This Alien Shore [Paperback]

T.A.S. describes a world where humans are again a far-flung culture, due to a mixture of space travel technologies. The first was abandoned after humanity realized the genetic cost, and colonies of humanity that no longer resembled Homo sapiens were left, with differing results, to fend for themselves. Later, a second method was discovered. One guild rigidly controls passage through spatial "nodes," making them virtual masters of a human space. But now, the ancestors of man are aliens to each-other, and sometimes even themselves.

Despite mankind's spread there is enormous connectivity: data speeds forth faster than the speed of light. Nearly everyone is immersed in a cyber-world (called the outernet) of external data and headware processing power. Real time programs filter your sensory input, provide etiquette tips, monitor and adjust your health, and provide even the poorest with access to news and information on demand. Yet this connectivity does not always bring people closer - why talk to your neighbor if the inside of your head is so much more interesting? And even shared data can be differently interpreted by the alien mindsets the genetic changes have wrought.

These elements combine to craft a diverse universe with common threads, leading to some thoughtful questions: Do we really have more in common with each-other than we have our un-resolvable differences? Can you really now what is going on in a person's head? At what point could we draw a line and say, "this is not human." T.A.S does not offer the answers, but the insights of the characters point to several different possibilities for these questions.

I do have some reservations about the book. The first is a minor quibble: in some of her books (such as "In Conquest Born") we get to visit people peripherally involved or not involved at all with the main plot. This gives us more insight into how the featured societies work. I miss that in this book. Perhaps that would have solved a problem with atmosphere: T.A.S. continuously reminds us how thoroughly her world is data-linked and how nigh impossible it is to keep digital privacy, yet almost every character seems able to circumvent this. I would have liked to see how this effected (both positively and negatively) "normal" people.

More importantly, the plot of this book is not as strong as the characterizations or the compelling nature of the universe it narrates. For me, neither of the main plots held surprises. In brief, in plot A someone has released a computer virus into the outernet and the characters are searching for a way to neutralize it. In plot B, a special girl searches for identity and safety in predatory universe. While some energy is attained at the intersections of the two plots, individually neither are strong. The speed of space travel in this universe dictates many of the pacing elements, but it takes a lot of sense of urgency out of the events.

T.A.S's other strengths more than compensated for that, it they kept me engrossed throughout the entire novel. This book is an ambitious undertaking, and I am happy to write that for the most part it is a successful one. C. S. Friedman continues to take new approaches to even well established genres. This book may not be a "must have" but it is more than worth the time to read it.