This was well conceptualized and well written. I loved the concept of a privileged group ending up illegal and the inexorable consequence. I loved the twist and the biomite concept. The interval shorts were perfect. The plot, pace and characters were excellent. ( )

With the advent of nuclear power and nuclear weapons, as well as man's trips to the moon, the 20th century was the century of physics breakthroughs. The 21st century will be known as the century of biology. This book explores the up and coming field of nanotechnology.
In the not to distant future, artificial stem cells known as biomites are used to treat almost any affliction, from life saving to vanity procedures. However, the scientists have not found a way to turn the biomites off after they have finished doing the procedure for which they were intended, and continue to multiply and replace human cells. If left to their own devises, the human body would be completely composed of biomites. This brings up a slew of ethical questions, most notably when would a person no longer be considered human. A series of laws were enacted to deal with these issues. When a person reaches 40 percent biomites, they are sent to a holding facility to be monitored. When the biomites population reaches 50 percent, the government's supercomputer known as 'Mother' will shutdown the biomites leading to the person's death.
When he was a child, Nixon Richards, known as Nix, was in a car accident which claimed his parent's lives. Nix was severely injured and injected with biomites to save his life. Nix is taken in by his sister Cali, who just happened to be a brilliant scientist. Cali knew that it was only a matter of time before Nix redlined and was taken into custody by the government and eventually shut down. She began working on a biomite strain that could not be tracked or shutdown by Mother. Hounded by Marcus Anderson, a driven government agent, Nix and Cali try to go off the grid and live the rest of their lives in peace.
The ending was a bit weak, but there is a sequel. Overall, a very enjoyable book. ( )

Interesting nano-bot sci-fi story that also explores the line at which we are considered human or not.

Nixon Richards is at 49.9%; M0ther says the not-human line is 50%. ( )

Nix and Cali Richards (brother & sister) have suffered losses. Nix nearly died in a car accident that took his parents. He had to have an infusion of biomites to live as these tiny man-made stem cells could repair him from the inside out. Cali, the eldest sibling, has been his guardian since then, making it her life mission to keep him safe. However, the government has the Halfskin Laws: once a human becomes 50% biomites, he/she is no longer considered human and they are turned off. Luckily, Cali is a nanobiometric engineer.

This was a fascinating tale of what could be a near future. I truly enjoyed all the biomite talk and the societal implications. Plenty of thoughtful questions are brought up in this story. At what point is a human more machine than human? Does that negate their rights, including their right to life? I can see this book taking it’s place among science fiction classics.

Nix is an interesting character, struggling internally with the knowledge of what his future holds. He can’t live without the biomites and there is no real way to remove them. They are self replicating, so the longer one has them, the more the biomites take over the body. Yet he also knows his sister, Cali, will do whatever she can to try to save him. Incarcerated with other red-lining folks (those at 49% or higher biomites), he lives the life of a condemned criminal.

Now Cali is an even more interesting character because she has taken so much on her shoulders. Ever since their parents died, she has been the legal guardian of Nix. She also has a young daughter (the father having passed away). As you can see, she has a lot of stresses in her life, and that has been so for years. With her nanobiometric engineering background, she races against the clock to find a way to save Nix.

Another interesting aspect to this story is that there is a overarching cyber entity called Mother who is tied in to all biomites. The government created her to keep track of, and disable when necessary, the biomites. So Cali not only has to outwit the human law enforcers, but she also has to fool Mother.

All in all a very entertaining tale that I didn’t want to put down. Looking forward to Book 2!

The Narration: David Dietz did a fantastic job with the voices. He had distinct, believable voices for males and females, kids and adults. He was also very good at imbuing emotion into the character voices especially Cali. ( )

With the advent of nuclear power and nuclear weapons, as well as man's trips to the moon, the 20th century was the century of physics breakthroughs. The 21st century will be known as the century of biology. This book explores the up and coming field of nanotechnology.
In the not to distant future, artificial stem cells known as biomites are used to treat almost any affliction, from life saving to vanity procedures. However, the scientists have not found a way to turn the biomites off after they have finished doing the procedure for which they were intended, and continue to multiply and replace human cells. If left to their own devises, the human body would be completely composed of biomites. This brings up a slew of ethical questions, most notably when would a person no longer be considered human. A series of laws were enacted to deal with these issues. When a person reaches 40 percent biomites, they are sent to a holding facility to be monitored. When the biomites population reaches 50 percent, the government's supercomputer known as 'Mother' will shutdown the biomites leading to the person's death.
When he was a child, Nixon Richards, known as Nix, was in a car accident which claimed his parent's lives. Nix was severely injured and injected with biomites to save his life. Nix is taken in by his sister Cali, who just happened to be a brilliant scientist. Cali knew that it was only a matter of time before Nix redlined and was taken into custody by the government and eventually shut down. She began working on a biomite strain that could not be tracked or shutdown by Mother. Hounded by Marcus Anderson, a driven government agent, Nix and Cali try to go off the grid and live the rest of their lives in peace.
The ending was a bit weak, but there is a sequel. Overall, a very enjoyable book.
( )