- Paperback: 320 pages
- Publisher: Gollancz (20 April 1998)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1857985397
- ISBN-13: 978-1857985399
- Product Dimensions: 21.4 x 13 x 2.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 514,570 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Trica Sullivan's SFnovel debut was Lethe (1995), which was followed by Someone To Watch Over Me (1997): this is her third book. It drops readers in at the deep end with a truly bizarre opening that turns out to be heroine Kalypso Deed's surreal perception of a major crash in the AI computer to which she's linked ... and which she should have been guarding. Unfortunately this machine runs the main human outpost on T'Nane, a watery colony world with a strange and poisonous biosphere. As things fall apart, Kalypso finds herself sailing alien seas as captive of an almost literally mad scientist who plans to bridge the gap between Earthly and T'Nane biology--using her as an unwilling experimental subject. Painful episodes follow, described with clinical detachment. T'Nane's exotic ecology is richly imagined, as are the surreal metaphors of cyberspatial interfacing with the mysteriously mutating AI core. Various human factions argue and grumble at occasionally tiresome length; Kalypso herself is a moody, passive heroine who does rather little except when bullied by others. But the writing is excellent and the ultimate biological revelations (though familiar in outline from much past SF) feel satisfying and right. Sullivan remains a writer to watch. --David Langford
Product Description
On this bright new world there are those who want to keep science prime mover of society and those who simply want the land they were promised and to live full lives building a new civilisation of their own construction. One of the elements which has allowed the colonization of such a far flung planet (many light years from earth) is induced dreaming - a state which counteracted the adverse effects of leaving so many consciousnesses in deep sleep during the journey time and also expands mind power once human is reawoken. Kalypso Deed works in the vital dream induction centre that is empowering the brains that will one day govern - one night a routine program goes haywire and the biologist undergoing dream induction runs riot. This is the start of the breakdown of the supercomputer that has been running things since Man's first arrival. Things go from bad to worse and it looks like everyone will have to leave their artificial environment and take their chances outside on the planet's surface... And Kalypso is being held responsible.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not thrilling, but interesting and well written,
By
This review is from: Dreaming In Smoke (Paperback)
Although it rarely grips you, this story of a group of colonists fighting for survival on an alien world is never boring. The descriptions of the alien lifeforms are vivid, if a little incomprehensible, but the fragmentation of the society into groups, the insane, outcasts, the original colonists (male and female) and their children is compelling. A good piece of science fiction, and worth a read. I wanted to drown the heroine, though.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Gripping and thoughtful - what SF ought to be,
By A Customer
This review is from: Dreaming In Smoke (Paperback)
I bought the book because it won the Arthur C. Clarke award and I was intrigued. What a pleasant surprise to find an award winner that's actually fun. It's a real page turner and I had a hard job putting it down - and it's thought provoking too. This is what I used to love about the SF I read when I was younger. People who liked this book would also enjoy "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A surprisingly good roller-coaster ride,
By A Customer
This review is from: Dreaming In Smoke (Paperback)
Approaching this book with an open mind, I wasn't quite sure what to expect - how cyberpunk would it be? Well, call it what you will, after a slow start as we are introduced to the character Kalypso and her underachieving "so what?" attitude, it only gets better. An imaginative and gripping approach that was fresh to me. I enjoyed reading this book although there were instances where it felt that there was a very sectioned approach - you knew that you were being transitioned between the start, the middle and the end. The imagery that Tricia uses is very vivid and it was easily possible to feel yourself in the middle of nowhere with only the strange patterns of the Luma, or locked into a strange dream state where data is images and sensory stimuli. It contained some clever twists and at no point was I bored. I look forward to seeing the next book from this author - if she maintains this level of narrative it should be a corker.
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