The Last Mortal Man: Book One of the Deathless

This book, while dauntiling long, is easy to devour. I spent a single day just sitting in bed, reading the entire story 'til the end. The beginning of the book was very interesting; a group of young adults about to sacrafice themselves in effort to destroy some evil corporate villian. Then, a bit of mayhem ensues and Alexa (a girl dying of cancer and willing to lose her life for a cause) saves this villian and eventually becomes his bodyguard. This villian made his fortune off of nanabiology; revolutionized all constructs and culture in society to the point that the world very much depends almost solely on this technology. Then speed forward a couple hundred years, and something has emerged that will destroy this, and all of civilization, with it. Towards the last hundred or less pages of the book, the story is extremely fast paced and a lot of murder and other sordid afairs occur. Then it leaves you at a cliffhanger, but oddly, it also allows you to feel that the story, (at least this chapter of it) is complete. One thing it reminded me of is the writing of Michael Chrighton. The story slowly developed with plenty of attention to detail in the beginning. But towards the end, the rushed pace gives you the feeling that the author was hurrying to finish the story. Overall, a worthwhile read - even for non-science fiction fans.

In "The Last Mortal Man," Syne Mitchell combines her interest in nanotechnology with her love for the space operatic epics of the middle of the last century. This tale, first of a series, begins with an assassination attempt that will keep you on edge, and then hurtles forward into the mid future, where the "deathless," people who've been genetically and nanotechnally modified to live forever, have the power. (I mean really, really live for ever--they can apparently recover from being buried alive under a building.) Now, the people who don't have the money to live forever naturally resent the deathless more than somewhat, and the deathless themselves resent the entrepreneur, Lucius Sterling, who holds the patents, and who is protected by his deathless bodyguard, Alexa Dubois. Then, trouble starts. Somebody has found a way to destroy the nanotechnically grown glittering new cities of the future (fear not, Art Deco fans, this time when New York goes, the Chrysler Building stays), and for reasons you'll learn, only Lucius's heir Jack, aided of course by Alexa, can save the day. The tale is well written and moves swiftly--so swiftly in fact that you'll probably enjoy the read (you can have fun along the way figuring out where John W. Campbell would have placed the "continued next month" break when he serialized it in "Analog" before publication) and willingly suspend your disbelief. Count me in for the next volume when it appears.

The world of the 22nd century has been transformed by nano technology - even immortality is within the reach of the very rich. Jack Sterling is the grandson of the man whose company made all this possible. Unfortunately for Jack, he is also allergic to all nano-life which forces him to live in an old fashioned 'dead zone'. When someone secretly develops technology that destroys everything built by nanos Jack is recalled by his grandfather to investigate its causes along with his most loyal and long serving bodyguard Alexa. This book shows us a well developed future that has suddenly come unstuck. The main characters of the novel are mostly likeable, and the action takes place at a good pace throughout the book. I have to say I'm looking forward to the next instalment of this series if it lives up to this first book.

I bought this book from Borders a couple weeks ago. It's a great book with an amazing plot and awesome characters. It's not hard to understand like a lot of books in that genre It's a page turner and i never let it out of my sight for more than a day. It is one of my favorite novels and i can't wait for the second one. I recomend you buy this book if you like futuristic novels and just a good story.

The twenty fourth century is a whole new world where nano-biology has advanced to the point where cities can be grown and those who can afford it can be converted to the Deathless, immortals who never age, fall ill or need sleep or food. Lucius Sterling founded the nano-biology firm and he decides who will be immortal or not depending on if they can meet his price and if they are useful. His most trusted employee is Alexia, a Deathless who once tried to kill him but now watches his back against his many enemies. Lucius had the scientist who created mano-biology grow his own nation island Elysium where he is the ruler. While Alexa is the one person he trusts, Jack, his great-grandson is the one being he loves. Jack develops an allergy to nano-biology and must live in a dead zone in Watershed Valley, Montana a place free of the Deathless. He is called back to Elysium because Lucius has discovered that someone has created a dissembler that destroys nano-biology. He wants Alexa and Jack to find where it is being produced and stop it. While they search for it, whole cities are destroyed and millions of people die. Unless they can stop it from being used, civilization and most of the world's population will be destroyed. Syne Mitchell's opening book in her new series "The Deathless" is an exciting seat of your pants, science fiction thriller. The two protagonists are likeable and understandable characters who together make a team that is capable of solving the impossible. The wonders of future civilization in the twenty forth century dazzle the audiences with its advancements and higher standards of living. There are few authors who can match Ms. Mitchell's believable world building. Harriet Klausner