Murder in the Solid State

Originally I picked up on Mr. McCarthy for two reasons; He is a local author, and I truly enjoy his style. "Murder in the Solid State" is indeed a tough read for one not already initiated to the authors style. The structure seems abrupt and over edited at times, but the science always flows freely. Through his other works (namely the "Wellstone" series) you begin to see the author emerge as a fiction writer alongside his scientific mind. "Murder","The Collapsium","Aggressor Six" and "Bloom" all contain an unnatural flow that reads more as "Comp Book" and less as flowing fiction. His characters seem harsher than intended, and all seem modeled after grant writers and university chair persons (in attitude at least). With a few titles under his belt McCarthy truly flowers in his later works. It is in "The Wellstone" that I personally saw the first hints of truly epic potential. His current "To Crush The Moon" has been labeled as on par with Niven. I do not disagree with that statement. Long story short is this: Read the later works FIRST, and if you can take the technical with a little less character development, go back and read the earlier books. They're truly worth the wait.

I have never read anything by Wil McCarthy previously, and he seems to be a decent writer. This novel is a combination murder mystery and science fiction tale. David Sanger is a nanotechnology researcher (the science of manipulating the ultra small, in case you don't know) and during a trade convention becomes entangled with a murder he did not commit, and it gets intense and complicated from that point on..........no more here, no spoilers! Although it was not a page turner for me (it almost was) still it is one of only a handful of science fiction novels that portray the coming era of nanotechnology, in this novel it is in only the nascent beginnings. This is hard science fiction without any fantasy whatsoever, completely to my tastes. Character and plot development were acceptable, although the ending seemed to be a trifle rushed. Also, the novel could have been a bit longer to flesh out the nanotechnology ideas more thoroughly.

I loved this one-- it was, to me, the perfect combination of a thriller and a thought-provoking science fiction novel. The novel takes place in the research laboratories of the beginning days of nanotechnology (prefiguring the awesome nanotech of McCarthy's later novel BLOOM). There is some interesting speculation about the effects of longevity on society, and the effects of nanotechnology, but the science speculation is not overshadowed by the thriller plot and the realistic characterization. A definite rec if you like both thrillers and sf, as I do.

Against a backdrop of scientific breakthroughs and political oppression McCarthy manages to create an imaginative, if paranoid, look at the near future. Nanotechnology is no longer just a buzz word but an everyday element of life, though not truly understood by the average citizen. This makes the perfect breeding ground for shadow conspiracies. All in all Solid State makes for good, fast paced read that really makes you think.

Although he doesn't prove completely immune in his other works (Fall of Sirius, and especially BLOOM), in this work Wil McCarthy proves himself one of the only writers in modern science fiction with the restraint and realism to tackle nanotechnology and not resort to deus ex machine. I've read most of the nanotech related stuff out there, and, as one of those people actually involved in the developing physics behind it, I've been horrified at the depth of ignorance and panic strewn fantasy rampant in the literature. I'm not sure if Linda Nagata or Kathleen Goonan is the worst offender, but I do know that all of the writers out there portray worlds that are not only unrealistic, but generally incoherent, once nanotechnology is involved. The only merciful exceptions I've found are Dave Wolverton, who is a good enough writer, but likes his overly dramatic flourishes, and, in this novel, Wil McCarthy. The story blends elements of conspiracy and intrigue with a believable technological and political world. The scientific community felt more real than any I've encountered in fiction before this. I could see people I knew in that crowd. But most importantly, I could see the mind and motives behind the protaganist, and believe in them. Sanger was a very real scientist. His world was equally real. The action was a little slower than is typical of the genre, and of the author. I did not find this a fault, but I hadn't expected a light romp to pass the time. The book was not overly preachy, but it did have a lot to make a reader think about. Most importantly, unlike the majority of books in the genre, it was science fiction, not thinly disguised surrealistic fantasy.