Review: A futuristic detective story
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 17, 2014
THREADS could be summed up as a detective story, with the good guys pursuing the bad ones. To leave it there would be as incomplete as saying that Philip K. Dick’s MINORITY REPORT is merely a detective story. Even though villains are predictably evil and creature motivations remain largely unchanged, the detectives in both stories pursue their targets with cutting-edge technology. Today’s science is preparing for mind implants, but at what risks for humanity? Mr. Tinney tells us. If that technology weren’t sufficient, he introduces additional layers. His world also enjoys interstellar travel, even though the secrets of its speed are tightly controlled by a governmental alliance with a private corporation that has chosen to erect its headquarters on a distant planet. Lovers of Frank Herbert’s DUNE series will recognize Mr. Tinney’s control of a scarce resource, which he introduces by invoking the “spice.” The secret to folding space is entangled with the killer’s motivations.THREADS is a complex sci-fi action tale. It is not for a casual reader seeking a quick and breezy read. Like the novels of Neal Stephenson and Philip K. Dick, true science fiction is at its best when it grabs nascent technology and imagines its future, like a luminous arrow lighting the way forward through the fog. “World building” is not an easy task, but is essential for a reader to appreciate nuances. We are beyond the days of H. G. Wells’ WAR OF THE WORLDS, when science fiction could be simplistically explained to the masses as us-versus-them technology. With the advanced technology on our own horizons, its implications cannot be understood unless one is willing to, at least some degree, delve into the details of what’s in the pipeline. Mr. Tinney provides that light through the darkness.