Lady of Mazes

June 20, 2005
Set in the same future universe as Ventus
(2000), Canadian author Schroeder's challenging hard SF novel explores the vast potential of artificial intelligence for transforming human culture. On the remote ring world of Teven Coronal, Livia Kodaly and her family inhabit the beautiful Westerhaven manifold, surrounded by a richness of high tech and virtual conveniences. Due to a childhood tragedy, Livia enjoys different consensual realities. The mysterious Book 3340 breaks down the barriers between manifolds, destroying her world, so that she must travel, with a few accomplices, out of Teven Coronal into the Archipelago, where she encounters several models for a perfect human society and examines her own. Her task is to choose among them, but ultimately to ensure that choices are possible by sacrificing herself to prevent the total subjugation of humanity. The interrelationship between technology and philosophy that informs her choice gives depth and breadth to a book that many will want to reread to get all the nuances. Agent, Donald Maass.

June 15, 2005
The vast ringworld of Teven Coronal holds numerous human civilizations within its structure. Here, humans and their virtual selves, or animas, pass their time dabbling in politics, duels, and gaining or losing authority. When a series of mysterious invasions rocks Coronal, destroying cultures and threatening the fabric of the world's reality, Livia Kodaly, one of Coronal's most brilliant and eccentric individuals, becomes the best hope for defeating the invaders and saving her world. Schroeder (Ventus; Permanence) specializes in far future, hard sf. His lively writing style and cutting-edge visions combine to deliver a topnotch story that emphasizes the human will to persevere even when reality is falling apart. A good choice for most sf collections.

Copyright 2005 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2005
In " Ventus" (2000) and " Permanence" (2002), Schroeder exhibited a flair for high-tech world building that yet had the feel of fantasy. In this book, he visits Teven Coronal, one ring in an immense chain of human- and posthuman-populated ringworlds circling a sun. Like most citizens of Teven Coronal, Livia Kodaly knows little of her true surroundings or the scope of human civilization beyond. Everyone on Teven Coronal lives within a series of virtual-reality landscapes known as manifolds, which overlay their true environment. While taking a break from her usual routine of social gatherings and political maneuvering, Livia, with a close friend, discovers a heretofore-impossible rift between manifolds. All too quickly the Teven Coronal virtual-reality paradise begins to crumble around them. Chaos ensues, and Livia and her closest friends must flee to other ringworlds and an uncertain future. Schroeder continues to improve his unique blend of hard sf and vivid, dreamlike prose and bids fair to become a major genre voice.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)