A near-future story about a tech geek and a member of the Chinese elite takes in everything from quantum theory and revolution to shyness
In the latest novel from the SF giant, it is 30 years in the future and Fred Fredericks, a shy young American employee of a Swiss tech company, travels to the moon to deliver a communications device to the large Chinese colony at the lunar south pole. He finds himself caught up in a vicious power struggle between rival factions within the Chinese security services and ends up on the run with the “princessling” Chan Qi, the pregnant daughter of a senior member of the communist elite, who is under threat because of her dissident political views and high standing among the country’s poorest “one billion”. As they flee for their lives, the two of them must travel to China and then back to the moon again, against the backdrop of a revolution in China, and a parallel uprising in the other economic superpower, the United States.
It’s a thriller-type plot but it doesn’t read like a thriller. The pace is slow and the narrative is regularly interspersed with reflections, the characters are thoughtful, shootouts are rare – there is no visceral sense of jeopardy. We learn about the political instability, for instance, mainly through newscasts received on the moon. This is revolution seen as an interesting collision of historical forces, rather than experienced through the rage and fear of people on the streets.
It’s a thriller-type plot but it doesn’t read like a thriller – the narrative is regularly interspersed with reflections
Continue reading...via Science fiction books | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2PvWpfL
0 comments:
Post a Comment