Scott now returns to the world of her earlier novel, Dreamships (Tor, 1992). In Dreaming Metal, Persephone is a planet racked by class struggle and economic and political upheaval. Celinde Fortune is an entertainer, an illusionist who makes good money but plays the Empire theater, a venue that also books socially controversial bands who attract bomb threats. When she combines two advanced computer chips in a new way in order to sophisticate her act, the resulting form of computer life seems awfully like a true artificial intelligence. This is beyond controversial -- it could get her killed.