(2004) Nick Sagan, Bantam, £6.99, pbk, 483 pp, ISBN 0-553-81597-0
When Halloween awakens to amnesia and a world of mutable reality, one important fact becomes clear: someone is out to kill him. He soon meets an array of unknown and almost mythical characters, some appearing to be friendly, others hostile. Which one is the assassin?
Idlewild is Nick Sagan's first novel, but he writes like an old hand. It reads like a clash between Zelazny's Amber and The Matrix, with the gradual revelation of reality and the protagonist's place in it. Perhaps the revelations are slightly predictable, but I don't really think Sagan is about providing a trick ending. This is just a great story, slick writing and believable characters. Oh, and the science is pretty good too.
Tight and suspenseful, this is a glorious debut and leaves me eager for more from Sagan and more of the world inhabited by Halloween and co..
Graham Connor
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