Small Miracles by Edward M. Lerner

Small Miracles Reviews

• 
  Magdelanye

  It's a small miracle I managed to finish this rather clumsy take on the modern nightmare, the invasion of the mind. Larry Niven claimed, on the front jacket to be royally entertained,and Robert Sawyer (on the back cover) found it fascinating and compelling, but I found it a true grind.
  The pedestrian writing irritated me and it was especially annoying to have to wade through pages of overly technical details only to come up against a glaring inconsistancy. I did not find the pace or the events credible and therefore did not fully engage.
  
  so why keep reading...
  The theme of mind parasites and riders does fascinate me. This book may not be well written, but it does explore some key ideas especially in the genesis of an overmind.
  The foolish but devoted, resourceful and plucky heroine reminded me quite a bit of a dear friend so I began to care about her fate. I liked it that the romantic element was nil.
  
  The writing did get a little better about halfway through the book,and the ending contained a neat twist.And I approve of his final sentiment
  "The one way he knew how to cope was to do some good here, whatever the governments agenda." pp362
• 
  Stefan

  Edward Lerner's 'Small Miracles' was a fast-paced techno-thriller about nano bots that go rogue. Lerner shaped the silly-sounding premise into a tense and intelligent race against time. Furthermore, this novel had some of the creepiest scenes I've ever read & an great ambiguous and thought-provoking ending.
• 
  Scott Shjefte

  Twas a good action adventure, bit of a let down in some ways... It did consider in the plot some of the pros and cons of personnal incorporating nano tech from both the individual's point of view while still showing most of the big picture.
• 
  Marc

  I really enjoyed this science fiction technothriller set in the years 2015-2017. What keeps the reader’s attention is a race between the good guys and bad guys with each side learning information about the other side that may close out the race in their favor while also not knowing how far ahead the other side really is in critical areas. The bad guys are super-intelligent nano-robots. They are body snatchers that re-wire the host human’s brain.
  
  A second thread involves corporate intrigue within a technology based company with the engineers constantly dealing with issues, managers dealing with finances, relationships, and inter-departmental issues.
  
  One unusual aspect is the apparently platonic relationship between the two main characters in the book. I suspect the author wrote this with an eye towards a movie down the road as there are plenty of explosions and other visually interesting scenes.
• 
  Chip

  I was a bit disappointed with this book. I was thinking since Lerner has collaborated with Niven on three prequel books in the Ringworld series that he must have some pretty good talent. The pace and the characters of this book are forced and confusing. I felt the computer science portions were not realistic at all. And the ending is not satisfying. Read "Blood Music" if you want a much better book with similar themes.
• 
  Sean Randall

  This is a hugely thoughtful take on the nanotech event horizon. Lerner writes with scientific acumen, technical aptitude and personable characters. It's a pretty scary look into a future; and the prologue and epilogue both hooked me and made me want more. If you're a hard sci-fi fan, this is one not to miss.
• 
  Gabriel Barbosa

  What a story. It kept me hooked from start to finish. When describing some action scenes, the author doesn't follow the structure that you may commonly see, and for some that may be a downside. However, it leaves room for your imagination to wander about the details while the most important aspects can be understood easily.
• 
  Donald

  An interesting sci-fi story about what makes us human, a basic thing in sci-fi. The author got across the highly-technical stuff without making it boring, which is always a good thing for a sci-fi book to do.
• 
  Selina

  Good read, interesting near future tale that addresses the nature of humanity, consciousness, life, and morality. Good sci-fi, and the author really did his research! Other than a couple tiny potential flaws, his explanations seem sound and well thought out.
• 
  Chris Jackson

  Met the brilliant Edward Lerner at a convention, and let me tell you, the guy can write...
• 
  Karen

  A chilling take on nanotech. Good reading in spite of the one-loose-thread ending leaving an opening for a sequel.
• 
  Carolyn

  A fun, twisty story - sort of like Star Trek meets Invasion of the Body Snatchers. First book in a while that was actually hard to put down. Definitely recommend it for the sci-fi geeks out there.
• 
  David

  Terrific near future thriller. Impossible to put down.
• 
  John

  Mostly this was really good science fiction but there was a big hypnosis part that felt completely out of place and kind of dumb in what was otherwise a really sharp book.