Aristoi (novel)
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Aristoi is a 1993 science fiction novel by Walter Jon Williams. It was one of the preliminary candidates for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in a particularly competitive year (only the second year in the award's history in which there was a tie).
The novel describes a technologically advanced society with a rigid hierarchy of social classes. The top class, the "Aristoi," are given the ultimate responsibility: that of managing nanotechnology.
One innovative feature of this novel is that the Aristoi develop daimones, separate sub-personalities within their mind which can operate without requiring attention from their main 'self'. In virtual reality, deployed through an implanted brain-computer interface, these can even be manifested as distinct individuals.
Also in this novel, Williams frequently uses the device of splitting the text into two columns in order to represent characters' simultaneous interactions with multiple daimones and/or persons.
The cover art for Aristoi was nominated for the 1993 Hugo Award for Best Original Artwork.
