St. Martin's Press, 1989, cover art Bryn Barnard Signet pb, 1989, cover art Bryn Barnard

The cylinder was the world and within it lived the Horizontal dwellers -- factory drudges and the wealthy, priviledged few. Seeking to escape the Horizontal, Ny Axxter, a free-lance graffex artist, took to the Vertical, the outside of the Cylinder. Here people traveled the cable network with microchip implants that let them tap into the computer-run economic and information net. Roaming among the warring military tribes that ruled the Vertical, Ny sought his big break. But when it came, he was caught in a tribal power struggle, pursued by a megassassin, and forced to flee to places no Vertical climber had ever seen before...

" It was originally intended as the first volume of a trilogy and it's a concerted attempt to do one of those 'big landscape' novels where you've got a starship that's as big as a planet." - K. W. Jeter "..Jeter tosses in some great details and combines them with an almost Dick-like disregard for hard science that feels real comforting in these hard science times. Books like this must make John Campbell spin in his grave. Okay!" - Forced Exposure "Another splendid outing.. Jeter's latest mad concept astonishes and intrigues as his sure-footed narrative stirs and fascinates. Grab!" - Kirkus Reviews

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