Night Sky Mine - Hardcover

Scott, Melissa

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312858752 ISBN 13: 9780312858759

Publisher: Tor Books, 1996

Synopsis

Ista Kelly, a foundling and the sole survivor of a pirate raid on an asteroid mine, journeys through a complex futuristic society, a world in which one's official identity is all important, in search of her own true identity

About this title

From Kirkus Reviews

Scott's Shadow Man (1995) seriously probed the basis of sexual identity and politics, to the relative neglect of character and plot; the author's new venture, a solidly crafted far-future cyberspace yarn, begins on planet Bestla, where cops (and lovers) Justin Rangsey of External Affairs and Sein Tarasov of the Technical Squad, are assigned by Devora Macbeth of the elite Patrol to investigate why an orbiting mine complex was abandoned, puzzlingly, by its crew. Local cyberspace, the ``invisible world,'' has spawned evolving, reproducing, independently interacting programs called ``hamals''; these, charmingly, mimic the behavior and appearance of plants and animals. Rangsey and Tarasov proceed, undercover, to the Orbital Agglomeration, where they meet Ista Kelly, an orphan found on another abandoned mine years ago. A series of such incidents has occurred, it emerges, with the details having been suppressed by the Night Sky Mine Co. Ista, an apprentice ``hypothecary,'' trawls through the invisible world in search of programs that can be tamed, neutered, edited, and put to work--but all hypothecaries fear the eventual appearance of a ``demogorgon,'' an AI precursor program so powerful that it will gobble up the invisible world and any other computer net it has access to. The investigators discover that a highly placed conspiracy within NSMCo is using the captured mines to breed feral programs; and, so Ista suspects, they may have already accidentally created a demogorgon. Mature, balanced, absorbing work, with a richly detailed, enchanting backdrop: something of a breakthrough in overall technique, and Scott's best so far. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Publishers Weekly

Recipient of two successive Lambda Awards for Best Science Fiction/Fantasy Novel (for Trouble and Her Friends, 1994, and for Shadow Man, 1995), Scott here presents a well-developed future rife with cybertechnology, space travel, artificial habitats and asteroid mining. The primary cyber-innovations in this era are hammals, computer programs that function independently, devour each other, reproduce and mutate. Useful but dangerous, they are farmed, captured and altered by hypothecaries and others. The plot line evolves from the mysterious abandonment by its crew of an asteroid owned by the Night Sky Mine company. Cops Rangsey Justine and his male "contracted partner," Sein Tarasov, are drawn into the investigation, as is Kelly 2/1 Ista, found on a similarly abandoned mine and raised by the gypsy-like Travellers. Each character is charming yet fallible, expertly drawn; when the mystery occasionally thins or the action seems forced, they carry the story. Along their way, Scott uses them to raise challenging questions about friendship, responsibility, the nature of technology. Again, Scott explores the ramifications of virtual life through the very human eyes of her principals; this is most artful cyberpunk, told with heart.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Tor Books
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0312858752
• ISBN 13: 9780312858759
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 384