fter years of surviving a hand-to-mouth existence in the slums of Quarro, a young man named Cat finds himself in over his head. Targeted by an organization whose "recruiters" are little more than slave traders, Cat is charged with assault when he defends himself against the men who come to kidnap him into bondage. A 10-year stint of forced labor in the telhassium mines—mines that are the backbone of humanity's far-flung multiplanetary economy—seems inescapable. Unfortunately for Cat, nobody has survived more than five years in these mines, because telhassium is highly radioactive.
At the last minute, he is singled out for a different fate—a research project that studies people with psionic powers. Anything is better than the mines, so Cat goes along with the research ... only to discover that he possesses telepathic abilities. What's more, he is at least partly alien, descended from a highly psionic race known as the Hydrans. Neither discovery is particularly welcome: Cat has been schooled, often violently, to think of psions and aliens as freaks. Still, he is making friends with the other people on the project, forming emotional bonds for the first time in his life. With no marketable skills and the threat of mine-slavery still looming, he has no option but to continue with the research.
As his powers develop, Cat learns he has actually joined an undercover operation aimed at a psion named Quicksilver. It is hoped that Quicksilver will recruit Cat and the others into his organization of terrorists; once on the inside, the government-sponsored telepaths are supposed to uncover Quicksilver's plans and bring him to justice.
Cat must therefore become the linchpin of a dangerous scheme—one that could call for him to forfeit everything: his psionic abilities, sanity, newfound friends and even, possibly, his life.
A much-abused hero goes to hell and beyond
Written in 1982, Psion was the first of a trio of Cat novels by Hugo Award-winning author Joan D. Vinge. (The other books are Catspaw and Dreamfall.) Plunging her hero through a series of hair-raising adventures and emotional wringers, Vinge darkens what could have been a lightweight SF thriller by setting Psion against a backdrop of human injustices large and small.
Cat's life is not an easy one, and readers who like their adventure fiction light and painless may wish to cringe away before the compelling plot of Psion can get its hooks into them. The book has a very high angst quotient: a hard-luck case, Cat never catches a break. His powers make him an easy target for people wanting to use him, and letting his guard down always leads to suffering. Vulnerable but tough heroes are a staple of adventure fiction, and Cat is one of the best-drawn in SF—empathetic and able to make sacrifices when called for, and yet believably flawed.
Vinge's worldbuilding is one of her trademark strengths as a writer, and in Psion it shows. The expansion of humanity in Cat's universe is led by massive corporate entities called combines. Watched over by the vestiges of an Earth government that can barely keep their worst excesses under control, the combines create a sprawling empire, one that allows its author to look at real-world issues like globalization, poverty and drug addiction without becoming tiresome or preachy. What's more, Vinge's characters are always unique and intriguing. Quicksilver in particular is no cardboard villain—his actions spring from a desire to better the conditions of psions everywhere, and Cat cannot help but respond to him.
This writer may be better known for her The Winter Queen series, but while Psion is a lesser-known treasure, it is also one that is worthy of serious attention.
