Cyber Way [Paperback]

Alan Dean Foster (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Foster's ( Glory Lane ) talent for taking intellectual leaps into the near future is again evinced in this SF murder mystery that hinges on an understanding of ancient Navajo culture, the art of sandpainting and the secret medicine rituals known as Ways. The title alludes to the novel's central puzzle: Why was an industrialist killed, and the unusual, oddly designed sandpainting in his primitive art collection destroyed? Foster characteristically domesticates an incredible plot through the creation of commonplace heroes--in this case, an overweight police detective named Vernon Moody, whose deceptively sluggish appearance masks the determination to unravel a crime. Foster makes good use of his locales--the upper-class enclaves of Tampa, Fla., and the dry flats of Arizona's Navajo country. And although he isn't much of a stylist--the pace lags and sentences often have a stilted quality--he plays off technology and Native American tradition in a clever story.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

The murder of a businessman/art collector and the destruction of a priceless Navaho sand painting involve reluctant detective Vernon Moody in a collision of cultures as computer technology and shamanistic mysticism open a path into an unfamiliar dimension. Known for his film novelizations as well as for his original sf and fantasy, Foster creates a fascinating amalgam of sf/detective fiction and Native American lore in a novel that features a pair of engagingly mismatched protagonists. This will be welcome in most sf collections.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Ace (May 1, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0441132456
• ISBN-13: 978-0441132454
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,360,547 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Alan Dean Foster's work to date includes excursions into hard science-fiction, fantasy, horror, detective, western, historical, and contemporary fiction. He has also written numerous non-fiction articles on film, science, and scuba diving, as well as having produced the novel versions of many films, including such well-known productions as "Star Wars", the first three "Alien" films, "Alien Nation", and "The Chronicles of Riddick". Other works include scripts for talking records, radio, computer games, and the story for the first "Star Trek" movie. His novel "Shadowkeep" was the first ever book adapation of an original computer game. In addition to publication in English his work has been translated into more than fifty languages and has won awards in Spain and Russia. His novel "Cyber Way" won the Southwest Book Award for Fiction in 1990, the first work of science-fiction ever to do so.

Foster's sometimes humorous, occasionally poignant, but always entertaining short fiction has appeared in all the major SF magazines as well as in original anthologies and several "Best of the Year" compendiums. His published oeuvre includes more than 100 books.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great combination of high tech and Native American mythology, August 24, 1997

By 

[e-mail] (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cyber Way (Paperback)

A fascinating book combining the traditions of the Navaho indian tribes and post modern culture and technology, while at the same time a thought-provoking "how done-it" . The story revolves around the investigations of a Miami detective looking into the bizarre murder of a wealthy business man and its relation to a unique Native American sandpainting. His investigations take him to California where he calls upon the assistance of a local Navaho detective. While there he uncovers links to an ancient alien race, and is called upon to eliminate a possible threat to all mankind

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Clever novel fusing mystery and science fiction., October 12, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Cyber Way (Paperback)

CYBER WAY is one of those rare science-fiction novels that, while not being a pathbreaking contribution to the genre, well repays rereading.

It fuses the kind of mystery pioneered by Tony Hillerman (in which Navaho culture is central to the plot and most of the cast is Navaho) with cutting-edge science fiction dealing with cyberspace. The MacGuffin that drives the plot is not merely a throwaway -- instead, it is central to the action and plausibly, chillingly developed.

There are a few holes -- at first, the Navaho detective treats his out-of-town white-bread Floridian colleague with surface good humor and respect but with an undercurrent of impatience and condescension that is never really explained -- but you forget about them after a while.

I wish that Alan Dean Foster would write another novel or two about Paul Ooljee and Vernon Moody.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting philosophical idea about data processing, November 10, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (michael_birch_a@ya... (England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cyber Way (Paperback)

This book was a slow starter for a few chapters but became very interesting later on. The plot revolves around a near future detective and an advanced internet for law enforcement. It then incorporates the idea that Navaho sand paintings and associated chants are an aural real world access to an N Dimensional data base left by past visitors to earth. If your interested in philosophy - American Indian history - or computers this is for you. It approaches Colin Wilsons Philosophers Stone in some ways