Honestly, I did not expect to enjoy it as much as did, though I should be clear that this is no masterpiece.
The Earth is on the brink of total collapse - starvation, ecological disaster, overpopulation, and nuclear war threaten the survival of the human race. Convinced by nothing other than data analysis, the US government attempts to quell the unrest and save the species by colonizing Mars, not with huddled masses and prayers, but with a cyborg enhanced in such a way that they can live on the planet without support. Our protagonist, a former astronaut, is the third back up to the primary human experiment, and is thrust into the primary role unceremoniously.
Man Plus has one foot in the golden age (sticking to real science, action, and bourbon swilling), one foot in the new wave(a focus on the inner mind of the test subjects). Very readable, but dated and has sexist/Asian stereotypes. Gets surprisingly dark at times, with the casual dehumanization that the test subjects are treated with. Though unfortunately this tone doesn't last through the entirely of the narrative. Pretty shallow but broad world building of a future earth that I feel like I've seen a billion times. We spend a long time just on earth, and all of the intrigue and newness of Mars is crammed unceremoniously into the last fourtyish pages. That said, it doesn't have a tendency to drag. This is well written. Perhaps not beautiful prose but solid and approachable.
A lot of thinly veiled critique of the space race/government involvement in research and development/how ethics go out the window when the government is involved. A meditation on how much of us has to survive to remain human, how our reality is shaped by the limits of our perception
The ending is good. A classic conceptual breakthrough. However, it treads too closely to the twist endings of many a SF short story. The ending is not a conclusion and a twist to the narrative that we have spent our entire time with, it's more of an addendum. Granted, this addendum falls in
line with one of the main themes of the book, but absolutely none of the action.
BigEnk
