone Novel, Jun 7 2004

By	Melissa McCauley (North Little Rock, AR) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Beggers And Choosers (Mass Market Paperback)

This book picks up about a decade after the end of BEGGARS IN SPAIN and mainly follows the path of the Super Sleepless on Earth, specifically Miranda Sharifi, the brilliant granddaughter of Leisha's nemesis from the first novel. American society has become more stratified than before, where the wealthy working class called "Donkeys" literally buy votes by providing bread and circuses for a large uneducated welfare population called "Livers". Of particular interest is the character of Drew Arlen, a young Liver who wants to raise himself above his birth and be on par with the Super Sleepless. Drew becomes involved with Miranda's plots within plots to remake society as she sees fit.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Super! ....sleepless nights after reading this book, Jun 1 2000

By	Bholu (US of A) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beggers And Choosers (Mass Market Paperback)

The saga continues. The people who do not need to sleep have wrought a profound change on the world in the first book (Beggars in Spain). Now, like the numerical solution of a differential equation spinning away as the computer chugs on further iterations, the story spinds out in myriad directions and ends up creating a society that looks very much like society today or for that matter a thousand years ago. Stratified and seggregated - of course the rules of seggregation are different. Do all stable societal configurations stratify the society? Or does the author's experince with her society guides the book to this conclusion? Thought provoking.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Mmmm...great sci fi..., May 27 2000

By	I am 100% serious (Groton, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beggers And Choosers (Mass Market Paperback)

This was actually the first Kress book I read (I went out and grabbed 4 more almost immediately afterward, including Beggars in Spain)...so, the book definately stands on its own two feet and I still enjoyed the series tremendously despite not reading them in their intended order. Maybe it's because I read this one first, but it stands out as my favorite - a well-crafted future (usually missing from a lot of sci fi), a compelling plot (again, often absent from a lot of sci fi...no alien invasion/war/global cataclysm/blah/blah here, just a very interesting look at what the advances in our own existing technology may one day bring us), really great lead characters, particularly Diana Covington who I felt I sort of followed through this story in progress, and hey, some actual science! I'm no genetic engineer, but it seems that the material has been very well thought out and is a running theme in the Kress books I've read so far - being central to this book and the others in the series, I like the fact that the concept is used so thoughtfully...genetic engineering didn't destroy the world, but it certainly did change it. I suppose it would...perhaps it will, depending on how far we take it. This book has a ring of realism and science fact mixed in with fiction, as well as the central question 'what will the technological and social advances of the future really mean to us and how will they affect us?' - I just don't seem to find much science fiction like that these days. I was looking for some new material to read, and after picking up four or five complete duds by other authors, I picked this one up initially because the cover intregued me...boy am I glad I did. I have a feeling Kress will keep me in good sci fi for a while.

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Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Thoughtful look at issues raised by nanotechnology.
I join others in recommending that "Beggars in Spain" by Kress be read first in order to fully appreciate this book. Read more

Published on Aug 31 1999 by Thomas O. Gray

4.0 out of 5 stars First-rate hard science fiction
Beggars and Choosers is the second book in Nancy Kress's "Beggars" trilogy. Although it is intended to be able to stand alone, many readers will find it much more intelligible... Read more

Published on Aug 15 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars A powerful exploration of human nature
In "Beggars and Choosers" Ms. Kress continues to pursue questions concerning the role of biomedical technology in "improving" the quality of the human species. Read more

Published on Jul 17 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best SF novels I have read in years.
This book picks up where Beggars in Spain left off, but unlike many sequels which require re-reading the first again, this is very much a stand alone book. Read more

Published on Nov 26 1998 by Mark Wooden