High Aztech

For fans of creative cyberpunk and progressive sci-fi, Ernest Hogan demands to be discovered. Since 1990 he's only been able to publish three novels, and they're all fascinating combinations of up-to-the-minute technophilia with Latino and Aztec cultural elements. If you're reading this review, also be sure to check out Hogan's other two novels - "Cortez on Jupiter" and "Smoking Mirror Blues" (the latter is his strongest, in my opinion). Here in "High Aztech," Hogan produces the best projection of Aztec culture into a near-future sci-fi technical landscape - a few other writers have tried this, but with not nearly as much success or readability. Here, Mexico is rising in influence after the western powers have destroyed themselves, and Mexico City has been re-renamed Tenochtitlan during a revival of Aztec religion. This leads to all kinds of technical and theological subterfuge, culminating in a brain-warping virus carried by the main character. Most interestingly, Hogan adds some speculation on the information-processing nature of biological viruses, and some intriguing explorations of religious fanaticism. Like Hogan's other novels, this one is built on uproarious Spanish/Nahuatl slang and a plotline that zooms by with rip-roaring speed. Here the story gets a bit out of hand at times, with a few too many characters and plot elements flying by without getting the chance to sink in. That makes this novel slightly weaker than Hogan's other masterworks, but it still fits in perfectly with his small but bodaciously creative and entertaining body of work. If you're out there Ernest, give us some more! [~doomsdayer520~]

Could not put this one down. No kidding. Cover to end in one day. Unfortunatly had to barrow it as I cannot seem to aquire my own copy. (Please fix this Tor!) This incredible saga delivers a fast pace riviting adventure that paints an urban future you can almost smell. Where is the sequel?

Until the Warren Ellis comic "Transmetropolitan" came along, _High Aztech_ was about the only dollop of mirth in the painfully serious, painfully technophilic, and painfully misogynistic subgenre known as cyberpunk. The fact that the book isn't in print right now is more of an indictment of the lack of sense of humor in the genre right now than anything else. (Of course, the science, with the idea of a virus that can give anyone a good case of religion, is intriguing, and the idea of the old Aztec religion cropping up in a revitalized Mexico is absolutely fascinating. That's not the point. The point is that ol' Ernest takes the lunacy of fads and trends about as seriously as they deserve.)If there were any justice anywhere, this book would be back in print with a publisher who cared about it, rather than seeing it dumped the way it was by Tor. Anyone interested in proving that there's life beyond _Neuromancer_?