Review: Resist the hive!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 08 20, 2012
I found David Weisman's take on a futuristic society and the interactions between humans and Oceanians to be both creative and fascinating.  The military/medical aspects of the book were well-researched and indicated a personal enthusiasm on the part of the author, which I always love to see.  The main character, Brett Johnson, is involved in both of these things, while seeming to strive to keep his personal feelings in check.  The author succeeded in capturing the essence of both a military and medical mindset: the mission comes first, so check your feelings at the door.As much as the author shone in the aforementioned areas, I really think that the political/societal aspects were where he excelled.  Weisman was able to take politics from the past and present and insert them into the distant future, highlighting the haunting fact that basic human nature has been and always will be motivated by power acquisition and control of the masses.  The societal impact of the "hive mind" was well-written, believable, and practically had me looking around suspiciously and randomly disagreeing with everyone I saw for a few days after finishing the book(!).I struggled a bit with some of the writing, though why I did is hard to describe.  For example, the prologue was a bit dry for me as I couldn't really "see" what was going on or why it was happening, so I felt like I wasn't following along properly.  On the other hand, I agree with the other reviewer(s) who mentioned that sometimes there was over-explanation in regard to the "hive mind" concept, as well as the nano-technology and medical procedures, even as I enjoyed reading about them.  I also think that a bit more time developing relationships between the characters at the start of the book would have made it more immediately gripping; one of my favorite things to do is to root for/against and love/hate characters in books!In all, I liked "Resistance", especially (as has been mentioned by others) the last 1/3 of the book.  I think that the author knew his story well, and that came through when I read his novel.I received a free copy of "Resistance" in exchange for an honest review.