23 July 2011

Steven Gould – 7th Sigma

Posted by Dirk under: books .

I’ve never read Kim, by Rudyard Kipling, but I think I’ll put it on my to read list.  Since I never read Kim, I can’t say how much 7th Sigma is like it, but I assume quite a bit, including the main character’s name.

Some time in the not to distant future a plague of mechanical bugs appear in the American South West.  These bugs are self replicating and they are attracted to all metals and the EM waves put out by pretty much all electronic devices.  They converge on any source of either of those two items and eat it, using it to make more of themselves.  Also, if anything soft, like a human body, is near by when they swarm, they eat their way, quickly, through that also.

This book is set a while after this plague manifested.  Oh, also, the bugs didn’t cover the whole world. They seem to prefer the sunnier parts of the SW.  There are still large parts of America where it is business as usual. In the bug zone though, there is no metal or electronics.  This is the world where the main character, Kim, grows up and lives.

The area is being repopulated by folks that don’t mind the limitations caused by the bugs.  Kim is a very sharp young guy who ends up working as an undercover agent for the Rangers that patrol the bug area.  He is very effective at this.

It’s a simple but fun book. Was dandy to read on my vacation.

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