# Vertigo by Bob Shaw (1974)



## AE35Unit (Dec 20, 2010)

I hadnt intended to take so long on this book but I got the flu with a  raging fever and it knocked me sideways and interfered with  my reading (amongst other things like work, and the kids) so a short  novel ended up taking flipping ages! (OK 12 days!)
Anyhoo its  basically a story about how the invention of personal flight suits years before the story begins  has given everyone their own personal freedom of the skies (theyre  called CG harnesses-Counter Gravity which sounds a little like the  devices Neal Asher describes in his books!)
Due to the easy  availability and cheapness of such devices airline travel has been  abandoned as no longer cost effective and the sky is full of people,  navigating by glowing lines called Bilasers. Some businesses use the  bilaser technology to advertise their product in the form of huge  glowing ethereal banners-sounds a bit Bladerunner-ish!
Amongst all  this is Air Police Officer Rob Hasson (Bob Shaw?) who due to an accident  years before has had to hand in his CG harness and badge and try to  hide away from the public eye, changing his name slightly. He moves to  Canada where he meets another Air Police Officer (Werry) who knows  Hasson from years before, and who takes him under his wing. There are  funny episodes where Hasson gets to meet Werry's family who are less  than taken with Hasson's stiff British ways! Werry also has a blind son  who loves to idea of flying and looks forward to seeing again after a 2  year long medical procedure.
It turns out some young dudes are having  drug parties on the roof of one of the buildings and generally causing  havoc-the locals are unhappy with the way things are being handled and  blame Werry before taking things into their own hands. Things come to a  head and Hasson must prepare himself to resume his former duties.....
Its  a short little tale (158 pages) and if this were any other author I  would say nothing much happens in the book but it seeems Shaw enjoys  injecting humour into his books. So even in scenes where nothing much IS  happening things are enlivened by Shaw's cheeky humour and joie de  vivre. I have this image of him smiling constantly while writing this  book- a happy chappy indeed!
This is only my 3rd Shaw read (previous being Palace of Eternity and Fire Pattern) but it certainly wont be the last!!
(note this book was also published as Terminal velocity which seems a far better SF title!)


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## sloweye (Dec 20, 2010)

Sounds interesting, will have to see if i can order it from the libaray.


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## Anthony G Williams (Dec 26, 2010)

Shaw was one of my favourite writers in the 1960s and 70s, and I still have several of his books. My favourite is *Night Walk*, which is on my top-20 all-time favourite list. I also recently re-read *The Palace of Eternity*, another great read. These are both reviewed on my SFF blog (link on the left - scroll down the blog page to see the review index in the left-hand column).


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## AE35Unit (Dec 26, 2010)

Anthony G Williams said:


> Shaw was one of my favourite writers in the 1960s and 70s, and I still have several of his books. I also recently re-read *The Palace of Eternity*, another great read. These are both reviewed on my SFF blog (link on the left - scroll down the blog page to see the review index in the left-hand column).


Yea it was reading your review of Palace that led me to hunt down said book!


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## blacknorth (Jan 2, 2011)

Shaw has long been one of my favourite sf writers, so it's nice to see him getting some tlc here. 

No matter what he turned his hand to, whether the epic steampunk fantasy of The Wooden Spaceships, or the Kafkaesque plot departures in Orbitsville, or even the high art of assassination by meteorite in Pilot Plant, he always brought it off with dash and style. Occasionally he would have an off form period, but that just makes his career trajectory all the more accurate for devotees.

Super writer. Superwriter.


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