Proxies

The ideas presented in this book are interesting and engaging; it's the first science fiction book I've read in a while that didn't feel like a transcribed version of a cheesy space action movie. The focus is not on needless action or fancy gadgets, but rather how society is transformed by technology. The setup is as follows: two key technologies, a device that can transmit data instantaneously and a brain-computer interface combine to create robots that human beings remotely pilot as if they where in their bodies. The continued advancement of this technology begins to tear basic social fabrics as the line between physical and virtual blurs.

But the wine sparkles. Mixon takes a classic pulp-fiction mad scientist plot, adds to it a neat political thriller riff, and some cyberpunkiana, and then tarts it up with some perceptive, sometimes tongue-in-cheek speculation on what the world might look like in the mid 21st century (a MacDonalds on an orbital space station is my favorite), makes sure her characters are sexually and ethnically diverse, and serves up a potent brew indeed.Carli D'Auber is the intrepid heroine who everybody's after, and not always in their own bodies, either (hence the title); the mad scientist and her team are hideously kinky, while Carli's friends are seriously flaky. The multiple point of view plot will leave you dizzy (I doubt even Mixon could have explained it the day she turned it in to her publisher, let alone today), and grasping at loose ends. But no matter. You'll be entertained all the way.

Proxies extends the ideas Mixon presented in her earlier novel, Glass Houses. Both books show characters manipulating robots remotely through a computer interface, but in Proxies, the characters come out of the gutter, the traditional home of cyberpunk, and go into secret back hallways of governmental intrigue. Proxies not only gives a rich, wonderfully detailed depiction of the future, it also includes a great murder mystery and a politcal thriller. Add to that a touch of romance, a bit of multiple-personality dissorder, and the usual cyberpunk street scenes, and you have this fabulous novel. Although parts of this book are somewhat confusing to read because of the way Mixon chooses to represent certain characters' thoughts, the fabulous conclusion is definately worth the effort. I highly recommend this novel and recommend that people who enjoy it try Pat Cadigan's TEA FROM AN EMPTY CUP, Melissa Scott's THE SHAPES OF THEIR HEARTS, or N. Lee Wood's LOOKING FOR THE MAHDI. Together these four texts point the way towards the future of cyberpunk fiction.