Maya is a world controlled by a self-perpetuating aristocracy, the Changed, who maintain their superiority by tinkering with the genes of their children. This long tradition of genetic manipulation and the brain patterning that goes with it allows the Changed to interface with the Exchange, a computer-based community of blended intelligences. Those who are merely human are denied such opportunities and are consigned to the squalor of the city of Babelion. When Arsen, a young man of Babelion, meets Della, a young Changed woman--both of whom, naturally, are strong, smart, and single-mindedly rebellious--the stage is set for a galloping SF adventure. Arsen, unfortunately, gets killed (in a series of events designed to showcase the natural evil of the Changed), though not before Della becomes pregnant. Their son is Anselm, who is destined to change the world.
Using multiple viewpoints (some of which work better than others), Lewitt (Memento Mori) shows us a young man who not only struggles to understand himself and his dual heritage but manages to lead a full-scale rebellion and discover, in passing, that Maya itself is a mere pawn in an Imperial power struggle. A healthy dose of philosophical and spiritual self-examination, spiced by a little romance and dollop of Hindu cosmology, leavens this otherwise traditional tale of the triumph of the human spirit over technological oppression. --Luc Duplessis
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