Rainbows End

Rainbows End / Vernor Vinge. — 1st ed. — New York : Tor, 2006.

364 p. ; 25 cm.

ISBN: 9780312856847

"A Tom Doherty Associates book."

1. Alzheimer's disease—Fiction. 2. Libraries – Fiction. 3. San Diego – Fiction. 4. Science fiction. 5. Spy stories. 6. Virtual reality—Fiction.

813.54

Step a few decades forward in the 21^st century and view a world on the brink of dystopia or destruction. The intelligence services of Europe, Japan and India make a horrifying discovery, someone has successfully developed weapon for mind control that can be broadcast electronically. They soon know, or seriously suspect the source for the weapon is a huge biotech complex in San Diego, California. What they don’t know is that one of their own is the man who plans to enforce peace on the world using the weapon.

Meanwhile in San Diego, aged poet Robert Gu gets the latest treatment for Alzheimer's and his failed eyesight. As a poet he wrote great works of art, as a person he’s obnoxious and insulting. Having him once again conscious of his surroundings and able to interact with others is a source of mixed emotions for his family. There’s a lot he doesn’t like about this new world to which he’s been awakened. The automobiles all drive themselves, computers are built into your clothes, and most people walk about in a cross between California and their personal choice of virtual reality. But most of all he misses books printed on paper. He goes over to the University of California at San Diego to visit the library. He discovers that all the paper books are about to be digitized and shredded. But when he joins the protest movement against the book destruction, he unwittingly crosses paths with the foreign intelligence services and the rogue agent they’ve hired to be the cutout man.

This near-future thriller keeps the pace moving as the reader tries to find out what’s real and what isn’t, what’s going on, and will the author need to call in the Marines to save the world before it’s all over? It also throws up a lot of ideas about the interaction between technology and society, ideas that are both morally and politically stimulating. Rainbows End is the winner of the 2007 Hugo Award for best novel.