THE RAINBOW CADENZA

by J. Neil Schulman ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 19, 1983

An sf sex-and-gabfest from the author of Alongside Night (1979). Two hundred years from now, in a high-tech world of space colonies, 6/1 male-female ratio, and ""lasegraphy"" (animated, holographic, laser-generated images), rich lasegraphy-dabbler Eleanor Darris hopes for great things from her clone Vera. But Vera turns out mean, vicious, resentful of Eleanor (with whom she is often confused). And when Vera halfheartedly attempts suicide with a laser, Eleanor accidentally gets burned: her brain is saved and placed in cold storage; lovable daughter Joan tries to grow Eleanor a new body, but she's blocked by judge Vera (now torridly involved with Eleanor's husband Stanton); scheming Vera even gets Joan inducted into the sex Peace Corps. (To keep the excess males out of mischief, all females are compelled to serve as prostitutes for three years.) So, off goes poor Joan, cut off from her promising lasegraphy studies with aging maestro Wolfgang Jaeger. A boot-camp parody follows. (""We don't expect pink-and-polish on the first day."") Joan is required to service slimy politician Burke Filcher, who soon displays scatological tendencies; repelled, she tries to escape to Jaeger in the space colonies. And finally, ever more implausibly, Joan arranges for Filcher's comeuppance, Vera's brain-death, and the transplanting of Eleanor's brain into Vera's body. Busy plot, philosophical/didactic interludes, weak technology (the lasegraphy descriptions are a washout)--in an occasionally amusing, often tasteless mix of satire and soap.

Pub Date: May 19, 1983

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1983

Categories: FICTION