Customer Reviews

Queen of Candesce: Book Two of Virga

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I still don't think the Virga books are Karl Schroeder's best work. If you're looking for hard, challenging SF, read Ventus, Lady of Maze, and Permanence. But the Virga books are still very entertaining and original, and well-worth your time.

I've read all three of the currently-published Virga books (I understand there is at least one more on the way), and Queen of Candesce is the best. Still, it isn't stand-alone, and must be read in context with the others. If you've read Sun of Suns and aren't quite sure whether you want to continue with the Virga series (which is where I was after reading that book), Queen of Candesce will make you glad you kept going; it is, I believe, the most artistic and thoughtful of the three; more about the characters than about the world of Virga itself.

This is a well written descendent of Larry Niven's Ringworld and Bob Shaw's Orbitsville. The essential features are an immense, exotic, and technologically formidable habitat in an extrasolar system combined with some kind of action/adventure plot that reveals the interesting features of the habitat and its occupying human societies. Schroeder does well on both counts with an ingenious space habitat and a decently written story line. The habitat is well articulated and the plotting does of a good job of displaying a variety of human cultures occupying the habitat. The plot incorporates a theme of personal transformation on the part of the protagonist that boosts character development.

At the end of Sun of Suns, Venera Fanning, an interesting but not completely sympathetic character, has taken a chance in throwing herself into the gravity-free air of Virga. The air currents have brought her to a vast structure called the Spire, where she is rescued by a disgraced gentleman now living on the outskirts of society. The Spire is a huge cylinder consisting of many independent nations. It contains more gravity-laden land than Venera has ever seen before, but due to its state of ill repair, is in danger of splintering to pieces at any time.

Venera, raised in a highly Machiavellian and paranoid society, is not comfortable staying in a powerless position for long. Through her plots she upends the power structure of one nation and then works her way into being one of the most powerful players in the Spire. During this time, she is also reflective and grows to be loyal to more than just herself.

Of the first three Virga books (I haven't yet read the fourth), this is my favorite due of its focus on character and its well-formed and self-contained story arc. I loved Sun of Suns when I first read it when it came out, but re-reading it now (I found I'd forgotten a lot of the plot!) I can see how his writing has improved in this series. His descriptions of people and the sights of Virga have become more natural and effortless. Of course, some of this may be due to the reader - a gravity-free world is hard to wrap my mind around, but I find I can picture it more and more vividly the longer I spend there.

In this sequel Schroeder follows Venera Fanning as she evolves into a more balanced woman than she had been. In the process he explores many of the implications of living in a world like Virga. Extraordinarily well thought out and creative. The whole trilogy is a must read.

This is the sequel to Sun of Suns, but it stands alone... in fact, I read it before Sun of Suns and was engrossed. The characters are engaging and surprising, one wants to know what happens to them. This is an exciting vision of a very differently constructed world, and thinking about how the physics works will pose a fun challenge for those inclined, but can be skimmed over for those not interested in that. A great, fun read.

The book arrived quickly and was in perfect condition.
I have not read it yet, but it came highly recomended.

Venera Fanning is falling into the large artificially contained nothingness of Virga. Finally, after what feels like eternity, she lands on the ancient nation of Spyre, an orb whose cylinder shape is rotting to the point that this planet is doomed.

Venera quickly does what she does best alienate people although she finds a few allies almost as amoral as she is. Trusting no one, she knows she must respond rapidly to determine who can insure her survivability on this strange world even if it means some of her new cohorts are expendable. However, Venera also possesses the Key of Candesce that can change entire worlds, but her prime goal remains to live until she can avenge those who sent her into free fall even as she understands that her first encounter arrival causes a civil war between the status quo and the reformists.

The second Virga science fiction saga (see Sun of Suns) is a terrific thought provoking entry that is loaded with action yet causes the audience to ponder deep philosophical concepts. For instance as the amoral Venera plots vengeance and causes a civil war, readers will consider what is human in light of rebellious artificial intelligence and how human culture evolves around its environment especially the Buckminster Fuller geodesic dome concept for turning Manhattan into airless space.

Harriet Klausner