Down There in the Darkness

In his final novel, SF master Turner, who died in 1997, presents an eerie vision of the future. By the year 2070, ""the four horsemen of the greenhouse apocalypse""--overpopulation, pollution, nationalism and unemployment--have made life nearly intolerable for the sunburned denizens of Victoria, Australia. In the middle of a January heat wave, police detective Harry Ostrov is assigned to what he hopes will be a career-saving case. The painter Brian Warlock has been in a comata-like state for 20 years, the victim of an electronically induced hypnosis experiment gone awry. Now a psychiatrist who was present at the original procedure will try to reanimate the artist in order to resolve a dispute over the ownership of several of his valuable paintings, and Ostrov's secretive boss has asked the cop to spy on the operation. Ostrov requests help from his friend Gus Kostakis (his ally in The Destiny Makers), and the two soon become embroiled in a plot to tap the depths of the human unconscious. Falling victim to foul play, Ostrov and Kostakis are captured, frozen and defrosted 100 years later. Upon awakening, they are confronted by a dystopia in which the overpopulation problem has been brutally resolved by a powerful, sanctimonious scientist. Employing radical time changes and alternating points of view, Turner creates a land reminiscent of Huxley's Brave New World. His narrative innovatively blends conceptual art, aboriginal philosophy and genetic engineering, and his characters display a memorable vibrancy. Nonetheless, as Turner had just completed the draft of this novel before he died, it often reads more like a collection of intriguing ideas strung together than a fully polished work. (May) FYI: According to the publisher, Turner is to be the Guest of Honor at the 1999 World SF Convention in Australia.