Iris

It is 2097, and mankind has developed Comnet, ``the ultimate networking system,'' which plugs human minds into existing information processing and retrieval networks. Lured by utopian impulses, which are shaped by the peculiar intimacy afforded by Comnet, 10 misfits on their way to a settlement on Neptune's moon Triton veer off to colonize one of the moons of Iris, a newly discovered planet beyond Pluto. There they experiment with new forms of relationships and with the direct and unmediated sharing of memories, but struggle with sexual jealousy, fear and love. Just as the story is about to grind to a dead halt with their trite discovery that humans are humans wherever they live, they find an alien spacecraft frozen into the heart of another of Iris's moons. Barton ( Hunting on Kunderer ) and first-time author Capobianco's speculations about technology are of far greater interest than the banal psychological and sociological insights proffered at every turn by their self-conscious, prolix exiles. (Feb.)