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If confessions were good for the soul then
I'd be a Catholic. As I'm not and just plain honest, I'll confess
here and now: The main reason I bought this book was because of
the Jim Burns cover.
Having seen the reproduction on the cover and in 'Transluminal'
plus Burns' tendency to base his painting on the book's content, I was curious
to see who was the oriental lady with the tasselled belt. I've had this book several
months now and just waiting for a gap in my review schedule to fit it in.
So, what have we got? The oriental lady on the cover is biologist
Yoshiko Sunadomari. A renown practically a pensioner - but youngish
due to her health treatment - aged mother and widow, who has left
Earth to visit Fulgar to assist in the seeking of her kidnapped
son, Tetsuo.
 He,
in turn, wins the trust of his kidnappers, the Shadow People, as
they seek to find out that one of the Luculentus, people who've
been cybernetically enhanced to communicate across computer networks,
is taking over the system.
Yoshiko finds her involvement has to cover more
than finding her son but also beating this menace as she examines this society.
For a first novel, Meaney has certainly taken the bull by the horns here.
One could classify this book as 'CyberTech' mainly cos of the number of times
computer jargon is incorporated as its users open up various surveillance modules
littered throughout. s little here other than a connection to the
ubiquitous space pilots who owe more to her dead husband than to her.
Towards
the end of the book, the pace moves rather too fast. Having spent so long in building
up to the final confrontation, it's almost as though author Meaney realising the
novel has gone on for too long is eager to bring it to a finale. Indeed, the villain
of the piece isn't even seen for a greater part of the book after being introduced.
Surely someone who is supposed to be having such an impact on everyone's
lives would be doing a lot more than just manipulating the odd personality to
suit his own ends. Not seeing much of his motivations over than a greed for power
doesn't really help understand the character and makes him more cut-out than formidable.
Using the novice Yoshiko as the means to his downfall when there are undoubtedly
more experienced Luculentus around doesn't help neither.
Undoubtedly,
there is some hidden metaphor here and probably worth spending a week of your
time reading but a lot more could have been done in raising this novel to a more
classic proportion.
GF Willmetts |
