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Glasshouse

by Charles Stross



      In the twenty-seventh century, making a backup copy of one’s most recent experiences is standard procedure. When someone dies a new body is created. It can be identical to the original, but it doesn’t have to be. Race, gender and even species are malleable. The memories are uploaded and voila - he’s back, and he feels like a whole new person.

Painful memories can be erased. And with a galaxy-spanning war just ended, painful memories abound.

Robin has opted for a total memory wipe. These are quite disorienting and counseling is required.

During a session with his counselor, Robin is told of an experiment that the shrink thinks may be beneficial. People are sent to live in a converted prison which replicates the dark ages of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. For three years they live as the ancients did with no advanced medical techniques or memory backup. If a person dies, they remain dead until the simulation ends. Then the backup made before entering the experiment is inserted into a pre-selected body.

Robin decides to consider it. While he is deciding someone tries to kill him. This causes some memories to break through. Before the wipe, he was being stalked. A new body was supposed to hide his identity. Somehow the stalkers have located him anyway. Until he can force more memories to the surface, his only safety lies in joining the experiment. Robin awakens disoriented, again. He is in an unfamiliar room in an unrecognizable body. He has been inserted into the simulation with no warning and in a female body.

The ancient lifestyle is considerably more challenging than Robin expected. To make matters worse, he discovers that the scientists have a hidden agenda. One that will trap its participants in the virtual past forever.

Although it is sometimes confusing, this is an interesting story. It is science fiction that at times places a heavy emphasis on the science. But the plot is so compelling that the reader can easily skim through the scientific stuff and plunge right back into the story. This is a really good book.

The Book

Ace
June 27, 2006
Hardcover
0441014038
SF
More at Amazon.com
Excerpt
NOTE: explicit sex and vulgar language

The Reviewer

Sheila Griffin
Reviewed 2006
NOTE:
© 2006 MyShelf.com