Child of the River: The First Book of Confluence (Confluence Trilogy) [Hardcover]

Paul J. Mcauley (Author)

Book Description

Series: Confluence Trilogy | Publication Date: June 1, 1998

An Arthur C. Clarke and John W. Campbell Memorial Award-winner for his novel FAIRYLAND, Paul J. McAuley designs and fabricates remarkably intricate worlds. He builds some out of solid bricks of science, some from granite carved from the rich quarry of human history and experience. All are marvelous constructs of invention and thought; enthralling landscapes to wander, explore and lose oneself in. He offers now a world that stands distinctly apart: a place of savagery, secrets and war; the home of ten thousand extraordinary bloodlines ruled by universal devotion to absent gods; a realm of merchants, mercenaries, ghouls, heretics, bureaucrats and feral machines; a world called Confluence. CHILD OF THE RIVER is the first book of the end times; the beginning chapter in the final great epic of a mysterious civilization. In it, a singular young man named Yama makes his way from a ghostly city of the dead to a metropolis of living wonders, and through the labyrinthine country o

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Paul J. McAuley has won just about all the awards named for science fiction authors: the Philip K. Dick, the Arthur C. Clarke, and the John W. Campbell Memorial. McAuley is a true wordsmith, an author's author, and in Child of the River, he has not only written an outstanding novel, he has created a universe. While fans of Gene Wolfe and Mervyn Peake might be taken aback by McAuley's stylistic imitation of those two luminaries, why look a gift horse in the mouth? McAuley's vision is original enough, as well as complex and entertaining enough, to keep a demanding reader engrossed.

Child of the River tells the story of Yama, a young man of unique heritage in a world of genetically altered beings. The river world Confluence is a place of crumbling, ancient cities and machines so old and mysterious they seem like magic. From the vast necropolis of Aeolis to the engimatic metropolis of Ys, Yama seeks the truth about himself, and the universe. With Child of the River, McAuley begins a trilogy examining the death of a breathtakingly epic civilization. --Therese Littleton

From Library Journal

On the world of Confluence, where thousands of bloodlines compete for position in a society abandoned by its creators, the mysterious appearance of a youth of indeterminable heritage portends either the world's end or a new beginning. Yama's search for his origins leads him from the faded necropolis of Aeolis to the fabled metropolis of Ys, bringing him closer to the secret of his past while simultaneously plunging him into the midst of a convoluted war of politics and religion. McAuley's (Fairyland, Avon, 1996) latest novel launches an ambitious sf/fantasy saga set against a richly detailed world of ancient technology and forbidden magics. A good addition to most sf or fantasy collections.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Eos; 1st edition (June 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380975157
• ISBN-13: 978-0380975150
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 5.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #176,402 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Paul McAuley's first novel won the Philip K. Dick Award, and he has gone on to win almost all of the major awards in the field. For many years a research biologist, he now writes full-time. McAuley's novel The Quiet War made several "best of the year" lists, including SF Site's Reader's Choice Top 10 SF and Fantasy Books of 2009. He lives in London. Visit him online at unlikelyworlds.blogspot.com .

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This Is Really a Five Star Book, August 23, 2000

By 

J. A. Bellamy "bluejaye" (Dallas, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Child of the River:: The First Book of Confluence (Confluence Trilogy) (Mass Market Paperback)

So why did I give it only four stars? Two reasons. It's the first book in a trilogy, and I always reserve some opinion (in this case, one star's worth) for the final work all together. Secondly, it's not really a trilogy, but a single novel broken up into three printings. This can be somewhat frusterating when you're ten pages from the end and asking yourself, "How is this going to wrap up?"... Answer: it doesn't.

That said, this is a terrific book. The descriptions of exotic locales and strange creatures are not only imaginative, but eloquently written, beckoning to be spoken aloud at times. While reading, I often drifted into a lush animated world of McAuley's creation. I wanted to pop "ghost berries" into my mouth and feel the tangy juice on my tongue as I burst open the skin. The Child of the River is that delicious. It doesn't even really need a plot. But it has a great one, or at least the beginnings of a great one.

Yama, the child of the river, is completely and totally unique among his fellows of Confluence. He doesn't know where he came from, how he was born, or what he is to be. But as he developes and begins to learn the standard lessons of adulthood, he stumbles upon some abilities that might come in handy for others. How these powers will play in the war between the Heretics and the Preserver's Theocrates is one of the many decisions Yama must make on the long road to discovering himself.

A wonderous start for a trilogy... now on to the second book, Ancients of Days.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing, a true epic, December 3, 2000

By 

Fosky Bob "human" (Vacaville, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Child of the River:: The First Book of Confluence (Confluence Trilogy) (Mass Market Paperback)

'Child of the River' is a great novel.

Paul McAuley has created an amazing universe, one where the tropes of fantasy fiction interact with all of the gizmos and gadgets of the hardest SF. The protagonist, Yama, discovers that he's not like the others..that on a world that contains 500 different species, there's no one else like him. So Yama wants to discover who he is and where he came from...and why he's able to command machines.

McAuley is a master wordsmith. The words meld together and form an incredible tapestry. The reader feels as though he's present in McAuley's universe. And really, any book that contains men fencing with chainsaws has to be worth reading. I couldn't put the book down. McAuley has taken a place on my Must-Read list. Highly recommended.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wolfeish and not half bad, January 11, 2003

By 

"sffanfromjersey" (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Child of the River:: The First Book of Confluence (Confluence Trilogy) (Mass Market Paperback)

I think if I'd not been a McCauley fan and had read that this was a Gene Wolfe pastiche. I'd have been unlikely to have bought it.
It's really not too bad at all. Has a lot of Wolfean elements, basically combining the far, far future of "The Book of the New Sun" with the artificial enviroment of "The Long Sun" books.
Gene Wolfe lite desribes it well and though it lacks the embedded complexity of Wolfe it does capture a lot of his stylistic touches well.
I agree with those who think this should have been released as a single novel rather than a trilogy but its still an interesting journey rather than a compulsive page turner.