SiberianTiger@wyrms.de reviewed House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds
Space is enourmous
4 stars
This is an Alastair Reynolds book, so be warned: space is enormous, and you will be reminded of that all the time.
And since space is enormous, travelling through it takes ages. Alastair Reynolds writes hard SF, so there is no faster-than-light travel. In the time it takes to get from one planet to another, civilisations will have risen and fallen again. We need some way to “solve” this problem; otherwise we would be stuck in one place. The idea of the shatterlings is great and, at least to me, a new way of dealing with how enormous space is.
With this great setup I can’t help feeling somewhat disappointed by the plot. The beginning of the book promised a journey through this enormous space, with distant civilisations and mind-bending concepts. But most of the story takes place in a single location within a rather narrow timeframe. It is still …
This is an Alastair Reynolds book, so be warned: space is enormous, and you will be reminded of that all the time.
And since space is enormous, travelling through it takes ages. Alastair Reynolds writes hard SF, so there is no faster-than-light travel. In the time it takes to get from one planet to another, civilisations will have risen and fallen again. We need some way to “solve” this problem; otherwise we would be stuck in one place. The idea of the shatterlings is great and, at least to me, a new way of dealing with how enormous space is.
With this great setup I can’t help feeling somewhat disappointed by the plot. The beginning of the book promised a journey through this enormous space, with distant civilisations and mind-bending concepts. But most of the story takes place in a single location within a rather narrow timeframe. It is still an interesting story, just less enormous than the beginning had led me to hope.
Unfortunately, the ending is also typical Alastair Reynolds: it feels somewhat rushed. In this respect, it strongly reminded me of his Inhibitor Sequence, which also slams on the emergency brake rather than coming to a gradual stop. Still, I enjoyed the book.
Two books it reminded me of:
Alastair Reynolds: The Inhibitor Sequence: Space is enormous, and travelling through it, along with the time dilation involved, affects everything. Larry Niven: Ringworld: Highly advanced protagonists explore a world full of artefacts left by an earlier race, far beyond their own capabilities.