Brain Thief
Tor Books, January 2010
or buy from your local bookseller--tell them I sent you.
Praise for Brain Thief:
Alex Jablokov is one of the most interesting and inventive science fiction writers in existence. Miss this book at your peril!
Michael Swanwick, author of The Dragons of Babel
Serial-killer murder mystery, artificial intelligence bildungsroman, a celebration of Americana diner schtick—Jablokov's return to science fiction after a decade-long absence is all of these and more...Jablokov’s latest is a fun read with plenty of unexpected turns and a genuinely surprising ending.
Publisher's Weekly
...jammed full of half-mad technology, decapitations, clever riddles, junkyard sociopaths, and absent friends, but the quest for AI lurks constantly in the background. As the hero pinballs through a cavalcade of suspicious characters, a potentially deadly thinking machine stays two steps ahead. What does it want? And is it possible for a thing to have a dream? ...as with all good puzzles, there’s a lot of satisfaction in watching the pieces fall into place...reminiscent of Philip K. Dick’s science-fiction satires, keeping Dick’s keen sense of absurdity, but losing the fearful misogyny...Jablokov shows a lot of trust in his readers’ ability to fill in blanks, and that, combined with a generous affection for all parties involved, makes a potentially claustrophobic narrative seem expansive. It may be more the impression of intelligence than the real thing, but as impressions go, it’s pretty convincing.
The Onion A.V. Club
The nonstop twists of the plot do come together in the end, and the stops along the way are always amusing. Above all, "Brain Thief" succeeds in making cyberpunk fun again.
The Denver Post