Steel Beach

Title: Steel Beach
Author: John Varley
Publisher: The Berkley Publishing Group
Copyright: 1992
ISBN: 0-441-78565-4

I recommend “Steel Beach”.

Why do people kill themselves? Should humans be cloned? Could a person’s personality and memories be transferred into the body of his own clone? What if a sentient supercomputer developed a mental illness? Would or should people allow themselves to be governed by the ultimate philosopher-king?

These are issues John Varley tackles in “Steel Beach” where Luna is one of eight surviving human communities exiled from Earth after a short but successful alien invasion.

Hildy Johnson is a complex character at the heart of the conflict when CC, the sentient supercomputer in charge of Luna, goes split-personality schizophrenic. Hildy with her internal questions and struggles for answers is far more interesting than the plot. They make this book worth the read.

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