Except for a brief prologue, Psion is a first-person narrative told by Cat shortly after the events he has participated in. The first person narrative accomplishes two things. It puts the reader into the protagonist's head — in a sense allowing the reader to become a telepath like Cat. It also allows the reader to make his own judgements on Cat's outlook, since the reader is not an unsophisticated street rat. Since Cat is a teen-ager, between 16 and 17, the point of view is unsophisticated and often self-serving. But this makes Cat's description of his marginal existence even more horrifying. The descriptions of his life prior to his "volunteering" for the psi project are told with a childish matter-of-factness that can make a reader cringe. This technique engages the reader's sympathy for the abandoned child who grew up under a torrent of abuse. The reader can understand why Cat...