Usually when you think of the 80s you think of bouffant hair, jeans tight enough to threaten a man-s ability to father, and high pitched singers wearing neon colors. Fortunately, the 80s gave us more than just bad taste, with Neverness written by David Zindell and published in 1988.
Neverness tells the story of a futuristic world where mathematicians have reached cult status, almost like a religion of their own, due to the calculations they do for space travel. In his magnificent prose with its rich complexity, Zindell follows a young graduate pilot, Mallory Ringee in this very believable future on the planet of Icefall, in the city of Neverness.
Zindell-s world building is next to none, creating a world where society and culture as we know it has been completely replaced, and humanity lives in a world of akaschixz, cetics, tinkers, hairjan, warrior poets, scryers and wormrunners. A testament to his craft, the reader never feels jarred out of place in this foreign world, and instead is caught up into its whirlwind as if the reader were one of the characters.
There is an intense focus on science, math, and technology in this novel with the creation of technology treated in almost reverent manner, rather than the fanboy/girl approach to technology such as Apple devices that we have in our era. This galaxy has insane computer gods, religious sects worshipping poetry, altered human DNA and exploding stars threatening to destroy humanity.
If you like deeply complex plots, heart wrenching action, and a meaningful quest, then Neverness is the novel for you. Neverness won the Gigamesh Award for best novel in 1991.
