The Accord
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- $4.99
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
"One of the finest novels of virtual reality yet written... a dazzling work of the imagination." SF Site
The Accord, a virtual utopia where the soul lives on after death and your perceptions are bound only by your imagination. This is the setting for a tale of love, murder and revenge that crosses the boundaries between the real world and this virtual reality. When Noah and Priscilla escape into the Accord to flee Priscilla’s murderous husband, he plots to destroy the whole Accord and them with it. How can they hope to escape their stalker when he can become anything or anyone he desires and where does the pursuit of revenge stop for immortals in an eternal world?
"The emotion-driven love triangle neatly complements the tech- and philosophy-heavy nature of the Accord, making this rumination on posthumous, posthuman love a rare treat." Publishers Weekly 5* review
"The Accord is a literary science fiction tour de force that is sure to be one of the best novels of 2009." SciFi Wire
"First and foremost a superbly written novel, featuring beautiful prose that instantly hooked me from the powerful opening page and kept the pages turning... a rare combination of thought-provoking ideas including hard sf... a lyrical novel of love, loss, revenge, exploration and adventure... The Accord is highly, highly recommended." Fantasy Book Critic
"A truly major sf work that should be considered for all eligible awards." SFF World
"One of the finest novels of virtual reality yet written... a novel that combines elements of love story, thriller, and work of ideas, yet gains its impact from being more than the sum of these. And it all works. It works brilliantly. In The Accord, Keith Brooke has created a dazzling work of the imagination." SF Site
"Keith Brooke's take on posthumanism is one of the best approaches of the subject I've ever seen." SF Signal
"As well as being a masterful story, The Accord is a feat of daring and accomplished composition... Romantic, edgy, moving, tight and fast, The Accord is Keith Brooke on incandescent form and in an angry, sweary mood. The Accord offers a sense of obscene wonder the likes of which this reviewer might not have felt since Geoff Ryman's The Child Garden. This is Keith Brooke at his absolute best." Interzone
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this expansion of a 2007 short story of the same name, British writer Brooke explores the nature of love, self and reality in the Accord, a virtual reality populated by digital recordings of real people's souls. Its creator, Noah Barakh, is having an affair with several copies of politician Priscilla Burham. When Priscilla's powerful husband, Jack, finds out, he murders Priscilla's physical self. Noah promptly commits suicide so his last upload can continue the fling safely, far away from Jack, setting off a cascade of heated confrontations, bodies being hijacked by recorded selves and real and virtual deaths. Multiple copies of various characters move between realities as Jack and Noah search for a version of Priscilla who can love them even as they seek to destroy each other. The emotion-driven love triangle neatly complements the tech- and philosophy-heavy nature of the Accord, making this rumination on posthumous, posthuman love a rare treat.
