Stepping Stone / Love Machine: Crosstown to Oblivion
Mosley’s Crosstown to Oblivion series (each volume of which features two short novels packaged back-to-back in the manner of the old Ace Doubles) continues with this third installment. In Love Machine, a scientist has created a device that allows human minds to share thoughts and emotions. The scientist dreams of a collective human mind shared by all of humanity, but is he a groundbreaking researcher, an evil genius, or a self-appointed god? In Stepping Stone, a man begins to imagine that he’s encountering a mysterious woman only he can see. Slowly his life begins to change—his dreams taking him to other places, his nightmares showing him real events—and eventually he discovers that he might be humanity’s savior, but also its destroyer. Both stories are well written and imaginative, although Stepping Stone is a bit stronger, thanks to its compelling first-person narration. Astute readers will see where the plots are going early on (even the series title is a giveaway), but, even so, there is plenty here—both style and story—to satisfy readers of speculative fiction. --David Pitt