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(Copied from an old review originally posted elsewhere.)
Date: 22 September 1993, 10:29:50 EDT
From: David M. Chess
To: sf-reviews at presto.ig.com
Subject: Review of Walter Jon Williams' "Aristoi"
Note : Except for possibly a clue as to whether or not the Bad Guys win, I don't think there are any serious spoilers in the following. If even that clue bothers you, skip along!
Executive summary : An involving far-future ultra-tech novel with interesting characters, credible science that stays politely in the background of the story, and some unusual and noteworthy character development. Slips into a bit too much physical fighting and blood-and-gore in the second half. Recommended, especially for experienced sf readers (beginners may need a little help with some of the implicit tech).
Setting : Something like 1000 years after the destruction of Earth by runaway nanotech. The survivors have built up a very civilized multi-planetary civilization (the Logarchy) in which only the Aristoi (selected by a series of tests which are, quite properly, only very vaguely described) are allowed to mess about with dangerous technologies like nanomachines and gravity generators. Each of the Aristoi has his/her own set of solar systems to rule over (one effect of the tests seems to be to pick people who would make good, as in benevolent, absolute rulers). By no means a cyberpunk novel, but much of the c'punk ultra-tech is there: direct-to-brain virtual-reality (the "oneirochronon"), genetic engineering, implanted computers ("renos"), body alteration (including sex-change at will), etc.
Premise : One of the Aristoi is murdered, only Gabriel (our hero) knows that it's murder, and he doesn't trust any of the other Aristoi enough to enlist their aid. So he goes after the bad guys (who are threatening the shared dataspace that is the basis for the whole society) himself, with a few trusted (non-Aristos) friends and lovers.
Story : Basically, the good guys go after the bad guys, find them, get into fights with them, and are changed in various ways in the course of the battles. A classic plot, not particularly embellished with any novel twists or secondary themes. To my mind at least, this is one of those books where the story isn't as important as the fascinating civilization it's taking place in, and the sympathetic characters that it's happening to. The jewels are lovely; we won't worry too much about the design of the string they're on.
Characterization : Few cardboard cutouts here; the main characters are unique and well-developed individuals (with the possible exception of the main villain, who we don't really see enough of to confirm or deny Gabriel's guesses about his motivations). One very interesting and thought-provoking line of development occurs: the two main good guy figures, as a result of their encounters with the bad guys, go from utterly self-assured demi-god types to somewhat self-doubting, hesitant, and generally bruised mere humans. In most books, this would be officially stamped as a Good Thing, constituting a positive step in terms of being human, knowing yourself, and so on. In a very refreshing twist, the characters *hate* having become more human! Fallibility, self-doubt, and internal conflicts are a royal pain, and they want to get rid of them as soon as possible. A great quote I can't resist giving verbatim: "If Gabriel succeeded in his tasks, no one in the Logarchy would have to be human ever again." I don't know how much psychological validity this ultimately has, but it's a compelling cold breeze of an idea. Some of the minor characters also go through convincing and non-trivial development experiences.
Storytelling : Well-done throughout. One experimental technique: parallel columns of text, meant to be read simultaneously, when there is action going on in both the physical and virtual worlds (or the exterior physical and interior mental). Generally works well, with the exception of one three-page dose of it that was long enough to get seriously in the way (it works best when there's under a page of it, at least for me).
I liked the first part, primarily set in the benign tech of the Logarchy, the best. In the latter part of the book, the action takes place on a low-tech world, and there is quite a bit of physical fist-and-sword-fighting sorts of action. This seemed rather out of place to me, at least in this quantity. These people are wizards; you'd think they'd have prepared better before landing, and would have little tailored killer nanos ready, rather than having to disembowel people with swords when the going gets tough. In general, I would have expected/liked the conflicts in the book to have been at a less physical level than "how can the three good guys kill or disable the five bad guys more or less simultaneously, without giving any of them a chance to either kill the captive good guy on the stretcher, or to call for reinforcements?". A pursuit and battle within the Oneirochronon itself, for instance, would have been more interesting and fitting to me than people breaking various of each other's bones, ripping guts out with swords, and commenting inwardly on the "horrid smell of bowel".
This is my only negative comment on the book, really: I think the story would have been improved by involving the interesting tech more in the conflicts, and having less swordplay and random physical violence.
Aside from this, the storytelling is impeccable; the language is as rich as the civilization it describes, without being flowery. The author plays agreeably with languages; many of the new words are from Greek, Chinese, Japanese, and I think I spotted some Sanskrit. The action and dialogue are perfectly credible; Williams of course knows what he's doing.
Science : There's lots and lots of Neat Science here, but it's never obtrusive. No long-winded discussions of how a particular piece of tech works. There is faster-than-light travel and communication, but other than the key-root "tach" we don't care how it works. There are very powerful computers (when you need a big computer, you point some nanotech at a moon or large asteriod, and it converts it into a molecular-level reno), but they are purely infrastructure; no self-aware Machine Intelligences obvious here. The most original piece of tech in the book is psychological rather than physical: people have discovered ways to tame, train, and utilize the various "limited personalities" that exist in the mind. These personalities (called "daimones") can be called up at will, left in charge of the physical body while the primary personality is busy in the oneirochronon or just resting, called in for conferences during crisis situations, and so on. Each has its own very distinct character; some are male, some female, some neither. In one interesting early subplot, we get to see someone struggling to call forth and tame his various daimones. Other aspects of psychological tech (carefully designed symbols, postures, and gestures that convey various concepts and can be used for instance to dominate the unprepared opponent) are also fitted neatly into the story. Williams may have thought up a couple of new cliches here; I wouldn't be surprised to see some of these ideas taken for granted (like "nano" and "tach" are now) in others' stories in the not-too-distant future.
Puzzle : Why are computers called "renos"? Guesses around here include:
None of these are very convincing, though! I suspect
Recommendation : Definitely a "buy" (or at least a "borrow").
%A Williams, Walter Jon %T Aristoi %I Tom Doherty Associates; TOR SF %C New York %D September 1992 %G ISBN 0-812-51409-2 %P 448 pp. %O paperback, US$4.99
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