Joe Haldeman Old Twentieth

Old Twentieth

Joe Haldeman

Ace, August 2005, $24.95, 272 pp.

ISBN 044101285X

The Becker-Cendrek Process allowed man to achieve immortality. Death only came to those who suffered accidents or died while pregnant when the procedure is temporarily discontinued. Two hundred years after the Immortality War that killed all but 200 million immortals humanity decided to send five spaceships to an uninhabited earth like planet revolving around Beta Hydrii. The eight-hundred crewmembers were going to the planet and they passed much of their time in a virtual reality time machine.

They visited places and events in the twentieth century, the last century when death was a foregone conclusion to life. Jacob Brewer, a virtual reality engineer (and part time cook) is studying the data stream for anachronisms when he notices there is no sense of smell in certain virtual reality years in New York City. When a woman dies in virtual reality, Jacob investigates the problem and meets the sentient avatar of the time machine. Now Jacob has to find out what it wants and what its agenda really is.

One of Joe Haldeman's greatest gifts is his ability to always surprise the reader by taking the storyline in a completely unexpected direction. Readers realize the immortals have the same feelings, fears and beliefs as mortals and since the oldest is only a few centuries old ennui hasn't had a chance to settle in. Virtual reality takes on a whole different meaning in OLD TWENTIETH, a science fiction novel worthy of Hugo and Nebula nominations.

Harriet Klausner