Subject: THE SILICON MAN by Charles Platt

From: [email-masked] (Evelyn C. Leeper)
Date: 7 May 91 11:45:44 GMT

THE SILICON MAN by Charles Platt
       Bantam Spectra Special Editions, 1991, ISBN 0-553-28950-0, $4.50.
		    A book review by Evelyn C. Leeper
		     Copyright 1991 Evelyn C. Leeper

     One of my major complaints with "cyberpunk" (whatever that is) is that
it is usually written in something not quite resembling English.  (One has
only to look at Greg Bear's QUEEN OF ANGELS as a recent example of what I'm
talking about.)  Now at last someone is writing something about computers,
technology, and the future that's readable.

     James Bayley is an FBI agent investigating the illegal trade in guns
(and other more interesting weapons).  Unfortunately, he accidentally
discovers more than hot guns--he discovers a secret project that some
scientists are working on.  Well, it's not quite secret; the secret is how
far along they've actually gotten.  The project involves putting
consciousness into a computer, and lucky Bayley discovers that he is going
to end up in the forefront of science.  Only one catch: the procedure kills
the subject.

     Platt draws an interesting picture of life inside a computer.  Whether
it's accurate, who knows?  But it is original; Platt has not made a carbon
copy (silicon copy?) of all the other cyberpunk visions.  And he makes it
real, makes it convincing, makes it logical.  The style is straightforward,
without all the "eye hits" that are supposed to characterize cyberpunk.  And
it has substance as well--Platt makes us think about the consequences of the
changes our society is going through.  The only flaw is the final chapter--
why on earth this was tacked on to the end of a book that was perfectly fine
without it I cannot understand.  I suppose someone decided it was more
"commercial" or "palatable" with it.  I still wholeheartedly recommend THE
SILICON MAN--just stop at page 247.

Evelyn C. Leeper   |   +1 908 957 2070   |   att!mtgzy!ecl or [email-masked]