Customer Reviews

House of Suns

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

After 2 brilliant novels at the beginning of his career - Revelation Space and Chasm City, Mr. Reynolds' novels became either incomplete or just showing flashes of brilliance combined with lots of forget it run of the mill action. The short stories and novellas showed an extraordinary brilliance though and I've wondered if he would ever write a novel commensurate with them

House of Suns is that novel - epic space opera on a large scale but with characters you can identify with, hard sf based on the current understanding of the limits of science and a touch of fantasy and romance to complete it.

Based on the Thousandth Night novella published in the 1M AD anthology, with the same universe and characters, though different action, the story takes place in a mostly human dominated Galaxy 6M years in the future, with everything allowed except causality busting - so no ftl - moving planets out of danger, Dyson spheres, cloning, intelligent robots, immortality, matter replicators, damming stars - anything conceivable today that stays within the limits of our physical understanding of the Universe is there.

Civilizations rise and fall, but towering over them are the Lines, groupings of originally 1000 immortal shatterlings though in time some are lost to attrition - all clones of a single person to start with - that have the most advanced ships, tech, and go on Circuits around the Galaxy, meeting once every 200k years to mix their memories. Of course travel being sub-light they spend most time in stasis or slow-time - they can and do slow time at will with "syncromesh", so of those 6 Million years each shatterling lived several tens of thousands - bookworms tunneling through the pages of history as they are called by entities that actually lived through millions of years though at a slow pace

The shatterlings are almost as benevolent gods to the "turnover" civilizations of the Galaxy and they trade and do good works like preventing stars to go supernova, moving planets out of harm's way...

The story focuses on 3 main characters - 2 shatterlings of the Gentian line Campion and Purslane - Campion is brash and just on the right side of censure for various actions or inactions - Purslane has the best ship of the Gentian line and is patient and determined, making a good match with her illicit lover Campion - the shatterlings are supposed to go alone on their circuits and not form bonds...

Also in small restropect chunks we get to see the original Gentian, Abigail, millions of years ago in The Golden Hour - that's a literal name - when humanity lived in the Solar system only and the shatterling project originated and some of how the Lines formed.

Purslane and Campion meeting illicitly on their way to the next Gentian reunion and preparing to falsify their memories before dumping them in the common mix, stop by an obscure planet to fix a stardam put in place to prevent a supernova extinction of the local civilization.

Being late to the meeting, they detour to fix Campion's ship, and in the process rescue a strange robot of the machine people - Hesperus - with missing memories. Finally on their way to the reunion, they get a very disturbing message and the adventure begins...

The ending is fulfilling, leaving space for a sequel if the author desires but completing the story very nicely.

There aren't too many authors that do epic science fiction well and Alastair Reynolds is certainly one of them. You can't get much more epic than this. Six million years in the future and spanning the whole galaxy. Quite a departure from the "Revelation Space" universe.

There is no warp drive in this universe though. You only stay youthful by means of relativistic time dilation and a type of stasis that slows the passage of time. There is still plenty of awe inspiring technology however.

The main characters are the "shatterlings" who started out as clones of various family lines at the start of the star faring age. We are mainly concerned with the "Gentian" Line whose originator was Abigail Gentian whose own story is told in a series of interludes. Each line started with 1000 clones and their mission has been to circle the galaxy doing various good works and trading with the sometimes highly modified human civilizations that have grown up along the way. After every galactic circuit the shatterlings of each line meet to share their experiences.

Campion and Purslane are two of the Gentian line who have become romantically involved which is not the done thing with shatterlings. At the start of the story they are on their way to the latest reunion where they expect to be censured for violating line protocol. They have also picked up a mysterious robot passenger called Hesperus. A distress call is received: most of the Gentian line has been wiped out by an attack on the reunion. The survivors, together with Campion and Purslane regroup on another planet where they try to understand what has happened. The resolution reveals some unpleasant truths that have previously been suppressed from everyone's collective memory.

Overall this is a fine far future science fiction story but it falls just short of five stars in my opinion. One issue was the ending which seemed slightly flat to me. Reynold's recent book "The Prefect" was better in my opinion but there is no doubt that Mr Reynolds is a fine talent in this world where hard science fiction seems to be becoming increasingly scarce.

Publishing's a funny old business. Reynolds' magnum opus, "House of Suns" has only just come out in hardback in both the UK and the US, but I found a paperback copy at Singapore Airport last Saturday. I hesitated for a moment - this is a big book: did I really want to lug it around the world? - but only for a moment.

One of the age old problems in science fiction is that of the speed of light. How can one write a decent space opera, with exotic starships visiting improbable planets, without violating the speed limit? Reynolds decides to stick with relativistic limitations (well, mostly) by playing with the other side of the equation: time. The result is an extraordinary mystery story at galactic scale, in which (for a few travellers) time is measured in thousands, even millions of years.

"House of Suns" is an audacious work. I've enjoyed all of Reynolds' earlier books: even though the stories were more conventional than, say, those of Iain M. Banks, Reynolds confident mastery of his material has been undeniable. In the new book, he takes quite a few risks, and gets away with them. The conclusion... well, my first reaction was confusion, but I found myself realizing how utterly apposite it was.

Comparison between writers is invidious, but inevitable. Right now, two of the best science fiction writers are British: Banks and Reynolds. Before "House of Suns", I would have said that Banks was clearly the greater talent. Now, I'm not so sure. What fun!

The word that best captures reading Reynold's writing is, 'relief.' His writing is clear, but not cold; it's lyrical, but not flowery; it's as emotional as it is logical. Alastair Reynolds has the ability to describe complex action simply and to build alien scenery effortlessly.

Reynolds' writing talent goes back to his university years--he has talked about having to take chemistry twice because he was doing so much writing. And, while Reynolds had a substantial career as an astrophysicist, his basic processing is as much verbal as it is numeric/scientific. Lucky for us, his efforts to understand hard science taught him to create film with words--his writing is like movies. The impression is of watching Industrial-Light-and-Magic-type special effects; descriptions of cities, gardens, three-dimensional action sequences involving multiply detailed spaceships, exobiological creatures, and large scale astronomical phenomena are so clear that it's as if we walk among them. (Or dodge them at extralight speeds, as the case may be.)

Which isn't to say that this is an action-movie brought to life, with nothing else to offer: House of Suns works on an emotional level as well--it isn't boring or mean or technical, except in service of a very compelling story. This is good stuff, and well worth the wait.

House of Suns is an enjoyable read. But I can't help but feel various earlier works exceed it (Revelation Space, Chasm City, The Prefect, etc...). I suppose it is always hardest to compete against yourself.

(spoilers)

I have a few points in mind. The whole Palacial backstory that fills pages and pages. I kept waiting for it to somehow be integrated into the main story in some meaningful way. It never happened. Why was it there? And then the whole point that one of the shatterlings is indeed not a clone at all. But... we never hear which one. And as some reviewers pointed out, there are moments where you get the impression that the author is trying to engender some feeling of awe and grandeur and... doesn't.
All is not mediocre though. I enjoyed the whole meeting with Hesperus, and the ambush and all that.

First off, let my just say that any fan of Reynolds will love this book. This is what makes A.R. so special. Its vast scale and huge timespan combined with a clear and interesting vision about the evolution of human societies over time. And its all presented in a good pace and with a interesting story, with characters you will care about. In short, its never boring. Quite the contrary. As with all really good books, its over all too soon, and you are just sad you can never again read it for the first time.

Buy it. You will not regret it.

I had been in a post Patrick O'Brian slump. Read all his books and was at a loss where to go to next; he's a hard act to follow. I couldn't get traction with any books I picked up. Somehow I ventured to the SciFi section at the bookstore; hadn't read the genre for years. So I picked up Revelation Space because it had decent reviews on the jacket but I think mostly because it had a cool cover illustration. Eight Reynolds books later, the reality is setting in that I've only got a few pages left with nowhere else to go until his next book. I couldn't wait for this one in the U.S. so ordered from the U.K.
I accidentally discovered what I think is the best SciFi writer out there and House of Suns is an evolutionary step in his expansive ideas while still keeping the DNA thread of House of Reynolds. I love ideas with action and I think the writing genius of Reynolds is that most descriptive narratives are quickly and closely tied to relevant action which creates a force of momentum. Furthermore, his creations sound and feel so right they don't need much, if any, long winded back ground explanations that lead nowhere; the pitfall of many SciFi writers. House of Suns is not as tight in this regard as say, The Prefect, but it's not meant to be and it all works beautifully with very minor exceptions. (like an elephant who may just blow himself up? This character could have been edited out but I'm happy to give Reynolds some room to add some color and test the waters for future work.) Alternating first person narrative intrigued me and the ending leaves us with a new launching point to what will hopefully be an intergalactic epic.
Many years ago I left a monastery in India and realized I'd never look at my life or the stars the same. After reading Alastair Reynolds, you'd be hard pressed to look at your life or the stars the same as well.
Get this book, strap in, and read it.

I have read every Alastair Reyonlds book. He captured me with the original Revelation Space, and I have been hoping (for his sake as much as mine!) that he comes around with another winner on that level. While House of Suns is a much better book than his last few, is it also quite different from his usual style.

First the good...we have a far-reaching, mind-bending story that spans millions of years and crosses more than one galaxy. It is a definite page turner and a great mystery. The post-human characterizations are very well done and combine to give you that sense of ultimate time. The interweaved story of Palatial is an interesting twist, very un-Reynolds like, but holds your interest to the (near) end. The ending is actually quite good although stops VERY abruptly, as in you can't believe the last sentence is really the last sentence. Perhaps he is leaving us hanging for a sequel?

Now the bad...it is definitely missing some of the thrilling noir that he is known for. It is actually quite an optimistic novel, with relatively benign characters, not like what I expect from Reynolds. The love story, frankly, was not all that convincing and it is supposed to be a huge part of the novel, so really does not satisfy on that level. Also, the interweaved story of Palatial is ultimately pointless. I really expected some kind of epiphany after reading all that. I am still wondering why it takes such an important role in the book. I mean there are tidbits that I thought I was going to connect, but ultimately it made no sense to the bigger picture (if it made sense to others, please comment and tell me why you think so!). I also thought it was very strange how he alternated between a different point of view each chapter. It was very distracting. Finally, this book is a lot more fantasy than pure hard science fiction. I just wish it was more "believeable". I guess the fact that it takes place millions of years in the future allows him to bypass that aspect (with the one big exception being his faster-than-light limitation).

Still, I give it 4 stars. A worthy read. I would not spend the money to buy a hardcover, though. Buy it in paperback or rent it from the library.

Reynolds is a master of "BIG CONCEPT" Science Fiction. I have read everything available that this man has written. The idea of humans living for six million years is a bit hard to swallow, (I am not a big fan of Posthuman stories) but he pulls it off well. When I started to read this book I was skeptical, (Did anyone else notice a similarity to the Winchester house?) still,, it was a good start.

1000 clones (Shatterlings) and their adventures / misadventures over six million years: Ringworlds leftover from a vanished race thrown around stars to shield other star-systems from supernova energies: Six million years of human genetic drift and expansion in a galaxy devoid of other intelligent life, (with an exception or two!) The rise and fall of thousands of civilizations in the galaxy over that same period of time: Transfer or energy between stars via wormhole to prevent stellar death. Starships that are dozens of kilometers long. The Andromeda Galaxy disappearing!! All in one book!

"BIG CONCEPT"

Reynolds never violates the "LIGHTSPEED" barrier. Everything and everyone in all of his books has to do what Einstien says!! You cannot go faster than light! I like this! It makes for a few problems, but Reynolds manages to come up with solutions. Some of his solutions are a bit more hard to swallow than going faster than light,, but all in all I love his style.

This is a story that is centered on two of the (Shatterlings) and their adventures over six million years. If there are any romantics out there I would call this a love story. Call it Science Fiction. Call it Space Opera. Call it a love story. A "MUST" read!

Alastair Reynolds has quickly risen to be one of my "buy immediately" authors. He is a master of the new Space Opera and writes hard science-fiction with engaging characters and mind-blowing ideas.

House of Suns concerns a group of people called the Gentian Line, also known as the House of Flowers (in fact, every member is named after a different type of flower); 1,000 clones (or `shatterlings'), male and female, of an individual named Abigail Gentian. They travel around the galaxy observing the rise and fall of civilizations, meeting once every 200,000 years for a reunion. But this time, something has gone very wrong.

This is a novel filled with huge concepts. The characters have experienced millions of years of life, once chase scene takes 60,000 years, but at the heart it is a very good mystery with some intriguing action scenes. Never does Reynolds over-write or fall too much in love with how clever he's being.

A second plot follows the childhood of Abigail Gentian, and the events leading up to the creation of the Gentian Line. This secondary story is just as good as the first.