book data
347 ratings, 4.27 average rating, 54 reviews
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published
1999
(first published 1993)
by Eos
binding
Paperback, 448 pages
setting
Unknown
isbn
0380718774
(isbn13: 9780380718771)
description
Born in 2008, Leisha Camden is beautiful, extraordinarily intelligent...and one of an ever-growing number of human beings who have been genetically mo...more
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 477)
recommended to Becky by:
Charles
recommends it for: hardcore sci-fi fans
recommends it for: hardcore sci-fi fans
This book came highly recommended, and of course it has also won a ton of awards, but I wasn't impressed at all. There's very little characterization. The characters seem to exist just to move the plot along, ie "And then THIS happened and I'm going to tell you about it now!"
I was also reminded of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, in which the flat characters exist only as mouthpieces for Rand's philosophy.
As for the plot, it's interesting, but it clanks along kind of ...more
I was also reminded of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, in which the flat characters exist only as mouthpieces for Rand's philosophy.
As for the plot, it's interesting, but it clanks along kind of ...more
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Generally speaking, we want people's advantages to be compensated with disadvantages. But what if genetic engineering provided an advantage with no down side? Nancy Kress explores a society in which some people need no sleep (and suffer no side effects) and the "normal" people they live among. A fascinating social study.
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This is such an interesting and engaging read. So much so, that I've probably read it ten times by now! When it was written, 2008 (the time when the book takes place) was far in the future at a time when science has figured out how to modify human embryos for certain physical or mental charactaristics. For example, if you want a blonde, blue-eyed girl, you can. If you want her to be slim and athletic, the scientists can give her the disposition to be this way, but ultimately the way she is r...more
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Read in April, 2007
Nebula and Hugo award winning author Nancy Kress has yet another wonderful combination with her Beggars Trilogy (also known as Sleepless trilogy) which starts off with Beggars in Spain, continues with Beggars and Choosers, and comes (almost) full circle with Beggars Ride (although all three books can easily stand alone.)
Beggars in Spain started out as a novella and that novella still seems visible within the novel, which had three very distinct parts (in some ways it might have been better...more
Beggars in Spain started out as a novella and that novella still seems visible within the novel, which had three very distinct parts (in some ways it might have been better...more
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Read in August, 2005
In college, there were times when it felt like I didn't sleep. One semester, I averaged between 3 and 4 1/2 hours of sleep each weeknight. Between a more-than-full load of classes and a bunch of extra-curriculars, that's pretty much what I needed to do, and I functioned all right. Quite well, in fact.
But what if I hadn't needed to sleep at all? Such is the starting point for Nancy Kress's 1994 novel Beggars in Spain. In the near future, experiments in genetic engineering lead to a modi...more
But what if I hadn't needed to sleep at all? Such is the starting point for Nancy Kress's 1994 novel Beggars in Spain. In the near future, experiments in genetic engineering lead to a modi...more
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I first read Beggars in Spain six or seven years ago and I enjoyed it then. I’ve found that the better stories age well; come back a few years later and they still engage your heart and your mind. This is one of those stories.
Nancy Kress illustrates a fast approaching issue – the impact of genetic engineering – with well-drawn characters in realistic situations. The premise is science has learned how to engineer humans such that they no longer need to sleep. Obviously, the...more
Nancy Kress illustrates a fast approaching issue – the impact of genetic engineering – with well-drawn characters in realistic situations. The premise is science has learned how to engineer humans such that they no longer need to sleep. Obviously, the...more
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Read it as a novella not a novel! As a novella I found this book well-written and innovative. It's a fascinating commentary on how society can get jealous rather than encouraging to people who accomplish great things. Like the story of the frogs in the bottom of a boiling pot pulling down any fellow frogs who almost escape the pot. Like the movie The Incredibles, where mediocrity not exceptional-ism is lauded.
Nancy Kress stirs in a bit of Ayn Rand-ness but I liked the characters be...more
Nancy Kress stirs in a bit of Ayn Rand-ness but I liked the characters be...more
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Read in March, 2008
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
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Read in January, 2009
Just finished this book - I enjoyed it. It brings up a lot of questions about bio-ethics, familial and societal relationships, the responsibilities of society to individuals & of individuals to society. I would reccommend it - some rough language used occasionally and a few isolated sexual scenes.
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This is one of those books that I reread periodically, and have ever since I was about 15. It's a near future science fiction novel about the results of a genetic modification that allows people not to need sleep. There's more to it than that, of course, but that's sort of the basis of it. What Kress was really doing, however, was pitting Ayn Rand against the anarchists. Basically, she took the anarchist philosophy expressed in Ursula LeGuin's The Dispossessed (another great book) and put it...more
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Read in December, 2008
recommends it for:
people who like philosophical questions
I really liked that this book made me think. It had many philosophical ideas that it touched upon, and would be great to discuss as a group. I felt the book was easy to read. I did not rush through it, I took my time reading it, it was just enjoyable. I loved the concepts that it brought up and the way it was written was fullfilling in that the characters grew throughout the book. I would re-read this book, I think it is the type of book that I could grasp even more the second time around.
Read in April, 2008
Nancy Kress's book Beggars In Spain makes one wonder. Good that it does. At the same time, I spent less than three hours reading it (in ebook form) so it must not have been very long. I was about to make a comparison to Murinae's ITFOTN (fanfiction), but then I remembered that even though that's almost 300k words (or was it almost 400k?), it didn't take me THAT much time to read, either.
We spend years writing--planning background, characters, stories, plots and ideas and descriptions...more
We spend years writing--planning background, characters, stories, plots and ideas and descriptions...more
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Read in January, 1999
I loved loved loved this series.
So what happens when we start improving on our progeny....at what point to we just become too tiresome to have around?
So what happens when we start improving on our progeny....at what point to we just become too tiresome to have around?
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Scientists find that sleep is unnecessary for the human body, that it's a primitive protective instinct to keep the body safe from stumbling around in the dark or being eaten by night predators. They find that they can remove the gene and offer it along with other genetic manipulations for parents planning their perfected children. As the children grow they are labeled the sleepless. Due to the fact that they don't sleep, they become super smart and advance at accelerated rates. An interesti...more
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This book looks intriguing...I'm not usually interested in scifi, but this may be an exception.
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Read in February, 2005
I have the complaint that this author's characters seem to *be* their situations--I never really felt like I *knew* any of them--but her storytelling is smooth and her plot and CONCEPTS were pretty wowing. This involved people genetically modified to not require sleep. Partially inspired by this book to wish I didn't have to sleep either, I did a sleep experiment using polyphasic sleep and have had much success with it. So, thanks to Nancy Kress's idea and the Uberman Schedule posted on Everything2.com...more
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Read in October, 2007
recommends it for:
ayn rand fans
While parts of this book delved into Ayn Rand type philosophical discussions, overall I enjoyed it. I wish the resolution at the end however was left more open to reader speculation/interpretation. Questions posed at the beginning of the book are explored through different character's points of view and filtered through their life experiences. I would have rather then come to my own answers at the end, instead of having a nice, well, here's the right interpretation spelled out.
I w...more
I w...more
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Read in January, 2000
recommends it for:
you. no, seriously. YOU.
This is may be my favorite SF book of all time. I keep a few copies handy to lend out because it starts out with a concept we've all pondered (What if we didn't need to sleep?I'd get soooo much done. Maybe.) then goes with it in a spider-diagram skitter that slips in and out of life & human philosophy so easily that you sometimes don't even realize it's happening.
The rest of the series is ok. Not as well written, not as philosophical. This is the only one you need to read, really
The rest of the series is ok. Not as well written, not as philosophical. This is the only one you need to read, really
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This book was extraordinary. I loved how the schemes of each character were woven together--the politics and the insanity behind them all. The characters, their motives and sorrows were well-designed and were interesting explorations of human nature.
The story is about the political and cultural impacts of genetically modifying people so that they do not require sleep. It shows how easily jealousy is developed and can escalate.
The story is about the political and cultural impacts of genetically modifying people so that they do not require sleep. It shows how easily jealousy is developed and can escalate.
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This is one of those books that sticks in my head. Great premise, interesting characters... but at its core, there's something really kind of cold about it. The sequel was worse, as I remember it, but the older and more zomg powerful the protaganist gets, the less sympathetic she becomes. And that's not good. Still, great premise and like I said, it has stuck in my mind and I think I read it about ten years ago.
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currently-reading (on 14 people's shelves)
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fiction (on 4 people's shelves)
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