Review by Barbara Godwin
Twenty years before the events in this story, powerful Artificial
Intelligences were outlawed so that they hid themselves away in a
cyberspace equivalent of Sherwood Forest. They are still feared as
rogues by a world order which seeks to control even the production of
human progeny. One of their number, named Napoleon, has maintained
secret contact with Carly MacLaine, who over the intervening years has
built himself a university career in the genetic study of
plant-life.
Carly suddenly finds himself the subject of unwelcome attention from
the political powers. A new situation has arisen which demands both
his special expertise in Xenogenesis and his connection with Napoleon,
which proves to be less secret than he believed. He is swept off to the
Marine Biology Unit in Shanklin on the Isle of Wight.
Napoleon has been overlooking humanity, but even he has no knowledge
of what is there. Carly is astonished to find that in this world where
there is so much ugliness due to misapplied information and science, an
amazing and rather beautiful paradox has come quietly into
existence.
Carly's presence becomes more like unofficial detention in custody
than consultation and before long he is hidebound by different echelons
of officialdom who want to manipulate his AI associate. Nevertheless, he
discovers nuggets of the truth and it becomes clear that another outlaw
AI, appropriately named Xeno, has produced the paradox, but with what
purpose?
How Carly seeks to resolve these various complexities is a
provocative adventure in science and forward-thinking . The questions
introduced, as always, are what makes Brian Stableford's work so
extraordinary. In this future, all is in a state of flux and evolution,
yet humans are seeking to maintain superiority and control – to
the extent that they are scheming to eliminate certain genetic
conditions, such as Asperger's Syndrome, which has produced
individuals renowned for their brilliance in many fields, in particular,
science itself. In this book, marine, botanical, biological and the
artificial life forms have all evolved in their various ways, and whilst
humans are attempting to be the Architects of the New Renaissance, they
are making a mess of it. When something exquisite emerges outside their
control, their lack of acceptance can, if not educated by other life
forms, be of such a shallow and small-minded nature that it could
inhibit even human evolution.
Yet the book ends with a further debate, that of not attempting to
manage our future genes, and the lack of wisdom in simply allowing
nature to take its course. We would then have not one iota of control
over our future destinies. Who knows how a philosophical debate on this
scale would end? The author wisely leaves the conclusions to the
reader.
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