n Ian McDonald's dark and glittery future, nanotechnology makes possible the resurrection of the dead, not as mindless zombies but as persons, complex and sentient, if not quite equal under the law. The price of immortality is high -- for most, a near eternity of indentured servitude to pay for the resurrection; a cutting of emotional ties to the living; and, perhaps harshest of all, the knowledge that one is no longer considered to be human. Yet few refuse the chance to be remade young and beautiful forever and so, serving the living by day and segregated into Necrovilles by night, the society of the dead grows into something unique. Only on one night of the year can the living and the dead mix freely after dark, and on this night Santiago Columbar invites his four old friends to meet him at the Terminal Cafe, a place on the dividing line between the two solitudes.

The book follows the paths each of the five friends take to the final meeting place at the Terminal Cafe, as they make their way across a landscape that challenges each of them to face their deepest fears. At the same time, it becomes clear that more than just the lives of a few individuals will be changed on this particular Night of the Dead -- forces political, social and supernatural seem to be heading for a confrontation that will irrevocably alter the relationships between the living and the dead.

Terminal Cafe achieves a dark and evocative blend of style and substance. There is a definite gothic/tech/punk ambiance here, as exotic and richly alien as any far future story should be, but McDonald never gets lost in his style -- no gratuitous tech for tech's sake -- everything arises organically out of the book's central premise.

The action is hard-edged, fast-paced and violent. Imagine an evening's sport where the dead hunt each other and hunters become the hunted halfway through the night. Imagine what happens when the tiny "tectors" that rebuild the cells of the dead go wrong en masse. McDonald's imagery is often graphic and uncompromising, but just as often hauntingly beautiful. The emotional action pulls no punches either. The five friends have some very human flaws, and not all of them are nice people. Their relationships are complex and difficult, full of both joy and pain.

But ultimately what makes the book satisfying is the way McDonald addresses the implications of a technology that can change the one sure and constant limitation of the human race: death. A lot of questions are raised: Who are the resurrected dead and what do they mean to the living? What is death if it's no longer just the end of life? What is the meaning of the brief span of life when compared to the eternity of living death? All these questions are illustrated, not as dry philosophical treatises, but by the impact they have on the lives of the individuals in the story.

Terminal Cafe is pretty close to my idea of the perfect science fiction novel -- exciting idea, exotic setting, compelling characters with moving stories and beautiful, masterful writing. -- L.R.C.

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Brightness Reef

David Brin returns to his Uplift universe with an exciting but complex novel.