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Dark Heavens by Roger Levy (Tomas's view)
01/03/2004 . Source: Tomas L. Martin 
pub: Gollancz. 389 page paperback. Price: £ 6.99 (UK). ISBN: 0-575-07406-X. Buy from Amazon US - Buy from Amazon UK
nb: US titles may only be available from Amazon US, and UK titles from Amazon UK. check out website: www.orionbooks.co.uk
Buy this book!
In 'Dark Heavens', Roger Levy has created a cyberpunk thriller of confident skill and taut, spellbinding plot. I haven't enjoyed a new SF writer this much since Richard Morgan's 'Altered Carbon'.
A dark, twisting plotline throws up a number of cunning twists and similarities to Philip K. Dick abound in the satirically over-exaggerated government's attempts to save a dying Earth, in the most devious of ways.
The Earth in Levy's future is in its death throes, wracked by earthquakes and poisoned by human industry. Rifts and chasms score London. It's dangerous to walk outside without a rebreather and being treated for skin cancer is an everyday process.
In such a miserable world, there are two options. An alternative world, Dirangesept, has been found but its inhabitants, known only as 'beasts', are somewhat reluctant to yield to human invasion. Warriors from the two previous invasions have either been killed or come back unhinged with the beasts inside their heads.
A third invasion is planned but at the start of the book seems unlikely to do anything but fail once again. The more morbid way out of Levy's hellworld is by suicide. The tattered administration has legalised these so-called 'Leavings' providing the suicidee passes a sanity test. Suicides in which a preacher or leader kills rather than helps victims are illegal but mostly overlooked.
Cy Auger works prosecuting these mass murderers, but finds his efforts often thwarted by the apathetic government around him. Cy's wife is in a coma after a terrible accident at their wedding in which all their friends were killed. As he investigates a series of suicides in the London Medical School, he finds possible links to the accident.
Increasing attempts by the administration to curtail his work send him into a spiral of discovery and betrayal. Roger Levy writes well, with a thriller-esque style that's easy to read. I read the novel in two days and stayed up until 3am on the second day to finish it off. It was that gripping.
The dystopian society is revealed with almost gleeful irony and strays at times a little too close to truth. It's not difficult to imagine a society like this one. The use of detective elements adds constant mystery to the plot and I often read on to find out what was going on, only to be rewarded with another question that needed answering, so I read on again... 'Dark Heavens' isn't perfect.
The ending is rushed and doesn't quite live up to the rest of the plotline, leaving a few elements unresolved. The story is, however, more about the uncovering of secrets than the resolution of action and the pacing of the unravelling scandal is immaculate.
This is one of the best books I've read in a long time and is well worth a purchase.
Roger Levy could very well be a force to reckon with in the coming years.
Tomas L. Martin
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