Iron Sunrise (Singularity) (Hardcover)

by Charles Stross (Author) "just outside the expanding light cone of the present a star died, iron-bombed. Something-some exotic force of unnatural origin-twisted a knot in space, enclosing the..." (more)
Key Phrases: docking hub, iron sunrise, unborn god, New Dresden, Old Newfie, Madam Chairman (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Best known for his short fiction, Stross shows that he's a master of the novel form as well in this exciting sequel to 2003's acclaimed Singularity Sky, serving up compelling space opera and cutting-edge tech with a tasty dash of satire. In the 24th century, a McWorld ("bland, comfortable, tolerant... boring") called New Moscow apparently has been destroyed by trade rival New Dresden—but not before New Moscow launched its own Slower-Than-Light (STL) counterstrike: a massive ship accelerated to 80% the speed of light. The U.N., now central Earth government, knows New Dresden was set up. They need the STL's recall code, now known only to a handful of New Moscow's ambassadors—but someone has been systematically assassinating them. U.N. special operative Rachel Mansour and her husband, engineer Martin Springfield, must protect the last living ambassador and find out who's really responsible for the whole mess. Stross skillfully balances suspense and humor throughout, offering readers—especially fans of Iain M. Banks and Ken MacLeod—a fascinating future that seems more than possible.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
The sequel to the critically acclaimed Singularity Sky [BKL Ag 03] returns to the twenty-fourth-century interstellar domain humankind has forged through the godlike powers of the Eschaton, an enigmatic being from humanity's distant future. Now, in an act of apparent sabotage, one remote interstellar colony, Moscow, has met a disastrous fate: its host star exploded, annihilating an entire solar system and forcing the evacuation of nearby colonies. UN hostage negotiator Rachel Mansour, who is recovering from a showdown with a psychotic performance artist harboring a nuclear warhead, is tagged to make the wormhole jaunt to the scene and investigate. Is one of Moscow's rival colonies responsible? Is the Eschaton? Improbably, the answers to such questions may lie with Wednesday, a rambunctious adolescent girl whose family is fleeing the expanding explosion, and between whose story and Rachel's the novel alternates. Stross improves on Singularity Sky with better characterizations and entertaining technological inventiveness. Fans of hard sf spiced by political intrigue will relish this dish. Carl Hays
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Ace Hardcover (July 6, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0441011594
• ISBN-13: 978-0441011599
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #661,900 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dancing On The Event Horizon, October 19, 2004

By	Marc Ruby™ "The Noh Hare™" (Warren, MI USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)

The first volume in this series - Singularity Sky - read a bit unevenly, because Stross had a lot of explaining to do to get the reader in synch with his reality. After all, a possible future with has mankind spread throughout the galaxy not by his own ingenuity but by an irate being called the Eschaton, which was someone else's god, but took exception to the way we were learning how to abuse time travel in the process of learning how to exceed the speed of light. Since the Eschaton was not about to let itself be erased by the modification of history it seized the moment and moved nine tenths of the Earth elsewhere.

Since space travel is time travel, the far flung groups moved not just huge distances, but large amounts of time as well. Thus, just as the Earth was recovering from the mass exodus, humans from distant worlds made it back to the solar system, and the universe started to get smaller again. And stranger. There was a lot to explain, and Charles Stross does like to expound on the 'science' of his works.

With that work behind him, the stage is set for this volume, which is a lot more space opera and a lot less explanation. Once again a series of events points to an attack on the Eschaton, and Rachel Mansour and her husband Martin are recalled from their day jobs to investigate the destruction of one world and the immanent obliteration of another.

The the real star of the book is Wednesday Shadowmist, who first saw her entire world destroyed by an intentional supernova, and then her saw her family destroyed by agents from the ReMastered, a dangerous and effective cult intent on building an empire. Wednesday is erratically aided by an invisible friend - Herman, whom readers may remember from Singularity Sky, and Frank the Nose, a warblogger with his own issues with the ReMastered. If this is beginning to sound complicated, trust me, it gets worse. Wait until you get to meet the ReMastered.

This book is an excellent example of Stross's writing skill, moving forward with a steadily increasing pace. Stross thrives on detail, and can bring unnerving vista into perfect focus. He has a light touch with an ironic sense of humor. Characterization is equally deep, with the net result that the reader jogs along with considerable delight. I found this a strong entry, perhaps the best of his novels so far.

23 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Spy versus Spy, May 31, 2005

By	Conrad J. Obregon (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

The type of science fiction that I enjoy the most shows a future society that is changed by technology in a way that illuminates our present society. I also enjoy a story about a future society that by its changes from our present society reveals the human condition and human behavior by showing us how people behave in the new society. If you add the hero on a quest who discovers himself because of the nature of the quest, I'm really happy. If all an author does is update an old genre, like cowboys and Indians to spacemen and aliens, the update better be clever and original. All of this is by way of saying that while I did not particularly care for Iron Sunrise, some readers might enjoy it.

The McGuffin (a word that Alfred Hitchcock used to describe a plot device that misleads the audience to believe that it is what the work is about) is the inducement of a super nova in a star that destroys one world and threatens the destruction of several others, directly or indirectly. But basically, this is a classic espionage novel. A craft travels from stop to stop and at each destination a diplomat is killed. A counterespionage agent, who becomes a guide to a non-professional, is assigned to catch the killers, and after a few missteps, the villains are caught. In the spy novels set in the 20th century the craft was a ship or train, but here it's a space ship. Instead of pistols the folks use various kinds of high-tech zappers. Otherwise the story is unchanged.

The civilian hero swept up into the story is a Goth girl, who sounds like the nightmare of most parents. Unfortunately, although she saves the day, she doesn't seem to be any further along the road to self discovery at the end of the novel than she was at the beginning.

The villains of the piece do everything but wear jackboots, and they are proud to call themselves "Ubermensch". I mean, come-on. Couldn't the author find some other word in Nietzsche than the old Nazi saw?

Given the generic nature of the story, something more was required to make this a good read. Unfortunately, none of the elements I look for were present. Certainly the characters were one dimensional and unchanged by events. The setting was not particularly innovative. If there had been some real elements of suspense here, it might have justified this exercise. But by the time the novel reached the denouement, I didn't care who the real villains were.

If you want an espionage story that is both suspenseful and provides real insights, I suggest almost anything by Eric Ambler. You can read this if your setting must be science fiction.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reading it now and loving it., July 9, 2004

By	Dennis Murphy (Westford, MA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I'm not in the habit of writing reviews of books I'm still reading but Iron Sunrise appeared on my "plog" so I decided to wade in with a "Wow!".

Stross has more going on in the 98 pages I have read than many authors manage in an entire book (or two...). I'd previously read Singularity Sky and loved it. This book is in the same universe but feels a bit different. Stross seems more deft and comfortable with his characters or maybe I thought Singularity Sky was just a bit on the silly side.

I have the feeling that after Iron Sunrise we'll be waiting anxiously for the next Stross volume.

Stross is in my mind a first class member of the UK SF luminaries that includes Asher, Morgan Reynolds, and Banks.