This is one of the classics of cyberpunk/future punk (along with Hardwired), a tour de force effort that never grows old. After 2 decades, it's still fresh and furious in its scope and action, and not dated at all. It's a quick read, but well worth the brief investment of your time. The parallels to our current times are startling (instead of 'Blackwater/Xe', think 'Coherent Light') and fascinating.
Sci-fi of the sort that would make a good action movie...
When Etienne Steward signed up to go fight a war on Sheol, he took the
precaution of buying insurance... In the case of his death, a clone
would be created, complete with the most recent backup of his
memories. Now, Steward Beta has been activated - but for some reason,
the most recent backup was 15 years old. Steward realizes that he no
longer really knows who his Alpha was - he's suddenly divorced; he
even had a second wife (who also divorced him) whom he has no memory
of even meeting. He has no idea what happened to him as part of the
mercenary group Coherent Light, who he was fighting for. But it's
common knowledge that the war was a disaster, ending in a massacre.
But it's not at all certain that the original Steward was a war
casualty. As a matter of fact, it's beginning to look more like he was
murdered.
Suddenly, an old friend, Griffith, shows up, offering an opportunity
that could help Steward find out what happened... but without the
knowledge of what his Alpha was tangled up in, he may be in over his
head.
Plenty of action and mystery are balanced by a focus on ethical concerns.
When Etienne Steward signed up to go fight a war on Sheol, he took the
precaution of buying insurance... In the case of his death, a clone
would be created, complete with the most recent backup of his
memories. Now, Steward Beta has been activated - but for some reason,
the most recent backup was 15 years old. Steward realizes that he no
longer really knows who his Alpha was - he's suddenly divorced; he
even had a second wife (who also divorced him) whom he has no memory
of even meeting. He has no idea what happened to him as part of the
mercenary group Coherent Light, who he was fighting for. But it's
common knowledge that the war was a disaster, ending in a massacre.
But it's not at all certain that the original Steward was a war
casualty. As a matter of fact, it's beginning to look more like he was
murdered.
Suddenly, an old friend, Griffith, shows up, offering an opportunity
that could help Steward find out what happened... but without the
knowledge of what his Alpha was tangled up in, he may be in over his
head.
Plenty of action and mystery are balanced by a focus on ethical concerns.
