''Headlong'' is a 1999
science fiction novel by English author
Simon Ings. It is Ings's fourth novel and depicts the struggle of a man trying to find his humanity after his previously enhanced senses have been removed. A review of the novel in ''
New Scientist'' praised it as "mature and thoughtful".
[Sourbut, Liz, 27 February 1999]
Take flight
'' New Scientist''.
Plot summary
''Headlong'' is set England in the mid-21st century. There has been a civil war and reconstruction after a period of corporate excess. Advances in nanoelectronics and
robotics have led to the hybridization of human and
artificial intelligence (AI). These expensive interfaces have only been installed on a few architects to facilitate their direction of
nanobots that are constructing beautiful cities on the Moon. However, a few years before the novel begins, the AIs take over the Moon and precipitate an economic collapse on Earth by subtle
market manipulations.
The novel's
posthuman
Posthuman or post-human is a concept originating in the fields of science fiction, futurology, contemporary art, and philosophy that means a person or entity that exists in a state beyond being human. The concept aims at addressing a variety of ...
protagonist Christopher Yale and his wife Joanne have enhanced senses and are telepathically linked.
[ Christopher has lived on the Moon for years.][Brooke, Keith]
Headlong by Simon Ings
Infinity Plus. When his interfaces are removed following the economic collapse, he struggles with Epistemic Appetite Imbalance (EAI), a disorder precipitated by the loss of his enhanced senses. Christopher and his wife divorce, and she is killed a few months later.[ Christopher is pursued by both his wife's murderers and the police.][Mathew, David, 2000]
SF Site.
References
1999 British novels
British science fiction novels
Voyager Books books
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