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The Mirrored Heavens Mass Market Paperback – January 27, 2009

by David J. Williams (Author)

39 customer reviews

Book 1 of 3 in the Autumn Rain Series

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In the 22nd century, the first wonder of a brave new world is the Phoenix Space Elevator, designed to give mankind greater access to the frontier beyond Earth. Cooperatively built by the United States and the Eurasian Coalition, the Elevator is also a grand symbol of superpower alliance following a second cold war. And it’s just been destroyed.

With suspicions rampant, armies and espionage teams are mobilized across the globe and beyond. Enter Claire Haskell and Jason Marlowe, U.S. counterintelligence agents and former lovers—though their memories may only be constructs implanted by their spymaster. Now their agenda is to trust no one. For as the crisis mounts, the lives of all involved will converge in one explosive finale—and a startling aftermath that will rewrite everything they’ve ever known—about their mission, their world, and themselves.

The Mirrored Heavens

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"A crackling cyberthriller. This is Tom Clancy interfacing Bruce Sterling. David Williams has hacked into the future."—Stephen Baxter, author of the Manifold series

"The Mirrored Heavens presents an action-jammed and audacious look at a terrifyingly plausible future. By comparison to Williams' future, the present mess surrounding the Iraq conflict seems almost benign. Highly recommended for politicians, not that most would wish to see where their actions could easily lead."—L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

“The Mirrored Heavens is a complex view of global politics in time of crisis. Williams understands that future wars will be fought as much on-line as off. It's also rousing adventure with breathless, non-stop action—Tom Clancy on speed. And you will NOT be able to guess the ending.”—Nancy Kress, author of the Probability trilogy

"Explodes out the gate like a sonic boom and never stops. Adrenaline bleeds from Williams' fingers with every word he hammers into the keyboard. The razors of The Mirrored Heavens would eat cyberpunk's old-guard hackers and cowboys as a light snack."—Peter Watts, author of Blindsight

“The Mirrored Heavens presents an action-jammed and audacious look at a terrifyingly plausible future. By comparison to Williams' future, the present mess surrounding the Iraq conflict seems almost benign. Highly recommended for politicians, not that most would wish to see where their actions could easily lead.”—L. E. Modesitt, Jr., bestselling author of the Saga of Recluse series, the Spellsong Cycle series, and the Corean Chronicles series

"The Mirrored Heavens is a 21st century Neuromancer set in a dark, dystopian future where nothing and no one can be trusted, the razors who rule cyberspace are predators and prey, and ordinary human life is cheap. It starts out at full throttle and accelerates all the way to the end." —Jack Campbell, author of The Lost Fleet: Courageous

“Calling to mind Clint Eastwood and Dirty Harry more than Humphrey Bogart and Philip Marlowe, The Mirrored Heavens' action is wild and relentless…. In a welcome respite from noir stereotyping, Williams' female protagonist is neither killed nor kidnapped. A subject, not an object, Claire Haskell moves and shakes her dystopic world.”—Seattle Times

"Non-stop action propels the reader forward. Like William Styron's Sophie's Choice, characters face horrific decisions involving mass destruction of innocents and murder of close friends and allies.”—Sfrevu.com

“A powerful, rapid-fire sf adventure/intrigue story with echoes of cyberpunk.”—Library Journal

From the Trade Paperback edition.

About the Author

David J. Williams was born in Hertfordshire, England. He lives in Washington, D.C. The Mirrored Heavens is his first novel.

From the Trade Paperback edition.

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Product details

Mass Market Paperback: 432 pages
Publisher: Spectra (January 27, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0553591568
ISBN-13: 978-0553591569
Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1.1 x 6.9 inches
Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,856,289 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #6359 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > Hard Science Fiction

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Customer Reviews

3.3 out of 5 stars

5 star		36%
4 star		15%
3 star		18%
2 star		10%
1 star		21%

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Top Customer Reviews

You'll either love it or hate it.

ByMatton October 20, 2010

Format: Mass Market PaperbackVerified Purchase

I attempted to read this book a while back based on a recommendation in the transhumanist Humanity+ Magazine. First, I have to say that while I appreciate the quality that many here go on about, this book is not for everyone. Yes, it is fast-paced and action-packed but as with all things, too much of something can get grating and irritating.

The writing style itself leaves something to be desired. I assumed that the beginning of the book was attempting to get me involved into the story. I assumed it would slow down eventually. That never happened and eventually I stopped trying. I wanted to enjoy the book, but the style grows increasingly repetitive and loses its charm after so many pages of reading endless sentence fragments.

Books are supposed to tell a story, but unfortunately, the author seemed to want to tell a really long action scene. I know the old cliche "show, don't tell" but this guy takes to another level. Many scenes are just fragmented descriptions that show what he's talking about but doesn't exactly tell us anything to fill in the blanks. It's absolutely horrendous for establishing the story in between the action.

I want to read about human beings being challenged, not crazy tricked out badasses that can go non-stop without ever taking a break. Stories are supposed to have that down time where you can reflect. This book doesn't allow for that EVER.

The concept and the story world are absolutely wonderful. If you can handle action. Endless, like this. While you read. There's something. Something to be said about your tolerance. The way you can handle a different approach. Totally different from the rest. For hundreds. Hundreds of pages.

I just couldn't. :)

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Space/Military/Cyberpunk Heaven

ByElizabeth McFifeon February 13, 2017

Format: Mass Market PaperbackVerified Purchase

Possibly the greatest cyberpunk fiction book ever. The reviews on the back of the book are spot-on. This trilogy starts off at full speed and accelerates all the way to the end. Extremely wild ride, constant action, reads like the 24 TV series from the perspective of a dozen different people all inexorably intertwined in destiny and objective, hurtling towards the final conclusion.

This is the war to end all wars. This is a very real and plausible extrapolation of a possible future that humanity faces. Have re-read this series a dozen times so far. Expect many more.

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Entertaining for the adrenaline junkie, lacking for those looking for a story.

ByAmazon Customeron July 21, 2016

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Nothing deep here, nothing intellectually engaging, but it is full of exciting action. This book is as if Michael Bay attempted to write something inspired by William Gibson. You can see what they were going for, you can appreciate what they accomplished, but the mark was missed. Still, it was entertaining (even if the ending was a bit of a disappointment). For those merely looking for a fast-paced action-packed rush, this will fill that void; however, those hardened science fiction readers looking for an interesting story to get lost in... Look elsewhere.

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Hard edged sci-fi thrill ride

ByErik Huntoonon June 15, 2010

Format: Mass Market PaperbackVerified Purchase

This is the first book of the Autumn Rain Trilogy. The 5 second summary would be to say this is part Tom Clancy, part cyberpunk, and a dash of maybe Ironman. David J Williams does a phenomenal job of creating a believable, but starkly ominous, future landscape. Many of the battles are fought by 'mechs' and 'razors'. The mechs are the supersoldiers, using high tech weapons and powered combat armor, thus the Ironman reference. The Razors are their support waging battle in the Zone. The Zone is basically a vision of the Internet 100 years from now. Greatly segmented and locked down compared to today, and critically important during battle. The razors are the eyes and ears of the mechs, the ones who can disable security from a distance, and sometimes even hack an enemy's own mind. When it all comes together, the scenario is very believable, the action is fast paced, and the book is just a fun ride from start to finish.

One minor complaint is that there are a few sequences where the action is maybe too frantic. A few times I realized I had just blazed through multiple paragraphs and had not really comprehended what was happening. This isn't a slight on the authoring, I think he did a tremendous job of instilling the feeling of how hectic these battles would be and the writing amplifies that. It's maybe more a case where you need to remind yourself to come up for air once in a while to digest what you just read.

If you're looking for a fast paced near future sci-fi experience, then you owe it to yourself to give this a try.

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Decent story, poor formatting and editing

ByMartinon October 18, 2013

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I was really wanting to get into this book, but only 9% of the way through I've found myself repeatedly pulled out of the experience. There's a lot of strange formatting, random indents and page breaks, and even worse there are sections of text missing. A sentence will finish, then another will start half way through. This has the potential to be great, but if you're releasing an ebook then PLEASE get it properly edited first!

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"Something that's gone lights out and hell for leather"

Bylb136VINE VOICEon August 4, 2011

Format: Mass Market PaperbackVerified Purchase

"Mirrored Heavens" is a major mess, but somehow it kept me reading. David J. Williams employs first-person present-tense multiple POV with cliffhanger endings when POV changes. There's lots of cheap noir dialogue. Seriously, somebody says "if I can't have you nobody will," and it's not meant to be ironic. The book has a kitchen-sink approach. Think of it as cyberpunk + military sci-fi/comic book superheroes. There are breathless scenes of senseless violence. And of all things, the author tosses in a Western-style duel with the characters clad in sci-fi armored suits. You'll enjoy it while you're reading it, but forget it all five minutes later. OK, now you know. Now it's your call.

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Solid hard-cyberpunkish SF

ByIsaac S. Kohaneon November 6, 2010

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

The bottom line is that this is a page turner. Intriguing plot where you are not quite sure that things are as they seem to be (and they are not). Very satisfying ending which is particularly appreciated when compared to the first volume of other multi-volume series. The sardonic-laconic dialog though seems to be borrowed from a "Die Hard" or "Terminator" action movie and perhaps that is what was intended but it is so stilted that it often pulled me right of out of my immersion in the story.