House of Suns: Alastair Reynolds (GOLLANCZ S.F.)

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The only constant in the galaxy are the Lines such as Gentian Line: one thousand clones of a woman that lived in the 31st century at the start of humanity's interstellar colonization who live exclusively aboard spaceships that jet around at near-lightspeed, and so due to Time Dilation pass millions of years despite experiencing only thousands. Through pure chance, they might just be able to avoid censure thanks to the presence of an esteemed guest – Hesperus, a member of the galaxy’s other great meta-civilization, the Machine People. They take a detour to contact a posthuman known as ‘Ateshga’ in hopes of getting a replacement ship for Campion because his is getting old (several million years old).

Just take real life examples from biology, viruses, intelligence in insect colonies,… or technology, viruses again, microscopic robots,. Aside from five main characters (arguable, Campion and Purslane, the Machine Person Hesperus, Abigail and her playmate), new ones who are introduced aren't distinguished far beyond a particular trait, which is then repeatedly referenced for the reader ('the leader,' 'the mismatched eyes,' 'beautiful,' etc). It's been a great reading month for me, with a couple of ARC eBooks thrown in for good measure too (Rebecca Roanhorse's Black Sun and Stephen Deas' The Moonsteel Crown). I would absolutely love another novel set in this universe, and the point at which this novel arrives could be seen as a great widening of that universe’s potential scope. The tension that finally developed a good third into the book dissipated quickly, and the more I read the more disappointed I was about the neatly resolved plot points.I've read most of Alastair Reynolds's SF novels and enjoyed them all, but "House of Suns" is exceptional, even by his high standards. Bio- and nanotechnology and its possible uses, misuses, and funny accidents with it are a recurring theme in his work, Melding plague, Greenfly, abilities of machines, etc, and one of the most fascinating aspects of Sci-Fi, be it in worldbuilding, abilities, or the effects on protagonists if they more or less willingly transform.

Reynolds also does a decent job of simplifying cool science concepts, such as faster-than-light travel and the violation of causality.Whilst other members of the Line don’t really get the same level of characterisation as Campion, Purslane and Hesperus, this core trio have more than enough charm and personality to get you personally invested in their fates. And so how can I tell you about the journey of two shatterlings, who are in love and who are not really allowed to be because of the rules of their society, without ruining that enjoyment for you? In the end it turns out that the First Machines have no interest in what they consider to be a vice of biologicals and have moved on thoroughly averting the trope.

Also used for inertial dampening, as a ship's shields can be projected internally around its inhabitants, allowing extremely high-g maneuvers that would normally render everybody inside to jelly. Screw Yourself: Campion and Purslane are lovers, and being shatterlings, they were both created with the same initial set of memories from Abigail.There are only a few things that led me to take a star off: at one juncture there is a disconnect in the story line that makes you think you must have missed a chapter which made me go back and then finding it is patched over later - why mess with the timeline? The main POV characters are Campion and Purslane Gentian, male and female clones of Abigail Gentian. He also guides the reader to understand the immense timescales that these characters deal with (many of them are millions of years old) without being boring or redundant. My story, “Thousandth Night”, dealt with a group of cloned immortal star travellers, and featured the large scale reengineering of the entire Milky Way as one of its plot points. Not What It Looks Like: The scene where Hesperus/Valmik Mind Probe Cadence note By plunging his arm into the latter's chest to forcibly form data connection between the two can look disturbingly like the former raping the latter.

Keeping the story in a pacey "first-person" format, he alternates the viewpoint between the two main characters, as well as filling in some introductory background from the perspective of a third person during the preamble to each f the book's parts. The clones and Abigail travel the Milky Way Galaxy, helping young civilizations, collecting knowledge, and experiencing what the universe has to offer. The surviving shatterlings have to dodge exotic weapons while they regroup to try to solve the mystery of who is persecuting them, and why - before their ancient line is wiped out of existence, for ever. When they approach the reunion site, they receive a message informing them that unknown attackers ambushed the Gentians and slaughtered all but a handful. Lo que más destaca es este mundo (o mejor dicho galaxia) que a primera vista pueda parecer rebuscado, está muy bien planteado y es incluso plausible, es genial ir descubriendo la complejidad que tiene, las facciones que posee y como las acciones de los personajes pueden tener repercusiones incluso millones de años después.Just my opinion, but…after 50 years of SF, I must say it’s great to see this kind of consistent creativity. They still keep on going, pumping so much energy into the planet that it literally just expands from the heat and disintegrates in a slow-motion kaboom. Full of intrigue and plots and sub plots, every time I thought I knew what was coming next there was another twist. It's not easy to find a good starting point with Reynolds, since his magnum opus, the Revelation Space series, is long and reportedly hit-and-miss in places. Alien Sky: The world that the novel starts on has a special atmospheric bubble which, at night, amplifies faint stars and nebulae, creating a very colorful night sky.