Publications: Reviews

RECKLESS SLEEP by Roger Levy
Gollancz 2000 426pp £6.99

In the near future, Jon is an ex Far Warrior, one of the survivors of an expeditionary force sent to the destroyed colony on Dirangesept. The Far Warriors conducted their warfare through waldoes, linking themselves into a sort of virtual reality in order to combat the unknown enemy.

On their return to Earth, the Warriors are treated like many veterans of Vietnam were -- and they are damaged individuals, shunned and exploited. Jon eventually starts working at the mysterious Maze, testing a particularly vivid and interactive VR game. But it soon begins to come clear that the game being tested is in some way connected to the defeat on Dirangesept, and the testers are doing far more than merely working for a games firm. What is real and what is unreal...all terms become relative as they start influencing each other. And when the deaths begin...

The plotting is fast and furious, a mixture of A E van Vogt and Philip K Dick, with a London noir setting that is as noir as they come. Some of the background seems to be completely irrelevent, or at least unnecessary. Even so, throughout the novel, Roger Levy keeps the reader guessing as to what is really going on -- and usually in the right proportions, not giving too much away. Reckless Sleep is Roger Levy’s first novel. And overall it’s a strongly confident, not to say bravura,  performance.

Highly recommended.

Copyright (c) 2001 John Howard