Overview
Suppose you could switch bodies with another person? What exciting new experiences would you choose to explore? What forbidden desires would you indulge? Suppose someone stole your life–how far would you go to get it back?From New York Times bestselling author Kevin J. Anderson comes a pure adrenaline thriller of hijacked identities, elusive motives, and deeply buried secrets–a disturbing, thought-provoking excursion into a sleek, hedonistic society where nothing is your own...not even your soul.
Hopscotch
For a fee, Eduard Swan will swap bodies with people in distress–those facing surgeries, emotional crises, moments of unpleasantness or discomfort they can’t or would rather not deal with. Eduard will experience the suffering for them. It’s a lucrative business, and in a world in which no one is required to feel any pain, there is no end of clients. But someone doesn’t want to play by the rules. Someone doesn’t want to return his body. And, unfortunately for Eduard, that someone is one of the world’s most powerful men. Now Eduard has no choice but to steal back his life.
He has the perfect alibi–or so he thinks. For even in a world where you can hopscotch from body to body, you always leave a trail. And following that trail is a relentless dispenser of “justice” named Daragon, a childhood friend, now a zealous and ambitious agent of state security, who won’t let old friendships stand in the way of doing his duty.
When Eduard goes on the run, hounded at every turn by Daragon, his only hope is two other childhood friends: Garth, a tormented artist who gains success beyond his wildest dreams, only to discover the terrible price of fame; and Teresa, a spiritual seeker who risks losing her own body to a fanatical religious cult as she embarks on a harrowing quest to find her true identity.
Moving from underground hopscotch pleasure bars to the highest enclaves of power to a seamy underworld of illegal Phantoms, ancient minds who steal younger bodies in a quest for eternal life, Eduard and his friends seek the meaning of identity in a society in which appearances mean everything–and nothing–and where everything is relative...even murder.
From the Hardcover edition.
Synopsis
Suppose you could switch bodies with another person? What exciting new experiences would you choose to explore? What forbidden desires would you indulge? Suppose someone stole your life how far would you go to get it back?
From New York Times bestselling author Kevin J.
Publishers Weekly
Bestseller Anderson, author of numerous novels set in the Star Wars and X-Files universes, offers a dizzying, body-swapping plot that interlocks four central characters in a constantly shifting maze of confused identities and even more confusing chases upon chases. Emerging from Falling Leaves monastery and the care of motherly female monk Soft Stone, four orphan "Swans" take on the raging hedonism of a society whose absorption in virtual reality triggered the ability to "hopscotch" between bodies. A passion for painting drives talented artist Garth; the search for life's meaning possesses uncertain, questioning Teresa; risk taking impels impulsive Eduard, whose lucrative but risky business is feeling others' pain for them; and calm, reasonable Daragon, who inexplicably cannot hopscotch but who can "see" true identities, joins the powerful Bureau of Tracing and Locations headed by malignant Mordecai Ob, the nemesis who over the years tries to destroy them all. While body hopping makes for strange and improbable bedfellows, the device tends to disrupt the intersecting plot lines as much as the author's often trite dialogue and simplistic motivations. Nonetheless, Anderson poses a question sure to frighten his readers: what if those virtual reality games aren't so innocent after all? The unsettling, kaleidoscopic jacket art perfectly complements the text. (Feb. 4) FYI: Anderson is the coauthor with Brian Herbert of Dune: House Corrino (Forecasts, Aug. 20). Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
Editorials
Publishers Weekly
Bestseller Anderson, author of numerous novels set in the Star Wars and X-Files universes, offers a dizzying, body-swapping plot that interlocks four central characters in a constantly shifting maze of confused identities and even more confusing chases upon chases. Emerging from Falling Leaves monastery and the care of motherly female monk Soft Stone, four orphan "Swans" take on the raging hedonism of a society whose absorption in virtual reality triggered the ability to "hopscotch" between bodies. A passion for painting drives talented artist Garth; the search for life's meaning possesses uncertain, questioning Teresa; risk taking impels impulsive Eduard, whose lucrative but risky business is feeling others' pain for them; and calm, reasonable Daragon, who inexplicably cannot hopscotch but who can "see" true identities, joins the powerful Bureau of Tracing and Locations headed by malignant Mordecai Ob, the nemesis who over the years tries to destroy them all. While body hopping makes for strange and improbable bedfellows, the device tends to disrupt the intersecting plot lines as much as the author's often trite dialogue and simplistic motivations. Nonetheless, Anderson poses a question sure to frighten his readers: what if those virtual reality games aren't so innocent after all? The unsettling, kaleidoscopic jacket art perfectly complements the text. (Feb. 4) FYI: Anderson is the coauthor with Brian Herbert of Dune: House Corrino (Forecasts, Aug. 20). Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.VOYA
Body and mind get all mixed up in this fantasy set in a future where humankind has mastered the ability to switch bodies at will. The plot focuses on four friends. Garth is the tortured artist who wants to record everyone's experience in his work—he switches bodies to learn about everything from giving birth to becoming fat. Teresa is desperate for acceptance and looks for it in all the wrong places. For a fee, Eduard takes on the less-pleasant duties in life, such as surgery or illness, and sometimes must protect his right to return to his original body. Daragon is a government agent who keeps a watchful eye on all of them. These four are virtually the only good people in this future, and they must stick together throughout as they deal with wicked cults, corrupt officials, and anyone else who wants to use them for evil means. Body swapping, or hopscotch, is a fabulous concept, as gender, obesity, and old age take on new meaning for the characters and readers alike. It opens up the possibility for all sorts of discussion, from "What if this actually happened?" to debates about just who owns a body and about the right to take over another, if only for a little while. Especially compelling is the short sequence in which Garth nearly loses his body in a swap with a fat man. It is an extraordinary new universe, populated with intriguing characters and situations. VOYA CODES: 5Q 4P S A/YA (Hard to imagine it being any better written; Broad general YA appeal; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12; Adult and Young Adult). 2002, Bantam Spectra, 366p,— Matthew Weaver