By Jeff Carlson
Last book for 2009! I remember reading Micheal Criton's Prey
when it came out.As I recall it went into detail about nanotechnology and showed what might happen if the technology got out of hand. I really don't recall much about the story.
Well Plague Year took this idea and expanded on the death by nanobot bit. The book doesn't go into the science behind nanotechnology nor does it really explain it. In fact the book starts off with most of the world destroyed by nanobots run amok. Only altitude (above 10,000') can keep people safe.
In essence this is a survival story. The two threads of the story follow one group of survivors eking out a living at the top of a mountain near a ski resort. The other follows a group of scientists who are trying to defeat the nanobots.
Eventually the two groups come together. At the end there is hope for recovery.
Overall the book was engaging. But the lack of explaining what was going on, or explaining the technology often left me wondering what was happening. The confusion was appropriate for the chaos that was going on in the book. Death of the world by technology. A classic PA scenario.
