I absolutely loved this book.
Synopsis: Sparky is an actor, wandering a solar system a couple of centuries from now. The ‘world’ is well thought out and fascinating – I don’t want to spoil it for you – and Sparky is a fascinating character. Through flashbacks (which start off a little tedious, but suddenly grab the attention) we find about his childhood as a prodigy and eventually it is revealed how he reached his current desperate traits.
My only regret with this book is the usual one – I can never read it again for the first time!. Ah, well. I recently found that Varley’s “Steel Beach” is in the same universe, so I have it on back order 
