Queen of Angels

Queen of Angels is a novel written by Greg Bear. It was followed by a sequel, "/", also known as Slant.

Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow.

Queen of Angels describes our world just prior to the binary millennium (2048 AD) through several parallel (and to some degree interlocking) tales. Nanotechnology has transformed almost every aspect of American society, and its application to psychology, psychiatry, and neuroscience has created new forms of mental "therapy" which have created new forms of social stratification. Increasingly, individuals are either "therapied"--that is, well-integrated personalities capable of productive work and constructive social interaction which does not threaten the social order, with access to the best jobs, "high naturals", who possess such a makeup without the need for therapy, and the "untherapied", who find themselves increasingly marginalized.

The central unifying element involves a famous writer who has committed a gruesome series of murders, which is almost unheard of in the age of therapy. One storyline involves Mary Choy, a high natural police detective assigned to the case to track down and arrest the murderer. Mary is a transform--her body has been extensively altered by nanotechnology to enhance her abilities as a policewoman.

A second storyline involves a good friend of the murderer, also a writer, and untherapied, who must come to terms with what happened to his friend and how his life must change. Another plot line is that of Martin Burke, a pioneer in psychotherapy who uses a technique which allows him to directly enter and interact with a patient's psychology--the "Country of the Mind"--through a sort of virtual reality. Although in a position of disgrace at the story's opening, Dr. Burke is given the opportunity to use his technique to explore one of the most fascinating and dangerous minds imaginable. The story also involves the nature of artificial intelligence, as two machines, both on earth and in deep space, face the possibility of the emergence of true individuality.

The novel deals with issues of technology, identity, the nature of justice, and the existence of consciousness and the soul.