Synopsis
The Cylinder is a massive structure rising miles above the surface of an unknown future Earth. Axxter, the hero of Farewell Horizontal, has forsaken the dull, nine-to-five life of Cylinder's Horizontal levels to go where the action is - the Vertical, where freelancers, warring tribes and other nomadic types live along the slings and cables of Cylinder's outer edge. His dream is to be a successful graffex artist, designing armour and ikons for the various tribes - and, like all citizens, he is linked by a microchip in his brain to the complex computer system that runs the economy. But when Axxter accepts a really big job - creating all-new military imagery for one of Cylinder's most powerful tribes - he begins a dangerous journey that will take him to the far side of Cylinder - and beyond.
I have nothing but praise for this novel. Told exclusively through a first person perspective, we learn of the day to day going on's of a man down on his luck. Axxter Ny has potential, and he knows it, but lady luck never seems to want to shine her beatific smile on him. Almost broke, fearing a return to the world of the horizontal factories making widgets would corrupt and destroy his being, Axxter braves the vertiginous Cylinder's outer shell. Life is lonely, although the possibilities to amass a fortune drive this parsimonious reluctant loner to make money. On his foray into the unknown he comes across a metallic landscape that is carved up into zones,all ruled by technologically barbaric tribes. It is these tribes into which he must prove his skill as a graffex artist, that is if he is to make any real money. Jeter's writing is full of wonderful short sentences which capture the mood of life on this somewhat monstrous and unforgiving frontier. His style of writing varies from a reductive element in describing the means of technological workmanship on the Cylinder's outer edge to a marvellous sparse and witty use of surreal analogies which pinpoint human experiences. There are certain phrases from this novel which I have committed to memory because his precision and finesse with his prose leaves no doubts. The storyline is compact, with the novel really picking up in pace at the halfway point. The characters, though not overtly tactile, are nonetheless believable. The world building is more than acceptable with various devices from a long forgotten civilization given a very bizarre twist. Overall, this novel is how cutting edge and non formulaic science fiction should be written. My only complaint - I just wished the novel was longer.
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