Farewell Horizontal is a science fiction novel by American writer K. W. Jeter, published in 1989.[1] It came in second for the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel in 1990,[2] and was a finalist for the Arthur C. Clarke Award in 1991.[3] The novel deals with themes of information access, security, and reliability.
 First edition cover | |
| Author | K. W. Jeter |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Bryn Barnard |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Science fiction |
| Published | 1989 |
| Publisher | St. Martin's Press |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 237 pages |
| ISBN | 0-451-16278-1 |
| OCLC | 20678719 |
| 813/.54 | |
| LC Class | PS3560.E85 F3 1989 |
In an interview, Jeter stated that he originally intended Farewell Horizontal to be the first of a trilogy, and that he used some of the material for the planned sequel in his 1991 novel Madlands.[4]
Plot
editThe novel takes place inside and on the exterior of a megastructural cylindrical building called Cylinder, which one character says "violates at least a dozen laws of physics." It is not explained how this building can exist, or why it was built or by whom.[5]
The novel begins with Ny Axxter, a "graffex" (graphic designer) on the exterior surface of the building trying to make a living as a freelancer, selling content to Ask & Receive, an information repository and apparent monopoly.
Axxter discovers a location where the exterior of the building has been blown out by an explosion and the interior rooms are full of corpses. He attributes this to bogeymen called the Dead Centers that live in the sealed off center sections of Cylinder.
Axxter gets a job working for one of the warrior tribes that inhabit the exterior of the building, redesigning their graphical branding identity. But the big reveal is hacked, apparently by the company that previously designed the tribe's graphics, embarrassing the tribe and leading to Axxter fleeing for his life.
Aided by a gas angel (a humanoid with a large gas bag growing out of its back so it can float in the atmosphere around the building) Axxter ends up on the far side of Cylinder. Axxter hatches a plan to travel through the center of the building back home, and to report on his odyssey as a form of entertainment for residents of Cylinder.
Along the way Axxter meets and is aided by a hacker who can move between bodies stashed in different parts of the building, and a Dead Center who teaches Axxter about an alternate information source to Ask & Receive.
Axxter learns that the destruction of the site that he discovered at the start of the novel was not done by the Dead Centers, but instead by a collaboration between the two most powerful warrior tribes on the building, enabled by doctored information from Ask & Receive. Axxter broadcasts this information to the entire building, leading to the collapse of the dominant power structure of Cylinder.[6]
References
edit- ^ "Farewell Horizontal by K.W. Jeter".
- ^ "sfadb: John W. Campbell Memorial Award 1990". www.sfadb.com. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
- ^ "The Arthur C. Clarke Award". The Arthur C. Clarke Award. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
- ^ Thornton, Jonathan (18 June 2021). "Interview with K. W. Jeter (Grim Expectations)". The Fantasy Hive. Retrieved 4 August 2024.
- ^ "Jeter, K W". The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. 12 September 2022. Retrieved 4 August 2024.
- ^ "Farewell Horizontal". sff180. Retrieved 4 August 2024.
External links
edit- Farewell Horizontal title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database