Catherine Asaro: The Veiled Web

Bantam Books (Paperback) ISBN 0-553-58151-1

An intriguing, subtle exercise in near-future fiction, The Veiled Web begs the question of whether a book should be rated against more than one scale.

Catherine Asaro brings the heroes of The Veiled Web, ballerina Lucia del Maria and software expert and businessman Rashid al-Jazar, to vivid life. Their struggle to find enough common ground to build a lasting relationship makes the novel stand out as a sublime cross-religion romance. But fans of Asaro’s more futuristic books may find the science fiction elements too tame.

Rashid, a long-time admirer of Lucia’s dancing, attends her performances whenever and wherever he can, though it takes him some time to work up the courage to speak to her. An abortive kidnapping attempt interrupts their second meeting in an Italian café. The kidnappers take their prisoners to Morocco. Back on his home turf, Rashid leverages an arranged marriage with Lucia to help them out of their predicament. Lucia, still affected by the kidnapper’s drugs, doesn’t realize what she agreed to until she finds herself installed — or imprisoned, depending on your view — in Rashid’s traditional Moroccan household.

At this point, The Veiled Web concentrates on the developing relationship between Rashid and Lucia, how Lucia deals with the restrictive atmosphere of a domestic harem, hostile in-laws and her unrelenting need to return to the stage. Rashid must learn to cope with a wife who yearns for freedom and his own suspicious nature brought about by an earlier failed marriage.

During her enforced seclusion in Morocco, Lucia becomes involved with the artificial intelligence (AI) called Zaki. Zaki, a ground-breaking AI that thinks for itself, begins to show signs of consciousness — and a conscience. Does this mean Zaki possesses a soul?

As a romantic suspense novel, The Veiled Web would easily rate another half crescent. But the science seems too close to reality to qualify as science fiction in the traditional sense. Hard SF and space adventure purists also may find the deliberate pacing of the emotional, character-driven plot too slow. But readers with broader taste will relish Asaro’s powerful writing and insight — and share her hopes for the near future.

Stephen Smith

Stephen Smith divides his talents between Webmastering, fiction writing and house keeping. Currently possessed by the Demon Comedic Muse, he is writing a comic fantasy entitled, Huw’s the Hero, an urban fantasy, vampire detective novel, Valencius Covers his Tracks. His science fiction romance Cyberius III was published in December 2005 by New Concepts Publishing under the pseudonym of S.J. Willing and he is working on the sequel, Poseidon VII. More information can be found at his normal website and at S.J. Willing’s webpage.