In the Cube [Paperback]

David Alexander Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1994

Twenty-first-century Boston serves as the gateway to Earth for aliens and has become a technological marvel where humans and aliens mix, struggling to create a new society while coping with greed, immense wealth, and murder. Reprint. K. PW. AB.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In late 21st-century Boston, the sea has engulfed much of the present-day city, leaving its citizens to live in a gigantic cube-shaped megastructure of corridors twisting through the layered town. Having seceded from the U.S., Boston is now a bustling interplanetary spaceport. Private detective Beverly O'Meara and her alien partner, Akktri, whose inhumanly sharp senses allow him to find otherwise undetectable clues, have been hired to locate the missing daughter of a high-ranking city official. Their adventure-filled search takes them among aliens and humans of every description, from the highest (literally), wealthiest levels of Boston society to its lowest, poorest stratum in "Boston's Basement." The detectives make an appealing team; Akktri, though thoroughly alien, is especially sympathetic. The real star, though is Smith's ( Homecoming ) painstakingly constructed future Boston. If occasionally the plot is swamped by the wealth of evocative detail, Smith's city is interesting enough to compensate for the descriptive overflow. Readers will find this enjoyable, well-crafted book in the tradition of Asimov's The Caves of Steel.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

Science-fiction detective yarn set in a medium-future Boston literally crawling with weird aliens: Smith's hardcover debut. Twenty-first-century Boston has been the site of momentous events: alien contact (involving dozens of species) and the establishment of an interstellar portal, the US government's challenge of Boston's subsequent monopoly of interstellar trade, a dreadful siege followed by independence from the US in all but name. Physically, the city has become a gigantic enclosed cube, outside of which most residents never venture. Now, Diana, the adopted daughter of City Operator Iris Sherwood, has gone missing; Sherwood calls in private detective Beverley O'Meara and her partner, Akktri, a furry alien Phner. Despite her misgivings (Beverley blames Sherwood for the death of her father during the Siege), Beverley takes the job--and immediately earns the enmity of persons high up in the Boston power structure; she learns that what seemed to be a case of kidnap and blackmail actually hinges on a mother/daughter love/hate relationship. In resolving the case, Beverley gains new insights into her Phner partner and his alien motivations. Hard-working, inventive, and colorful, but also uncontrolled- -with far too many different aliens, improbable sleuthing, and a general air of futuristic soap opera. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 286 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books (August 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812523741
• ISBN-13: 978-0812523744
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,959,330 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic concept of what it is to be alien, June 10, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: In the Cube (Paperback)

I found this to be an easily readable novel -- perhaps a good place for those who are new to sci-fi to start. Smith creates a very interesting story with "In The Cube" based largely on his more "big picture" ideas than the plot itself, which was above cookie-cutter quality, but not on a level of those of Heinlein or Asimov. Where Smith shines is his concept of what it is to be alien; he allows to reader to study the thought processes and social structure of the most prominent alien race in the book, the Phner. The history of future Boston is also an interesting plus, and is able to elevate this book above its otherwise straightforward detective story. There is a high potential for future works of D. A. Smith to be impressive. Let us hope we hear from him soon.

4.0 out of 5 stars Stock plot saved by wonderfully realized aliens, June 4, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: In the Cube (Paperback)

Boston in the future has been changed to the point of unrecognizability. The only port where aliens can trade with humans, fortunes beyond those of Bill Gates have been made, and the city rebuilt by simply gluing together all of the old buildings into one huge brick.

Beverly O'Mera is a "cubehunter" within this changed Boston- a private eye specializing in finding lost persons. She is called up by one of the most powerful women in Boston to find the woman's daughter who ran away. (Or did she?) O'Mera and her Phner partner, Akktri, get drawn into a widening conspiracy involving most of the powerful people of the new Boston.

The basic plot of the book is straight hard-bitten detective, well worn and with few surprises. Where the book really shines is the development of Akktri and the rest of the Phner. The Phner are one of the rarest things in SF: true aliens, not just humans in alien suits or one dimensional horror figures.

The Phner are beaver-like semi-aquatic aliens who appeared in Boston following losing their home planet in a war. They don't really live in the present and understand little human logic, but rather have a editic racial memory. To a Phner, nothing is truly real until it is dead or destroyed: only then can its "art" be fully appreciated and understood.

The book begins with both the author and O'Mera treating Akktri much as an intelligent dog. Akktri bounces around, following O'Mera, happy that she will give him "lobster-fish" when they find their quarry. As the story progresses, the impact of the bizarre (to human eyes) Phner understanding of reality begins to show more and more. Akktri is not a dog: not even human in the sense of having the same feelings or goals as a human would. As O'Mera begins to truly understand the Phner and what they can and want to do, she must question both her partnership and her friendship with the Phner.

The Future Boston developed by Smith has a lot of potential: there are numerous odd aliens and lots of bizarre history. Hopefully Smith will be able to realize Targives, popcorn aliens and the rest in future books as well as he has done the Phner in In the Cube

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic concept of what it is to be alien, June 11, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: In the Cube (Paperback)

I found this to be an easily readable novel -- perhaps a good place for those who are new to sci-fi to start. Smith creates a very interesting story with "In The Cube" based largely on his more "big picture" ideas than the plot itself, which was above cookie-cutter quality, but not on a level of those of Heinlein or Asimov. Where Smith shines is his concept of what it is to be alien; he allows to reader to study the thought processes and social structure of the most prominent alien race in the book, the Phner. The history of future Boston is also an interesting plus, and is able to elevate this book above its otherwise straightforward detective story. There is a high potential for future works of D. A. Smith to be impressive. Let us hope we hear from him soon.