The Six Directions of Space [Hardcover]

Alastair Reynolds (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 31, 2008

What if Genghis Khan got his wish, and brought the entire planet under the control of the Mongols? Where would he have gone next?

A thousand years after Khan's death, Yellow Dog is the codename of a female spy working for a vast Mongol-dominated galactic empire. When she learns of anomalous events happening on the edge of civilised space -- phantom ships appearing in the faster-than-light transit system which binds the empire together -- Yellow Dog puts herself forward for the most hazardous assignment of her career. In deep cover, she must penetrate the autonomous zone where the anomalies are most frequent, and determine whether the empire is really under attack, and if so by who or what. Yellow Dog's problems, however, are only just beginning. For the autonomous zone is under the heel of Qilian, a thuggish local tyrant with no love for central government and a reputation for extreme brutality. Qilian already knows more about the anomalies than Yellow Dog does. If she is going to learn more, she will have to earn his confidence -- even if that means working for him, rather than against him.

So begins a deadly game of subterfuge and double-cross -- while the anomalies increase...

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Reynolds (The Prefect) is a master of fitting large-scale space opera into just a few pages, and this novella is no exception. The Mongols, led by Genghis Khan, conquered Earth a thousand years ago and now rule an interstellar civilization via a wormhole transportation system created by extinct aliens. Yellow Dog, a spy for the current khan, is sent on a mission to a distant part of the empire where phantom starships have been glimpsed during wormhole transit. Taken prisoner by the sadistic local Mongol commander, Yellow Dog discovers that the commander has collected artifacts from these phantoms, and she soon finds herself in charge of interpreting them as she investigates the appearance of several alien races with humanlike DNA. Technology, history and an unlikely friendship add dimension to the short but intriguing universe-spanning mystery. (Jan.)
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From Booklist

Reynolds’ impressive new space opera is a novella about the Mongol Empire 999 years after the death of its founder. Yellow Dog is a spy whose investigations have revealed troubling anomalies in the faster-than-light pathways that keep the empire functioning. The khan sends her to the edge of civilized space to find out what exactly the phantoms, as the anomalies are called, are. Commander Qilian, none too fond of the central government, knows at least some of what Yellow Dog has come to find out. Then begins a complex game of delicate maneuvering, in which Yellow Dog’s eventual shaky truce with Qilian is only the beginning. There are stranger things awaiting them in the pathways than anyone suspected, including other human empires and unimaginably strange aliens. Set in a solidly built universe, full of excellent espionage and adventure, Six Directions of Space is a surprisingly small package to contain such a lot of entertainment. --Regina Schroeder

Product Details

• Hardcover: 88 pages
• Publisher: Subterranean; Signed Limited edition (December 31, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596061847
• ISBN-13: 978-1596061842
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,127,643 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Alastair Reynolds was born in Wales in 1966. He has a Ph.D. in astronomy. From 1991 until 2007, he lived in The Netherlands, where he was employed by The European Space Agency as an astrophysicist. He is now a full-time writer.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a little gem of a book., January 24, 2009

By 

Lisa M. Mims (Austin, TX United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Six Directions of Space (Hardcover)

Only 84 or so pages long, this is another refreshing dive into the cosmos that is the writing of Alastair Reynolds.

The story follows "Yellow Dog", a female government spy for an intergalactic empire of the Mongol Empire who is investigating 'phantoms' in what appears to be their spacelane wormhole. She has a pony.

As for the rest of it, the book is too short for me to give you more without spoiling it. Suffice it say, it's emotionally the usual combination of mean and very kind that is characteristic of Reynold's work. (Particularly because he is a horse lover.)

The book also has anti-Christian, anti-tribalism themes that are amazingly current for this time in history. If that's your sort of thing, you will be suitably impressed. If not, this isn't the book for you.

Ridicule of at least one major religion aside, what is most striking about the story is that it nails Gen-X themes of disenfranchisement by government, religion, and home. Reynolds seems to believe that the only thing that is real, in the Cartesian sense of the word, even, is self-reliance and kindess towards others. It's a world view many in our age have.

Very interesting.

P.S. Because of backroom negotiations between Amazon and Golancz that I can't write about without Amazon refusing to publish this review, it's not actually hard to get this book by ordering it through Amazon. It just looks like that's difficult--you may have to wait a few weeks from the time of ordering.

And if you do buy it, you may be wonderfully surprised: mine was a signed copy of 1000. I'm particularly touched that I inadvertently acquired something the author actually held in his hands.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A good novella, but..., September 20, 2009

By 

C. E. Brooks (GARLAND, TX United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Six Directions of Space (Hardcover)

Disappointingly, I found after receiving TSDoS, that it was just a hard cover printing of the same novella that had previously been published in the "Galatic Empires" collection edited by Gardner Dozois for the Science Fiction Book Club. If you've not already read it, it's an excellent story of several galactic empires ovelapping in alternate universes. However, I'd recommend the "Galactic Empires" collection instead, in which you'll get 6 good short stories, instead of just this one.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Am I the Only One?, August 10, 2009

By 

Glenn R. Bell (Virginia Beach, VA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Six Directions of Space (Hardcover)

I loved this short story, but I too was brought up by the "then there were other adventures" shortcut. The author is a recently emerged giant in his field and all of us who enjoy his writing anxious await his next novel. Now to my point, this story was included, in total, in the SFBC edition of 2008 titled "Galactic Empires" along with pieces by Peter F. Hamilton, Neal Asher, Robert Reed, Stephen Baxter and Ian McDonald, a dream team of writers with terriffic stories of their own. Those that feel they overspent for this book may what to seek "Galactic Empires" out on the secondary market at AMAZON. Hope this gets printed, I am a very good and enthusiastic supporter of AMAZON.