Looking for a Book: Brain Implants

[cris]

Hi everyone, hope someone here can help. I read a book as a child (maybe 1991 or 1992). I can remember very little of it but I will give all the details I can. Based on when I read it it can't have been published (first time round) after 1993.

It was science fiction, possibly aimed at young adults/children but I am not sure. I recall one or more of the main characters where young and that they like all the population received implants (seem to recall they may have had some sort on interface, which received 'chips' - could be wrong) that gave them knowledge and abilities. Some member of society could not handle as many implants (or more advanced implants) as others which created different level of society.

I've read books / seen films with similar ideas but none of them match my memory of this one book, so it could be obscure..? I remember very little else for certain so I am not holding out much hope that someone can point me in the right direction I would however love to know the name of this book, so if anyone can help I'd be very grateful!

Thanks!

 

[Metryq]

Perhaps it is The Lost Memory, one of three books written by Junichi Fujisaku as part of the Ghost in the Shell series.

(Ghost in the Shell began as a serialized manga in the late 1980s. Director Mamoru Oshii created the first screen adaptation in 1995 as a feature film—highly recommended. The televised series Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex followed. Fujisaku was a writer for GitS: SAC.)

In this near-future world, most people receive a cyberbrain implant. This device serves the same kind of functions as a smartphone: telephone-like calls, Web surfing, "augmented reality" data (such as data superimposed within one's vision), and a variety of other functions. There is a small segment of society congenitally incompatible with cyberbrains. The Lost Memory features one such teenager who is finally augmented with a new type of cyberbrain. He is late in learning how to use a cyberbrain, and his naivete leads him into trouble.

Motoko Kusanagi, the central figure in the GitS series, leads Section 9, a tactical group dealing with cyber crimes. Not only is she an expert cyberbrain user, her entire body is synthetic, as well.

I enjoyed Fujisaku's books very much.

 

[cris]

Hi,

Thanks for the reply Metryq. Tt's not the lost memory though (published too late) and I know that series myself, very good it is!

Just wish I could remember more details of the book I read!

Thanks.

 

[jemurdoch4]

Hi Cris,

I have been looking for the title of a similar sounding book and I came across your post.

I also read a book when i was young, however it was probably late 90's early 2000's.

It was about a protagonist on a planet that wasn't earth. He was essentially an outcast, and grew up in a colony or a low level of society, cant remember. I think he moved to the city to better his station in life, and ended up as a microchip / nanotech thief or something (once again I cant really remember very much!). The classes of society were essentially based on how much money you had and as a result the quality of the brain implant you could afford, and they were defined as alphas, beta's, gamma's, etc. The chips increased the individuals knowledge and there abilities, I think! I remmeber it as being a cross between maybe Dune and Blade Runner, but set in a parallel universe...?? Does that sound similar?

Anyway, I cant remember what the name of the book is, I have been looking for a long long time and haven't had any luck.

Do you think we are looking for the same book and if so have you had any luck finding the name?

Cheers.

 

[Metryq]

The following are probably not the story you seek, but similar concepts can be found in:

"Profession"—A short story by Isaac Asimov where children are routinely analyzed by a special machine every few years to determine the best careers for them. They are then "imprinted" by a teaching machine with the necessary knowledge for the chosen career. And on "Olympics Day" the graduates compete for the best jobs in the off-world colonies. The story opens with one misfit in an institution for the feeble-minded who cannot be imprinted. He rejects his station in life and runs away in rebellion. In his travels he finally learns the truth.

The Multiplex Man—This novel by James P. Hogan is centered around a military project to imprint top-notch skills from one man to another, like copying data from one computer volume to another. The novel follows one man who has been imprinted with entire personalities, layered one upon the other. Along the way, he learns the dark secret behind how he became the multiplex man.

Helm by Steven Gould. There is great turmoil on Earth when a colony ship is launched to the stars. Skills and knowledge are sent along with a controversial "training" device known as the helm, and one member of the budding colony unexpectedly discovers certain knowledge before he has been properly prepared for it.

Then, of course, there are movies and TV shows like The Matrix and Dollhouse.

 

[djd1971]

I have also read, and am looking for the name of, a similar book.

The story was set on a far away planet and to get there, "Pilots" had to navigate through hyperspace to get there. on this planet, there were native inhabitants who had access to an equivelant of the internet through their mind and other people could have implants to enable them to access a subset of what was available.

The story revolved around the mother of an earth man (tetsui was possibly his name ??) who traveled to the planet and met a native called (cynthia ??). another character (rafaelle ??) was the bad guy and he'd been mixing the technology to improve it. for safety reasons, the implants allowed were 2, but he'd exceeded the boundaries and had successfully merged implants with his mind and many other minds, hundreds of others. in the plot of trying to find her son, the mother accidently uncovers rafaelle, but not before rafaelle had executed some "programming language code" to absorb cynthia's brain, killing her. in the end, the mother undergoes the implant process, rafaelle tries to absorb her, she "nominates" rafaelle as her next of kin, therefore any damage to her also kills him. the pilots intervene and shut down the network before she dies but rafaelle himself dies.

the book, i think, was a one word title that began with Y.

was this the one you were after ? it's certainly the one i'm after.

regards
dave

 

[TheDustyZebra]

The original poster could be searching for the Cyteen series by CJ Cherryh, as could the second poster. The main characters are young, and some of them are azi, who do tape-learning for their jobs/lives/everything. The tape they can take is determined by their classification -- Alphas are the most intelligent, most social, with the most leeway in their interactions; Betas less so, on down through at least Gamma, who are the rote workers with jobs that they don't have to think about, and are least socialized. When an azi gets upset by something, or needs to learn something new, he gets new tape for it. The tape is a brain programming thing.

 

[Parson]

DZ --- Brilliant! I think you are on to it. If Cyteen is not what they are looking for they probably should read it anyway. The one misnomer out there is that Cyteen is for kids. I was corresponding with Cheeryh several years ago and I remember her telling the story of running after a mother who was getting Cyteen for her preteen telling her that it was not designed for small children to read.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

Oh, heavens, no -- I recommended it for younger gifted children on my other board, until somebody pointed out the load of inappropriateness for the age group, regardless of their reading skills. My kids won't get that one for quite a few years! I do tend to forget about some of the content in books.

 

[jaymes]

I have also read, and am looking for the name of, a similar book.

The story was set on a far away planet and to get there, "Pilots" had to navigate through hyperspace to get there. on this planet, there were native inhabitants who had access to an equivelant of the internet through their mind and other people could have implants to enable them to access a subset of what was available.

The story revolved around the mother of an earth man (tetsui was possibly his name ??) who traveled to the planet and met a native called (cynthia ??). another character (rafaelle ??) was the bad guy and he'd been mixing the technology to improve it. for safety reasons, the implants allowed were 2, but he'd exceeded the boundaries and had successfully merged implants with his mind and many other minds, hundreds of others.

Hi Dave, I believe that book is "To Hold Infinity" by John Meany. I was looking for it as well (using far less information than you) using both this site and the scifi stackexchange. My post count here is too low to post links, but my stackexchange question was 21298 identify-book-where-murdering-antagonist-uses-ftl-communication-to-bypass-3-impl

 

[djd1971]

YES!!! that's the one. just looked at amazon and the cover is exactly what i remember.

Thanks Jaymes

 

[Tonycondy]

Hey Chris I think I might be able to help. I read a very similar Nobel called “feed” the main character is called Titus and they go to the moon. A memorable part from the book is when they go to the moon and a group of people are protesting the chip chanting “chip in my head might as well be dead” hope this helped!

 

[PaulMmn]

There was a story in Analog magazine years back. People got the implants, and tended to store their lives on the implant, rather than in brain tissue. Story included someone who hadn't backed up the implant, and lost everything-- including their personality, skills, etc.

 

[Adurward]

Hey Chris I think I might be able to help. I read a very similar Nobel called “feed” the main character is called Titus and they go to the moon. A memorable part from the book is when they go to the moon and a group of people are protesting the chip chanting “chip in my head might as well be dead” hope this helped!

Thank you so much for this comment! I have been trying to remember what this book was called for 10+ years.