Description:
Appleseed is an exuberant and erudite new take on one of science fiction's oldest themes from respected SF critic and scholar John Clute, coeditor of The Encyclopedia of Fantasy and The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. On a routine interplanetary delivery run, trader Nathaniel Freer is almost assassinated and forced to flee with a cargo that represents the best hope against the data-destroying "plaque" threatening the universe. The novel chronicles his fight against the forces of entropy, with the help of AIs, aliens, and Johnny Appleseed. It's not plot that drives this book--it's the turbine of Clute's joy in language coupled with layers of allusion to literature, pop culture, and the history of science fiction. This dense, literary postmodern space opera won't appeal to readers who prefer their SF easily digestible: most of the far-future background and lingo aren't defined, and it's possible to feel at sea as new ideas are introduced at a relentless pace. The reader willing to undertake the journey, however, will find a marvelous richness of ideas wrapped in a champagne fizz of language. --Roz Genessee
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