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    Twinmaker
    Twinmaker
    Twinmaker
    Audiobook12 hours

    Twinmaker

    Written by Sean Williams

    Narrated by Katie Koster

    3.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    You can be improved. . . .

    Can you really change your body just by carrying around a coded note? Sure—the advanced technology of a d-mat booth will transport you anywhere instantly, but can it also make you taller, stronger, more beautiful? Clair is pretty sure the offer is too good to be true. But her best friend, Libby, is determined to give it a try, longing for a new, improved version of herself.

    What starts as Libby's dream turns into Clair's nightmare when Libby falls foul of a deadly trap. With the help of Jesse, the school freak, and a mysterious—but powerful—stranger called Q, Clair's attempt to protect Libby leads her to an unimagined world of conspiracies and cover-ups. Soon her own life is at risk, and Clair is chased across the world in a desperate race against time.

    Action and danger fuel Sean Williams's near-future tale of technology, identity, and the lengths one girl will go to in order to save her best friend.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateNov 5, 2013
    ISBN9780062309259
    Author

    Sean Williams

    Sean Williams is a girl dad to his two daughters, Davynn and Cameron, and a boy dad to his son, Ethan. He is also the founder and CEO of The Dad Gang, a conscious social community of dads on a mission to redefine, revolutionize, and reshape the image of Black fatherhood. Visit him and other dope dads online at www.thedadgang.com.

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    Reviews for Twinmaker

    3.5/5

    36 ratings8 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      TWINMAKER was an amazing science fiction story. Clair is a pretty ordinary 17-year-old. She lives in Maine, goes to school in California, has a best friend who lives somewhere in Sweden, and has a crush on a boy who lives in Shanghai. All of this is possible because in Clair's world transportation is handled by the d-mat which moves people all over the world in minutes. The water wars are over; energy is generated in space and is virtually limitless; everyone is rich because everything they could want comes from the fabbers in everyone's home.But when Clair's best friend Libby hears about a meme called Improvement, she becomes determined to change herself and succeeds in a way that frightens Clair. Clair is determined to get her friend back and soon finds herself in the world of Stainers who abstain from using the d-mats because they feel that it turns people into zombies. She also finds herself running from dupes, duplicates of people who are dead, who want to keep her from telling people about the dangers of Improvement.One of those who help Clair is Q who seems to live only in the virtual world of information called Air that everyone is connected to. Q seems child-like at first but grows in ability as she spends more time with Clair. They become friends. Clair also becomes friends with a Stainer boy named Jesse who has gone to school with her since they were young but who had always been an outsider. The story is filled with action as Clair is on the run trying to get away from numerous enemies. She doesn't know who she can trust. There are lots of hidden plots under the surface of Clair's previously perfect life. She has to do some major plotting and planning herself if she wants to save those she loves. I enjoyed this story and recommend it to fans of science fiction.
    • 5/5
      “The lucky jump was all the rage that year”, is how author Sean Williams starts his book. This is the first book of a trilogy. Readers are introduced to Clair and Libby. Libby is the risk taker and is all about going on adventures. Clair is a bit more reserved, but usually goes along with Libby’s plans. They travel all over the world by d-mat, which is a transporter. They can go to the South Pole and then end the evening in China. It’s through this d-mat system that they are looking for a party called a “crashlander ball”, which typically end up being all the rage. In addition to being transported through the d-mat system, most people wear lenses, which connect them to the Air (like the internet, but more advanced). After all this fun, the story starts to take a darker turn. The reader starts to learn about things like the Water Wars, every move is monitored by the government, a group called VIA monitors the d-mat system to make sure no one tampers with people’s patterns while they are transporting. There is a group called the Abstainers, who refuse to use the d-mat system because they don’t believe that once your molecules are disassembled, that they can be put back together exactly the same way. Clair has always considered them to be extremists, but now she is rethinking her viewpoint after a series of strange events in the d-mat. Libby wanted to be “improved” which is highly illegal and something that Clair though was even possible. One by one, people start to die. Soon Clair is on the run from VIA with her new abstainer friend Jesse. There is also a mysterious “q” that starts communicating with Clair. Q knows a lot, but no one knows how or why; just that she has the potential to be a very valuable commodity.I chose this book because it is written by a male YA author. I am always on the lookout for books for teen boys. The cover does not quite reflect a gender neutral book, but I think the story will appeal to everyone. This is definitely a science fiction book. There is a lot of action, mystery, a little bit of romance. It really gets into looking at government corruption and how if someone gets too much power, bad things can happen in society. It explores the aspects of a transporter (for those Star Trek fans) and what happens if it is misused or if an accident happens. All the questions are actually good questions as we get closer to seeing this science fiction technology become reality. As a teacher, I found it especially interesting that students still attended a brick and mortar school. While all the information is available on the “air” you still need someone to facilitate instruction, explain things in person, have that interaction with your peers that is all part of our educational debate. This book will definitely become part of my high school library collection. I think it will engage students. It will be a great choice for a free read and can be put on science fiction, vacation reads and books for boys (and girls!) book displays.
    • 4/5
      This is a book about friendship and what you would do to save your friend. It alsois about instant travel and the consequences that could happen.
    • 2/5
      Twinmaker is a book about friendship and the main character Clair wants to do what is best for her friend Libby. She and Libby have been good friends for a long time, but after Libby uses some machine to make herself pretty she starts acting strange. With the help of some friends it's up to Clair to try to help Libby return to her normal self. To be honest, I didn't even finish this book. I got a little less than halfway through before I became bored and just started skimming. When I read a book there are three things I like to look at, the characters, the plot, and the action, or in other words how did this book draw me in, was it interesting? The characters were so so for me. I didn't connect with any of them. Then the plot I just wasn't understanding. When I started the book, I found it confusing about all this new electronic stuff. Some of it was explained as the book progressed, but most of it I could never get a good mental picture of. I thought I could stand it, and just read and it would eventually make sense but it never did, and after awhile I just got bored and confused. So I decided to start skimming. Even after skimming I'm not entirely certain how this book ended. Finally, did this book interest me? Well from reading the above you can probably answer that for yourself. Maybe Twinmaker would have been better if I had kept reading but I don't think so. I just found it confusing and boring, and I didn't like the plot. Also it's hard cheering for characters that you don't even really care about. Still, Twinmaker does have a good message about friendship. So all isn't bad in this book, while I give the rest of it a thumbs down, the message the author is trying to give deserves a thumbs up.
    • 3/5
      Sean Williams has created a world not to far from now that shows possibilities and warnings of what could happen when technology advances too far. This for me felt like the recent Dave Eggers novel, but with a more sci fi feel to it.A few of the characters just didn't mesh well with the story, but the premise and worldbuilding does show promise.
    • 4/5
      I haven’t read good technologically oriented science fiction novel lately, but Sean Williams satisfied all my geeky and tech cravings with Twinmaker. I can only say: now this is how the future should be envisioned! - Built-in contact lenses that sound like better and improved cousin of Google Glass. - Instant teleportation around the world with d-mat booths. - Wireless energy transferred via satellites to all electronic devices. - You can create anything (except humans) with fabbers – so lack of food or money are problems in distant past.I loved all the tech stuff that Sean Williams predicts waits for us. And I liked the moral and philosophical dilemmas he implies using them will make: from the problem of do clones have souls to overflow of meaningless information."Buried in the Air under a mountain of irrelevant information, as all important things are. Nothing is hidden, and everything is ignored. The surveillance state doesn’t need violence to perpetrate injustice. All it needs is our indifference."Story of Twinmaker is told from the perspective of Clair. It was very interesting reading about how young adults have fun in the future. From Lucky jump via teleportation (instead of Google’s Get Lucky button) to impromptu parties. Even ridiculous inspirational chain letters still exist in the future. You know the kind: wish very hard and forward to x number of friends (I always hated them). So imagine Clair’s surprise when it works for her friend Libby .Clair’s inquisitive mind and worry for Libby force her to investigate the issue and the more her search lasts the deeper problems it reveals until the very foundations of the society are shaken. The chase was very intense in the beginning, but there was a time near the end when it went a little bit boring for me, maybe because the book is pretty long.With the surprising finish everything became captivating again. There is no big cliffhanger but with a lot of secrets out I am intrigued to find out which direction will society and government choose. And we have a sequel coming up in 2014 to answer those question. :)IN THE END…Twinmaker will be a treat for all gadget fans who love to read about moral dilemmas created by depending on technology too much. Or if you liked the fighting against the government in Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother, then you should definitely check out Twinmaker.Disclaimer: I was given a free eBook by the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for a honest review.
    • 5/5
      I received an advance promotional copy of Twinmaker so was lucky to be able to read it before it hit the bookstores.This story was full of suspense, technology and sci fi classic elements incorporated in a modern way which makes it feel modern and not like you are reading something that is out of date.This book to has a fine heroine in Clair who has to get tough and scrappy fast to try to understand what is happening to her friend Libby whose vanity has led her to try some risky "improvement" in the DMat booths which instantly transport users from one location to another (Dr Who?) and even fab their food and clothes for them.There is a small group of Abstainers from the DMat technological wonders (which makes me think of the Amish today) who Clair must contact in an effort to help solve the riddle of Libby and Improvement.There is lots of fun computer and internet innovations as well in the "near future" story. Meme's and trolls and an advanced web with a super character introduced who is simply called "q."All this adds spice to a fine action line and drama which kept me wondering what the heck was gonna happen next.This is a bit of a skim job review, the best thing to do is get the book and take the adventure yourself.I thought it was fun being a Californian to have many scenes in the Central Valley around Sacramento, Manteca and Yuba City as these are places I have been.
    • 4/5
      Twinmaker is a high action science fiction that kept me guessing. I was pretty confused at the beginning, but the mystery sucked me in despite not really understanding the technology and terminology. I figured it out pretty much as I went along, I just didn't get what exactly led society to these measures, and while there seemed to be science behind most of it, I didn't really get the hows and whys. Never the less, I still enjoyed and I liked the characters, and wanted to know what would happen to them. Clair was easy to like, she was concerned about others, and really wanted things to change in a positive way. She of course, got herself into a lot of situations, but I appreciated how she responded with courage, but also with humanity. She kept others, feelings, and morals in her head, but still did what she had to do to help her friend. The twists in this one were good, and a few of the things even with the build up took me completely by surprise. The secondary characters also made this one stand out for me. I really liked Jesse, the "freak" mentioned in the synopsis, and Q was absolutely amazing. She was a source of strength and friendship that I never saw coming. One aspect that I didn't like was the cheating and betrayal. But then again, it was handled in a way that I could respect. Things happened in the heat of the moment, and it wasn't kept hidden. I just didn't really understand where the feelings where coming from, and why they had to be there. Couldn't it have still been the same story without the mentioned love interest belonging to another person at the beginning? I dunno. But I guess that it was a source of character development and she really showed remorse with it, and it never sat right with her, the feelings in the first place, so that makes a difference too. I was surprised at some of the philosophical questions that were raised from some of the things going on in society and the reasons behind some of the resistance to using it. Most had powerful reasons not to and had been hurt or lost people that led them in their distrust and breaking away from the new norm of society. It was neat though how it took different forms, and how some of the groups banned together for the good cause. The ending wrapped some things up and then with the others it just left me hanging. It was long and I can understand why that was the stopping point, but still. Bottom Line: Fast paced, and action filled.