To Hold Infinity

Devastated by her husband’s death, Earth-based biologist Yoshiko Sunadomari journeys to the paradise world of Fulgar to see her estranged son in the hope of bridging the gulf between them. But Tetsuo is in trouble. His expertise in mu-space technology and family links with the mysterious Pilots have ensured his survival — so far. Now he’s in way over his head — unwittingly caught up in a conspiracy of illegal tech-trafficking and corruption, and in the sinister machinations of one of Fulgar’s ruling elite: the charismatic Luculentus, Rafael Garcia de la Vega. When his home is attacked, Tetsuo flees to the planet’s unterraformed wastes, home to society’s outcasts and eco-terrorists.

So Yoshiko arrives on Fulgar to discover Tetsuo gone ... and wanted for murder. Ill at ease in this strange, stratified new world seething with social and political unrest but desperate to find her son and clear his name, she embarks on a course of action that will bring her face to face with the awesome, malevolent mind of Rafael.

Devastated by her husband's death, Earth-based biologist Yoshiko Sunadomari journeys to the paradise world of Fulgar to see her estranged son in the hope of bridging the gulf between them.

Publishers Weekly

First published to acclaim in the U.K. in 1998, Meaney's debut novel brings a bright lights/big city sensibility to the normally streetwise milieu of advanced neuro-tech. Like an SF Jay McInerney, Meaney (Paradox) portrays the vast social chasm on planet Fulgar from the viewpoint of Tetsuo Sunadomari, a gate-crasher to the perpetual party of its tech toy-ridden upper class. Picking the wrong data pocket sends Tetsuo into exile in the hypozone, the planet's unterraformed area and home of the Shadow People underclass. Yoshiko, his mother, investigates her son's disappearance with the help of Fulgari glitterati like Vin and Lori Maximilian. Mixing her biology background and martial arts training with Fulgari tech, Yoshiko becomes bait to trap the cyber serial killer responsible for Tetsuo's fugitive status. Meaney offers haiku poetry and Eastern philosophy as Yoshiko's counter to the materially wealthy but spiritually poor Fulgari elite. Unfortunately, the number of plot coincidences suggests he was seeking an old Greek/Roman device instead, the deus ex machina. (Sept.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

John Meaney is the author of four novels-To Hold Infinity, Paradox, Context, and Resolution, the latter three titles comprising his critically-acclaimed Nulapeiron Sequence. He also has numerous short-fiction publication credits. His novelette "Sharp Tang" was short-listed for the British Science Fiction Association Award in 1995. His novella "The Whisper of Disks" was included in the 2003 edition of The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twentieth Annual Collection, edited by Gardner Dozois. His novella "The Swastika Bomb" was reprinted in The Best Short Science Fiction Novels of the Year (2004), edited by Jonathan Strahan. His story "Diva's Bones" was reprinted in The Year's Best Fantasy 5, edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer. Meaney has a degree in physics and computer science, and holds a black belt in Shotokan Karate.