Name: Lady of Mazes
ISBN: 9780765350787

Karl Schroeder

When the human civilization of Teven Coronal is threatened by powerful invaders, brilliant but troubled Livia Kodaly attempts to safeguard the ringworld's fragile ecologies and human diversity. By the author of Ventus and Permanence. Reprint.

Lady of Mazes

Bryan Alexander

What a richly inventive novel this is. Lady of Mazes is most of all about ideas, the concepts coming quickly and piled on top of each other. 

To describe the plot is really to do the novel an injustice. Well, if I must, I'd say it's a kind of travel narrative in a far future solar system, where virtual reality plays a central role. The protagonist, Livia, sees terrible things happen to her home and world, so sets off to address them.

Where does she go? Livia travels between ringworlds. By flung house.

I'd like to describe more, but that's really spoiler time, since exploring this world is one of Lady of Mazes's pleasures. So: (view spoiler)[humans exist on a series of ringworlds, or "coronals", plus spacecraft and planets. Livia begins on a remote one, separated from everyone else by a giant artificial nebula. Crossing that nebula leads her and her companions to the rest of spacefaring humanity. But we humans are kept going by "anecliptics", posthuman, nearly alien entities who manage the very sun. (hide spoiler)]

Virtual reality is really central to the plot, which turns on the politics of building, maintaining, and sharing artificial worlds. Which sounds drier than it really is, since Schroeder's dialog keeps discussions thoughtful and fresh.

I was surprised by much of the plot, since it shunned cliches and swerved in odd directions. That's a rare treat for today's sf.

I have some passages to share in my next update.