Virtual Reality for anyone? At a prestigious school in the not too distant future a group of ten adolescents are going to learn the truth about their world. These students are the last vestiges of humanity left on planet Earth and this simple fact is kept hidden from them. Humanity has gone the way of the dinosaurs. A deadly virus has eradicated mankind in the twenty first century and despite the world's best and brightest trying to combat its spread it's to no avail. A corporation known as Gedaechtnis with the brilliance of a select few comes up with an answer. The solution to this plague known as Black Ep. cannot be countered with antiviral's and gene therapy but with putting mankind's hope on the shoulders of ten children. The children will be taught at an academy and never know their true purpose until they are awoken when they reach twenty one. However V.R. has come a long way. Our central character Hal wakes up with no memory of who he is, where he is and is troubled with a semi-paranoid feeling that someone is out to kill him. He slowly realizes who, what, when, where and how he got to be and questions everything that he believed he knew or possibly has forgotten. A slick first novel from Nick Sagan combining a diffused cyberpunk theme with a thriller plot. His portrayal of Hal as a morbid teenager obsessed with death is a many faceted theme which pops up from time to time with Hal's occasional existentialism angst lightly put forward. The humour dispersed throughout the novel is witty and I can truly say I enjoyed it. Some of the passages although very well written focused too intently on Hal's view of things. His love of famous authors such H.P. Lovecraft and his unrequited love/lust for Simone were explored in detail but how he relates the interpersonal shenanigans of the remaining clique was sparse. When Hal does eventually escape from his V.R. slumber of eighteen years the world that greets him is one he was never prepared for or hoped to meet. He naturally takes time to adjust but braves re entry to the V.R. world of Idlewild to inform all concerned and hope he can find out who is threatening to end his life. Before I finished reading this novel I was struck by how Hal was able to adapt to his new and real surroundings in such a nonchalant manner. The last sixty pages of this novel were too compressed, too linear, and everything was tidied up a little too neatly. That is not say that everything turns out roses for Idlewild's select few. A great first novel from Nick Sagan that was let down by a rushed ending.

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