Biting the Sun

ISBN: 0-553-58130-9 Order from: Amazon.com

This story of coming of age in a far future is scientifically imlplausible and mines very conventional themes, but is redeemed by a mildly appealing protagonist and excellent portrayal of decadent adolescence.

Reviewed by David on November 10, 2001

Genre: Science Fiction (Coming of Age, Weird Science)

Synopsis: This boook combines two novels that were earlier published separately by DAW Books.

In a far future world, advanced technology has allowed humans to be indulged. Cared for in a handful of weather-protected domes, the children are taught by machines and then allowed to enjoy an almost endless adolescence. With nearly everyhing available in exchange for the emotions of gratitude, the adolescents change bodies and gender, have affairs and spats, indulge in synthetic dreams and drugs, and struggle with boredom. Even suicide is a pleasure—since death is never final.

In this decadent future one typical adolescent struggles to escape ennui—and perhaps to find some meaning to the endless life.

Full Review: Lee's novel is a science fiction only on the surface; the technical conventions are so implausible as to be moer of a fantasy. In the decadent tone of this novel, a tone which at which the author excels, this would not have been important except for the pivotal role some of the handwaving play in the novel. In particular, the theory of the life-spark and the androids is particularly distracting.

If one is able to overlook this, the novel is an excellent achievement in tone and atmosphere. The teenage culture, with its vocabulary only subtly different from modern English, conveys perfectly the enviornment of entertainment, petty passions and indulgence. The ever-present search for meaning without the possibility of failure permeates, and poisons the whole world, with its body-changing, jealousies and predictable rebellions, provides a steady but stream of unvalued wonders.

The lack of meaning does not mean the lack of emotion, and the book is dedidcated to it. Similar in style to Lee's other novels, especially The Silver Metal Lover, it is the emotions, including love and pain, that eventually lead to the search, and achievement, of deeper meaning, and the rebellion against the system, with a real possibity of failure.

A book that excels in its stylish portrayal of decadent, nearly immortal and mostly meaningless adolescence, and a subsequent quest for meaning, this skillful but superficial fantasy masquarading as science fiction is best enjoyed without much scrutiny of its scientific or social premises.

Includes: Don't Bite the Sun; Drinking Sapphire Wine

Overall: 5; Plot: 4.5; Characters: 5; Style: 6.5; World-building: 5.5; Originality: 6.5;

ISBN: 0-553-58130-9 Order from: Amazon.com