Nimbus

Rating:
Summary: Thought-provoking SciFi noir
Review: It's a pity that this fine, complex book is out of print--I encourage other readers to make the effort to find copies.

This story is hard to describe in a few lines, but centers around the protagonist's reluctant attempts to revive memories of his past as his former associates are picked off by an unknown murderer. Conspiracies and cover-ups abound. The characters are richly drawn and the near-future environment is wonderfully detailed and inventive. The novel takes the hard-boiled-detective noir genre and makes it fresh.

Thematically, the novel deals with some very interesting questions of identity and memory. One character who lives in a made-up reality seems to be the most lucid person in a world where identity can be manufactured. This is a book you can read both for the pleasure of the story and for the intellectual challenges the story poses.

My only problem was with the main character, who is such an ass that it's hard to identify with him as a hero. (Probably intentional on the part of the author.) But once the tale got into full swing, I forgot how much I disliked the hero and enjoyed the ride.