Narcissus
Don D’Ammassa
Five Star, Oct 2007, $25.95, 319 pp.
ISBN 9781594146084
Sandor Dyle is a galaxy famous patterns analyst who has solved some very high profile cases. At the moment he is on vacationing traveling on the starship Helen of Troy with his friend and companion Maryum Dunnis. There are two artificial personalities on board; Mennor who has the personality of a grouchy old man and Eco who deals with the public evoking the image of a sexy siren. Dyle wakes up one night and feels something is wrong and the room is ominously quiet.
The Captain asks him to help identify a saboteur-killer on board. He accepts because of the challenge and because he doesn’t want any more trouble on board. While investigating the sabotage, one of the passengers Magnus Mercator, hated throughout the galaxy because of his war crimes committed when he and the Lysandrans took over his world of Cathanor. He became their puppet leader and when the aliens were thrown out, Mercator was exiled. The thinking is that Eco, who has the ability to watch over anyone on the ship, was destroyed in the explosion so that someone could kill Mercator. Dyle isn’t so sure so he studies the patterns seeking to hone in on the killer.
Don D’Ammassa writes a fantastic double mystery science fiction thriller. The differences between artificial personalities (AP) and Artificial Intelligences (AI) play a crucial role in the resolution of the mystery even though it doesn’t reveal which being committed the sabotage. The description of the ship with all its advanced technology enables readers believe they are visiting a time in the future in space. The author is a great worldbuilder who will appeal to fans of mysteries and science fiction.
Harriet Klausner
