From Amazon.com
John W. Campbell and Lambda Literary Award-winner Melissa Scott exhibits the hip-tech sensibilities of cyberpunk and the mind-blowing complexity of Samuel Delaney in
The Shapes of Their Hearts. This intricate novel introduces the god (or is that God?) of the planet Idun (read "Eden"), who was formed when the brain of a prophet was uploaded into the machinery of an artificial intelligence. The machine can copy itself, and each copy contains self-will. Now the god's avatars are leaving Idun, and beginning a campaign to extinguish those parts of humanity it deems "impure"--clones, replicants, and others with sullied DNA.
Anton Tso, a clone, is hired to steal a copy of the AI (known as the Memoriant), but first, he must get past the faithfully fanatic Children of Idun and deal with rampant cyberspace personalities gone mad. Scott's descriptions of the complex world she's created are extremely detailed and atmospheric. Her characters are perfectly conceived and innately mysterious--whether man or machine, ultimately human. This complex but razor-sharp tale will please fans of William Gibson and Samuel Delaney alike. --Therese Littleton
From Publishers Weekly
Taped from the fanatic brain of the prophet Gabril Aurik and melded into an artificial intelligence on the blockaded planet Eden, a wiseacre CyberGod called the Memoriant threatens to wreck the interstellar cybernetwork knitting Scott's latest far-future civilization together. Aurik's loathing for human cloning and the DNA-warping FTL drive bars his cold-eyed Children from leaving Eden, but they smuggle out copies of the Memoriant to spread their inquisitional faith. When Anton Tso, a cloned scion of a powerful criminal family on nearby Jericho, sets out to pirate a copy, the local Theologians trap him in virtual space, necessitating a lengthy conventional rescue involving Eden rebels led by Tso's bodyguard, clone Renhi DaSilva, a high-tech Emma Peel. Scott's colorful setting is Eden's grungy Freeport, where hyperrock Steel musicians scarf greasy fries and Auxiliary policemen ham-handedly juggle conflicting moral obligations. Less compelling are Tso's interminable attempts to escape his virtual prison and Scott's frustratingly awkward character names. No matter how glitzy, virtual reality just can't vivify Scott's provocative vision, a future where a human-made God sets out to make humanity's other creations irrelevant.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
