Blood Zero Sky

Gates (The Sleepwalkers) creates a dystopian nightmare setting of technology and greed for this story, which strongly recalls Patty Hearst’s experiences with the Symbionese Liberation Army. The world has been privatized and is owned by N-Corp, often simply called the Company. People are judged on their financial credit scores and workloads, and “unprofitables” are sent to work camps. May Fields, the daughter of the Company’s CEO, is disillusioned with her current life; when she is kidnapped by the secret order known as the Protectorate, she’s tempted by their democratic goals. Deeply conflicted as she learns the truth about the Company’s motives, May must choose between freedom and slavery. This sometimes preachy social commentary on a society’s obsession with technology and possessions is a Brave New World with a consumerist edge. A few places where suspension of disbelief falters only serve to balance the evocative, too-close-to-comfort portrayal of corrupt capitalism. (Oct.)