Several decades into the future, the long series of corporate and government decisions has left the Eath in a state of disaster, almost uninhabitable. The icecaps have melted. The ozone layer is destroyed. A few areas are livable with the help of breathing masks and injections to protect the skin. The only true refuge, for all who can afford it, has become the near-space orbital colonies built and run by private companies and open only to those who are willing and able to pay. Valparaiso Nuevo is one of these colonies. Run by a shadowy dictator known only as the Generalissimo, it exists as a haven for hustlers, conspirators and people looking for an edge.
Victor Farkas, operative of the megacorporation Kyocera-Merck Ltd., is blind but gifted with hypersensitive "blindsight." He comes to Valparaiso Nuevo in search of a renegade geneticist of legendary skill. Back on Earth, Nick Rhodes, head of Samurai Industries, which attempts to breed humans that can thrive in the horrendous conditions on Earth, struggles with his conscience as he manipulates genetic structures and lives. Paul Carpenter works for a Japanese mega-corporation, seeking promotion and survival, but loses his job as a ship captain after a mutiny.
As these men's lives intersect with Jolanda--a talented sculptor, a passionate lover and a secret plotter--they find themselves embroiled in a scheme to take over Valparaiso Nuevo. Their goals may be individually motivated but the deadly combination of ambition, distrust, greed, stupidity, and lust leads toward a dramatic conclusion.
In HOT SKY AT MIDNIGHT, a bleak picture of future Earth and a complex plot peopled with dark, rich characters, come together as one of Silverberg's finer novels.
