A Son of the Rock

Ace, 1990, 240 p.

This is the continuing story of Cargo from Cyberstealth, here drawn by an old comrade, Stonewall, into seeking out Cargo’s former flying mate Ghoster, one of the Akhaid assistants without whom flying in the maze would be impossible. Ghoster had disappeared into rebel Cardian territory at the end of Cyberstealth. This will be delicate as Cargo’s adopted father Bishop Mirabeau is having secret peace talks with Cardia.

Cargo is of gypsy heritage and goes by various names. As a result of previous exploits the name he uses in Cardian territory, Kore Verdun, has become something of a hero there. As such he is brought to a meeting with Cardia’s leader, Ki Shodar, an enigmatic and dangerous individual who is the last survivor of a experiment in genetics in which the Bishop was involved.

Unlike in Cyberstealth there is little flying done here, the book being concerned more with Crago’s mindset. However it does explore the nature of Akhaid existence and their ritual of The Walk and also reveals to us what the maze actually is and so ties up loose ends from the previous book.

Again, as in Cyberstealth, there was a lot of information dumping and telling rather than showing. Reading both that book and this are really necessary to get the most out of either.

Pedant’s corner:-  talley (tally,) ambiance (ambience,) “black current sauce” (blackcurrant is more likely,) arrogent (arrogant,) “The only way he had ever considered combat was a battle between his mind and a machine” (… was as a battle,) “join you partner” (your partner,) “even it he had the authorization” (even if he had; plus ‘authorisation’,) Odysseus’ (Odysseus’s,) “to  be fully aware on the eternal now” (… aware of the …,) “nothing had ever stricken him about” (nothing had ever struck him about,) jailor (jailer.) “‘There maybe a physiological problem’” (There may be,) “such a strange favor” (fervour?) tyou (you.)