“Counting Heads,” by David Marusek (Tor, 336 pages, $24.95)
David Marusek’s first novel is a wildly inventive story of a future dependent on clones and artificial intelligence. The Boutique Economy provides the wonders of nanotechnology and life extension for an overpopulated world.
Samson Harter has had a successful career as an artist and designer. He looks forward to a new direction after marrying the powerful Eleanor Starke and winning the rare opportunity to have a child. After the terrorist attacks known as the Outrage, homesec guards against biological invasion with slugs that take samples from people to analyze. Samson is identified as a danger, and although he is cleared, his body is first taken apart and put back together. He will no longer have the longevity he had before, and it leaves him with a smell no one can tolerate.
Decades later, his former wife has started a project to colonize other planets. After she dies in a plane crash, her daughter’s cryogenically preserved head survives and is the prize sought by those rushing in to take over the corporation.
Samson lives with a struggling extended family. The remnants of Samson’s former wealth is the family’s main income. The only one with a job is Bogdan, who takes treatments to stay prepubescent. Samson is near death and wants to go out with a big statement about injustice done to him.
The new underclass is the clones. Fred Londenstane is a russ clone based on the loyal secret service agent who gave his life to prevent an assassination. His wife is an evangeline who is hired as one of the companions for the rescued head.
“Counting Heads” is thick with invention and has an action-filled plot, but Marusek shines in filling it with well-rounded characters.
“Learning the World,” by Ken MacLeod (Tor, 303 pages, $24.95)
It’s very exciting for a new generation on the starship “But the Sky, My Lady! The Sky!” when they reach a planet system they name Destiny that looks suitable for settlement. It’s a big disappointment when it proves to be inhabited.
The story alternates between the two worlds. On the starship Atomic Discourse, Gale starts writing her biolog when she is 14. When images come back from the planet, she finds the bat people horrible.
Among the batlike inhabitants of the planet are two scientists, Otto and Darvin, who observe an anomaly in the sky. There is little response to the paper they publish announcing their observation. That’s because the government is suppressing the comments and the scientists are forced into a secret project investigating the aliens. The ship’s crew doesn’t share Atomic’s idealism and interferes with the planet in serious ways.
The more intriguing characters are the bat people on the planet. Darvin’s girlfriend is a biologist who discovers the ways parts of the planet are being modified by the starship. They are making changes that will affect the basic assumptions of the world.
There is always an intriguing political and economic message to a MacLeod book, and “Learning the World” is no exception. At the forefront are the first-contact story and some new ideas about the spread of intelligent life in the universe.
“Remember Me?” by Rebecca Lickiss (Five Star, 244 pages, $25.95)
Colorado Springs author Rebecca Lickiss has created an amusing contemporary comedy of errors with gangster fairies.
It is common to split a changeling baby into human and fairy twins. When Amelia left the fairy mob boss Ageon after the birth of their son, Jarad, Ageon worked a spell that split a human double whom he named Zarad. He also created another set of twins designed to be faithful friends to the boys forever.
Jarad is raised by his mother with no knowledge of his twin. He is starting a business with the aid of Forrest. In Miami, Jarad is raised by his father to believe his mother and brother are dead. He is starting a business with Forrests’ twin, Boris.
A trip to Miami is meant to patch things up for Jarad with his wife, Mona. Her sister in Miami, Nona, just happens to be Zarad’s girlfriend.
Chaos ensues. Nona mistakes Jarad for Zarad. Mona mistakes Zarad for Jarad. Forrest is mistaken for Boris. Gangsters mistake Jarad for Zarda.
Lickiss nimbly juggles the balls that keep her Shakespearean plot in the air.
Fred Cleaver writes a monthly column on new science fiction releases.
