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Description
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(as of Jan 04,2025 19:19:42 UTC – Details)
Customers say
Customers find the book enjoyable and entertaining. They appreciate the interesting premise and unexpected twist at the end. The book is described as a quick, well-written read with good pacing. Readers consider it worth reading even though it’s an old story. They find the characters well-developed and fun, with positive female role models.
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Amazingly relevant
This book was written what? over 45 years ago but the storyseems to foretell what is happening today. Issues with over population, resources growing ever more scarce, threats of war,environmental issues and the like.It is almost as if Frederick Pohl could see the future.To be frank, I consider Frederick Pohl THE best sci-fi writer there is.Books like his Gateway series (or the Heechee Saga) , of which two computer gameswere based on as well as all his other works are well written andexcellent reads that are hard to put down. This book will not disappoint.
Enjoyable, Interesting, & Dated
“Man Plus” by Frederik Pohl is an fictional novel about a government project to develop a Mars adapted cyborg. It’s a fairly old work (1976) which makes it dated, but it holds up well as it’s all about robot bodies and networked computers.The book is predominately concerned with the transformation Roger Torraway undergoes, the people around him, and the ability to influence perception. It’s particularly concerned with the sexual and romantic aspects of such a transformation. It’s lite on details of what exactly is going on in the operation other than it’s less than a brain in a jar but more than a penanggalan in a robot body that results in a both comedic and alienating moth man like appearance. There’s a mystery for the reader that grows as the novel continue that isn’t solved till the end. But, I suspect most will catch on by the halfway point and figure it out by the reveal.It’s a pretty quick and enjoyable read. Though it tends to be 70s at times (or older in the case of the female characters), I do like how it focuses more on the transformation and adapting than “well here’s your awesome body go have fun.”
Great in the last third bland until then.
This book is all over the place. The first third is interesting but plants things that never payoff. The middle third is somewhat tedious but perhaps constructed that way to evoke the tedium of the characters and the final bit is the most intriguing and satisfying answering questions about the choice of narrative and having a fun third act twist. However as this is the most engaging part of the book it feels as if it ended early. There was no sequel and the first part could have been condensed to make room for more in the final act. In the end though so much was left hanging. Stories relationship with Roger was unresolved, Brad’ s character never had to deal with the consequences of his actions, why was one even a priest as it wasn’t integral to the plot or any themes. And Sulie was never explored more than a plot contrivance. Pohl has so much promise and its that reason why he is so frustrating. Except The Gateway. More and more I am loving that work.
Man Plus gets an A Plus
What a beautiful, obscure find! 42 years ago, with a pessimistic doomsday seventies tone of voice, Frederik Pohl gave us this fascinating cyborg in the making novel, sparing us nothing in the process and giving us no reader discretion advised warnings.So, what do we have in Man Plus? A man who literally and painfully both for him and the reader becomes less than a man, before he becomes more than a man.A love story in the making, bizarre and poignant.Roger, the cyborg playing Segovia guitar pieces.A poor entourage that almost shaves one star from the novel, with the exception of a priest. You can safely skip all the parts of the book where USA presidents, CIA people and the like appear.An apotheosis on Mars.A very unexpected twist in the end. You got us there Pohl.Man Plus gets an A Plus. Highly recommended.
Man Changes for Mars
This was an interesting novel speculating on how man could be changed to adapt to Mars. It is an interesting take on the Cyborg theme, without any Cyber-Punk. Several main characters are well developed in the story. I would rate it higher if it had a slightly better ending, which of course I will not tell you here!
Fun read!
This book was described to me as The Six Million Dollar Man meets David Bowieâs Space Oddity and that description is dead on accurate. I really enjoyed it. Fun read if you like classic science fiction.
Engineering mechanical human evolution
Frederik Pohl’s Man Plus is a 70’s classic concerning a project to colonize Mars as a result of ever worsening global conditions. As part of the program, a human is modified, converted into a cyborg, in order to better function long term on Mars while some undefined terraforming is to occur. Many details on the process as well as the numerous problems that arise are described. Pohl touches on many psychosocial issues related to this transformation as well as outlining a general loosening of social taboos throughout society. While the heavy handed nature of the US president may seem a bit overly dramatic, the time period for the tale does somewhat reflect the geopolitical consensus.Pohl also provides for a cryptic first person narration that is a bit of a surprise at the very end. As a sci-fi classic, the detail embedded in the cyborg adaptation is thoroughly engaging.
Very entertaining
I was quite taken by surprise. All through the book there were these references like “we were expecting this” and “we put a lot of effort into this”. I thought I missed the person of the book and went back to the beginning a couple of times but it was not revealed who the first person was. I began to have a thought of the person but it was quite faint. You will have to read the book yourselves to get that answer. The book is well written and was well researched so it all makes sense, especially considering it was written so long ago. I highly recommend the book to all Sci-Fi fans.
It is hard to believe that ‘Man Plus’ has been written 25 years ago. The plot looks quite current and fully believable, which in itself speaks of the quality Pohl as a SF author has. The slight exception is Pohl didn’t anticipate how far computer miniaturisation would progress – but still the book remains an impressive foresight performance. Mankind struggles to survive and one means is getting a man to Mars. For this reason an anstronaut’s physiology is bioengineered into a ‘Man Plus’. What makes the novel such a fascinating read is Pohl’s focus on the emotional impact such changes have for all involved, from colleague to wife to oneself.
The long and short of it is, Earth has become overpopulated, there’s a constant threat of the outbreak of global warfare from the Asians, and America has decided to counter this by setting up a programme to eventually populate Mars as although it’s a smaller planet than Earth, there is a greater land mass due to there being no oceans, therefore more room etcThe story is told from the perspective of someone who isn’t revealed until the final chapter, but the plot is basically from the viewpoint of Roger Torraway, who is an astronaut working on the “Man Plus” project. Which is essentially to create a cyborg capable of existing on the harsh plains of Mars to help establish a colony there. Things go wrong early on with the project and Roger steps in to become the cyborg. You’re told how his physical alterations actually affect his relationship with his wife and colleagues, and how it actually changes his own psyche and character.I enjoyed it, but it was a bit short at around 215 pages. I would have liked to have seen more about Mars, but I guess Pohl was more focussed on the character of Torraway than the actual mission itself. It did seem a little like a futuristic version of Frankenstein, to some extent. Man plays God and creates their own version of man who will be better, but it doesn’t quite go exactly how they want it to due to their reliance on science.It’s also a little dated. Written in the 70’s, set in the future… everyone reads like a character from a throwback to the 60s rather than being futuristic. But overall, I’d recommend it if you’re into Science Fiction novels.
They say never judge a book by its cover, but I did in this case and I’m so glad I decided to buy it. Easily one of the best novels, science fiction or otherwise that I have ever read. Really could not put this book down. Pohl’s narrative is outstanding here. Very cinematic. I love the inclusion of the ‘Carmarthenshire Freedom Fighters’! Kept me on my toes till the very last page. Definitely a ‘Masterwork’ for me.
Man plus comes as the forebear to many novels about the colonisation of alien worlds. Although this book is far more political in its content than many others. It would have been very easy to immerse the story in the buildup of political tension occuring in the unimpossible future of Earth, just as it could have been very easy to allow Mars swallow the story entirely and in fact turn it into a fictional account of adapting to the environment of another world (try Ben Bova for such reading). However Man Plus looks at the personal and individual costs of beginning a colonisation.As a volunteer for the Man Plus programme Roger must be stripped of his humanity, the flesh that identifies him and even his very perceptions of reality as he is remade to be a new life form. Through this the novel allows glimpses of both Roger’s inner torment as well political debates that the team that must manufacture him face.In some ways I wish that there had been more of Mars in this novel, as it is relegated to just two short chapters. Though the big point about this novel isn’t about how man will live on Mars, it is about what he must face before he can live there. A very intelligent piece of science fiction.
WOW.. loved this. Surprised there isn’t a film. It seems prime- could even stretch beyond into a series