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This is the story of Ryan Hart's final fight. His was not the publicized name of the boxer. Nobody knew him but the insiders, because he was the man who operated the challenger, whose mind handled the boxer's muscles, whose agonies were never felt by the E-linked millions, but who would be for a few dozen minutes the embodiment of half the human race!

It's a novel of two unforgettable battles one the seen and obvious, the other the fight of a single solitary man to regain honor and self-respect in a world he had ceased to believe in.

Cover art by Vincent Di Fate

Published in 1976 by DAW.

The boxers slugging it out in the ring were just holographs, patterns of light, but to millions of Network viewers they were genuine flesh and blood. They looked real, and with a E-link between the handler controlling the sim and the viewer's mind you could actually feel them emotionally - their excitement, power, anger... even their fear and crushing sense of defeat.

After the fight, when the holos faded out and the handlers took off their headsets, the boxers ceased to exist, There were no scars to heal, except mental ones - and Network wasn't interested in things like that.

But for years one handler had been tortured by painful memories of a previous fight - so much so, that when he came back to the ring for the last time he was fighting not just to win, but to regain honour and self-respect in a world he had ceased to believe in.

Cover art by Tony Roberts

Published in 1977 by Fontana.

Review by Ian Braidwood

Cast of Characters:
Ryan Hart, Paul Herrera, Jimmy Schell, Dr Maria Kenrian, Velasco Valerian, Ray Angeli, Stella Valerian, Curman, Carl Wolff.

This book is going to be re-issued by Cosmos Books and that is great news, because although it was originally published in 1976, it feels frighteningly up-to-date.

Ryan Hart was a boxer who was showing promise just as the sport was transferring from the ring to a simulated environment, which had the advantage of being able to transmit the emotional experience of the contestants.

Unfortunately for Hart, he doesn't broadcast his feelings well and his career is sidelined; leaving him bitter and making a living playing the fall guy in cheap adventure series.

At 3am one morning, Ryan is summoned to Velasco Valerian's mansion to talk about becoming a boxer again.

Valerian has just watched champion Paul Herrera beat his eighteenth opponent and for private reasons, is desperate for someone to beat him.

Determined not to have his life taken over, Ryan has to fight for his independence and to stop his agenda being swamped by Valerian's.

Coming after Man in a Cage, this story is much more accessible. The story is reminiscent of Robert Silverberg's Thorns, though quite considerably less downbeat.