Beggars and Choosers

Whelp, we have black characters this book, POV characters no lessm and they are Livers. Speaking in broken english. It wouldn't matter so much if the author wasn't trying to make such a broad, sweeping statement. In light of her heavy handed 'lesson' it just feels like a slight, inspired by antiblackness. Yikes.
Plus we have Lizzie Francy in the 'magical' black trope. Sigh. Yawn. Barf.
I agree with Drew, Miranda had no right.
I find Miri's solution a cop out. She has no right to change people without asking. That's a violation of other people's autonomy.
Also her solution isn't a solution. The problem is income inequality. Now folks won't starve, but they also aren't being made equal citizens to Donkeys, Sleepless or Super Sleepless.
Why show more not erase wealth? Rather than alter humans, erase the system and structure that makes society unequal. This felt like Miri didn't want to feel guilty about her obscene wealth while others starved. So now that no one can starve, she can enjoy her mobey hoarding in peace.
It's a fail for me.
This author really has nothing to say or teach. She just keeps beating a dead horse and her bigotry and ignorance of the way government, capitalism, wealth and people actually function just makes her observation irrelevant and ridiculous. show less

Such variety in trilogies, especially with the middle book. In some the first book is by far the most dynamic and the next two seem to more or less just play out the plot that was set in it, logically and sometimes even a bit tediously. (Most noticeable with YA fiction.) In others, the first book is so complex that just setting up the premise absorbs most of it for the writer, and ditto, getting used to the complexities of the premise is the main task of the reader. Then book 2 can take off - that's how this second book feels to me. Kress's writing style is still a bit uneven somehow, but the three main characters, one held over (Drew) and two new, Diana and Billy, are fully realized and absorbing. The idea that drives the series is show more that gene modification once started cannot be stopped - it will proceed, in a Darwinian fashion, to some (in hindsight) inevitable outcome. The lowest level or 'Livers' - are people with no gene-mod and they have become utterly dependent on the good will of the next level up. The donkeys, gene-mod people, who still sleep, but who had various modifications making them more attractive, healthy and smart. It is their job to run everything, and they do it well and conscientiously. Then the Sleepless, highly intelligent gene-modified people are created who don't sleep, then the Super-Sleepless, created by the Sleepless - who think abstractly the way we breathe..... and they..... why they take the gene modification idea to another level...... But there are anomalies, a Lucid Dreamer who seems to have some of the conceptual abilities of the Supers, and throw-backs, a Liver who is born utterly brilliant.... and a Donkey who has a truly questioning and open mind and throws in her lot with a group of Livers.... There is scheming and counter-scheming - the overall 'plot' is quite complex - so if you are not interested in thinking it out, you won't like the books. But Kress is tackling a big issue with lots of energy and twists and turns, real 'what if' sf, so no complaints from me. ****

Seeing other reviews here, I guess there is a wide spectrum of response! The main thing to note is that this is book two of three - the next being Beggars Ride. show less

This book picks up about a decade after the end of BEGGARS IN SPAIN and mainly follows the path of the Super Sleepless on Earth, specifically Miranda Sharifi, the brilliant granddaughter of Leisha's nemesis from the first novel. American society has become more stratified than before, where the wealthy working class called "Donkeys" literally buy votes by providing bread and circuses for a large uneducated welfare population called "Livers". Of particular interest is the character of Drew Arlen, a young Liver who wants to raise himself above his birth and be on par with the Super Sleepless. Drew becomes involved with Miranda's plots within plots to remake society as she sees fit.

This is the second book in the Sleepless Trilogy. It has been a long time since I read Beggars in Spain, the first book, so I struggled to remember the finer points of the society posited by Nancy Kress. However, she actually did a pretty good job of reminding readers of the salient details. I listened to this book which was narrated by a number of people which I thought nicely delineated the different characters.
The majority of the citizens in the US (called Livers) are supported by the genetically modified elite (called Donkeys). The Livers vote for Donkey individuals who then must provide food, shelter, clothing, health care and entertainment. Presumably they also gain wealth by being in these elected positions. Then there are the show more Sleepless, genetically modified people who do not need to sleep and use the extra time in the day the rest devote to sleeping to research and plot. The Sleepless, lead by Miranda Sharifi, have developed a new nanotechnology called the Cell Cleaner which would enter a human body and clean up anything that didn't belong there. The Sleepless are denied a license to further test this technology and Miranda disappears. She is followed by Diana Covington show less

From my blog http://www.onstarshipsanddragonwings.com/

Beggars and Choosers by Nancy Kress is a stand along sequel to Beggars in Spain; the books have a classic sci-fi feel with multiple view points and heavy amounts of scientifically inspired plot developments in a futuristic world
After reading Beggars in Spain I had to get my hands on the second book because the first was so awesome. It took me a little bit longer to get to it than I’d hoped since I was trying to finish other books, and it took a bit longer to get through than Beggars in Spain, but over all I’m very glad I continued with Beggars and Choosers and will likely pick up the last in the trilogy soon!
Goodreads
Title: Beggars and Choosers
Author: Nancy Kress
Pages: 316 show more (hardcover)
Genre-ish: Classic Sci-fi, apocalyptic
Rating: ★★★★☆ - Compelling plot, just not quite as awesome as the first book
Setting: Beggars and Choosers is set in the 2100′s after the first book. Gene modification of everything from appearance to intelligence to unnatural limbs etc has created multiple classes of people, including Livers (the majority who live on very generous welfare and have no gene modifications), donkeys (the gene modified higher class who run everything) and Sleepless and SuperSleepless.
Premise: America has been relying on cheap energy patents to dominate the foreign energy market for decades, but as those patents run out, so does the money to support over half the population. At the same time a rebellion is stirring with violent tendency that is causing a break down of all American society. The only people smart enough (and caring enough) to save America from itself are the 27 SuperSleepless, who have had their intelligence so modified that most don’t consider them even close to human anymore.
Strengths:

Beggars and Choosers has a very interesting premise, especially in this time of economic uncertainty in the modern day. Thankfully we don’t have quite the problems they do ;-)
Kress has a very compelling writing style. In Beggars and Choosers there are several main characters who’s perspective the story is written from, and Kress conveys their dialects very well.
Wonderful character development along with the plot.
Weaknesses:

The story is just not quite as driving as it was in Beggars in Spain, even though the premise seems much more pressing when I think about it. For some reason I just didn’t feel quite as compelled to keep reading this time.
I didn’t connect very well with any of the characters :(. This might be a partial explanation for the previous point: if I don’t care about the characters, I care less about what happens to them.
I just really wish the plot had focused more on different characters, but maybe those characters (Miranda :D) will come back into the focus in the third book!
Summary:

Beggars and Choosers is an interesting and entertaining continuation of the Sleepless books, but it falls into the problem many sequels do: it just couldn’t rock out as much as the first ;-). If you loved Beggars in Spain as much as I did, you should definitely continue with Beggars and Choosers, just understand it struggles a little bit. Here’s hoping the third book (Beggars Ride) rocks out to a five star level again! show less

More reviews at: http://www.onstarshipsanddragonwings.com/2012/06/22/beggarsandchoosers/

Beggars and Choosers by Nancy Kress is a stand along sequel to Beggars in Spain; the books have a classic sci-fi feel with multiple view points and heavy amounts of scientifically inspired plot developments in a futuristic world
After reading Beggars in Spain I had to get my hands on the second book because the first was so awesome. It took me a little bit longer to get to it than I’d hoped since I was trying to finish other books, and it took a bit longer to get through than Beggars in Spain, but over all I’m very glad I continued with Beggars and Choosers and will likely pick up the last in the trilogy soon!

Title: Beggars and Choosers
Author: show more Nancy Kress
Pages: 316 (hardcover)
Genre-ish: Classic Sci-fi, apocalyptic
Rating: ★★★★☆ - Compelling plot, just not quite as awesome as the first book
Setting: Beggars and Choosers is set in the 2100′s after the first book. Gene modification of everything from appearance to intelligence to unnatural limbs etc has created multiple classes of people, including Livers (the majority who live on very generous welfare and have no gene modifications), donkeys (the gene modified higher class who run everything) and Sleepless and SuperSleepless.
Premise: America has been relying on cheap energy patents to dominate the foreign energy market for decades, but as those patents run out, so does the money to support over half the population. At the same time a rebellion is stirring with violent tendency that is causing a break down of all American society. The only people smart enough (and caring enough) to save America from itself are the 27 SuperSleepless, who have had their intelligence so modified that most don’t consider them even close to human anymore.
Strengths:

Beggars and Choosers has a very interesting premise, especially in this time of economic uncertainty in the modern day. Thankfully we don’t have quite the problems they do ;-)
Kress has a very compelling writing style. In Beggars and Choosers there are several main characters who’s perspective the story is written from, and Kress conveys their dialects very well.
Wonderful character development along with the plot.
Weaknesses:

The story is just not quite as driving as it was in Beggars in Spain, even though the premise seems much more pressing when I think about it. For some reason I just didn’t feel quite as compelled to keep reading this time.
I didn’t connect very well with any of the characters :(. This might be a partial explanation for the previous point: if I don’t care about the characters, I care less about what happens to them.
I just really wish the plot had focused more on different characters, but maybe those characters (Miranda :D) will come back into the focus in the third book!
Summary:

Beggars and Choosers is an interesting and entertaining continuation of the Sleepless books, but it falls into the problem many sequels do: it just couldn’t rock out as much as the first ;-). If you loved Beggars in Spain as much as I did, you should definitely continue with Beggars and Choosers, just understand it struggles a little bit. Here’s hoping the third book (Beggars Ride) rocks out to a five star level again! show less

Genetics has always been one of my favorite subjects to 'what if' about, and this is an amazing story about it. The end is a real kick, and the p.o.v.s the story is told from are incredible.