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The Reality Dysfunction, Part 1: Emergence
An ancient alien culture was annihilated eons ago. Humanity may be next.
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The Reality Dysfunction, Part 1: Emergence
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By Peter F. Hamilton
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Warner Aspect
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$5.99/$6.99 Canada
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Paperback, July 1997
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ISBN 0-446-60515-8
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Review by Susan Dunman
 n the distant future, humanity has successfully established itself
throughout the stars. The resulting confederation of planetary systems includes humans, aliens and almost anything in-between. Amazing bio-technology (bitek) advances have divided society into two camps -- the Edenists and the Adamists.
Edenists embrace bitek by developing sophisticated space habitats and starships that are conscious, living organisms. Genetic engineering gives Edenists a communal affinity bond, allowing telepathy with fellow Edenists, with bitek creations, and with a corporate mentality (into which an individual's awareness is transferred upon death). These activities are deemed un-human and heretical by Adamists, who espouse beliefs held by the traditional religions of Earth. Both groups maintain an uneasy truce as they traverse the universe together.
The Edentist habitat Tranquillity supports scientific study of an orbital ring whose debris consists of shattered alien habitats. Joshua Calvert is an Adamist who hopes to strike it rich by salvaging artifacts from the ancient culture. When he locates a large piece of circuitry with its memory cells intact, he comes to the attention of Ione, the ruler of Tranquillity, who is sworn to discover what caused the aliens' annihilation.
Light years away, Quinn Dexter arrives with a group of fellow criminals to begin a 10-year sentence of hard labor on the newly colonized world of Lalonde. An avowed Satanist, Quinn methodically plots to destroy the band of settlers his work crew is assigned to. Rape, torture and murder are all appropriate methods of retribution, but while claiming his revenge, Quinn unwittingly releases an unidentifiable energy force that threatens to destroy both criminals and colonists alike. Meanwhile, starships cruise the depths of space, encountering people and planets that may inadvertently influence the seemingly unrelated events on Tranquillity and Lalonde.
Bigger than life
Peter Hamilton has created a space opera that is big, boisterous, and has something for everyone. Techie types will appreciate this story, chock full of gadgetry and weaponry, while those with more analog tendencies will enjoy succinct social commentary as Hamilton introduces readers to a wide assortment of characters and cultures.
With an imagination as large as the universe portrayed, it's a delight to experience the future with this author. Things are not all rosy, however, and Hamilton thrives on depicting the dark as well as the light. Violence and mayhem are vividly portrayed, sometimes leaving the impression of a Stephen King novel rather than a science fiction thriller. Sexual encounters occur with a regularity that becomes monotonous. The protagonist, Joshua Calvert, may be a fine male specimen of the human species, but his habit of bedding down with every female he encounters does stretch the bounds of credibility, not to mention good taste.
That complaint aside, the plot moves at a fast clip, alternating between various scenarios. As the first of a two-part novel (that is itself part of a larger series), readers are left hanging at the end. This is not really a surprise, because after the first few chapters it becomes apparent that Hamilton's universe will not fit into a single volume. There are just too many heroes to love, villains to hate and worlds to explore. So hurry! Bring on volume two while there's still enough energy to create the necessary spatial distortion field for jumping and before neural nanoics overload prevents reception of required datavised coordinates!
A potent adventure that manages to be fun and scary at the same time. -- Susan
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Freeware
First it was soft, then it was wet, now it's free
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Freeware
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By Rudy Rucker
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Avon Books
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$23.00/$30.00 Canada
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Hardcover, May 1997
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ISBN 0-380-97509-2
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Review by Craig E. Engler
 onique is a moldie, a sort of organic robot consisting of imoplex (imoplex is soft plastic filled with mold, hence "moldie"). She works for Terri and Tre, surfer burnout hackers who own the Clearlight Terrace Court Motel in Santa Cruz. Monique thinks a new guest, Randy Karl Tucker, is a cheeseball, or a human who likes to have sex with moldies. Taking a cue from her mother, Monique decides to lead Randy on so she can stick a brain cap up his nose. The cap will let Monique control Randy so she can take all of his money and then have him kill himself. Like all moldies, Monique and her husband Xlotl need money to buy more imoplex so they can mate and reproduce.
This is the first time Monique has tried to stick a brain cap on a human, and, as luck would have it, Randy's ready for her. No stranger to the wily ways of moldies -- and quite the accomplished pervert himself -- Randy slaps a "superleech" on Monique, a dumbed-down imoplex device that will let him take control of any moldie. He quickly orders her to dive into the ocean (moldies can swim and fly) and join a mass of captive moldies that he and his cohorts are preparing to send to the moon.
The moon, of course, is home to the "loonies," the moldies that live on the moon. They're interested in a lot of things, one important one being Earth moldies and the second one being Decryption nodes. It's these nodes that are going to cause problems for everybody...
Good, but weird. Really weird.
This is the third novel in Rucker's "ware" series (the first two were Software and Wetware), and it is the best of an ... interesting ... lot. Newcomers to Rucker might have a hard time adjusting to his topic: self-aware robots in a wacky, self-aware future that serves as a playground for Rucker's somewhat undirected social commentary.
However, delving into Rucker's whirligig of weirdness is always more than worth the trouble. Although Freeware sounds more insane than substantial, the plot evinces a deceptive sophistication. Any one Ruckerism taken by itself -- semi-sentient dildoes, characters named Yoke and Joke, at least seven main characters, a conflict that shifts ground ceaselessly -- seems to be just an oddity. But blend them together as Rucker has and the result is a fascinating book where mysteries and secrets seem to unfold, only to fall back on themselves in more intriguing arrangements.
And even though the plot seems to rush forward pell mell, it does so across a fluid time line that bounces freely between the years 2031 and 2053. Miraculously, Rucker manages to tie everything together so that it all works seamlessly with the previous novels, even though readers need not have read the first two books to enjoy Freeware. This gives veteran Rucker fans a continuous timeline between books, but it also allows neophytes to jump in at any point.
All in all this is a solid, entertaining and well-crafted novel from a solid, entertaining and well-crafted writer.
"Wendy meat" has to be the coolest -- and most disgusting -- concept I've seen in a while. Cloned human flesh (Wendy's, of course) served as fast food...yum! -- Craig E.
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