SOJALS rating:

Good (3/5)

I first read this in 1995.

This novel is set in the same world as "Mindplayers", but a few years later.

Marceline, a street punk and memory junkie is on the run from her gangster boss, Bateau, having slipped off wit the proceeds of her last assignment.

Marva got a little too intimate with her friend Sojay and he found out something rather terrifying about her. It was news to her too but now she knows this she's got to get rid of it very, very quickly before she gets picked up by the Brain Police, or anyone else.

It's already too late for Sojay, he's already had his brain wiped, but that won't stop him trying to get himself back together.

And finally, there's a Brain Policy officer in deep undercover who is also having some deep problems (not least of which is that I went through the entire book completely unable to remember her name).

Everyone has hidden depths, bad secrets and is one lurch away from being a basket-case. Still, they have to pull themselves together, and try to leave at least someone who's got a hope of surviving into the future.

Personally, and certainly a reflection on my character, I found it over-confusing. This is of course the reason why the preceding paragraphs are so unilluminating. The last thirty or so pages of the book tidied it up a little, but it didn't work as well as Cadigan's previous books.

So all in all this was a disappointment after the magnificent "Synners". Also, I'm still peeved that there wasn't a chapter entitled "Fool To Cry" (oh baby, you're fool to cry, etc). Still you can't always get what you want.

What's it got? a technology for directly interfacing to the brain that allows just about anything to be put into someone's mind, or stripped out. This is really great stuff, so read the book for this alone.