House of Suns

by Alastair Reynolds

Overview

An "engaging and awe-inspiring"(SF Signal) space opera from the critically-acclaimed author of the Revelation Space series.


Six million years ago, at the dawn of the star-faring era, Abigail Gentian fractured herself into a thousand male and female clones, which she called shatterlings. She sent them out into the galaxy to observe and document the rise and fall of countless human empires. Since then, every two hundred thousand years, they gather to exchange news and memories of their travels.



Only there is no Gathering. Someone is eliminating the Gentian line. And now Campion and Purslane — two shatterlings who have fallen in love and shared forbidden experiences — must determine exactly who, or what, their enemy is, before they are wiped out of existence . . .

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316462624
Publisher:	Orbit
Publication date:	09/29/2020
Pages:	512
Sales rank:	123,400
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.50(d)

About the Author

Alastair Reynolds was born in Barry, South Wales, in 1966. He studied at Newcastle and St. Andrews Universities and has a Ph.D. in astronomy. He stopped working as an astrophysicist for the European Space Agency to become a full-time writer. Revelation Space and Pushing Ice were shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke Award; Revelation Space, Absolution Gap, Diamond Dogs, and Century Rain were shortlisted for the British Science Fiction Award, and Chasm City won the British Science Fiction Award.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Intriguing ideas and competent characterization make this a fine example of grand-scale relativistic space opera." —-Publishers Weekly

Editorial Reviews

"Entertaining...This is warm hearted science fiction with big ideas."—Interzone on House of Suns

"A thrilling, mind- boggling adventure."—The Times (UK) on House of Suns

"Reynolds's approach seems new, exciting, vibrant."—SFX on House of Suns

"There's enough here that is big, brash and bold to keep any space opera fan well satisfied."—SF Site on House of Suns

"Reynolds's brand of space opera continues to be engaging and awe-inspiring...big-scale ideas; packed with sense of wonder; great world building; backed up by believable science."—SF Signal on House of Suns

From the Publisher

Reynolds (The Prefect) returns to the universe of his 2005 novella "Thousandth Night" in this sprawling novel of intergalactic intrigue. It is 6.4 million years in the future and humanity has spread throughout the Milky Way. Some cultures have established transient empires across space; others, the Lines, have used relativistic travel to colonize deep time. Clone-siblings Campion and Purslane are delayed on their way to a Gentian Line reunion, a coincidence that saves them from a massacre. Allied with potentially hostile Machine People and an enigmatic post-human god called the Spirit, armed only with fragmentary records and hints that Campion's research provoked the mysterious House of Suns, the Gentian survivors struggle to find and stop their enemies before the genocide can be completed. Intriguing ideas and competent characterization make this a fine example of grand-scale relativistic space opera. (June)

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Publishers Weekly

Far-future, galaxy-spanning space opera involving clones, robots, mass murder and hundreds of post-human cultures, some alive, most extinct, set in a universe different than Reynolds' Revelation Space yarns (Diamond Dogs, Turquoise Days, 2005, etc.). Six million years ago, from a civilization known as the Golden Hour, the House of Flowers-comprising the thousand male and female immortal clones, or "shatterlings," of Abigail Gentian-set off to explore the galaxy. Every 200,000 years they meet up to celebrate and share memories. Since they travel at sublight speeds, most of this time is spent in stasis, so they do not so much live history as tunnel through it, as one of the characters observes. It's often a weakness, since readers are afforded glimpses of dozens of cultures without being offered involvement in any. Our alternating narrators-a third narrative strand features Abigail becoming addicted to a simulated-reality role-playing game, for reasons that only become clear much later-impetuous, courageous Campion and smarter, more empathic Purslane, are an item, against House rules. They're running late for the next reunion and need ship repairs. A piratical post-human named Ateshga attempts to trick Campion, but Purslane outwits him and rescues memory-impaired Hesperus. The three reach the reunion site 50 years late, only to learn that the Flowers have been ambushed and all but wiped out. Campion and Hesperus rescue a handful of Gentians-50 out of a surviving 900-odd. But why the slaughter, and who did it? Believe it or not, the Andromeda Galaxy is a major plot issue. Absorbing, but lacking the edgy brilliance and almost desperate urgency of the Revelation novels.

Kirkus Reviews

HOUSE OF SUNS features a race of humans that have lived in space for millions of years. But now someone has murdered most of them, and the survivors must find those responsible if the race is to survive. Narrator John Lee generally gives a strong narration, except when he encounters a recurring structural problem in the book: The story features an omniscient narrator, but, from time to time, without warning, the narration is taken over by the main female character. At these points, Lee’s voice doesn’t change, making it difficult to follow the shift in point of view. However, when Lee performs the female character’s dialogue, his voice goes up an octave, making those moments easy to follow. M.S. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

FEBRUARY 2010 - AudioFile