Waiting on Wednesday 07/23/14
“Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine that lets us feature upcoming releases that we can’t wait to get our hands on!
Mogsy’s Pick:
Lock in by John Scalzi: August 26, 2014 (Tor Books)
I’ve always been more into fantasy and wasn’t always a big science fiction reader, and I still struggle sometimes with the hard sci-fi stuff. But I’m reading a lot more of it than I used to and I love it. When I first started getting into the genre, a lot of John Scalzi’s books (especially his Old Man’s War series) served as a gateway and really helped pave the way for more sci-fi in my reading. These days, I check out anything he writes because I know I can always count on his work to entertain me, so I’m pretty excited to read his upcoming book Lock In. And looks like I won’t have long to wait, as I received an ARC of it today!
“Fifteen years from now, a new virus sweeps the globe. 95% of those afflicted experience nothing worse than fever and headaches. Four percent suffer acute meningitis, creating the largest medical crisis in history. And one percent find themselvs “locked in”—fully awake and aware, but unable to move or respond to stimulus.
One per cent doesn’t seem like a lot. But in the United States, that’s 1.7 million people “locked in”…including the President’s wife and daughter.
Spurred by grief and the sheer magnitude of the suffering, America undertakes a massive scientific initiative. Nothing can restore the ability to control their own bodies to the locked in. But then two new technologies emerge. One is a virtual-reality environment, “The Agora,” in which the locked-in can interact with other humans, both locked-in and not. The other is the discovery that a few rare individuals have brains that are receptive to being controlled by others, meaning that from time to time, those who are locked in can “ride” these people and use their bodies as if they were their own.
This skill is quickly regulated, licensed, bonded, and controlled. Nothing can go wrong. Certainly nobody would be tempted to misuse it, for murder, for political power, or worse….”
The BiblioSanctum 
Nice! Just saw this at another blog! Hope you enjoy it too!
Here’s my WoW
Have a GREAT day!
Old Follower 🙂
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I just one-clicked Old Man’s War like two days ago. Hopefully I’ll be joining you in the John Scalzi fan club soon 😉
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Oh you really need to read OMW, it’s awesome! 😀
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I’ve yet to read a John Scalzi book, but a friend loaned me a copy of Redshirts and I’m pretty excited to read it. Anyone who writes a satire about Star Trek is sure to be great fun. Hopefully this new offering is as good as the others you’ve read!
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Redshirts was a lot of fun! Straight up popcorn book, I really enjoyed it, especially as a ST fan 🙂
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Old Man’s War is the only Scalzi book I have read. It was definitely fun and I have thought I should try another. Love this part of the description: “This skill is quickly regulated, licensed, bonded, and controlled. Nothing can go wrong. Certainly nobody would be tempted to misuse it, for murder, for political power, or worse….”
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The next two books in the OMW series is pretty good as well, and I also highly recommend Fuzzy Nation (it’s cute!) if you want to try another 😀
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Holy crap, this sounds intense. Pretty sure it needs to be added to my TBR. I haven’t read any of Scalzi’s books yet, but that’s going to change soon!
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Wow, this sounds incredibly creepy, in that futuristic-sci-fi way. Sort of the way I felt about House of the Scorpion. This sounds like some heavy fiction. But you’ve definitely grabbed my attention! My WoW.
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I am so excited to read this one as well!
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