Yesterday’s book: Architects of Emortality

The second book in Brian Stableford’s trilogy, Architects of Emortality is police drama set a few hundred years after Inherit the Earth in 2494. People are living a little longer, say to 200 instead 150, though the nanotech-based escalator to hasn’t panned out; still, the latest generation may live several times that long based on new genetic engineering techniques used on embryos. Policemen Charlotte Holmes and Hal Watson and artist/bon vivant/genetic engineer Oscar Wilde are on a chase to find a mad genetic engineer who is murdering the surviving members of the University of Wollongong class of 2322; Holmes is determined not to be embarassed and Wilde is looking to the artistry in the deeds for clues. The book could have used some editing to tighten the slow spots but overall a good read that is strongly reminiscent of the British New Wave of the 1970s; I think Stableford spends more time on writing style and creating imagery than plot, while I generally prefer the opposite emphasis.