Category : Various Text files
Archive   : SUN9307.ZIP
Filename : BOO1

Book Reviews
Copyright (c) 1993, Jason Malandro
All rights reserved


ZEUS AND CO.
David Lee Jones
AvoNova Fantasy
$4.99 US, $5.99 Canada


Cyrus Major, Computer programmer, night shift computer security officer,
and California surfer, was readying to shut down the Sigma Systems
computer for the night when something strange happened. His monitor began
to glow a phosphorescent green, fading only moments after it appeared.
In it's wake were a few lines of an unknown poem, words that would draw
Cyrus deep into the heart of the biggest, funniest mystery that he'd
ever known.

Thus starts ZEUS AND CO., David Lee Jones' second novel (he also authored
UNICORN HIGHWAY). Cryus is drawn deeper and deeper into the plot, as he
discovers that an unauthorized user using the codename Iberlin has
created a 100 Meg file on the mainframe's Top Secret hard drive. Soon
after his discovery, he meet a beautiful blonde who claims to be the
Greek Muse of love poetry Erato. It seems as though, through accident or
scheme, her sister Euterpe (the Greek Muse of lyric poetry) has managed
to get herself trapped on the very hard drive that Cyrus discovered the
100 Meg file on earlier. As Cyrus - a former hacker-turned-surfer -
delves deeper into the mystery, he finds he must fight his own disbelief
at the situation he's found himself in at every turn. Adventure ensues,
drawing bikers, FBI agents, employees of Sigma Systems, the owner of the
company herself, and even the thunderbolt-tossing God of Mount Olympus
Zeus himself into the fray.

It takes over half of the book before Cyrus let's himself believe that
Euterpe is trapped on the mainframe hard-drive, and he's just as stubborn
about falling in love with Erato. A goodly portion of the book seems to be
devoted to waiting for Cyrus to come around and accept what's happening to
him. This gets a bit tedious at times - especially after the third or
fourth time that he and Erato decide that they can't be together. The
story slows at these points, but manages to pick itself back up again
without being much the worse for the wear.

Despite these problems, ZEUS AND CO. is an enjoyable read, and
definitely worth the price of the paperback. Jones' style seems to be
developing well as a writer, and, in time, he'll overcome these stumbling
blocks. He has the potential to go far in the genre of Comedic Fantasy,
and I wouldn't bet against him.

My Rating: (out of 10 points) 7