Review of Mind’s Eye
A sci-fi high-tech thriller by Douglas E. Richards
What the blurb says: Based on actual research on neural implants and thought-controlled web surfing (and foreshadowing the emergence of brain implant companies such as Elon Musk's Neuralink), Mind's Eye is a smart, roller-coaster ride of a thriller. One that raises a number of intriguing, and sometimes chilling, possibilities about a future that is just around the corner.
Douglas Richards did his homework, while I’m just shooting from the hip—by comparison. The author is a former Director of Biotechnology Licensing and a former biotechnology executive. He has degrees in microbiology and genetic engineering. With that pedigree, and the notes he attaches, anyone reading the book would be immersed in credible, solid science fiction that’s compelling (and more than a little frightening).
One problem with science fiction can be when it’s being explained as science fact. Some readers crave, nay insist, on the full fabric of explanation (and it does, as just mentioned, heighten credibility). However, there are a few pages that are so heavy with exposition, usually someone mansplaining, that I did feel the lull.
That is my only issue with this book, with this author’s work, and I’m already halfway through book 2 in the series.
I consider this series research, now, to validate and bring into question what I’ve done in Endless Tempest. In Richards’ work, a character (Nick Hall) has neural implants allowing him unbridled Internet access. I consider my world a step behind, where most of this interface is done via HeadGear (externals, wearables, like google glasses were and Meta’s new Ray-bans are now. In the Nick Hall series, the character enjoys something like the heads-up display my characters use, live-time, voice activated interactivity with the web. In both, the link/appliance becomes more and more intuitive, anticipating user queries and engagement styles.
Nick Hall also has the ability to read minds. I have a strain of characters who can Affect minds, but not really read them. His character really employs mind reading in very clever ways. I find it startling time after time how Nick can evade the bad guys or navigate problems. I also like how this gift is also a weakness, for it causes him so much cognitive overload in high populations. He can’t filter like he would like to
My characters, the “Family,” have the ability to selectively or comprehensively stimulate people’s brain functions to affect biological functions: sneezing, muscle control, tears, gag reflex… To get to just one person, it’s most effective to touch them during the affectation. Sometimes these backfire. Sometimes they cause the Family to be distrusted.
That leads into one of the best qualities of Mind’s Eye: Richards has thought of all the repercussions of a mind reader. He has really worked out how others would perceive Nick, how particularly governments and goons would want to own or outlaw him. This is the compelling plot of the Nick Hall series, at the character level. How will he be accepted by others?
I seldom read books over/over, but this is one I will read at least twice. I want to encounter the whole series when I’m wide awake and not sleep-reading (a trait I mentioned in an earlier post). Douglas E. Richards is compared to Michael Crichton for good reason. Thought-provoking science-fiction thriller. Worth anyone’s time!
Snag a copy of Mind’s Eye by Douglas E. Richards at Amazon
