Dreams Of Flesh And Sand (1988) by W. T. Quick is full-throttle cyberpunk action. A little-known book, Dreams Of Flesh And Sand is monomole sharp and relentless in its excess. W. T. Quick writes a vision of a future that is both disturbing and enticing. Dreams Of Flesh And Sand is a cyberpunk treat ready for rediscovery.

When corporations go to war the world trembles. When a corporation goes to war with itself, the foundations of the world crumble. Nakamura-Norton, Double En, is in a secret power struggle between its founders. The prize is the control of all the world’s data.

Jack Berg is the best at his job. If you need your data secured, by any means, then the ‘Iceberg’ is the man to call. When megacorp Double En comes knocking at Jack’s door he is immediately suspicious. Then when a rocket attack destroys Jack’s home his only option is to accept Double En’s offer.

Gloria Calley is the best at her job. She can crack any system, any ICE, and retrieve any data. When Double En offers her a job her instinct is to refuse but her curiosity overcomes her fears. Now she must work with her ex-husband, Berg, again.

Calley and Berg must now enter the new meatmatrix, a system composed of organic brain and more powerful than any computer system anywhere. There is something in the matrix they must eliminate. Neither Berg nor Calley trust Double En and with their lives at stake they must find a way to do their job and protect their lives.

Cyberpunk began as an underground SF movement. That is until authors like William Gibson and Bruce Sterling brought it to the forefront with their incredible talents. However, Dreams Of Flesh And Sand remains an underground cyberpunk gem.

For fans well-versed in cyberpunk fiction, W. T. Quick’s world will be immediately recognizable. Megacorporations, advanced computing, and hacker geniuses are only the starting point. For readers that are new to cyberpunk Dreams Of Flesh And Sand doesn’t offer any obstacles for enjoyment.

Quick’s characters seem stereotypical for cyberpunk at first, however, they fit the universe so well that they don’t feel as such. Berg and Calley bring an interesting dimension to the usual cowboy hacker trope. They are two sides of the same coin, each having opposing specialties.

What is more interesting about Berg and Calley is that they are a divorced couple. This allows Quick to explore an interesting personal dimension not often used in cyberpunk. At the time Dreams Of Flesh And Sand was published the stigma associated with divorce was still strong. Quick, however, abolishes this stigma. While Quick does some interesting things with the relationship in the beginning it ends up somewhat typical.

All of Quick’s characters are lively and interesting. There are several characters that readers will wish were developed even further. However, it’s these memorable characters that propel the story and the reader along. Any excessive development could only slow the plot.

Quick’s worldbuilding is reminiscent of Gibson’s Neuromancer (1984) at times. This is not a bad thing. It allows the reader to immerse themselves in the story without struggling to understand the author’s meaning. Quick also takes his internet much further than Gibson.

The Internet of Dreams Of Flesh And Sand has various names, meatmatrix, metamatrix, but it comes down to the matrix. Quick’s matrix predates the 1999 film The Matrix by more than a decade but they function in a remarkably similar fashion. The vision of the internet Quick writes is a true virtual reality.

The writing is tight and razor-sharp. Quick neither wastes nor minces words. He makes the plot his focus and sweeps the reader up in its intense action. The action is vividly cinematic and paints bloody swaths across the reader’s imagination.

Dreams Of Flesh And Sand‘s obscurity helps to make its experience special. It’s a cyberpunk gem that still has that underground feeling. When you read it (or reread it) you get that feeling of being on the edge of something great and exciting. It’s a feeling all readers can appreciate.