• Nexus

  • Nexus, Book 1
  • By: Ramez Naam
  • Narrated by: Luke Daniels
  • Length: 13 hrs and 12 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (2,589 ratings)

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Nexus  By  cover art

Nexus

By: Ramez Naam
Narrated by: Luke Daniels
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Publisher's summary

"Nexus is the most brilliant hard SF thriller I’ve read in years. It’s smart, it’s gripping, and it describes a chilling reality that is all-too-plausible. Ramez Naam is a name to watch for." (Brenda Cooper, author of The Silver Ship and the Sea and The Creative Fire Mankind Gets an Upgrade)

In the near future, the nano-drug Nexus can link mind to mind. There are some who want to improve it. There are some who want to eradicate it. And there are others who just want to exploit it. When a young scientist is caught improving Nexus, he’s thrust over his head into a world of danger and international espionage, with far more at stake than anyone realizes.

©2012 Ramez Naam (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

What listeners say about Nexus

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1,282
  • 4 Stars
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  • 3 Stars
    319
  • 2 Stars
    74
  • 1 Stars
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Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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    1,399
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  • 2 Stars
    34
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    29
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1,176
  • 4 Stars
    718
  • 3 Stars
    310
  • 2 Stars
    84
  • 1 Stars
    61

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Super fun and thought provoking

Such a fresh take on the implications of nanotechnology. The whole series was an absolute pleasure to read. Reminds me of Daniel Suarez and Andreas Eschbach but with an entirely different point of view. I can't wait for nexus to come out irl!

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

More thrilling than thoughtful

This author of this book had one Big Idea (nanotech drugs that allow people to make mind-to-mind connections) and used that to build what is essentially a thriller. I think it would make a great movie, but for my reading taste, the book spent too much time describing violent confrontations between the good guys and the evil guys. To be fair, the violent scenes alternated with more thoughtful ones in which the characters chatted about whether technology is inherently good or evil, and some very nice nods to mindfulness and the universality of humanity. So I’m giving it 3 stars for effort. I liked it enough to finish it, but not enough to want to read the next installments in the series.

[I listened to this as an audio book narrated by Luke Daniels, who did an excellent job]

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Exciting "Page Turner"!

Have you listened to any of Luke Daniels’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Luke Daniels is my favorite narrator. I've found so many great books by going down his list of narrations.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes! I had a hard time putting it down.

Any additional comments?

This book was great! I never wanted to put it down and listened to it in less than a week. It feels real and the events towards the end of the book had me listening with my mouth agape. I can't wait to listen to the next book in the series.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

SciFi, Action, Great Story, Wild Imagination. WoW

Great science fiction with loads of nail biting action and fight scenes. Makes you wonder at the spectrum of the author's imagination. Loved it. Great Reader also. If you like science fiction with a wild but believable plot then don't miss it.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great book

This book was a fascinating read a quickly froze you into the story. It makes you care deeply about what happens to the characters. This title has sucked me into the whole series.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

A bridge to Cyberpunk/Shadowrun

The future predictions of sci-fi and life in its future iteration has been properly revised. An excellent easy to follow combination of tech and the human mind.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

LSD on steroids?

The ultimate psychedelic, and a Draconian US govt interferes in the worst ways. Where have I heard this one before? Everyday reality (for the most part). Good action, I guess, but ugly "collateral damage". Average narration. Glad it was free.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great story...great series

I listened to the entire series. Wow! The story was riveting with a great sci-fi premise. Luke Daniels narrated the first two books, which was marvelous. The last book, Apex, had a new narrator. Same great story, not so great narrator.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Keep your wokeism to yourself

You write good science fiction. Stick to that. Keep your woke proselytizing to yourself pal.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Intimate connections

Nexus by Ramez Naam is a nonstop sci-fi thriller. The main character is a graduate student, Lane, skirting the edge and the law by upgrading Nexus 3 to Nexus 5 (#4 was a bust). Nexus is a nanotech drug that establishes nodes within the brain that permit direct connections with other nexus brains. Unfortunately, the world has outlawed this technology and the group gets caught by and extreme cabal within DHS - ERD. They force Lane to spy on a Chinese national suspected of also dabbling with Nexus. Along with an undercover ERD agent, they run into criminal Nexus drug dealers as well as Thai monks, all interested in his technology. Eventually, US forces are sent in to get them out, but not before Lane manages to upload the Nexus 5 instruction files to the internet. He narrowly escapes an assassination attempt and begins to plan his response for the sequel.

Naam offers a scientifically coherent vision of nanotechnology augmenting brain function with extensive discussions on the pros and cons on the impacts for society. There's a smattering of other similar types of technology including re-growing limbs with non-human DNA, human cloning, as well as uploading consciousness to an in-silico world that digresses to semantics over human versus post-human.

The narration is well done, especially given the multiple ethnic accents with excellent character distinction. Pacing is brisk and the tale moves quickly.

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