11 October, 2000
Web of Angels
John M. Ford
1980
312 pp (PB)
Yup, another John M. Ford. Kate didn't specifically recommend this one, but it was the only other Ford the bookstore had, so I figured I'd give it a go.
The cover blurb describes it as "The original cyberpunk adventure." I have no idea why. I'd guess that back in the early 80s, having a large-scale computer network was enough to qualify a book as "cyberpunk," but the copy I've got was printed in 1992, and they should have known better by then. I suppose it was a fit of bizarro editing, or something.
So, it's not cyberpunk. What is it? WEB OF ANGELS is set at some point in the far future. Humanity has mastered interstellar travel, and has discovered a way to expand the human lifespan to 12-20 times its natural length. Quite a few odd lifestyles have developed to satisfy the needs of so many bored Malthusians. All the worlds of humanity are connected by "the Web" (yes, that's what he called it, back in 1980), which is basically an Internet of galactic proportions. The Web is used for just about all communications and computation. Space travel is forbidden to illiterate people-- one must qualify as "First Literate" before one is allowed to board a spaceship. There are higher levels of Literacy. Second Literates are competant in the use of the Web for research and running software. Third Literates can write programs. Finally, there are so-called Fourth Literates, more commonly known these days as "hackers," referred to in the book as "webspinners." Webspinning is highly illegal, the penalty being termination with extreme prejudice.
The book starts with a young boy running from a death squad. Somehow, this little kid managed to spin the Web, and was therefore sentenced to die. The scene is written in a very confusing style, lots of things go by which make as little sense to the reader as they do to the kid. (Don't worry, the whole book is not written in this style, and if you reread the first couple chapters after you've finished the book, it's easy to see what's going on.) Anyway, the kid is saved by an old woman who tells his fortune and sends him on his way. He's adopted by a Webspinner named Aristide, who names the kid Grailer Diomdede and raises him and teaches him the ways of the Web.
In spite of its futuristic, sci-fi-esque trappings, WEB OF ANGELS is a straight-up coming-of-age story. Over the course of the book, Grailer grows up, experiences love and loss and betrayal, and finally realizing his destiny as the old fortune-teller predicts at the very start of the book. In some ways, I liked this book better than The Dragon Waiting, because it didn't feel crammed. Grailer's story fills the 310 pages of the novel perfectly. WOA has more experimentation with language than does the more prosaic TDW, something which I really enjoy (in the right authors' hands, anyway). After TDW and this one, I'm prepared to read all of Ford's other books, provided I can find them.