History Literature / TheNexusSeries

It's the year 2040, and one of the newest drugs on the street is Nexus 3, a concoction of nanomachines that temporarily creates a brain machine interface (BMI) for the user that allows them to run software on their own brain. Kaden "Kade" Lane and his friends figure out how to make the effect permanent with Nexus 5, and are just starting to figure out how far they can go with the new BMI when Samantha Cataranes, an agent for the newly established Emerging Risks Directorate, bust him and his friends for drug distribution. However, the ERD is willing to cut a deal with Kade. If he goes over to Thailand and meets with celebrated neuroscientist Su-Yong Shu (whom the ERD suspects is developing mind controlling technology and clones for the Chinese), then Kade's friends won't spend the rest of their lives in jail.

Things of course become a bit more complicated then that...

Written by Ramez Naam, author of "More Than Human: Embracing the Promise of Biological Enhancement" and "The Infinite Resource: The Power of Ideas on a Finite Planet", the Nexus Series delves head first into transhumanism as seen in a possible future based on the emerging technology and political climate of the 21st century. Naam does his best to stick to technologies that can logically be progressed from current studies in Bio-Engineering, and includes a follow-up in both "Nexus" its sequel "Crux" that describes the experiments that he used as his basis.

* AMindIsATerribleThingToRead: When two people are linked up with Nexus and one of them is killed, the survivor can feel the pain and fear of the dying partner. [[spoiler: Sam finds this out the hard way when a building full of civilians gets shot up by ERD crossfire and she feels every death.]]
* AnyoneCanDie: Up to the second book, a ''very'' small number of key characters seem to get out of every hairy situation alive - though not always unscathed - through the powers of plot. Everybody else - and this includes complex characters the author's spent half the book developing - is definitely not safe. Some of them don't even get dramatic deaths; they're there one second, and the next they've [[spoiler:succumbed to a burst from a mind-controlled ally, or committed suicide in complete loneliness]].
* ArcWords: In "Crux"- "Are you wiser than all of Humanity?"
* AwesomeButImpractical: The "Bruce Lee" program that Rangan gives Kade uses a VR fighting game's algorithm to take over the body's motor controls and fight for you. While incredibly cool, it just doesn't match up to those opponents trained in combat with better exercise programs than the spindly Kade, who promptly gets his ass handed to him. At one point he even complains "when has this software ever worked?!". [[spoiler: it does let him save Sam in the first book and foil Shiva's plot in the second - but even when it does work Kade always ends up beaten to a pulp.]]

* BothSidesHaveAPoint- Between those advocating transhuman technologies and those fighting them, we get to see the horrors committed by both sides. Kade in particular has to learn that there isn't a simple answer to the conflict.

* FantasticDrug: The titular Nexus, specifically Nexus 3 as classified by the US government. It's really ingestible nanomachines that bind to the neurons in the brain and allow the body to temporarily run software. Nexus 5, permanently binds the nanomachines.

* GameChanger: Nexus 5 permanently allows people to make direct mind-to-mind communication. This technology has the potential to disrupt the World Order if it ever makes it to the internet. [[spoiler: It does at the end of Crux, after a 31-hour battle with the NSA to contain it.]]
* GovernmentAgencyOfFiction: The ERD (Emerging Risks Directorate)- Basically an offshoot of the DHS created to fight Transhumanist technology and make the CIA look restrained in comparison.
* GreyAndGrayMorality
* InvisibilityCloak: Chameleonware

* NoTranshumanismAllowed: In the USA and Europe transhumanism is swiftly forbidden for fears it'll destroy the social order and upset the layers of control, and only exists as an illegal underground - though one rapidly spreading beyond the government's ability to control it. Eastern cultures, on the other hand, jump on the technology with enthusiasm at every level of society, and China is indeed the first to [[spoiler:merge it with artificial intelligence]].
* PreventTheWar: [[spoiler:Kade's main goal in both books is to prevent a war between Humans and Posthumans.]]

* TechnoBabble: Wonderfully averted, as Ramez does his best to base all the Science in the books on existing conventions and advances. He even provides a section in each book explain current studies and experiments in the realm of brain-computer interface and genetic engineering.
* {{Transhuman}}
* TranshumanTreachery: One of the fears that led to the creation of the ERD.

* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: We learn in "Nexus" that the US bill of rights does not cover those who have taken Nexus, as the constitution only applies to Humans. Transhumans and Posthumans effectively have no rights and can be arrested and tortured with impunity.

* AmnesiaDanger - When Sam [[spoiler:and later Kade]] use the alternative memories as a cover, they tend to get into situations they really shouldn't, because the cover-personalities don't know there's any danger at all.
* BoxedCrook: Kade is basically blackmailed into acting as a mole for the ERD to investigate Shu in Thailand. [[spoiler:Unfortunately things get a bit more complicated once the ERD alters the deal.]]
* TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive: Kade is effectively blackmailed into joining a spy mission after the ERD busts a rave where dozens of people were using Nexus that he and his fellow hackers provided. If he doesn't cooperate, [[MyGreatestFailure all those people go to jail.]]
* CantStopTheSignal: [[spoiler:During the finale, Kade releases Nexus 5 onto the internet for anyone to develop as a last request to Wats and after finally realizing that humanity deserves the chance to find its own way.]]

* TheInfiltration
* InvisiblePresident: [[spoiler:While Excerpts from the President's speeches appear as flavor between chapters, President Stockton does not appear as a character until Crux.]]
* LensmanArmsRace: Referenced when [[spoiler:Ted's bodyguards have vaccines against the ERD's tranquilizer rounds, forcing them to go to Live Rounds with civilians present.]]

* StormingTheCastle: [[spoiler:Inverted- the ERD storms the temple that Kade and Sam are hiding at in the finale. It becomes a debacle that effectively gets Warrent Becker killed.]]

* ArmorPiercingQuestion: [[spoiler:Are you wiser than all of Humanity, Kade?]]
* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: Hinted at being the natural extension of millions of people running Nexus and learning to act as a single mind.
* BioluminescenceIsCool: (Kade and Feng get Bioluminescent tattoos when they're undercover)

* BrainUploading: Su-Yong Shu underwent an experimental uploading process after an accident, and is now confined to an isolated computer system designed to hold posthuman intelligences. [[spoiler:She escapes at the end of the book.]]

* CorruptPolitician: Several characters on the ERD's side are terrified of Special Adviser Maximilian Barnes for the things it's been rumored he's done. [[spoiler:This is justified when it's revealed that Barnes has orchestrated several [[FalseFlagOperation fake transhuman terrorist attacks]] to drum up favor for candidates running on [[NoTranshumanismAllowed Anti-Transhuman Technology Platforms]]. He kills [[ReluctantMadScientist Dr. Holtzmann]] for [[HeKnowsTooMuch figuring this out]].]]

* EvilCounterpart: Kade realizes near the end of Crux that [[spoiler: Shiva]] is what Kade is turning into. Namely, [[spoiler:a WellIntentionedExtremist with overwhelming power over his fellow man.]]
* ExplosiveLeash: One of Shiva's mooks kills himself when [[spoiler:Sam]] is interrogating him. It's implied it was not his choice.
* FalseFlagOperation: [[spoiler:Maxamillian Barnes created the Posthuman Liberation Front in order to drive up anti-transhumanist sentiment. It's just that they want to choose their own missions now...]]
* GlobalWarming: Shiva wants to [[spoiler:use the Nexus hive mind]] to start fixing the earth immediately.
* GrandTheftMe: Temporarily, all over the place, courtesy of Kade and anyone with coercion software. [[spoiler:Done by Su-Yong Shu to her daughter at the end of the book, overwriting Ling's consciousness to escape in her body.]]

* RaceAgainstTheClock: Kade is trying to stop [[spoiler:the PLF from setting off a bomb at a anti-transhumanism rally. He fails.]]

* {{Tykebomb}}: Ling, Su-Yong Shu's daughter, was cloned from her mother, genetically engineered, and born equipped with Nexus. Among other advantages, this gives her immense intuitive power over computer networks, allowing her to black out half of Shanghai when she throws a tantrum. [[spoiler:It also makes her the perfect vessel for her mother's uploaded consciousness, which allows Su-Yong Shu to escape at the end of the book.]]
* SuperHumanTrafficking: The kidnapping of the Nexus integrated autistic children for testing [[spoiler:and later torture.]]

[[spoiler:TheHeroDies: Kate ultimately sacrifices himself to bring Su-Yong back to sanity.]]

* ClimateChange: Shiva wants to [[spoiler:use the Nexus hive mind]] to start fixing the earth immediately.

* ViewersAreGeniuses: It's not necessary to be versed in neuroscience prior to jumping in, but it does help during the first descriptions of what Nexus is doing.
** While the author does a good job of explaining a lot of the computer speak and doesn't get ''too'' specific, anyone who's ever, say, reflashed and rooted a mobile device, or used the Linux terminal, is bound to understand some scenes better than someone who hasn't.
* TechnoBabble: Wonderfully averted, as Ramez does his best to base all the Science in the books on existing conventions and advances. He even provides a section in each book explain current studies and experiments in the realm of brain-computer interface and genetic engineering.

* [PreventTheWar: [[spoiler:Kade's main goal in both books is to prevent a war between Humans and Posthumans.]]

* [[spoiler: BittersweetEnding: None of the three books end well for everyone.]]

* BrainComputerInterface: Anyone running Nexus.

* [[spoiler:PreventTheWar: Kade's main goal in both books is to prevent a war between Humans and Posthumans.]]

* [[spoiler:CantStopTheSignal: During the finale, Kade releases Nexus 5 onto the internet for anyone to develop as a last request to Wats and after finally realizing that humanity deserves the chance to find its own way.]]

* [[spoiler:InvisiblePresident: While Excerpts from the President's speeches appear as flavor between chapters, President Stockton does not appear as a character until Crux.]]

* [[spoiler:PeoplePuppets: One of the coercive uses of the Nexus 5 software is to paralyze someone else. Narong is used by the ERD as a weapon against Ted.]]

* [[spoiler:UnwantedRescue: The Climax includes the ERD sending in a team to the Monk's temple in order to extract Sam and Kade.]]

* [[spoiler:FalseFlagOperation: Maxamillian Barnes created the Posthuman Liberation Front in order to drive up anti-transhumanist sentiment. It's just that they want to choose their own missions now...]]
* GlobalWarming: Shiva wants to [[spoiler:use the Nexus hive mind]] to start fixing the earth immediately.

* Tykebomb: Ling, Su-Yong Shu's daughter, was cloned from her mother, genetically engineered, and born equipped with Nexus. Among other advantages, this gives her immense intuitive power over computer networks, allowing her to black out half of Shanghai when she throws a tantrum. [[spoiler:It also makes her the perfect vessel for her mother's uploaded consciousness, which allows Su-Yong Shu to escape at the end of the book.]]

* StormingTheCastle: [[spoiler:Inverted- the ERD storms the temple that Kade and Sam are hiding at in the fianlle. It becomes a debacle that effectively gets Warrent Becker killed.]]
* TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive: Kade is effectively blackmailed into joining a spy mission after the ERD busts a rave where dozens of people were using Nexus that he and his fellow hackers provided. If he doesn't cooperate, [[MyGreatestFailure all those people go to jail.]]
* TheInfiltration
* [[spoiler:UnwantedRescue: The Climax includes ERD sending in a team the Monk's temple in order to extract Sam and Kade.]]
* WhyAmITicking: mooks are commonly implanted by their bosses with all sorts of exploding implants, usually without their knowledge or approval. Dispatching them can have explosive effects, as Sam finds out.

It's the year 2040, and one of the newest drugs on the street is Nexus 3, a concoction of nanomachines that temporarily creates a brain machine interface (BMI) for the user that allows them to run software on their own brain. Kaden "Kade" Lane and his friends figure out how to make the effect permanent with Nexus 5, and are just starting to figure out how far they can go with the new BMI when Samantha Cataranes, an agent for the newly established Emerging Risks Directorate, bust him and his friends for drug distribution. However, the ERD is willing to cut a deal with Kade. If he goes over to Thailand and meets with celebrated neuroscientist Su-Yong Shu (who the ERD suspects is developing mind controlling technology and clones for the Chinese), then Kade's friends won't spend the rest of their lives in jail.

Written by Ramez Naam, Author of "More Than Human: Embracing the Promise of Biological Enhancement" and "The Infinite Resource: The Power of Ideas on a Finite Planet", the Nexus Series delves head first into transhumanism as seen in a possible future based on the emerging technology and political climate of the 21st century. Naam does his best to stick to technologies that can logically be progressed from current studies in Bio-Engineering, and includes a follow-up in both "Nexus" it's sequel "Crux" that describes the experiments that he used as his basis.

* DynamicEntry: The Narrative plays with multiple viespoints, so we often see a character being interrupted by something bursting through the ceiling, and then switching to another character as ''he is bursting through the ceiling''.
* FantasticDrug: The titular Nexus, specificully Nexus 3 as classified by the US governement. It's really ingestible nanomachines that bind to the neurons in the brain and allow the body to temporarilly run software. Nexus 5, permanently binds the nanomachines.

* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: We learn in "Nexus" that the US bill of rights does not cover those who have taken Nexus, as the constitution only applies to Humans. Transhumans and Posthumans efectively have no rights and can be arrested and tortured with impunity.

* BodySurf: Kade uses his backdoor to do this to people using coercion hacks, the hypocrisy is not lost on him and becomes a recurring issue in the book.

* NoTranshumanismAllowed: ( at least in the USA and Europe, not so much in the east )