Lock in

Great book, somewhere between 4 and 5 stars. The plot moved along really well, and I enjoyed the characters. Before I read it, I knew that the main character's gender was never revealed. But I was surprised at how seamlessly the author pulled that feat off. I doubt I would've noticed it if I hadn't known about it before. I did notice in [book:The Android's Dream 7081] that we never learn Sam's gender, but Sam is in the story primarily as someone's partner, while Chris is the point-of-view character here, which I think would be much more difficult to write. So I think this book is interesting from a technical standpoint, although it would also be interesting to learn how readers see this character - do we expect different behaviors from male, female, nonbinary characters? My only complaint about the book is that Chris is overpowered. They (I'll use that pronoun in my review) are kicking ass every few chapters, even though it's only their first week as an FBI agent. Chris is also very talented at getting along with people (so much so that another character compliments them on it), and everyone they meet seems to like them, at least at first. Other than a need for approval, Chris doesn't have any flaws. However, this trait didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book, because it's very plot-driven.I also like all the random lgbt people (well, lgb characters - the premise would lend itself very well to trans characters, but no one is explicitly trans, although there is a line that I think is referring to trans people in general - that some people prefer integrators that don't match their own assigned gender). The gay couple seems much more three-dimensional to me than several of the other minor characters, because we see a little bit of what their relationship is like; actually, they are both kind of awful people. But we don't know anyone's orientation; it's treated like an inconsequential thing. I like near-future sci-fi which is optimistic in this way. The Haden situation parallels a few real-world issues that marginalized groups face or have faced, but the book never feels heavy-handed, although I feared it might go down that road a few times. In fact, when someone else makes a comparison between the Native Americans and the Hadens, Chris shuts them down right away. Some of the facts of life for Hadens are very grim, because of the prejudice they face - for example, that businesspeople have to inhabit a borrowed body sometimes in order to succeed in the business world, because people aren't comfortable not dealing with a “real” person. I don't know if that would be true or not, but it might. As usual with Scalzi's books, I laughed out loud a few times and felt like crying once or twice. Johnny's plot is really, really sad, especially his video, not just because he's dead, but because he was a pawn of evil and powerful people. Scalzi is really good at making the reader think seriously about ethically complex situations, sometimes by showing how badly corporate and government policies can hurt individuals. I'm glad I read this, and I'm looking forward to the sequel.