High Steel

A familiar scenario of a 22nd-century world dominated by megacorporations overpowers some promising elements--including Native American politics and spirituality--that Haldeman ( Vector Analysis ) and Dann ( The Man Who Melted ) envision in this SF thriller. Drafted from his reservation by the ruthless Trans-United company, John Stranger becomes one of the firm's best space construction workers. His unusual visualization skills--a reflection of his shamanistic training--attract the attention of director Gerard Leighton. Trans-United is locked in a race with other ``corps'' to decipher an alien transmission that contains instructions for a faster-than-light space drive, and Stranger may be the edge they need to crack the alien code. Meanwhile, people on Stranger's reservation are having visions that may come from the aliens themselves, and intercorporate politics threaten to destroy not only the reservation, but the entire planet. The wild mixture of elements initially seems promising, but the novel plows little new ground since the Native American experience pictured here seems to have changed little in two centuries. Perhaps this problem might have been corrected if the authors had given themselves more room; as it is, this slim novel, combining ethnic politics, corporate venality, alien contact and mysticism, seems hurried and underdeveloped. (July)