Achilles' Choice: Larry Niven and Steven Barnes

Jillian Shomer had won the right to compete in the Olympiads that tested the mind as well as the body. Athletes use The Boost - an operation that conveyed brilliant intellect and superhuman strength - at a terrible price. Once Boosted, rapid burnout followed. The only way to halt the effects was connection to The Link, the global information network that sustained the world. Only those who won received the Link. None who dared question the workings of the system had ever survived. But Jillian Shomer dared. Cover art and interior illustrations by Boris Vallejo.