Vertigo by Bob Shaw (1974)

[AE35Unit]

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!)

 

[sloweye]

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

 

[Anthony G Williams]

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).

 

[AE35Unit]

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!

 

[blacknorth]

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.