The Burning Skies [Paperback]

David J. Williams (Author)

Book Description

Release date: May 19, 2009

In his electrifying debut, The Mirrored Heavens, David J. Williams created a dark futuristic world grounded in the military rivalries, terror tactics, and political wrangling of our own time. Now he takes his masterful blend of military SF, espionage thriller, and dystopian cyberpunk one step further—to the edge of annihilation . . . .

Life as U.S. counterintelligence agent Claire Haskell once knew it is in tatters—her mission betrayed, her lover dead, and her memories of the past suspect. Worse, the defeat of the mysterious insurgent group known as Autumn Rain was not as complete as many believed. It is quickly becoming clear that the group’s ultimate goal is not simply to destroy the tenuous global alliances of the 22nd century—but to rule all of humanity. And they’re starting with the violent destruction of the Net and the assassination of the U.S. president. Now it’s up to Claire, with her ability to jack her brain into the systems of the enemy, to win this impossible war.

Battling ferociously across the Earth-Moon system, and navigating a complex world filled with both steadfast loyalists and ruthless traitors, Claire must be ready for the Rain’s next move. But the true enemy may already be one step ahead of her.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"David J. Williams writes on the finest edge of science fiction. The Autumn Rain novels are driving and relentless, full of rock 'em sock 'em cyber warfare, space commandos, cutthroat politics and one stunning reversal after another. Strap yourself in. These books start fast and never let up."—Jeff Carlson, author of Plague War

“Stellar hard SF.” —Library Journal

About the Author

A former programmer for the Homeworld videogame series and a graduate of the Clarion workshop, David J. Williams lives in Washington, D.C. The Mirrored Heavens was his first novel.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Spectra; First Edition edition (May 19, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553385429
• ISBN-13: 978-0553385427
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.8 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,095,277 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

David J. Williams is a science fiction writer who currently lives in Washington D.C. Previously he worked on the HOMEWORLD series of video games.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Mirrored Heavens was just the overture... June 14, 2009

By Michael OMalley

Format:Paperback

BURNING SKIES deftly builds on the foundation Williams laid out in his debut novel, MIRRORED HEAVENS. Williams reuses his cast, a group composed almost wholly of characters who never doubt that the end justifies the means.

In MIRRORED HEAVENS, Williams teased readers with the Throne, the President of a militaristic America; a man so paranoid that even his own Praetorian bodyguards don't know what he's up to. Now we get a peak at the kind of man who can command the loyalty of the ruthless soldiers and assassins responsible for preserving order.

BURNING SKIES goes in a few different directions; some of them follow-ons from the first novel and some of them seemingly tangential, coming out of nowhere. Within the context of a creative, rather diabolical series of set pieces, characters brush against metaphysics and levels of technology not even mentioned previously. In other books I'd consider this to be a loss of focus, but I suspect Williams is once again lulling me into a false sense of security...

I can't wait for the next book- and you certainly shouldn't wait for this book. Get off the fence, pick it up, strap yourself into your reading chair of choice, and get ready...you're in for a fun ride.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Read Mirrored Heavens First May 27, 2009

By Chelle K

Format:Paperback

It's the 22nd century, and the technology on Earth has progressed far past what any of us could imagine. People are now hybrids with computers, and the land you inhabit isn't nearly as important as the zone your mind is on. Which makes it a great target for hacking by terrorists. The Autumn Rain, in this case. They're out to destroy both the two superpower zones, along with the leaders who control them. Claire Haskell, the world's best razor, now sets out to warn the President of the United States, Andrew Harrison, of this treachery, before it's too late. But it's not long before she gets apprehended by the President's right hand man (known as the Hand) and joins forces with his men to save the President and the world as they know it. But is everything really as it seems?

Burning Skies, by David J. Williams, is the second book in the Autumn Rain trilogy. It was promised to be a book you could read alone, though, without having read its prequel, Mirrored Heavens. While it certainly was a thrilling book on its own, I feel like I missed out on so much back story by not reading the first book, especially towards the end. It seems that so much is left unsaid because it's already been said in another place. Since I haven't read the first book, though, I'm not sure whether this is a case of the author being so familiar with the world he created that he assumes everyone knows as much as he does, or if the world was really thoroughly created in the first book.

The characters aren't defined well enough in this book to really differentiate them. Many of the names are similar, and first names, last names, and nicknames are all interchanges throughout the book. The Operative is also Carson, Claire is Haskell and the Manlishi. The book is also written in such a way that it's sometimes very difficult to determine exactly who is speaking at any given time.

There's also the matter of the summary being very misleading. It seems as though everything that's mentioned on the back cover is done by the end of the first part, then completely turned around again after 20 pages. It's also not about Claire Haskell, though she does have a prominent role. So little attention is given to her in comparison to the other plot lines running through the novel that I'm left feeling unsatisfied at the end.

As far as the conspiracy goes, it's a convoluted mix of different loyalties sprung throughout the novel, which is the way Williams intended for it to be. It's enough to grab your attention for sure, but you may have to put the book down a few times to catch your breath at times as well.

I'm torn as to whether I want to read the first book or not; I feel as if I'll understand Skies better if I do, but it may be just as difficult to understand even with that background knowledge. Maybe after I get through a few lighter reads I'll chance Mirrored Heavens.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars twist turn and twist again March 9, 2010

By N. Kuppens

Format:Paperback

I was looking forward to these 2 books: The mirrored heavens & The Burning Skies. A big reason was his previous work: Homeworld was one of the games which really grew on me back in the late 90-ies and mostly because of the story. but it seems that david let's himself of the leash a little bit to much now he's calling all the shots..

The world he paints is very believable: the used tech is not that far off what we're capable of now. but the plot and the main characters keep on twisting and turning in both books: right when you think you've figured it out, somebody is once again not who he seems and that... get's annoying and strangely also predictable. the author get's himself (repeatedly) in a mess and only due to a plot or character twist the story can continue. after 10 times you can spot the next one from very far away.

I also had an issue about the intense amount of infighting: it seems that the world david paints is not only on the brink of a new WW bit also on the brink of several civil wars... if they're not already under way. Also the amount of bodies which get thrown before the readers feet numbers in the ridiculous levels: he's describing several covert ops/black ops but when you burn down a whole city or important piece of (irreplaceable) infrastucture the covert part is... not so covert anymore.

One last one: david has the strange habit to stop the action with a line like: "did you see that? crap!" and then continues from a different POV or story arc only to pause that one with the same kind of line and continue with the first. that's ok when there are 2 or even 3 povs/story arcs. but this trick gets used all the time in all the POV's and all the story arcs which makes it at times hard to see what's truly happening.

His description of the "zone"(future internet) and how it looks for a wired razor (hacker) is a little bit out there, but that's the beauty of SF: the author makes it up and time will tell if it stays the fiction part or gets promoted to the science part...

but strangely despite these annoyances and remarks.. I wanted to continue, because the world which david shows us is (like i said before) believable, and you can only marvel about the ways he describes the space elevator(coming down), the europa platform, the helios platform, the cities on the moon or even the earthshakers(tanks is the best description I think). I could truly see them in my minds eye. I wanted to know where the journey ends.

You know what it felt like reading this (and the previous one)? an episode of 24. Very entertaining and (after 7 seasons or in this case: by the second book) very predictable. but despite the predictable part you're going to watch again next week to see Jack play (and win) the impossible odds.

Will I tune in for the 3rd book? yup. Go jack! save the day!

ps: check the accompanying website: [...] it contains (needed?) background.