Kress takes an admirably complex look at controversial issues-genetic engineering, the distribution of wealth and power, racism and political hatred-while offering no easy answers. Events are viewed through several characters who must confront the collapse of their society and (perhaps) the birth of another. As conditions worsen, so do tensions between the donkeys and the Livers. Meanwhile, in the States, sharply divided into the ``Livers'' (who subsist on the dole but consider themselves aristocrats) and the ``donkeys'' (genetically enhanced, highly educated public servants who sneer at the Livers even as they support them), society's infrastructure is breaking down because the machines that feed, clothe and care for the Livers have stopped functioning. The genetically engineered SuperSleepless-who need no sleep and have vastly increased cognitive powers-have established a protected island enclave where they can work on their beneficent plans for humanity away from the prying eyes of the genetic-purity police. This welcome sequel to Kress's acclaimed Beggars in Spain (which itself was based on a novella that in 1993 won both a Hugo and a Nebula) picks up 13 years after the events of the earlier book.
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