The Silicon Man: Prometheus Award Finalist Novel

A Dazzling Speculation by the Hugo, Campbell, Prometheus & Locus Award Finalist Author. "A plausible, well-crafted narrative exploring cyberspace in a wholly new and very refreshing way." —William Gibson "For the first time, a trip into the Heart of Virtual Reality with a Conrad who actually knows the territory. This fast-paced thriller set on the inter-face between Life and Immortality sends real chills down real spines." —Terry Bisson "In fascinating detail, Platt shows us what it would really be like to live—and breathe!—in cyberspace." —Gregory Benford What would it be like to upload your consciousness into cyberspace? James Bayley, an investigator for the High Technology Crime division of the FBI, finds out when he investigates LifeScan, a clandestine project sponsored by an aging billionaire. LifeScan's aim is to create a silicon universe, and it has embezzled millions of dollars in public funds to create a detailed cyberspace that offers virtual immortality. But what price this immortality? Those scanned will become immortal, virtual gods in a universe of their own creation, freed from the weaknesses of flesh. But to gain immortality, each candidate must first die! And to keep James Bayley from reporting back to the FBI, LifeScan decides to kill him in a car crash and then use him as a test subject – the first person to be uploaded into the silicon universe they have created. But his wife, Yumi, who discovers clues that convince her the car crash was a set up, begins to investigate his death, determined to bring those responsible to justice … while James trapped in cyberspace, perhaps forever, tries to figure out who and what he is now. "Full of good ideas ... a thought-provoking, thoughtful novel." —The New York Review of Science Fiction "A well-plotted, fast-paced, and imaginative look into the future ... a book where ideas drive the plot. Above all, Platt's work is full of surprises. " —Washington Post "Who hasn't dreamed of disembodied barrel rolls over the fractal geographies of cyberspace, reincarnated as one of the infomorphs envisioned by Charles Platt is his unforgettable novel, The Silicon Man? Platt's achingly painful evocation of the man, 'downloaded' against his will, who realizes he is a cloud of electrons in computer memory who will never hold his wife and child in arms of flesh again has never stopped haunting me." —Mark Dery, Escape Velocity: Cyberculture at the End of the Century