Light Raid

Light Raid Connie Willis and Cynthia Felice Date: 1989   —   used only   —   Book product page Rating:

Fiction, Science Fiction

Two hundred years from now, the war between the Quebeckers and the Commonwealth has spilled over into the Western States, primarily because of the once-lush farmland of Montana. Of course, with hydra technology watering the arid plains of Colorado, it is a given that the blasted lands can be restored, if won. At the moment there is a bit of a stalemate, with GTAs deflecting the lasers of the Quebec batellites. The race is on to produce a EMP-proof form of memory, and Hydra Corp is on the forefront, attempting to produce a biological form of memory.

Which is a great annoyance to Ariadne, because she was pulled off the project and evacuated to neutral Victoria. Though she has passed sixteen, and is now legally an adult, she has to stay with the obnoxious Mrs. Posonby, who shelters evacuated children for the bonuses it gets her. So when Ari gets a visit from a "friend of her mother's" that she's never even heard of, she decides that's the last straw and runs home, back to Colorado.

And straight into plots and subversions she never even dreamed of. Her mother stands accused of sabotage; the tabloid reporters are out in force; light raids have devastated the city of Denver Springs. Miles Essex, Prince of the Commonwealth, has all but taken over Hydra Corp, though Ari is not as interested in the womanizing heir as she is his equerry, Joss Liddell. Of course, she's not sure if she can trust him, or anyone for that matter, since her mother's in jail and her dad is drunk.

The story is utterly absurd and yet it works. Don't think too hard about it and just go for the ride.