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Alistair Reynolds
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Book
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Publisher | Gollancz | ||
ISBN | 978-057508237 | ||
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Reviewer
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Peter
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Synopsis
Six million years ago, at the very dawn of the starfaring era, Abigail Gentian fractured herself into a thousand male and female clones: the shatterlings. Sent out into the galaxy, these shatterlings have stood aloof as they document the rise and fall of countless human empires. They meet every two hundred thousand years, to exchange news and memories of their travels with their siblings. Campion and Purslane are not only late for their thirty-second reunion, but they have brought along an amnesiac golden robot for a guest. But the wayward shatterlings get more than the scolding they expect: they face the discovery that someone has a very serious grudge against the Gentian line, and there is a very real possibility of traitors in their midst. The surviving shatterlings have to dodge exotic weapons while they regroup to try to solve the mystery of who is persecuting them, and why - before their ancient line is wiped out of existence, for ever.
Review
Science fiction as a literary genre has long been outclassed by the mind-bending ideas of theoretical physics. String theory, for example, suggests that reality is a consequence of vibrating strings producing frequencies in a kind of cosmic harmony. Purple alien beings with 5 arms from the Plant Thrug sound heavy-handed in comparison, and a would-be SF writer must fight ever harder against this kind of space kitsch.
In House of Suns, Alistair Reynolds, himself an astro-phycisist, indirectly points to the most divisive argument in physics today, which boils down to differences in scale and a link between the miniscule values of quantum theory to the massive scales of traditional physics.
It is Scale that lifts House of Suns into the top league of science fiction, for want of a better phrase. Vast distances and millions of years have changed and transformed the human race into a many different forms. Among them, arguably the most adept at surviving, are the Shatterlings, clones that were created to travel and explore the galaxy.
Six million years after they left their original system, they have become effectively immortal through the use of technology to collect experiences and knowledge.
We can relate to the Shatterlings as they retain some of the best and worst aspects of what it's like to be human. The two main characters in the book, Purslane and Campion break the rules by becoming lovers and, inspired by this depth of feeling, display extreme heroism. But other Shatterlings, in a harrowing interrogation scene, also demonstrate sadistic savagery that seems to be part of the human psyche.
The rise and fall of empires, acting as a kind of backdrop in the novel, has a particular strength as we become increasingly aware of our own fragile eco system, and just how close we are to making ourselves extinct.
The Shatterlings meet at scheduled intervals to share memories of what they have experienced but there is an ambush, and the Gentian line are almost wiped out. Only a few manage to escape.
It's a page-turner, and a brilliant demonstration of how huge themes can be deftly woven into a cohesive whole. Writers like Alistair Reynolds are addressing problems and ideas that may be here sooner than we think. As I write this, Nasa has started its long-awaited mission to discover life on other planets.....
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