Interface Masque [Hardcover]

Shariann Lewitt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1997

On the edge of an adult career as a specialist in data systems at Sept-Fortune, senior apprentice Cecilie finds her final test to move up both unexpected and unacceptable and sets out to discover the true nature of her world.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Cecelie, a computer security apprentice at Sept-Fortune in Venice, must break an online bank security system the company designed in order to pass the test for senior apprentice. While retrieving the data, she discovers that the Septs are planning to take over the net to control the wealth and power of information. The high-tech intrigue and real vs. virtual masks recommend Lewitt's (Memento Mori, LJ 11/15/95) work for most collections.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

The Internet has been tamed, and companies called Septs, descendants of the original hackers, now control access to it, with rival Septs in cities throughout the world. In Venice, a young acolyte named Cecilie takes the test for senior apprenticeship in Sept-Fortune, a test that removes her from youth and begins her introduction into a world of intrigue and antagonism. As the Septs jockey for position to complete their dominance, Cecilie stumbles upon an alien presence in the Net. Meanwhile, the choirs of Venice, relied upon by the Septs to provide a sort of live choral Muzak to induce docility, are enmeshed in strange events linked to the subversive, almost forgotten music known as jazz. Lewitt's distinctive style is admirably suited to her story's rapid yet intricate pace, as Cecilie and the mysterious musician David are ever more deeply caught up in events. Lewitt's depiction of the future Venice and the labyrinthine intertwining of real life and the virtual cityscape are lyrical and compelling, and her characters are much more than shadows. Dennis Winters

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 350 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; 1st edition (April 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031285627X
• ISBN-13: 978-0312856274
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,751,857 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Future of the Internet?, August 23, 2006

By 

themarsman (Georgetown, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Interface Masque (Hardcover)

Interface Masque details the adventures of Cecelie of Sept-Fortune; a computer security firm located in a future Venice. As an apprentice of Sept-Fortune, she must undergo a final test to become a full member of the firm. After the test, Cecelie's world is turned upside down. While the Septs are the de facto management of the Net, Cecelie soon discovers that the certain factions within the Sept structure are attempting to consolidate their power and not only control the Net in the de facto sense, but in the very real life sense as well.

Interface Masque presents an interest look at the possible future the modern-day Internet may take...but Ms. Lewitt attempts at composing three-dimensional characters, on the whole, was not a success. There is too much we did not know about the characters and their pasts, and Ms. Lewitt would introduce a character and then not explore that character further until too far down the line. But where Ms. Lewitt did compensate some was by building a reasonably believable world where those in charge use music to control the masses and information is controlled by an elite few (i.e. the Septs).

Interface Masque was an okay book. Would I recommend this book to a friend? Probably not. But if the mood were to strike me, I would probably give Ms. Lewitt's works another chance.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A haunting evocation of a very possible future, October 16, 1997

By 

[e-mail] (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Interface Masque (Hardcover)

Very briefly, INTERFACE MASQUE is one of those novels whose underlying assumptions are so well constructed that it draws you into its world completely. Read it. I assure you that you will never again hear cyberspace described as "the Information Superhighway" without thinking that Lewin's "Infosea" is a much, much better metaphor.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars one of the most thought-invoking novels i've read, May 11, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Interface Masque (Hardcover)

talk about imagination! lewitt's metaphors and intriguing ideas of a futuristic world come together in a fantastic knot of science fiction and fantasy. be drawn in to a world of masked faces and surprising revelations.