(1997) Jack Deighton, Orbit, £5.99, pbk, 384pp. ISBN 1 85723 452 9
This is a dull and plodding novel that follows the life of a man, Alan, as he grows old in a society where most take a drug, Euthuol, in order to stay looking young. Full of the gee-gaws and gimmicks of science fiction, they end up providing little more than a backdrop for the rambling tale of profound, ie. boring, events when Alan (in his youth) meets Sonny (an old bloke who is more senile than poignant). Full of characters that lack motivation and who are incapable of sparking even the slightest traces of interest, this novel is destined to be consigned to the depths of obscurity where it rightly belongs (along with the appalling Memory Seed which Orbit brought out last year).
Tony Chester
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