Sea of Glass

Sea of Glass is a dystopian science fiction novel by American writer Barry B. Longyear.

Background

Thomas Windom is born into a future where the actions and lives of all human beings are predicted and manipulated by a supercomputer called MAC III. His early childhood is spent hidden in his parents' home as an illegal child. When he takes his first look outside on his seventh birthday, he is discovered by a neighbor who reports him to the police. These 'men in black' come and place him at Outcasters, an orphanage for illegal children. His parents tortured to death, Thomas grows up in the brutal orphanage and learns to survive despite being a nonentity. Death and love come to him early and often. He spends his teenage years learning the deterministic science of 'projections' and everyone's place in the world in relation to the inevitable Wardate (a time predicted by MAC III) that looms over the entire planet. As an adult, Thomas questions fate, determinism, morality, and MAC III as he struggles to understand his own place in the world and role in the War.

Sources

fantasticfiction.co.uk page on Sea of Glass

fantasticfiction.co.uk page on Barry B. Longyear