John Meaney, To Hold Infinity

To Hold Infinity

John Meaney

PYR, September 2006, $25.00

ISBN: 1591024897

With the death of her beloved spouse, grieving widow biologist Yoshiko Sunadomari decides she must reconcile with their estranged son Tetsuo, so she leaves earth to visit him on Fulgar. However, instead of finding her offspring living in paradise, she learns he is in deep trouble with the leaders; the genetically altered Luculenti, and has vanished into the non-terraformed hypozone.

Unable to sit back or return to earth without helping her son, Yoshiko believes he would never commit the murder that the Luculenti accuse him of doing. She plans to prove his innocence by uncovering the identity of the real culprit. She obtains help from unlikely sources amidst the Fulgari, who enable her to set herself up as the bait to lure out the serial killer who set up Tetsuo to take the fall. By doing so, she also angers Rafael Garcia de la Vega, whose Machiavellian plans have caused social chaos.

TO HOLD INFINITY is a reprint of an exciting look far into the future, in which technology has come a long way, but so have murder, political manipulation and other immoral acts. Yoshiko, in some ways seems like an old western/kung fu heroine rather than a concerned mother with few options, as she just happens to have the right skills to make a reasonable rescue attempt, such as being a biologist and a martial arts expert. Still, this is a fascinating science fiction mystery, as John Meaney extrapolates current trends in science, technology, politics and social interaction to paint an interesting futurology.

To Hold Infinity

John Meaney

PYR, September 2006, $25.00

ISBN: 1591024897

On earth, biologist Yoshiko Sunadomari mourns the loss of her spouse as she informs her son Tetsuo, a mu-space technocrat expert residing on another orb Fulgar. When he fails to respond to her, she becomes worried because, though estranged, that is so out of character for Tetsuo, especially when it comes to his father. Yoshiko journeys to Fulgor only to learn that her offspring has vanished into the non-terraformed wasteland where the rebellious reside, because the bio-technologically enhanced Luculenti rulers demand law enforcement arrest him for murder.

Yoshiko refuses to go home as encouraged, or sit around idly waiting for harm to come to her son. She begins to investigate and soon learns why her child hastily raced into self-exile, as she too uncovers a conspiracy of tech contraband trafficking, led by the charming techno leader Rafael Garcia de la Vega. She plans to prove her son is innocent and to confront this charismatic Luculentus, though Yoshiko is now the target of her son's enemies.

This an exciting science fiction mystery in which the audience will appreciate that the world of Fulgar seems genuine with its three prime tier societies: Luculentus, other earthling techs, and the outcasts; in fact the Luculentus serves as an alien species, though what they actually are is enhanced humans. The storyline for the most part is fast-paced, especially as the audience anticipates the showdown between the good guy and his mom vs. the more powerful bad dude. However, the inclusion of programming somewhat slows down the thriller (not used frequently), even as this technique also adds to the feel of a future technological realm. Readers will enjoy this exhilarating tale that extrapolates today's biological nanotechnology into a delightful story.