The Cyborg and the Sorcerers

Lawrence Watt-Evans published *The Cyborg and the Sorcerers* in June 1982 as his debut science fiction novel, following several earlier fantasy books. The story mixes hard science fiction with fantasy elements.

A battle-weary cyborg spy is dispatched to the planet Dest, where unusual gravitational events lead his spaceship's artificial intelligence to suspect weapons research. The locals, however, simply call this phenomenon "magic." The AI rejects any peaceful explanation and eventually launches a campaign to wipe out the civilization. Watt-Evans returned to Dest in a 1987 sequel, *The Wizard and the War Machine*.

The protagonist, "Slant," is one of several constructed personalities inhabiting a rebuilt cyborg body. He belongs to the Independent Reconnaissance Unit (IRU), agents created by Earth's military during an interstellar war with former colonies. Earth was bombed, Mars command went silent, and radio chatter confirmed the war was lost. Though fourteen years have passed aboard his ship, nearly three hundred years have elapsed in real time due to near-light-speed travel. The ship's AI refuses to accept the war's end and continues dispatching Slant on missions, compelling obedience through a small explosive implanted at the base of his skull. Slant spends most of his time in the acceleration couch, linked to the AI via a data connector on his neck.

The story begins when the ship enters a system last listed as an attack target with no recorded outcome. The main planet is obliterated, but a smaller world, Dest, is only partially destroyed and hosts a simple medieval society. Instruments detect variable gravity readings, which the AI interprets as antigravity weapons research, sending Slant to investigate. He reaches the city of Teyzha, where wizards briefly interrogate him, and he learns magic is accepted as real and causes the gravitational anomalies. He infiltrates a library but finds all books assume the reader already knows the basics. Captured, the ship rescues him by destroying much of the city.

Slant moves to Awlmei and hires a wizard who explains that "wizard sight" can be granted by rearranging brain connections. The AI orders Slant to kill the wizard and retrieve his brain for study. He returns to the ship, but wizards follow and drain its energy. As the ship "dies," a recording from Mars command plays, telling Slant a distress signal was se