WINNER of the 2018 Campbell Award for Best NovelA WALL STREET JOURNAL Best Science Fiction Book of 2017In this science fiction thriller, brothers are pitted against each other as a pandemic threatens to destabilize world governments by exerting a subtle mind control over survivors.Neil Johns has just started his dream job as a code breaker in the NSA when his brother, Paul, a mycologist, goes … his brother, Paul, a mycologist, goes missing on a trip to collect samples in the Amazon jungle. Paul returns with a gap in his memory and a fungal infection that almost kills him. But once he recuperates, he has enhanced communication, memory, and pattern recognition. Meanwhile, something is happening in South America; others, like Paul, have also fallen ill and recovered with abilities they didn’t have before.
But that’s not the only pattern–the survivors, from entire remote Brazilian tribes to American tourists, all seem to be working toward a common, and deadly, goal. Neil soon uncovers a secret and unexplained alliance between governments that have traditionally been enemies. Meanwhile Paul becomes increasingly secretive and erratic.
Paul sees the fungus as the next stage of human evolution, while Neil is convinced that it is driving its human hosts to destruction. Brother must oppose brother on an increasingly fraught international stage, with the stakes: the free will of every human on earth. Can humanity use this force for good, or are we becoming the pawns of an utterly alien intelligence?
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Interesting and enjoyable. I liked the characters and felt sympathy for them. It’s the kind of story that makes you think and wonder about the mysteries that are still to be uncovered in this world of ours. A happy & yet scary ending. I would recommend this book.
Pretty good scientific basis that lead to many changes in family dynamics, personal vs. global objectives. The over-arching world view for preservation of humans was interesting to see.
Engaging story with twists and surprises.
Who would have thought that a scientifically accurate book based on mushrooms could be so exciting! Deserves all the awards.
Very original. At first I was rooting for the fungus! Then I learned not to. What an interesting premise for a story.
Way to present a unique concept.
I’ve not read anything with this twist before. The author is knowledgeable about the subject and tells the story well.
Spectacular. He won the John W. Campbell Award for this book for a good reason: it was the most original hard scifi plot I’ve read in ages.
Strange plot, protagonist was weak, but overall idea was intriguing.
Very interesting premise and story. Very engaging.
An interesting sci-fi novel that’s worth the time.
Mildly diverting with the idea that a mind controlling fungus finds a way to spread itself throughout humanity. Characters a bit trite. Super intelligent brother decides fungus is a great idea (while under control of said fungus) and proceeds to infect as many people as possible. In the meantime, the other (also intelligent) brother is trying to find a way to stop the fungus. Good brother seems to keep forgetting that his bad brother’s mind is under the control of an organisim willing to attack in order to survive. Good brother thus gets captured while being stupid, etc. Could have been better.
Pretty good read, not great. Interesting concept for science fiction.
Better than most science fiction but not the best. Original concept and good characters.
The premise was interesting. The book was slow in several parts. The characters needed more clarity as they were very confusing.
There were a few things I really liked about this book — the concept of the fungus was very cool and totally creepy, and I liked how the author was able to balance the idea that it was taking over world with the fact that it’s not sentient; it was an interesting take on how different humans think about achieving the same goal. I didn’t find the characters very compelling, and the pacing at the end was a little slow. But overall a fun read!
Disappointing. I was looking forward to it but the character interaction was not successful IMHO.
I thought I would absolutely love this book (there’s a mycologist named for Paul Stamets, for god’s sake), but the characters were paper thin, the dialogue was often (clearly) shoehorned in to display philosophical nuggets, and the last third of the book flopped.
Still, it was a mostly entertaining romp of a book, and if you’re looking for a breezy scifi thriller, you might like it! Clearly, many people do — it’s just not for me.
Boring and predictable. I could not finish it.
Not that engaging.