Maximum Light

This is a first rate science fiction novel by one of the best writers in the genre. It is set in the near future, about thirty years from now, when chemical contamination of the environment has resulted in a precipitously falling birth rate and a high incidence of birth defects. Three totally different characters work to uncover an illegal business in the growing/manufacturing of human-animal babies. The intricate plot is beautifully constructed with suspenseful and logical twists and turns. Its greatest strength, though, may be its rich and believable character development. The three major characters are a successful young gay dancer, a sexy and wildly manipulative girl from the gutter, and an aging scientist. The chapters rotate between first-person narratives by each of them, and all three narrative styles are totally believable. This is one of the best science fiction novels of recent years, and I recommend it most highly.

I am sure it is a juggling act for an author to provide both a fast paced action-adventure narrative AND to also provide a lot of food for thought ... but Kress does both (as usual for her I might add). Recent news stories that suggest the central thesis might in fact have been based on somewhat faulty science shouldn't matter ... the science was correct at the time Kress penned her book, and she thought through every aspect of the premise as the best sci-fi should.

Kress is one of the current bright lights in science fiction. "Maximum Light" makes her shine all the brighter. The story is set in the near-future, where an ecological disaster has savaged male fertility and the remnant aged population has legislated away technology need for the survival of the human race. Kress weaves a story of a dying "senior citizen" scientist/politician, a young hellion, and one of the minority fertile men (who happens to be gay) into a punchy story. The story is well written. It is almost cyber-punk. Kress handles the three character perspectives well, although not perfectly. The two male characters had (IMHO) very female perspectives. These shaded into the "true" female character's. In addition, I paged through the didactic passages on "mankind fouling their own nest via better living through chemistry". However, the story's 250-odd pages meant these sections were mercifully short. This book was a big surprise to me. The book seemed to thin to be any good. However, it was dense with ideas. In a period of bloated trilogies, pre-sequels, and never-ending-stories it is an example of how a talented author can write a story and end it without requiring the readers to wait two years. In places "Maximum Light" reminded me of Sterling's "Holy Fire" (recommended). These two novels ("Maximum Light" and "Holy Fire") may be the leading-edge of a gerontology sub-genre. This book is real good. It not perfect, but "real good". Recommended.

In another of her "what happens if" future society books Nancy Kress makes us think about what happens when science and society clash. As with her other "Beggars" books - this too is thought provoking. I liked it almost as much as Beggars. Story interesting - characterizations good. Only thing missing was - more!

I haven't actually read the book - but I wanted to pass on LOCUS magazine's review, which has a much different opinion of the book. I won't quote the entire review (which was in the December 1997 issue of Locus Magazine) but their reviewer concluded by saying that "Maximum Light is a marvelous work of SF, at once thrilling, suspenseful, intelligent and profound. Don't miss it."