Souls in the Great Machine (Greatwinter Trilogy) (Paperback)

~ Sean Mcmullen (Author) "The question had been rhetorical, but the Highliber knew the answer..." (more)
Key Phrases: battle calculor, beamflash tower, beamflash gallery, Fras Glasken, John Glasken, Dragon Red (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In 40th-century Australia, Zarvora Cybeline discovers the world is threatened by destruction from the sky--yet the planet doesn't have enough technology even to build a steam engine. To save civilization, Zarvora must recover lost 21st-century technology. But technology is proscribed, and the dangers from the sky are joined by enemies in the sea, and even among her own ranks. Zarvora embarks on a bold and ruthless plan to save a world no one else believes is in danger.

Souls in the Great Machine is a big book at 450 pages. Stuffed fuller than a Thanksgiving turkey with great storylines, characters, and concepts, it's got thrilling action, hair's-breadth escapes, tyranny, treachery, villainy, heroism, duels, riots, war, love, hate, obsession, powerful women, mad monks, a returning ice age, a lost race, rediscovered civilizations, invasions, executions, high-tech, steampunk tech, a computer with human components, and numerous subplots. In short, Souls in the Great Machine is huge; it is epic--but it is not sprawling. In the hands of most authors, this complex and ambitious SF novel would be a trilogy. And while Souls may occasionally move a little too fast, the plot never drags and the reader's interest never flags. If you're looking for a sense of wonder, for adventure that respects your intelligence, for an enormously fun read--look no further than Souls in the Great Machine. --Cynthia Ward --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Fast-paced and amusing, McMullen's latest novel (after The Centurion's Empire) is an action-packed adventure in the tradition of world-building SF. Set 20 centuries in the future, in a postnuclear winter society, the tale centers on the Calculor, a fantastic calculating machine powered by nameless human components who remain imprisoned within its workings. As the Highliber of LibrisAaka head librarianAZavora is the de facto ruler of the Calculor, and thus of all Confederation society, packing more political clout than the mayor himself. Through the Calculor's number crunching, Zavora has discovered that the world will be plunged into another "Greatwinter," or ice age, unless she can gain control of a satellite in Earth's orbit, which seems nearly impossible given her society's limited technology. Aiding Zavora in her mission are the Abbess Theresla, who has an innate ability to resist "the Call," a psychic phenomena that forces all humans to follow its deadly beckoning; Lemorel, a spirited young street fighter and librarian within the Libris; and Johnny Glasken, a rogue and former prisoner of the Calculor. McMullen's dramatic pacing and believable characters ensure that readers will enjoy Zavora's quest through a well-wrought, richly imagined multidimensional world.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; 1st edition (May 12, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312872569
• ISBN-13: 978-0312872564
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,272,461 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This is item 1 in The Greatwinter Trilogy Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Machine is great but ..., October 25, 2000

By	N.R. Joe Chip (Seattle) - See all my reviews

Souls in the Great Machine is an epic novel set in Australia of the distant future. An unspecified disaster and extended winter has erased most traces of world of the 21st century. Electricity is a memory, steam engines are forbidden, and a siren "Call" of unknown origin periodically lures untethered people and large animals to their death.

This is an ambitious book and the first half of the story is well told as we follow the ruthless librarian Zevora's struggle to build her beamflash network and Calculator. The Calculator is a primitive computer where the "circuits" are actually people who have been pressed into service. The development of the beamflash system and Calculator mirror the modern development of the personal computer and internet and you do get the feeling that such as system could be built without electricity and silicon.

After this promising start, the novel begins to unravel. Characters are constantly bumping into each other by chance as they travel around the interior of Australia. The coincidental meetings become more and more annoying as credibility is stretched. Eventually, one of Zevora's lieutenants, Lemorel, breaks away from her service and rallies what amounts to a barbarian horde which she uses to attack the cities under Zevora's control. This is a major plot point and the fighting occupies much of the novel. Unfortunately, Lemorel's motivation for starting her rebellion is not convincing and she plunges an entire continent into war for little apparent reason other than the author wanted to have the war occur.

The ending of the book feels rushed as too many characters and plots are wrapped up very quickly. Despite the multitude of characters populating this story the most interesting "character" is the Calculator itself. It seems more real that most of the people we meet because so many characters are introduced that we never really get to know any of them in any detail as one person blurs into another. Much of the great promise of the first half of the novel is dissipated in the hurried conclusion.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing SF ideas, disjointed plot, December 22, 2000

By	Richard R. Horton (Webster Groves, MO United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

I found Sean McMullen's Souls in the Great Machine a difficult book to evaluate. On the one hand it has some wonderful, sense of wonder-inducing ideas, and some exciting action and colourful characters. But the "colours" of the characters are a bit garish, certainly unrealistic, as they act out the author's whims. And the plot, action-filled as it is in places, also drags in other places, and is somewhat creakily structured. On the whole, though, I recommend this novel for the neat stuff, with a warning that it is far from perfect.

Many years after a disaster called Greatwinter destroyed human civilization, people in what was once Australia live in smallish city states. Technology includes fairly ingenious mechanical devices, and guns, but no electricity or electronics. A central feature of local civilization is the libraries, where intelligent men and women seem to maintain what records of the past they can. The most important library, called Libris, is in Rochester, and a new leader, Zarvora Cybeline, has just been appointed. She establishes a curious project: a huge calculating machine, the Calculor, in which the individual components are human slaves. Add to this intriguing setup a culture which places great emphasis on personal combat -- duels. And one more odd feature -- a mysterious Call, to which every animal larger than a cat, including humans, is subject.

Into this mix Sean McMullen throws Lemorel, a young provincial woman and a talented mathematician, whose ambition has led her into several duels. She ends up at Libris, with many other talented mathematicians, supporting the Calculor. There is also Zarvora, the odd genius who has invented the Calculor, and who has some mysterious use for it besides simply improving communications and tax collection. And Lemorel's talented but untrustworthy sometime lover, John Glasken. And Dorian, the mute linguist who befriends Lemorel. And Ilyire, a strange man from beyond the deserts at the edge of civilization, with an even stranger talent. And more, as the book continues.

The ideas behind this book are truly fascinating and original. I was kept reading simply by curiosity about things like the Call, and the real reason for the Calculor, and the cause of Greatwinter, and so on. And it must be said that McMullen mostly delivers in this area. The rationale for his future -- the source of the Call, the reason electronics cannot be used, the origin of Greatwinter -- all these are given explanations that work well within the context of the book (although some of the explanations are a bit far-fetched scientifically). But I still have considerable reservations.

My problems with the book were in two main areas: characters and plot. The characters are a strange set of, basically, obsessed madmen and madwomen. When the plot requires it, they are happy to fall instantly in love with a stranger, and commit murder, start wars, whatever, to resolve their relationship problems. Moreover they are all essentially immoral. For example, Zarvora, perhaps the closest thing to an overall heroine in the book, kidnaps and imprisons people for years to make the Calculor work. Lemorel has killed something like a dozen people before the book starts. Similar things can be said of many other characters. Indeed, heroes become villains and vice-versa with some regularity. This can be made to work, but not when it is done arbitrarily, as seemed the case here. As for the plot, it is discursive and disjointed. Long stretches dragged alarmingly towards the middle of the book. At times, the author resorts to summary, and authorial voice explanations of tricky bits, in order to advance us to where we need to be.

On balance, I do recommend reading Souls in the Great Machine. It has definite faults, but also definite good points. The ending is rousing and fairly satisfying. Even though the characters are not very believable, they are interesting. And the book is marked by a definite exuberance that makes it a fun read.

23 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great Ideas and Worldbuilding, Weak Characters and Plotting, October 8, 2002

By	A. Ross (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Almost every problem I have with science fiction is represented in this sprawling book-a ton of really interesting ideas poorly served by a rambling and disjointed plot populated by too many hastily drawn characters. I had greatly enjoyed McMullen's earlier book, The Centurion's Empire and was hoping he'd be able to exercise the same control he showed in that book, but this was a bit of a disappointment.

The worldbuilding is quite impressive. Set almost two millennia from now, the world is still recovering from a nuclear winter. In Australia a low-tech civilization putters along, with power resting in the hands of librarians. A new head overlibrarian is elected and brings change, as she ruthlessly builds "The Calculator", a primitive computer using imprisoned people as circuits, and extends a series of communication towers across the various fiefdoms and emirates. The initial exploration of this is quite interesting, but as the overlibrarian's power grows, McMullen starts adding more and more storylines to the mix.

It seems that an ancient sunshade being formed by nanotechnology is threatening to block out the sun and initiate a new Ice Age, unless the overlibrarian can do something. Then there's the barbarian horde being mustered by one of her former protégés-for reasons that are never really clear to me, other than the need to have a big war in the book. Then there's the mysterious force that sweeps across the land intermittently, causing all who aren't tied down to walk due south forever. Then there's a whole genetics subplot. Not to mention an awfully confusing series of romances and affairs, you really do need a scorecard to keep track of everyone.

The ideas are all individually really interesting, it's just that there are too many of them at once and the characters are too flimsy to carry them. Coincidence comes into play all too often, as characters are constantly running into each other, and too many of them are cast from the same obsessive mold and act altogether arbitrarily. It doesn't help that there are abrupt leaps of time in the middle of chapters, out of nowhere will pop up the declaration that five years has passed, for example. Also, the book is badly in need of a map. Geography is an integral part of the plot, and without a map to clarify things, the reader is often literally lost.

I salute the McMullen's imagination for ideas, but this book is just too long and haphazard to properly enjoy. I doubt I'll be seeking out it's sequels, The Miocene Arrow and Eyes of the Calculor.