∎ Download Gratis Harmony Project Itoh Alexander O Smith 9781421536439 Books

Harmony Project Itoh Alexander O Smith 9781421536439 Books

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Harmony Project Itoh Alexander O Smith 9781421536439 Books

Satoshi Ito (Project Itoh) did what most writers hopeto do: he wrote a story that resonates and will likely flourish within the science fiction canon. Harmony is a complex novel--a dystopic analysis of the nanny state in which life is so sacred that it's almost cheap.

The premise is well rendered: most of the world subscribes to a mental adaptation system controlled by the Admedistration. Everything, from nutrition to exercise to emotion and excitement, is regulated and watched by a network of agencies whose goal is to ensure harmony (read: homogeneity).

Itoh's tale surely shines in the first third. Tuan is a protagonist one can relate to. She's smart but flawed; sentimental but cold. The beauty of the story is that we are also drawn to our antagonist, Miach, whose recollections of previous cultures, and her love of history, are simply fantastic. These sections make the narrative work.

WatchMe is the software. Tuan and Miach are the unwilling pawns in its wake. This is a story that hits home on a lot of levels. What would life be like without subversion? How would it be if we were all aware of our situations, 100% of the time?

The third act was satisfying, but it was a little underwhelming after such a strong approach to exposition and characterization. Still, it's one of the best books I've read in recent years and I can see it having a far-reaching impact on specultive fiction.

Ito passed away before he could appreciate the results of this novel. I think this is the rock, thrown into the pond, that leaves waves crashing on the shore. If you are into science fiction, you owe it yourself to read this book.


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Harmony Project Itoh Alexander O Smith 9781421536439 Books Reviews

Itoh's last work before his untimely death at the hands of cancer, Harmony does an excellent job displaying his cynicism about the intrusiveness towards, and excess of attention paid to, the sickly. Many prefer this kind of attention but some find it isolating--such was the perspective of Itoh and such is the perspective of Tuan, the main character of Harmony. It's a strange novel that spends time contemplating consciousness and the nature of society. As someone who's grown tired of "evil because evil" villains all too ubiquitous in modern fiction, the central antagonist of Harmony is quite refreshing--her status as the 'villain' is debatable. There are a lot of fine details and well-rounded corners that have made me love this particular novel. I acknowledge that Itoh's works can be something of an acquired taste but for those who appreciate contemplative dystopian fiction with sympathetic villains, Itoh is fantastic.
One of the best science fiction novels I've read recently. The best thing I could say about it is that it was exactly the right length, with the characters given all the space to put together a fascinating story without a paragraph ever seeming extraneous or tedious.

I'm a huge fan of cyberpunk. I would not really lump this in the same genre as the 90's cyberpunk I grew up with, but it feels very much like the right kind of story for today. The story is based on networked nano-technology and biohacking that seems credible and relevant without feeling like a faddish attempt to cash in on pop science headlines. More importantly, it never felt like a "Twilight Zone" episode where the technology is the antagonist. It was very much a character driven story that pushes the reader to challenge the relationships between the self, the body, and their society.

A character name-drops Foucault about two-thirds of the way in but you can see that influence from the very beginning. It is probably the best example where good post-modern, academic philosophy informed a good science fiction novel. Grad students rejoice!

The XML throughout the book was an interesting idea, although I didn't think it was particularly necessary. I think you could ignore it if you find it distracting or confusing. One neat touch I didn't actually notice until the end is that there are two character encoding tags, one for japanese and one for english, with the japanese tag commented out. A nice touch from Haika Soru, they have been an amazing translation house and I will snap up anything they publish (although I would like them to try branching out and publishing a few Korean SF works.)
Satoshi Ito (Project Itoh) did what most writers hopeto do he wrote a story that resonates and will likely flourish within the science fiction canon. Harmony is a complex novel--a dystopic analysis of the nanny state in which life is so sacred that it's almost cheap.

The premise is well rendered most of the world subscribes to a mental adaptation system controlled by the Admedistration. Everything, from nutrition to exercise to emotion and excitement, is regulated and watched by a network of agencies whose goal is to ensure harmony (read homogeneity).

Itoh's tale surely shines in the first third. Tuan is a protagonist one can relate to. She's smart but flawed; sentimental but cold. The beauty of the story is that we are also drawn to our antagonist, Miach, whose recollections of previous cultures, and her love of history, are simply fantastic. These sections make the narrative work.

WatchMe is the software. Tuan and Miach are the unwilling pawns in its wake. This is a story that hits home on a lot of levels. What would life be like without subversion? How would it be if we were all aware of our situations, 100% of the time?

The third act was satisfying, but it was a little underwhelming after such a strong approach to exposition and characterization. Still, it's one of the best books I've read in recent years and I can see it having a far-reaching impact on specultive fiction.

Ito passed away before he could appreciate the results of this novel. I think this is the rock, thrown into the pond, that leaves waves crashing on the shore. If you are into science fiction, you owe it yourself to read this book.