Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Iron Sunrise (Eschaton #2)

by Charles Stross (Goodreads Author)

3.9 of 5 stars 3.90 · rating details · 3,260 ratings · 116 reviews

When the planet of Moscow was annihilated, its few survivors launched a counter-attack against the most likely culprit: the neighboring system of New Dresden. But New Dresden wasn't responsible, and as the deadly missiles approach their target, Rachel Mansour, agent for the interests of Old Earth, is assigned to find out who was.

And the one person who knows is a disaffec...more

Paperback, 480 pages

Published August 2005 by Orbit (first published 2004)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

Best Science Fiction of the 21st Century

73rd out of 209 books — 1,241 voters

Swancon 2013 Reading List

10th out of 93 books — 6 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

May 23, 2008 Evan rated it 2 of 5 stars

What starts off as some excellent, mind-bending weirdness diffuses into an uninteresting thriller.

There were too many character threads, and too many of the characters began to talk like one another as the book progressed. Not to mention Stross's linguistic tics and frequent cliches which litter the novel's second half. The book became a political thriller thinly disguised as SF.

Which is all way too bad, because the first chapters are some of the best, most original, fun, off-beat SF I have rea...more

1 like · like · see review

Mar 16, 2012 Jason Pettus rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary, sci-fi, smart-nerdy, hipster

(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally.)

Regular visitors will know that I'm currently in the process of reading every novel sci-fi author Charles Stross has ever written; I started last time with his very first, 2003's Singularity Sky, which told a surprisingly funny and absurdist tale set in the far future, centuries after the human race was sp...more (Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally.)

Regular visitors will know that I'm currently in the process of reading every novel sci-fi author Charles Stross has ever written; I started last time with his very first, 2003's Singularity Sky, which told a surprisingly funny and absurdist tale set in the far future, centuries after the human race was split and flung across the universe one day by a far advanced alien life form, because of a united humanity recently discovering time travel and thus technically now capable of accidentally wiping out this "Eschaton"s very existence. And this is the same universe where his next novel is set as well, 2004's Iron Sunrise, although it's not exactly a sequel; for although it features the same duo of main heroes as the first book (a plucky female UN inspector and a male secret agent for the Eschaton, the two now married after falling in love in the first novel), the story itself takes place among an entirely different planetary system, basically starting with the unexpected explosion of a local star and the destruction of the world orbiting it (the "iron sunrise" of the book's title), which leads us down an ever-widening rabbithole of conspiracies, ultra-fascist organizations, and galaxy-domination plots.

And indeed, the either good or bad news, depending on what you think of the subject, is that Iron Sunrise adheres much more strongly to the traditional tropes of 1990s and early 2000s cyberpunk, after a first novel that cleverly combined hard science-fiction with the gonzo silliness of countercultural "motley fool" writers like Ken Kesey; the latter now features such familiar genre touches as a rebellious 15-year-old girl as our main protagonist, five or six different small storylines that all come together into one giant climax at the end, spaceship chases and planet-hopping bloggers and all the other things you would expect from a SF tale written in those years. (Also, this second novel makes it clear that the Eschaton is actually a single entity, essentially the result of a cloud computing system like the Google server farm gaining sentience; and while that helps make things clearer from a plot standpoint, I admit that it kind of removes the fun in the first novel of never quite knowing what exactly the Eschaton is/are.) Still, although far from his best or densest or trippiest work, Iron Sunrise is definitely an interesting read and worth the time of Stross completists; although I have to confess that I'm looking much more forward to the next title in my reading list, 2005's Accelerando, the first of Stross's books to make a big splash in America and coiner of the entire cultural phrase "The Accelerated Age" (a popular way among SF fans to refer to stories that take place in a post-Singularity universe). (less)

6 likes · like · see review

Oct 30, 2011 Elf M. rated it 4 of 5 stars

Iron Sunrise is a sequel of sorts to Singularity Sky. Rachel and Martin are back, but they don't play a part until late in the story. The introductory character is Wednesday, a goth chick who goes from seventeen to twenty through the course of the book and who suffers a lot of hardships in between.

My main emotion upon ending the book is disappointment. Charlie has two problems, and they're becoming more apparent the more often I read his work. This book sets the stage for an ongoing battle betwe...more

like · see review

Jul 17, 2011 Kevin Veale rated it 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed Singularity Sky, and my review for it is here.

My main criticism of Singularity Sky - and it was not a particularly strong criticism - was that it felt like there wasn't a huge amount at-stake during the narrative.

This is not a problem that Iron Sunrise has, and I liked it more as a result.

The book follows the two core characters from Singularity Sky and introduces others. The most central new character is Wednesday, a refugee teenager who witnessed more than she should have in the evac...more

like · see review

Apr 24, 2011 Kate rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: cyberpunk, fiction, futuristic, science-fiction, speculative

I used to have a religious no-quitting policy when it came to finishing books. Even if the thing was terrible, I would slog through it till the last page, worried I was doing the author a disservice by not giving it a fair shake. Now, however, I'm a busy adult with a full-time job and a to-read list the length of my arm. I've gotten a lot more lax about finishing books I don't particularly care for.

Iron Sunrise is not a terrible book. From what I read, it's okay. The first section is actually ve...more I used to have a religious no-quitting policy when it came to finishing books. Even if the thing was terrible, I would slog through it till the last page, worried I was doing the author a disservice by not giving it a fair shake. Now, however, I'm a busy adult with a full-time job and a to-read list the length of my arm. I've gotten a lot more lax about finishing books I don't particularly care for.

Iron Sunrise is not a terrible book. From what I read, it's okay. The first section is actually very engaging, despite some confusing continuity errors relating to times and dates and the protagonist's age. However...

The underlying premise of this universe is that in the 21st(?) century, a human-built AI got so smart it figured out how to open wormholes in space. For reasons known only to itself, it transported most of Earth's population to Earthlike planets elsewhere in space, which it had thoughtfully terraformed for them beforehand. It also wormholed them back in time, so that they'd age and die at the same rate as their counterparts back on Earth. And then it left them a message telling them not to use time travel for their own nefarious purposes, Or Else.

I didn't realize when I picked this up that it was the second book in the series, and I may well have missed some fascinated explanations of all this in not reading Singularity Sky. I can't help noticing, however, that the explanation for how humanity got all its fantastic new technology is basically "A wizard did it." An AI did it. Whatever. I mean, sure, it explains how humans could come up with faster-than-light transport within a couple of centuries, but... deus-ex-machina much? Literally, even. You might as well use actual magic-- it's just as believable, to me.

I also feel like Stross did a poor job of imagining a culture 400 years removed from our own. There are some nods to anti-aging devices, equal rights for different sexual orientations, and of course the fantastic new technology provided by the AI Who Is Definitely Not A God, but overall the characters act and speak exactly as they would today. There are even ethnic stereotypes that are already out of date now-- the bluff Hitler-Youth German kids come to mind. The minor antagonists are all cardboard cutouts for the protagonists to knock down with a feather. I just... I can't go into more detail, because I didn't read much of the book all told, but after a very solid first chapter I was pretty disappointed by what came afterward.

I'm not a physicist, obviously, and most of the technical details in hard science-fiction books go right over my head. I read for the story and the characters, not the technology, and that's why I'm going to be putting this one down for a while.(less)

like · see review

Aug 18, 2011 Steven Cole rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The second book in Stross's Eschaton universe, The Iron Sunrise is a fun sort of who-dun-it spy thriller in space.

Ultimately, this book was quite enjoyable, and hard to put down in the final few hundred pages. The title "iron sunrise" is an interesting weaponized nova generator; but is only part of the backdrop of the bulk of the story. It took me a while to figure out who everybody was; (there was some confusion between Frank and Franz in my mind), but once I finally started reading the book in...more

like · see review

Jun 25, 2012 Daniel rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: sf

Charles Stross is a relatively recent find for me, but after reading his truly awesome Laundry series I made it a point to go back and explore some of his other works. Iron Sunrise is actually a sequel (though the author has said that there will be no more books in this universe) to Singularity Sky. It brings back the two main characters from that story, Rachel and her now husband, and introduces a who new spread of characters (slowly weaving the seemingly unrelated plots together). The world of...more

like · see review

Feb 20, 2010 Ilia rated it 3 of 5 stars

First - if you are only going to read one Stross book, you must read Accelerando. He was smart enough to release it for free - you can download it right here - http://www.goodreads.com/book/17863/e... .

If nothing else, at least read the first third of it. That should get your fingers twitching to get your hands on some of that near-future personal tech (I'd kill for the glasses alone - the "outboard brain" as he calls it).

That said, Iron Sunrise is more of a space opera and a kids' adventure nov...more First - if you are only going to read one Stross book, you must read Accelerando. He was smart enough to release it for free - you can download it right here - http://www.goodreads.com/book/17863/e... .

If nothing else, at least read the first third of it. That should get your fingers twitching to get your hands on some of that near-future personal tech (I'd kill for the glasses alone - the "outboard brain" as he calls it).

That said, Iron Sunrise is more of a space opera and a kids' adventure novel. It's a fun-enough romp - similar to some of Stross's other work in that the characters are a little thin on substance and development and the gadgetry, sexuality and violence feel a little gratuitous. But his talent is in weaving the whole thing together in a believable and mostly self-consistent manner - and it works here. The villains are kind of silly, and the one scene towards the end where he attempts to make them even remotely plausible fails completely. But you don't really read sci-fi for the characters, do you?

It features some of the same personal tech as in Accelerando, plus some quirky assumptions about FTL and STL travel and communication that combine to produce a mostly believable political and cultural entity. There is interesting political and military significance to the fact that FLT communication is possible but very expensive. And it basically coincides with current physics - we can produce quantum-entangled bits but they are expensive and bandwidth would be very limited. His main assumption that transporting one of the end points of the entanglement on an FTL ship ends the entanglement since it's carried outside of the original light-cone, so the system overall is expensive since expensive STL transport is needed to connect distant points. Some interesting social and political implications there.

There are a few things that irked me while I was reading the book. One of them being the implication that war news that is a few decades out of date is of no interest to anyone - a key assumption to make the plot possible. I felt that with interstellar distances there would be a more rational, interstellar appreciation of time. However, having finished the book and having had time to think about it, I think Stross may have gotten this right. Even now I find it hard to find real analysis of the pros and cons of political or economic events that are more than a year old. It seems to me people rarely think of the atrocities that are more than 20 years in the past and only a few thousand miles distant. With interstellar distances it is entirely plausible that an even more insular outlook could develop.

One really interesting idea that I have never thought about before is what would deterrent weapons on an interstellar scale look like. Stross's answer is intriguing - they're essentially STL mass projectiles, designed to be non-detectable while they're en-route and delivering a punch by accelerating to a high fraction of the speed of light. The only thing that sounded a little unreasonable is the fact that the attack craft is undetectable except by its exhaust. I thought that detection of approaching space objects would be much better in the future, and that we already can detect asteroids very far out in time. However, after some searching (only about 10 minutes worth) I couldn't find any information at all about how far away we can detect "black" (non-emitting) masses on an approach. All I found are a lot of alarmist articles about near-misses that were detected within days of near-hits with Earth. So perhaps this assumption is reasonable after all, and if so - the weapons system is pretty clever. M.A.D., in space!

Finally, the last thing you can look into is his view on the singularity. He side-steps it in this book (I won't ruin it for you, but it's a neat way to set up an interesting human universe and then never worry about any super-human meddling AIs again). If you're interested in that stuff, watch this amusing and thought-provoking panel with Stross and Vernor Vinge discussing the singularity and some of its implications - http://vimeo.com/9445223
(less)

like · see review

Feb 20, 2009 Nicolas rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: complot, dieu, dystopie, enquête, far-future, hard-science, politique, voyage, rayon-fantasy-et-sf

J'avais gardé de Crépuscule d'acier une excellente impression et c'est auréolé de ce premier tome fabuleux que j'avais choisi d'entamer le second tome des aventures de Rachel Mansour et Martin ... j'ai oublié son nom ... dans l'univers de l'Eschaton.
Dans cette histoire, au lieu d'une civilisation post-singularité, nos héros affrontent donc une bande de pseudo-terroristes relevant d'une civilisation eugéniste et gravement expansionniste. Est-ce que ça va de pair ? Aucune idée. Toujours est-il que...more J'avais gardé de Crépuscule d'acier une excellente impression et c'est auréolé de ce premier tome fabuleux que j'avais choisi d'entamer le second tome des aventures de Rachel Mansour et Martin ... j'ai oublié son nom ... dans l'univers de l'Eschaton.
Dans cette histoire, au lieu d'une civilisation post-singularité, nos héros affrontent donc une bande de pseudo-terroristes relevant d'une civilisation eugéniste et gravement expansionniste. Est-ce que ça va de pair ? Aucune idée. Toujours est-il que la description de ces crétins eugénistes fait malheureusement penser à nos aryens du passé. Et, d'une manière tout aussi malheureuse, je trouve dommage que l'auteur, après avoir réussi un coup fabuleux avec son Festival rempli d'usines à cuillères en plastique explosives, ait choisi de revenir à une trame de récit plus "classique". Bien sûr, Stross est suffisamment malin pour broder de ce récit avec beaucoup de finesse, et aussi avec pas mal d'imprévus bien pensés. Néanmoins, comme j'ai compris assez rapidement où il voulait en venir, j'ai trouvé sa façon de construire les aventures de nos éros d'une manière un peu trop ... ampoulée, peut-être.
Néanmoins, néanmoins, il ne faut pas jeter le bébé avec l'eau du bain. Si la trame principale est peut-être un peu conventionnelle, l'univers de l'Eschaton est très bien décrit, d'une grande puissance d'évocation et remplie d'images toujours saisissantes. Des images, d'ailleurs, qui m'ont beaucoup plus fait penser dans ce second tome à l'univers de la Culture. Et c'est peut-être, à mon sens, la plus grande force de ce second tome : grâce à un récit plus classique, et plus centré sur l'univers connu, l'auteur a pu se pencher de manière bien plus détaillée sur la société de l'Eschaton, et les implications de plusieurs des éléments constitutifs du récit, comme l'éparpillement de l'humanité à travers la galaxie, les cornucopia, et la cybernétisation de plus en plus intensive. Et ce dernier élément, en particulier, couplé avec l'allongement de l'espérance de vie, m'a beaucoup rappelé la Culture. En effet, dans les deux cas, la mise en réseau universelle et l'accès à des ressources ubiquitaires a nettement détaché les humains de cette époque de notre humanité. Et ces humains du futur sont fascinants.
Bref, un récit plutôt moyen (bon, enfin, pas mauvais non plus, hein, certains rebondissements sont bien trouvés), mais placé dans un décor assez fascinant, avec qui plus est des personnages centraux plutôt attachants (je ne parle pas de la quasi nécessaire adolescente, mais plutôt de nos amis de l'ONU) et qui fait quand même son petit effet. Lisez-le si vous le voulez, c'est quand même bien.(less)

like · see review

May 13, 2009 Tim rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

When this book was published, Charles Stross was science fictionâ��s most recent sensation. After years of relative anonymity, heâ��d been shortlisted for SF awards for his novels (both SF and fantasy) and novellas. Iron Sunrise , which garnered the best novel nomination for the 2005 Hugo Awards, is a follow-up to Singularity Sky , which was shortlisted for the 2004 Hugo for best novel.[return][return]Like its predecessor, Iron Sunrise is 21st century space opera. For those unfamiliar with the t...more When this book was published, Charles Stross was science fictionâ��s most recent sensation. After years of relative anonymity, heâ��d been shortlisted for SF awards for his novels (both SF and fantasy) and novellas. Iron Sunrise , which garnered the best novel nomination for the 2005 Hugo Awards, is a follow-up to Singularity Sky , which was shortlisted for the 2004 Hugo for best novel.[return][return]Like its predecessor, Iron Sunrise is 21st century space opera. For those unfamiliar with the term, space opera is SF writ large, i.e., conflict on an interstellar or intergalactic scale. A subgenre that dates back to the earliest days of SF, more recent purveyors have managed to shed the pulp image with which such stories were saddled. Stross does so with heavy doses of cyberpunk, 24th century James Bond, hard SF â�� and even a little detective story.[return][return]There is a common back story to both books. The Eschaton is an artificial intelligence that borders on godlike. While expressly disavowing any deity-like status, the AI exists in humanity's future and imposes harsh measures on anyone who seeks to use technology to violate causality and, hence, threaten the AIâ��s existence. To hinder the possibility, in the 21st century the Eschaton relocates most of humanity from Earth to far-distant planets, leaving only the essentials for humans to carve out a new society and existence. Thanks to wrinkles in the space-time continuum, each light year in distance also meant going back a year in time. Thus, some three centuries later, mankind has blossomed throughout the universe, bringing with it inventions such as faster-than-light travel, something which can directly threaten causality.[return][return]While most of this unfolded in Singularity Sky, knowledge of that story is not a prerequisite to Iron Sunrise. Moreover, despite the grand scale of the back story, it truly is a back story. The Eschaton and the relocation of humanity is a foundation of this story. Yet it never becomes the forefront or focus of the tale.[return][return]What is in the forefront here are the human characters, all brought into play by an almost quintessential space opera moment. Someone or something exploded the sun around which the planet Moscow orbited, annihilating it and its 200 million inhabitants. In a leading role in this opera is Wednesday, a 24th century adolescent cyberpunk who lives on a space station some 3.6 light years from Moscow's sun. In the process of evacuating the station, she unknowingly discovers the secret to the destruction. Also in starring roles are husband and wife Martin and Rachel, both also prominent in Singularity Sky. Rachel works for the UN and is "Black Chamber" agent charged with, among other things, trying to prevent causality violations. She is asked to investigate whoâ��s been assassinating the remaining members of Moscowâ��s diplomatic corps, individuals who hold the key to a potential long-term retaliatory strike automatically launched upon Moscow's destruction. Then thereâ��s Frank, a "warblogger" for the London Times looking into the destruction of Moscow and the political forces at play. Finally, there is a cadre of the ReMastered, humans whose ideology centers around destroying the Eschaton and replacing it with "the unborn god."[return][return]Although initially spread across several planets and systems, Stross ultimately brings all these characters together on a faster-than-light space liner that serves as a focal point of and staging ground for the ultimate resolution of the tale. That is, perhaps, the most glaring weakness of Iron Sunrise. While the whole story is based on a reader accepting the Eschaton and the exploding sun, for some reason it is a bit tough to believe the key characters from several different planets in a story unfolding across light years find themselves together on the SF equivalent of a cruise ship. Similarly, the penultimate denouement is reminiscent of a murder mystery where all the players are brought together in the dining room as the detective announces his resolution of the mystery. Here, one of the bad guys brings everybody together and ties up a variety of loose ends in one scene. Both approaches feel like a quick way out after Stross spent so much time setting the stage and shaping the characters.[return][return]Finally, some might complain because the close of the book leaves the doors wide open for another sequel with Rachel and Martin. Stross does not, however, leave any loose ends in this story itself. More important, he has not come close to fully exploring the Eschaton or the universe it has created for humanity. His willingness and ability to explore such paths have brought him where he is today.[return][return]Originally posted at http://prairieprogressive.com/2005/06...(less)

like · see review

Feb 24, 2013 Smcleish rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: owned

Originally published on my blog here in June 2005.

I was distinctly underwhelmed by Stross' debut, Singularity Sky, even if it did suggest the kernel of some ideas about a mathematical theory of causality that I have been working on, on and off, since I read it. It had enough interest for me to pick up his next novel the Hugo-nominated Iron Sunrise, and I am glad I did. From the very first page it is clear that this is written to a far higher and more individual standard: Charles Stross has found...more Originally published on my blog here in June 2005.

I was distinctly underwhelmed by Stross' debut, Singularity Sky, even if it did suggest the kernel of some ideas about a mathematical theory of causality that I have been working on, on and off, since I read it. It had enough interest for me to pick up his next novel the Hugo-nominated Iron Sunrise, and I am glad I did. From the very first page it is clear that this is written to a far higher and more individual standard: Charles Stross has found his own voice.

The story has elements which resonate with the history of the science fiction genre and with current events. Pulp fiction space opera is full of "planet busters" and ultimate weapons; in the Lensman series by E.E. "Doc" Smith, perhaps the best known example, these include pairs of planets placed so that they crash into the enemy home world, and worlds of antimatter which reduce a world to a handful of gravel. The human element is so played down that it is barely present; the destruction of evil is much more important than the human suffering of the innocent (something which is a literary parallel to the behaviour of the British and American governments in Iraq, where civilian deaths were not even counted). A similar event, the "iron sunrise" of the title, is the centrepiece of Stross' novel: a supernova induced by a "weapon of mass destruction" that destroys the planet of Moscow. Stross makes the human cost of such a war crime apparent - the short suffering and death of the inhabitants of Moscow, and the more lengthy problems faced on one of Moscow's colonies - taking a much more adult stance than the glib heroics of Smith.

The setting is the imaginary future that Stross invented for Singularity Sky, and the same agent is the central character of Iron Sunrise. Indeed, the weakest aspect of Iron Sunrise is the repetition of the exposition of the background from the earlier novel - by memory, it seems to be made up from paragraphs pasted across almost verbatim, which is not just astoundingly lazy but which fills the early chapters of Iron Sunrise with the kind of clumsy "infodump" rightly derided by detractors of the science fiction genre. There are enough good things about Stross' writing that he really could (and should) have found a more subtle way to do this (particularly since any readers of the earlier novel would know this); even an introduction describing Singularity Sky would have been better.

The infodump and super-weapons are not the only science fiction clichés to appear in Iron Sunrise. There is the independent adolescent of above average intelligence, a staple of the genre since the early days of Robert Heinlein (and one of the main reasons why science fiction fandom is associated with geeky teenagers). In this case, she is named Wednesday, in what is presumably a slightly quirky nod to Charles Addams, and she is one of the refugees from the Moscovite colony already mentioned. Then there are the apparent villains, those who are suggested to be the destroyers of Moscow: the ReMastered, who bear a strong resemblance to the T'leilaxu in Frank Herbert's Dune novels, or to any other science fictional elite who control the proletariat via conditioning: puppetmasters in a lineage going back to the dystopias of Orwell and Huxley. All of these, including the planetary destruction, are far better handled than the infodump, which is sufficiently poor and comes early enough in the novel to seriously impair the chances Iron Sunrise has of winning the Hugo. The nomination is in my opinion deserved - it is, after all, good enough to make me consider re-reading Singularity Sky. (less)

like · see review

Nov 14, 2011 Christopher Sutch rated it 4 of 5 stars

Stross's second published novel is a qualitative leap forward over the first two novels he wrote (though those ain't bad by any stretch of the imagination). This is a terrific thriller with awesome scope, imagination, memorable and strange characters, and some great application of scientific speculation (the second piece I've encountered, for example, that imagines what the practical uses of a Faraday cage might be). There is some minor editing (or lack thereof) problems in one or two scenes tha...more

like · see review

Mar 20, 2013 Rachel rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: sf

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

like · see review

Jan 04, 2013 Ratiocination rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

Noticeably deeper and better rounded than Singularity Sky, though it's probably still good to read them together.

It does have one episode that's jarringly similar to a subplot in one of the Laundry books (probably one of the first two?) Nothing about the scene would stand out much if you only one book or the other. As a bit of authorial recycling, it's mainly peculiar because the books are so different otherwise.

like · see review

Apr 23, 2011 Michael Eisenberg rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I just finished both of Charles Stross' Eschaton related books, "Singularity Sky" and "Iron Sunrise". Both were really fun, and somewhat dense (as in geeky science info-dumping dense, especially in the former) reads. It sparked enough interest in me to pursue other books about singularity events and post singularity life (Vernor Vinge, Ken MacLeod, others...help?) which I found very engaging, unique and imaginative in Stross's hands.

On top of that...they both had a cool "spy vs. spy" thing happ...more

like · see review

Oct 02, 2009 Mark added it

I don't know if there's too much to say about this in general - it meets all the standard criteria of recent space opera novels. There's a moderately well described universe and characters. There was a singularity, a time traveling AI who sets the stage but stays generally out of the way except to motivate characters and occasionally save them from trouble, a variety of different planets with different cultures, super spies, and a heroic future-journalist, an even more heroic future-goth-teenage...more

like · see review

Jan 09, 2010 Oscar rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: ciencia-ficción, far-future, hard, míos

Una novela cuyo clímax se encuentra al principio de su lectura, la verdad es que ya tiene poco que ofrecer. Una estrella es detonada artificialmente para que destruya un planeta, Moscú. Los supervivientes achacan el ataque a su vecino, Nueva Dresde. Pero, ¿han sido realmente ellos o hay terceros con intereses de por medio? Novela ramplona, con personajes planos y malos malísimos de manual. Vamos, nada nuevo en el horizonte. La historia va dando tumbos hasta un final predecible hasta decir basta....more

like · see review

Jan 27, 2008 Rachel rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: sciencefiction

I actually liked this one better than Singularity Sky -- maybe because it was a bit more linear, and spent more time on a smaller cast of characters, so it was easier to be sympathetic to them. The story revolves around Wednesday (also known as Victoria Strowger), a goth teen who happens to be an associate of Herman (agent of the Eschaton). She and her family are evacuated from their space station home, and on the way out, her incessant Herman-prompted snooping causes her to run across a secret...more

1 like · like · see review

Mar 21, 2010 Raj rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi, space-opera

The follow-up to Singularity Sky, this has some of the same characters and is set in the same universe, although reading the first one isn't necessary to enjoy this one. And it is an enjoyable book, a good space opera with some nice ideas and an ending that tied up the plot in this book but set up new threads for future books in the same universe. Well worth reading.

like · see review

Jun 06, 2011 Eric rated it 2 of 5 stars

Space Nazis and a hit man clown. This would have been entertaining if it had been a comedy. As it was, it was bloody violent, and one of the main characters wavered between adolescent whining and masterfully in-charge of herself. Maybe I'm just old, but that didn't work for me. He spent way too much time detailing the death of a planetary system. I'd heard so much about Stross' work, and seen a number of good reviews, but having read Schismatrix back in the day, I'm now inclined to reread that o...more

like · see review

Mar 23, 2009 PABlo Bley rated it 5 of 5 stars

I couldn't put this one down! In fact, I was enjoying Stross' style of writing so much, I found myself repeatedly skipping backwards to instantly re-read passages that had the power to make me want to go back & milk a passage for even more details from somewhere in-between-the-lines. Talk about entertaining the reader with "what-if" possibilities. I now have a number of new references to add to the lexicon of near-future cyberpunk images in my experiences of that genre.

like · see review

Jan 07, 2009 David rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

Wow.

I rarely dish out five stars, but this author's writing is a near-perfect match for my tastes. The pseudo science sparkles, the characters are perfectly larger-than-life space-operatic, the pacing and story are good. Stomach churning graphic violence and casually explicit sex put in occasional appearances. Stylistically, the author shares my penchant for sardonic similes.

Highly recommended for adults that like hard sci fi.

like · see review

Feb 01, 2011 Tancredi rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi

"Uploadateli tutti, il dio non nato riconoscerà i suoi"...

... che è come la versione fantascientifica del più celebre "uccideteli tutti, Dio riconoscerà i suoi". Non a caso il genocidio (qui su scala planetaria) è il tema portante.
E' un grande romanzo di fantascienza, un'epica space-opera, con una trama dai risvolti geopolitici, trasferiti ovviamente in un grande universo densamente popolato.
Certo, gli manca quel qualcosa in più che porta Stross a scrivere quel visionario capolavoro che è "Accel...more

like · see review

May 13, 2012 Joanna rated it 3 of 5 stars

This one was about as much fun as its predecessor and jsut as reminiscent of Banks. I still like all the characters, although some were even LESS plausible than previously (Steffi Grace, I'm looking at you). I liked Wednesday and her shopping woes and eventual heroism, which all rang true. I hope she gets to run into Blow again! And, given that this is set up to be a series, no doubt she will.

like · see review

Dec 21, 2009 Tim rated it 4 of 5 stars

Excellent plot, well written. If you like hard SF space opera, this is a must read. Downside is minor, and it is the jerky nature of early scenes, moving abruptly from one setting and grouping of characters to another. And there is no sense when you will get back to them again. The story still works well enough. If you are looking for well crafted mind-expanding ideas, I highly recommend.

like · see review

Aug 22, 2011 Suna rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

I'm all over the shop these weeks, so I am just cutting and pasting this quote for my own reference for when I start my review proper.
To be continued.

"And we were nearly at war with these people?" she asked.
"The usual stupid reasons. Competitive trade advantage, immigration policy, political insecurity, cheap
slow transport—cheap enough to facilitate trade, too expensive to facilitate federalization or the other
adjustments human nations make to minimize the risk of war."

This book rose head and sh...more

like · see review

Dec 11, 2009 Chris "Stu" rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009

Not as awesome and monumental as "Singularity Sky," but a good extension of that book and illustration of the universe after the singularity has been achieved and the "Eschaton," a godlike machine intelligence has spread mankind throughout the galaxy. The backbone of this universe could support many more stories, and hopefully Stross will get around to writing them.

like · see review

Sep 07, 2009 Martin rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I didn't care for this one as much as the first in the series (Singularity Sky), but it was still enjoyable. I liked the characters, especially the new ones, but with four main characters I didn't get to spend as much time with each as I would have liked. I also thought he had a lot of trouble figuring out how to wrap things up, so it meandered for a while before ending abruptly.

I'd still give a third in the series a try if one comes out.

like · see review

Jun 30, 2009 Tim rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: scifi

This right here is some pretty awesome hard SF. Well, I guess it's "hard SF" in that all of the sciencey bits make sense, but not necessarily that they drive the story. And it's really the story that makes this awesome. Despite the multiple plot threads that seem disparate at the beginning of the story, it's a very compelling pageturner of a book. Good stuff.

like · see review

Oct 29, 2009 Jonathanstray Stray rated it 4 of 5 stars

Good old-fashioned space opera, including AIs, interstellar war-blogging, and the illegal destruction of a system by supernova,.

The empire is held together by quantum-entanglement faster-than-light communication channels, which is both plausible and a device I haven't seen before.

Well, it's plausible if interstellar empires are plausible.

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (16)

More editions...

Genres

Science Fiction

155 users

Science Fiction > Space Opera

16 users

Science Fiction Fantasy

7 users

Space

6 users

Speculative Fiction

4 users

Science Fiction > Cyberpunk

3 users

Fantasy

2 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

Cosmonaut Keep
by Ken MacLeod
Century Rain
by Alastair Reynolds
Line War
by Neal Asher
Against a Dark Background
by Iain M. Banks

About Charles Stross

Charles David George "Charlie" Stross is a writer based in Edinburgh, Scotland. His works range from science fiction and Lovecraftian horror to fantasy.

Stross is sometimes regarded as being part of a new generation of British science fiction writers who specialise in hard science fiction and space opera. His contemporaries include Alastair Reynolds, Ken MacLeod, Liz Williams and Richard Morgan.

SF...more

More about Charles Stross...

Books by Charles Stross

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Iron Sunrise

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

title link	preview: Iron Sunrise
avg rating	preview: Iron Sunrise Goodreads rating: 3.90 (3260 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/101864.Iron_Sunrise?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347970772l/101864.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/101864.Iron_Sunrise?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Iron Sunrise by Charles Stross[/url]

Iron Sunrise (Eschaton #2)

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website