Book excerpt: Set in a future world where the Earth has been remade into a paradise and humanity has been joined under a single, popularly-elected world government, this 1984 Prometheus Award-winning novel tells the story of Joan Darris, a brilliant young artist in the medium of laser concerts. Like the novels of Huxley, Burgess, and Rand, "The Rainbow Cadenza" uses black humor to reveal a fearsome future that ends with a ray of hope.