Whiteout: A Novel

by Sage Walker

Sage Walker's suspenseful, Locus Award-winning first novel, Whiteout , takes us to a twenty-first century Earth where government means multinational corporation.

And daily living means a struggle to survive the effects of overpopulation, poverty, pollution, and hunger.

One last hope Antarctica, the only source of pristine water and food left on the planet. Antarctica is protected from human exploitation by international treaty―and that treaty’s due for renegotiation.

The people who have the talents to influence the outcome of these negotiations run Edges, a company of media manipulators. They’ve been hired by one of the corporations for whom the current situation suits them just fine, and they’d like to keep it that way. This team knows that they have the skills to make whatever they want happen. But they also know that if they succeed, they might doom the planet.

Genres: Science Fiction, Cyberpunk, Fiction

404 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[Ian Tregillis · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Caveat: The author, Sage Walker, is a friend of mine. So, having said that...)

I think the thing that makes Walker's writing so special is her deft hand with description, and her ability to render the most nuanced human emotions and interactions. She has, it seems, a rare wisdom when it comes to understanding human nature. When combined with lovely, luscious descriptive passages, the effect is a deeply sensual style of storytelling. Everything -- even the simple act of making a cup of tea -- becomes something to linger over. I admire this to no end.

The human relationships in this book play out on levels that I haven't often seen in the things I've read.

I did start to lose the plot a little bit about 3/5 through, but I'm not sure how much of that is me and how much of that is the book. I would have liked a slightly more concrete grounding in how the technological conceit works, but even so I never had a problem buying the concept.

Overall, I just wish there were more Sage Walker novels out there to ooh and aah over.

[Kevin Phyland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Signy Thomas is part of a media advertising/influencer company which is also a virtual open marriage. With Pilar, Jared, Paul and Janine, they conduct their business, selling ideas, via virtual presence technology and haptic thinsuits. After a job that didn’t exactly fill their coffers they are rushed into taking on a job for the Tanaka family, a powerful Japanese corporation, to sell the idea of a halt to fishing below 55° latitude in the Antarctic oceans. This is the last large repository of krill and ocean protein in a starving and warming world. Jared is sent to do the location work ona Japanese fishing factory and is subsequently lost at sea. His haptic gear however, clearly shows him being assaulted and thrown overboard and being dragged into a zodiac boat. The Tanaka people on the ship seem suspiciously reluctant to look for Jared and this follows closely on their loss of a smaller submersible. Signy and her group must take things into their own hands and try to find and rescue Jared as time runs out. It leads them to a strange political plot and a woman who may just be immortal. Sage Walker’s debut novel is exciting and fascinating and will keep you turning pages. Well worth a look.

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

Odd story.

The future. Drought. Hunger. Over population. A world on the brink of … failure? Ruin? Upcoming negotiations concerning the last unspoiled area-Antarctica-pull the Edges media company’s master team in. Each takes on an assignment to help sway the vote the way their client wants. Then one of them goes missing.

Parts of this story were top notch. And some wasn’t. Interesting premise and glimpse of a possible future.

[Jacqueline Langille · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although I read it all the way through, this novel was not my cup of tea. Too many characters, so most were not well developed. The plot didn't go anywhere. Some of the Antarctica scenes were compelling, so I deigned to award two stars.

[Lindy Beth · Rating 1 out of 5]

That was $7 I can’t get back.

[Kevin Storm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty cool, I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. A scary glimpse at what can be done with the current state of technology.

[Vallen · Rating 2 out of 5]

The overall plot was okay, but there were too many characters. This was a book I had to make myself read. I didn’t really enjoy it

[Adobe · Rating 5 out of 5]

During a global hunger crisis, a virtual-reality public-relations firm named Edges is hired to promote fishing restrictions around Antarctica. The seemingly straight-forward commission is quickly complicated by corporate cover-ups, geopolitical maneuvers, and murder. Bouncing between the digital and the real, the members of Edges struggle to unmask a conspiracy before it destroys their group.

A thrilling concoction of sleek SF gadgets and messy human politics, Whiteout posits convincing possibilities for the future uses of network technology. It feels, in many ways, like a successor to William Gibson's Neuromancer, but where Neuromancer was rooted in the disposable nihilism of the 1980's, Whiteout is influenced by the DIY agency of the '90's, a decade that seemed full of possibilities and capabilities. Whiteout is cyberpunk with hugs. Nowhere is that touchy-feely aesthetic more apparent than in the Edges themselves, a group of artists and scientists so intricately (and incestuously) linked through virtual reality that they share every tactile sensation experienced by each member.

[Tom Hooker · Rating 4 out of 5]

A William Gibson kind of look at a situation where people interact more in cyberspace than they do in the real world. A team of people are hired by a Japanese fishing company to help sway world opinion toward their policy. One of the team goes to the Antartic to check things out, and disappears. Another of the team members goes to find him. She does, but then his rescue helicopter crashes and he dies. In the meantime, the team finds that the Japanese company has misled them, and their goals are not what was explained to the team. Lots of intrigue.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set far enough into the future to be attainable, Whiteout uses virtual reality in a way I'd never even considered, but am hoping to potentially see in my lifetime. It's a gripping save-the-world story, but doesn't make too little of the character's emotions in order to do so.

One of the biggest draws to this book for me was the characters' foray into polyamoury. It's been a while since I've read this book (2+ years) but the night I first finished it, I flipped back to the first page and read it all over again - something I've never done before nor since.

[Nershwin G. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read it hoping it would be 90s-tastic in an awesome way. It was not awesome. It was 90s.