Body of Glass

Like all of Piercy's better novels, Body of Glass braids consideration of major existential questions with a gripping story told from multiple points of view. The legend of the Golem of Prague (1600) is retold by a feisty, Jewish grandmother, Malkah, as a bedtime story for a cyborg. Yod, the cyborg, has been created in the third quarter of the 21st century, to protect his home community, Tikva, from predators. The predators are multinational corporations which have usurped the political and military power of nation-states in this near future. Malkah's diffident, conventional granddaughter Shira helps socialize the cyborg to pass for human, and also enlists his help in the battle for custody of her son; the opening salvo in a full-scale war between Tikva and the multis. First published in 1991, Body of Glass explored the threats and promises offered by the world wide web and virtual reality before most of us had heard of them. Piercy mixes genres - thriller, science fiction, romance and family saga to magnificent effect in this multilayered narrative which examines the nature of humanity, difference versus homogeneity, the power to create new life and the complex interplay of individual and communal responsibility. The novel can be read swiftly as light entertainment, but it definitely repays a more thoughtful, leisurely response. (Kirkus UK)