Slant

Miraculous microscopic machines of nanotechnology have built an America in which art flourishes and disease and hunger are unknown, but with these machines some people are finding their minds are frightening places indeed. 30,000 first printing.

YA?In the sixth decade of 21st-century America, violence has been eradicated and advanced therapies have relieved the suffering of the emotionally unstable. It is almost a sane and perfect world. But when Public Defender Mary Choy is called in to investigate the grizzly death of two prostitutes who were illegally transforming themselves with nano-technology (plastic surgery of the future), and an epidemic of "fallbacks" and suicides occurs as people who had gone through therapy revert to their previous states, Bear begins a complex tale that offers a vision of a society in which "dataflow" rules. The entertainment business, particularly pornography, has gone virtual, militia sympathizers and neo-Luddites are isolated in the separatist republic of Green Idaho, and the most advanced artificial intelligence in the world, Jill, is hacked by an unknown AI that is perhaps the creation of a vast conspiracy. Weaving in multiple plots, this sequel to Queen of Angels (Warner, 1994) adeptly shows the potential effects of new technology on our imagined future. Young adults will enjoy both the practical and philosophical underpinnings of this intriguing world in which bathroom fixtures diagnose illnesses, virtual film stars of the past are guests at 21st-century galas, and happiness and even the stability of society depends on nano-monitors imbedded in the soul.?Pat Bangs, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This sequel to Queen of Angels (1990) continues Bear's exploration of artificial intelligence and nanotechnology in the mid-21st century. Robber Jack Giffey--he likes to challenge machines, though he isn't what he appears to be--prepares to break into Omphalos. Omphalos, supposedly a cryogenic repository stuffed with valuables, is actually a huge survival fortress run by Roddy, a bacteria-based distributed neural network created by crazy genius Seefa Schnee. The owner of Omphalos is Aristos, a secret organization of super-rich whose members intend to destroy society while they hide inside Omphalos. Schnee has already distributed a nanovirus that breaks down the genetic, physical, or mental therapy upon which millions of people depend. Meanwhile, Jill, the first artificial intelligence to become aware, is contacted by a previously unknown AI--the well-informed but possibly untrustworthy Roddy. As the FBI puts together a team to investigate Omphalos and Aristos, Giffey's assault gets under way; Roddy attacks Jill and takes her over. The FBI rallies its investigators, Giffey discovers he's really someone else, and Jill fights desperately for her life. Complexity without clarity; Bear's yarn eventually packs quite a wallop, but what with the numbing present-tense narrative it seems to take forever to get there. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

In 2050, half the U.S. population is unemployed and addicted to LitVid, a sort of virtual reality bordering on pornography. Those in the employed, seemingly healthy half have all been "therapied," which means that they have had mood enhancers implanted at the molecular level. Inexplicably, though, the therapy is breaking down, leading to national madness. Agent Jack Giffey tries to find out why without going mad himself, and meanwhile, two sentient computers battle for control of the country. Bear sets his sequel to Queen of Angels (1990) in Seattle and "Green Idaho," a backwater quasi republic full of survivalists, he-men, and mad scientists, and it is most entertaining. Giffey, who turns out to be not quite real, follows the trail of madness to a fortress in Green Idaho, where, also, FBI forces converge for a high-tech shootout. Bear is overly clever, inventing too many seemingly major characters doing seemingly significant things in the service of a mere thriller. Yet he never writes a dull page. John Mort

While cataloging and indexing Bear's latest (pronounced "slant") might prove confusing, fans of his earlier Queen of Angels (Warner, 1990) will be eager to get their hands on this sequel.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.