cover image The Bloodlight Chronicles: Reconciliation

The Bloodlight Chronicles: Reconciliation

Steve Stanton, ECW (www.ecwpress.com), $14.95 paper (240p) ISBN 978-1-55022-954-7

Themes of transcendence and family love play out against backdrops of real and virtual worlds in Stanton's slight neo-cyberpunk debut, the first speculative fiction title from Canadian indie ECW. Cyberhacker Zak and martial artist Mia are infected with the Eternal virus, which grants everlasting life. They want to give it to their son, but the virus can't be caught or easily transmitted, so Zak heads for the offworld Cromeus colonies looking for the virus's alien Source. Then a new technology emerges that permits humans to be uploaded into machines, which may render the Eternal virus moot. Fans of James Gunn's The Immortals (1962) will find many familiar elements, and frequent shifts in perspective and characterization contribute only to a feeling of whiplash. (Oct.)