"It's the end of the world as we know it.
What can you make of it but art?"

The colony world of Reis was once a prosperous, glittering center of manufacture and trade. But now, in the grip of planet-wide plague, Reis has been quarantined--cut off from the rest of the galaxy. Only electronic communication can cross the barrier.

No one knew where the plague came from. No one knows how it is spread. And no one knows who will live or die. Which leaves one big question: What do you do in the meantime, while you're waiting to find out?

Time is killing them, but the handful of disaffected artists who hang at Club Metz are past masters at killing time. Society is falling apart; the A.I. that runs everything is acting weirder every day--but they'll find ways to survive, or at least prevail.

Editorial Reviews:

"One of the most original portrayals of artificial intelligence since Arthur C. Clarke's duplicitous HAL." --"Booklist"

"A mature and insightful work of science fiction." --"The New York Review of Science Fiction"

"Marvelously told." --Jack Womack, author of "Let's Put the Future Behind Us"

"A truly marvelous book. The writing is skillful and stylish, and the science is cutting-edge--you can't really ask for a lot more." --"Absolute Magnitude"