#129 Blind man's bluff: Night Walk (1967) by Bob Shaw

Classic SF with Andy Johnson

In recent years, the reputation of the Northern Irish writer Bob Shaw has grown. He died in 1996, but left behind a large body of cleverly entertaining science fiction series, novels, and stories. Today, more readers are discovering Shaw's work, which is eminently readable and packed with intriguing ideas taken in surprising directions.
Recently, I covered Shaw's excellent 1976 novel A Wreath of Stars, one of his most celebrated works. This episode covers his debut novel, the deft and exciting Night Walk. Shaw had a fear of blindness, rooted in his own eye health issues, and a strong interest in the science of optics. Like several of his later novels, Night Walk explores this preoccupation.
In this far-future spy story, our hero is blinded and dumped in a prison on a hostile colony world. To escape, survive, and protect a secret with interstellar significance, he must rely on a device that restores his ability to see - but not through his own eyes, but the eyes of others.

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