R E K. (bigstone) - , reviewed on + 1458 more book reviews
A sequel to Light, the book has earned two awards, the 2008 Philip K. Dick Award and the 2007 Arthur C. Clark Award. I enjoyed it. But like many science fiction books the reader must have an open mind. This one reminded me of how humans are polluting our planet. The location is a sea-spaceport intersected by the Kefahuchi Tract. This is a changed area strictly controlled by authorities. Called the event, it is a place where nothing is what it seems and people have unusual experiences. Things appear and disappear. Others change completely. People change both physically and mentally.
Tourists are fascinated with the event but almost always are changed in some way. I was sad when Vic went into the event with a tourist who kept disappearing. He lost his memories and himself but always remembered the tourist and continued searching for her until his death. Other characters die, too. Some are murdered. One dies of a strange disease I believe he contracted in the event. But other characters found a way to live life although quite different from what they expected. They found that these changed lives gave them a measure of happiness. Most interesting but surreal read. Nevertheless, I look forward to the last of this trilogy, Empty Space: A Haunting.
Tourists are fascinated with the event but almost always are changed in some way. I was sad when Vic went into the event with a tourist who kept disappearing. He lost his memories and himself but always remembered the tourist and continued searching for her until his death. Other characters die, too. Some are murdered. One dies of a strange disease I believe he contracted in the event. But other characters found a way to live life although quite different from what they expected. They found that these changed lives gave them a measure of happiness. Most interesting but surreal read. Nevertheless, I look forward to the last of this trilogy, Empty Space: A Haunting.
