John Varley’s Steel Beach takes place within his Eight Worlds universe. Humanity has been displaced from the Earth by ‘invaders.’ The lunar refuge, run by the Central Computer (aka CC), is the largest in the solar system. The CC functions as the government with life somewhat idyllic, but the population has turned to destructive pastimes. The main character is a reporter who has been trying to commit suicide and enters into long philosophical discussion with the CC. Halfway through, he elects to change his sex which is quite common. He/She also becomes aware of a splinter group attempting to live on the lunar surface away from the prying eyes of the CC. This eventually leads to violent confrontations.
Varley explores the sudden rupture of societal mores and traditions that accompany the displacement from Earth. At the same time, the advancement of artificial intelligence has reached a stage where human involvement is unnecessary. This leads to two situations: 1) humans have little to do as the CC takes care of everything leading to perverse behaviors; and 2) the AI makes decisions for the ‘good’ of its human charges leading to abuse and corruption.
The narration is quite good with reasonable character distinction, although a female narrator after the sex change would have been preferred.