Absorbing and extremely
thought-provoking science fiction novel by J. Neil Schulman, recently back
in print as of this writing. It takes place in a
future world where drugs which will disable
sperm that would produce babies of a particular
gender have become widely available; due to the pressure of several long-term wars, the
male-
female ratio of the population of the
Earth is now about seven to one.
This world, unsurprisingly, has many cultural and even governmental changes -- a draft of young women who spend three years giving guys their monthly governmental allotment of sex, a great increase in the status of homosexual men, an underclass of people called "Touchables" who have few to no legal rights, the rise of Wicca as a popular religion, the ability to keep a brain in cryogenic suspension while a new clone body is grown for it. The book mixes this world with an interesting plot of family power struggles, debates on ethics and theology, and the rise of the laser show as an art form separated from the music used in 20th century versions.