Lifekeeper

by Mike McQuay

Humanity is locked in a never ending series of wars, which are controlled by a massive central computer...

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

260 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Michael Dennis McQuay was an American science fiction writer. He wrote for several different series. His work in that field includes Mathew Swain, Ramon and Morgan, The Executioner, and SuperBolan. The Book of Justice series he wrote as Jack Arnett. He also wrote the second of the Isaac Asimov's Robot City novels. His non-series novel Memories was nominated for a Philip K. Dick Award for 1987.

McQuay taught creative writing at the University of Central Oklahoma for more than ten years, and died of a heart attack at the age of 45 in 1995.

Reviews

[Jack Tripper · Rating 3 out of 5]

1980 Avon mass-market (297 pages), with cover art by Terry Oakes.

I enjoyed the premise of a future society run by a massive computer, one that makes sure humans (who mostly live in military camps of multi-level underground bunkers) are always at war for reasons that will be explained, but I found it too drawn out and the constant infodumps started to wear on me. Not bad for a first novel, but not a patch on his Mathew Swain series that came out over the next couple of years.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

3⭐️ A Good Book/Unexceptional

A very entertaining, fast pace book that has a flaw; they can watch battles being carried out, but they cannot watch themselves. Security cameras existed when this book was written. I would recommend this book to someone, but I would not have it on my bookshelf.

Favorite Quote: "Obey your systems without question. You are technicians, not decision makers" - Programmer's Handbook, Lifekeeper

[Robert Freese · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this sci-fi action story. It moved quickly and I really enjoyed the characters. McQuay was of the same generation of story tellers as filmmakers John Carpenter and George Romero and that energy flows through the piece. I don't know if it is still in print, but it is definitely worth seeking out.

[Chris Ellis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good enough to keep me reading, but that's about all. Suffers from being a little dated.

Not really sure what the underlying message is.

[Kdiggity · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh

[Justin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not much here.