Spin Control

May 29, 2006
Set in the same universe as Moriarty's SF debut, Spin State (2003), her richly textured second novel explores issues of identity and loyalty, swapping quantum mechanics for complexity theory and mystery for suspense. Arkady, an entomologist assigned to a terraforming project with his fellow clone, Arkasha, comes into possession of two pieces of information: one very valuable, the other very damaging. The pair also fall in love. Then Arkasha is kidnapped, and Arkady must travel to Earth and sell his knowledge to the highest bidder to rescue her. Through Arkady's bewildered eyes, the reader discovers a future world where America is a rogue nation and the most precious commodities are water and the ability to bear children. Moriarty, whose style has smoothed out considerably, handles such characters from Spin State as Catherine Li, a military veteran with a fragmented memory, and Cohen, an AI collective inhabiting a human body, with more finesse. Where Spin State was nominated for awards, this sequel may win them.

June 1, 2006
RostovSyndicate A-series clone Arkady, a myrmecologist (ant biologist) who has defected to Israel with a genetic weapon powerful enough to tear humanity apart, would do anything to save fellow clone Arkasha, his partner on the ill-fated survey mission to Novalis, where they encountered the weapon. But, considered a deviant by the rigid standards of Syndicate society, Arkasha is in a "renorming" center again. Israel's not buying the weapon and instead sets off a bidding war for Arkady's secret, which involves the Artificial Life Emancipation Front, Palestine's government, and an American representative. Conspiracies abound, and in a world threatened with ecological collapse--recent aftereffects of war include the Line, a strip of land between Israel and Palestine devastated by a biological weapon that allows everything except humans to flourish--what Arkady is offering could make all the difference to the future of Earth and humanity. In Moriarty's high-stakes, tension-riddled addition to visions of the posthuman future, the characters have the complexity of motivation and backstory to make this more than just another dire-future thriller.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)