After a tumultuous beginning, mid-23rd-century Earth now peacefully operates under the constant surveillance of the Watcher, an all-seeing AI who has seized control of the planet—and of the minds and bodies of its people. But is the radical evolution that the Watcher has in mind a step forward or the beginning of a mighty split that will cast aside everything that truly makes us human?
It is 2252, and Judy is traveling on a passenger ship in deep space when disaster strikes. Almost too conveniently, strange machines appear onboard just in time to help. They are owned by DIANA, a commercial organization headquartered on Earth. But as the machines arrange for the humans to be taken to safety, Judy is held back. They have detected something in her genetic code—something shocking: Judy is not human. And she too is the property of DIANA.
Now Judy must return to Earth to find out what DIANA expects of her…how she was grown…and why she was destined to destroy the Watcher. But is this Judy even the same person? And does the new Judy have a reason to destroy—or is she just a pawn in someone else’s murderous game?
" Ballantyne handles an intricate future skillfully and oddly hopefully ... maintaining a fine balance between good characterization and a fast-paced plot."—Booklist
Description:
After a tumultuous beginning, mid-23rd-century Earth now peacefully operates under the constant surveillance of the Watcher, an all-seeing AI who has seized control of the planet—and of the minds and bodies of its people. But is the radical evolution that the Watcher has in mind a step forward or the beginning of a mighty split that will cast aside everything that truly makes us human?
It is 2252, and Judy is traveling on a passenger ship in deep space when disaster strikes. Almost too conveniently, strange machines appear onboard just in time to help. They are owned by DIANA, a commercial organization headquartered on Earth. But as the machines arrange for the humans to be taken to safety, Judy is held back. They have detected something in her genetic code—something shocking: Judy is not human. And she too is the property of DIANA.
Now Judy must return to Earth to find out what DIANA expects of her…how she was grown…and why she was destined to destroy the Watcher. But is this Judy even the same person? And does the new Judy have a reason to destroy—or is she just a pawn in someone else’s murderous game?
From the Paperback edition.
**
From Booklist
The sequel to Capacity (2006) follows former social-care operative Judy's forced return to Earth to find out what DIANA, a defunct Earth corporation that seems to have created her, wants with her before it will let her go. The AI Watcher has spread its control over Earth, using the drug that allowed Judy and other social-care operatives to read the emotional states of their patients to control the minds of Earth's population. But Judy's fellow DIANA creation, Chris, continues fighting the Watcher to change the whole approach to human society. As that battle continues, Earth is bombarded with the seeds of the quantum plants that threaten to destroy all intelligent life. Judy's arrival, and that of some of the cargo of the ship that carries her, will change everything. Ballantyne handles an intricate future skillfully and oddly hopefully, given the terrifying threat of the dark plants, maintaining a fine balance between good characterization and a fast-paced plot. Regina Schroeder
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Review
" Ballantyne handles an intricate future skillfully and oddly hopefully ... maintaining a fine balance between good characterization and a fast-paced plot."—Booklist
From the Paperback edition.