Halo is a cyberpunk science fiction novel by Tom Maddox. It was his first novel and was published in 1991. The book is available on-line in Cyberpunk Library.

Halo charts the evolution of an intelligent computer as it gains self-awareness and accelerates humanity into a profound technological revolution. With its themes of A.I., virtual reality, humans physically bound to intelligent machines, human desire and thought taking new, unanticipated forms, genetic engineering and matter transformed at molecular levels, Halo is intensely modern science fiction. It utilises the future visions yielded by computer technology and bioengineering theory, and wraps all this up in a driving thriller plot.

Synopsis

The latter half of the twenty-first century: a time when artificial intelligence is going to transform humanity.

Free-lance data-auditor Gonzales is given a contract by the Sentrax Corporation to monitor goings-on aboard Halo, an orbiting colony controlled by an artificial intelligence named Aleph. Seems that badly injured Jerry Chapman will dies unless Aleph can preserve his mentality inside its own computer reality. Assisting Aleph and Gonzales are computer reality interface expert Diana Heywood and Halo's Interface Collective, an association of talented weirdos. Gonzales's Sentrax boss, Traynor, opposes the project and pulls the plug just as Aleph, Gonzales, Diana, Jerry, and the Collective are hooked together. Aleph, annoyed, retaliates by switching off the functions that sustain human life aboard Halo; thus Traynor and Sentrax are forced to back down.

Links & References

Halo

The book itself.