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From: Titus G <noone@nowhere.com>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: Fairyland. Paul McAuley.
Date: Wed, 26 Feb 2025 19:17:41 +1300
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On 25/02/25 17:22, Titus G wrote:
> I really enjoyed his Quiet War series rating each of the four books four
> stars.
> Fairyland. Paul McAuley.
> Sounds like fantasy but science fiction where the fairies are mechanical
> dolls, (working robots, pets, sex toys and more), whose programming has
> been hacked to allow them freedom. It is a very dark book. I found the
> three sections with three protagonists, the manufacturer of drugs from
> non replicating bacteria instead of chemicals mixed up with gangsters in
> London running doll fights, the social worker investigating destitute
> children being mutilated in Paris and the American journalist covering
> the final conflict in Albania confusing. By the third section which
> switched between all three protagonists, I was forgetting who was who
> and not really caring very much, so, although I finished it, I gave it
> only two stars.
> Parts of it were great but the interesting parts seemed to fizzle out
> too quickly though the scope and concepts were astounding.
> The neurological and biological science science was beyond me and it was
> a little oppressive in the first section but that was a minor issue as
> in general I enjoyed the nanotechnology explanations.
> "Slowly, copies of the library of fairy fembot code are written into
> tangled buckyball strings, which are delivered to Alex’s T-lymphocytes
> within protein coats derived from modified HIV virus."
> I think that I would appreciate it more on a reread and rate it higher.

On further reflection, I have concluded that many of the minor
characters were the most interesting. But in this future dystopia, the
science, background and atmosphere were of main consideration. I do
enjoy his writing and extensive vocabulary which the Kindle provides
prompt access to the dictionary of choice.
However, given the new restraints on the Kindle by Amazon and the aging
of my Paperwhite, I am thinking of replacing it with a Kobo. I assume
that it has all the non connected features that the Kindle has. I want
to buy or download books using my PC and transfer everything using
Calibre to the ereader. Has anyone had both and have an opinion? Thank you.