Fallen Host - Lyda Morehouse Book Review

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Review Summary

Roc, May 2002, 6.99, 379 pp.
ISBN 0451458796

    In the future when war broke out, the scientists were so eager to win that they unleashed the Medusa Bomb, a weapon of mass destruction that turned whole cities and its in habitants into crystal. They forgot to put in a fail-safe so the mass of crystal is still spreading. People turned away from science and embraced religion once again.

   The net is replaced by the Link, a sophisticated form of the web accessed by implants or external neural jewelry. To have access to the Link, one must be a citizen, but to be a citizen one must belong to a recognized religion. The pope had a dream involving Page, an AI who lives in the link and Emmaline the Inquisitor. On the strength of his dream, the pope charges Emmaline with the task of finding out if AIs have a soul. In the course of her investigation, she meets and is attracted to Morningstar, who wants to corrupt the AI for his own purposes. Morningstar, Emmaline and the Page are linked together in ways that become apparent as the world hurtles towards Armageddon.

    FALLEN HOST is reminiscent of Huxley's Brave New World only the author uses the trappings of religion to show how those in authority repress the citizenry. The story line is intense, intelligent, and interesting. Lydia Morehouse is a very talented and creative writer who manages to use elements of theology, science fiction and sociology to construct a very believable world.

Harriet Klausner

Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar

Detailed literary breakdown of Fallen Host

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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
Descript. of chases or violence - 10%
planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 60%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20%
Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 10%

Tone of book - suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - science fiction story
Repressive society story Yes
Repressive because: - controls your mind
Robots, Computers, VR Yes
Robot, PC, VR Plotlets: - virtual reality
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Religious overtones? Yes

Main Character
Identity: - Female
Profession/status: - religious figure
Age: - 20's-30's
How sensitive is this character? - middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - Computer
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - an average amount
How sensitive is this character? - soggy whimpering jelly muffin
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Setting
Earth setting: - near future (later in 21st century)
Takes place on Earth? Yes

Style
Person? - mostly 1st
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
scientific jargon? (SF only) - a fair amount of scientific explanation
How much dialogue? - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog

Most similar books to Fallen Host
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).

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