I should have read this book before "Dreaming Metal" (the sequel).
Some of the things I expected to become clear (that weren't so clear in the second book) did - for example, why so many people in the books are deaf (random mutation, small population), and the origin and exact stances of the many political groups. Other things were not really explained (why Red was in jail, anything having to do with his & Imre's very odd relationship.)
The main character here is Reverdy Jian, a starship pilot and part of a team with Imre and Red. Their agent is approached by a wealthy woman who wishes to hire them for a job - but she's a little mysterious and cagey about the exact nature of the venture, which will definitely involve both testing an experimental ship's computer and searching for her missing brother - who is variously rumored to be a brilliant programmer, crazy, and/or dead.
Not wanting to get into anything more than they can handle, the team goes behind their new employer's back to try to get more information about what's actually going on. Slowly, but suspensefully, they uncover a complex web of crime, underground programming secrets, big companies that will do a lot to get their hands on those secrets, and questions about the nature of the Spelvin constructs - computer personalities without which starships would be impossible to fly.
Some of the things I expected to become clear (that weren't so clear in the second book) did - for example, why so many people in the books are deaf (random mutation, small population), and the origin and exact stances of the many political groups. Other things were not really explained (why Red was in jail, anything having to do with his & Imre's very odd relationship.)
The main character here is Reverdy Jian, a starship pilot and part of a team with Imre and Red. Their agent is approached by a wealthy woman who wishes to hire them for a job - but she's a little mysterious and cagey about the exact nature of the venture, which will definitely involve both testing an experimental ship's computer and searching for her missing brother - who is variously rumored to be a brilliant programmer, crazy, and/or dead.
Not wanting to get into anything more than they can handle, the team goes behind their new employer's back to try to get more information about what's actually going on. Slowly, but suspensefully, they uncover a complex web of crime, underground programming secrets, big companies that will do a lot to get their hands on those secrets, and questions about the nature of the Spelvin constructs - computer personalities without which starships would be impossible to fly.