The Veiled Web
New York: Bantam Books, 1999. First Printing [started]. Mass market paperback. Pocket paperback. viii, 355 pages. Wraps. Autographed copy sticker on front cover. Signed by the author on title page. Catherine Ann Asaro (born November 6, 1955) is an American science fiction and fantasy author, singer and teacher. She is best known for her books about the Ruby Dynasty, called the Saga of the Skolian Empire. She is the director of the Chesapeake Math Program and has coached various nationally ranked teams with home, private, and public school students, in particular the Chesapeake teams for national tournaments such as the Princeton and Harvard-MIT competitions. She also teaches a gifted program in math and science at the Yang Academy in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Her students have placed at the top levels in numerous national competitions, including the United States of America Mathematical Olympiad (USAMO) and the United States of America Mathematical Talent Search (USAMTS). Winner of the Homer Award for Best Science Fiction Novel. Ballerina Lucia del Mar has two great passions: dance, which consumes most of her waking hours, and the World Wide Web, which brings the outside world into her tightly regimented life. Lucia's two passions collide when a White House performance and reception leads to an encounter with handsome Moroccan businessman Rashid al-Jazari, creator of a brilliant technology that has set the Internet rumor mill afire. A second, seemingly chance meeting with Rashid will plunge Lucia into a deadly world of desire and intrigue. For although his work has implications she cannot foresee, there are those who do understand and would turn its great power to their own destructive purposes. As she is drawn deeper and deeper into Rashid's life and work, cut off from the outside world, she finds herself becoming more attracted to him. But is her seclusion within Rashid's well-guarded Moroccan home intended to ensure her safety...or her silence? And is it already too late to stop the terrible consequences his new technology could unleash? Derived from a Publishers Weekly article: The latest from veteran science fiction writer Asaro is a blend of cyber-intrigue and exotic lore. In the summer of 2010, Web-surfing ballerina Lucia del Mar meets Rashid al-Jazari, the sexy inventor of a cutting-edge artificial intelligence system. Lucia and Rashid are kidnapped by international terrorists who covet his invention. While they manage to foil the abductors, in order to keep Lucia safe when they land in Morocco, Rashid arranges a hasty marriage. Cloistered in Rashid's traditional Islamic home, Lucia overcomes her loneliness by befriending Zaki, the uncannily human computer program Rashid has designed. When the terrorists strike again, Rashid's AI system is destroyed, but the unlikely marriage survives. Asaro discourses intelligently on millennial issues. The book's strengths, instead, are the sensuous and respectful evocation of Islamic culture and the creation of Zaki, the artificial intelligence who comes to life as the tale's most quirky and moving character. Condition: Very good.
Keywords: Dance, Fiction, Futurism, High Technology, Internet, Morocco, Science Fiction, Technothriller, Lucia del Mar, Rashid al-Jazari, Terrorism, Islamic Culture, Zaki, Morocco, Ballerina
ISBN: 0553581511
[Book #36654]
Price: $37.50