Six million years ago, at the very dawn of the starfaring era, Abigail Gentian fractured herself into a thousand male and female clones: the shatte...
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Dec 01, 2011
Laura Jane
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I've read almost all of Alastair Reynolds's books. "House of Suns" is the most recent I've read, and it just took me away. I don't necessarily recommend it be the first of his works that you read (visit his website to see his recommendations), but for anyone who loves space opera which spans millions of years and millions of light-years, his works, especially this one, are second to none. He is an astrophysicist, and having some knowledge of Einstein's Special and General Relativity al
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Dec 01, 2010
Robert
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Jul 22, 2009
Loothi
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The pacing of Alastair Reynolds' novels feel a bit predicatable when you've read a few. A bit like Nirvana songs from the Nevermind album. Despite that, I'm always completely absorbed by his characters and their worlds so it's not such a bad thing.
House of Suns is another epic space opera. Our narrators are from a society of future humans struggling with emerging machine intelligences, other more exotic human iterations, family betrayals and old fashioned love affairs across the aeo More...
House of Suns is another epic space opera. Our narrators are from a society of future humans struggling with emerging machine intelligences, other more exotic human iterations, family betrayals and old fashioned love affairs across the aeo More...
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Feb 01, 2011
Felicia
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Words can't describe how much I love this book! The quality of the writing in the first chapter gripped me and wouldnt let me stop reading. It is a fabulous scifi space opera with fantastic characters you root for. The most impressive thing is the world building, and how the complex science becomes understandable and readable in a way that you don't normally find in these types of books.
Between discovering Reynolds and Banks, I feel like I'm in my own scifi novel Renaissance!
Between discovering Reynolds and Banks, I feel like I'm in my own scifi novel Renaissance!
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Jan 31, 2010
Lori
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I've been having alot of trouble rating 3 and 4 stars in the past 2 months. I started out as 3 is actually a very good rating, while 4 was reserved for books I loved and won't forget, and 5 being masterpieces of books I want to reread - which is rare, life being short and too many good books out there!
So with this book I toughened up again, but am doubtful because I really like it, and I've been feeling the ending all day.
This is a strong book from Reynolds. Different fr More...
So with this book I toughened up again, but am doubtful because I really like it, and I've been feeling the ending all day.
This is a strong book from Reynolds. Different fr More...
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Feb 05, 2012
Erika
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This is the first Alastair Reynolds book I read and my second favorite so far. The premise is awesome and one I'd love to do if I could ... "Six million years ago, at the dawn of the star-faring era, Abigail Gentian fractured herself into a thousand male and female clones, which she called shatterlings."
Every 100,000 years or so the shatterlings gather together at a grand reunion to share observations … but now someone is eliminating them one by one. Two of the shatterlings More...
Every 100,000 years or so the shatterlings gather together at a grand reunion to share observations … but now someone is eliminating them one by one. Two of the shatterlings More...
Aug 09, 2011
procrastin8or
rated it:
Another stand alone novel from Reynolds whose recent works has been away from his highly acclaimed “Revelation Space” universe.
This 2008 novel centres around a group of immortal clones (shatterlings) who, several million years before, were sent out into the universe by their creator to discover all that there was to discover. Every million years or so they meet up to discuss their findings. Only, two of them have fallen in love and are concerned that the others would frown upon their r More...
This 2008 novel centres around a group of immortal clones (shatterlings) who, several million years before, were sent out into the universe by their creator to discover all that there was to discover. Every million years or so they meet up to discuss their findings. Only, two of them have fallen in love and are concerned that the others would frown upon their r More...
May 27, 2011
Forrest
rated it:
It’s hard to not have a little bit of admiration for Alastair Reynolds’ books, whether you like them or not. He skillfully crafts stories of almost incomprehensible depth and scope. Stories that span millions of years and entire galaxies. House of Suns is no exception, and while it isn’t the strongest entry into his bibliography, it does justice to Reynolds’ unique take on the space opera and science fiction.
If Revelation Space is the pinnacle of the postmodern space opera, House of More...
If Revelation Space is the pinnacle of the postmodern space opera, House of More...
Dec 06, 2010
Tim
rated it:
I think Reynolds reached a little too far with this, but he sure reached a long way and I applaud that.
It's a great read, but you need a bit of basic sci-fi astrophysics and a very well-developed ability to suspend disbelief.
Many of the advanced concepts are well thought out, as you'd expect from an astrophysicist. Maybe some of the blips I noticed are in fact explained, but let's try some.
22-kilometre-long ships with one person on them? And we complain about 6-seater More...
It's a great read, but you need a bit of basic sci-fi astrophysics and a very well-developed ability to suspend disbelief.
Many of the advanced concepts are well thought out, as you'd expect from an astrophysicist. Maybe some of the blips I noticed are in fact explained, but let's try some.
22-kilometre-long ships with one person on them? And we complain about 6-seater More...
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Oct 10, 2010
Moster
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I enjoyed this book very much. The story was interesting and compelling, and the ways Reynolds has evolved humanity into different types of creatures are innovative and thorough. The story kept me speculating, and while I figured out some of the high level points of the end before the characters, I did not expect the finale at all. The writing works well to bring the reader into the minds of the characters. I do have a small gripe with the structure of the book, but I think this is more of a
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Jun 14, 2010
Rickg
rated it:
I rarely click the 5 star rating but I started this at 11pm last night thinking I'd read a few chapters. At 5:30am I finished the book.
How you like this book will really be dependent on whether the characters of Purslane & Campion grab you and whether you need exotic levels of technology in your space opera.
Characters first... I liked that Purslane, Campion and the other clones here were very much individuals and not the copies that the term implies. All of the shatter More...
How you like this book will really be dependent on whether the characters of Purslane & Campion grab you and whether you need exotic levels of technology in your space opera.
Characters first... I liked that Purslane, Campion and the other clones here were very much individuals and not the copies that the term implies. All of the shatter More...
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Jul 27, 2009
Alan
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Once I'd had a chance to crack the covers, I burned through this book in a couple of days, finding it right up my alley. Reynolds has been called the "master of Modern British Space Opera," and with good reason - he undeniably thinks big, writes big, and is capable of conveying that vertiginous sense of scale to the reader. House of Suns effortlessly spans millions of years (and millions of light-years)... but it does so in a clever and humanistic way, by following the viewpoints of se
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Jul 16, 2009
David
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When the setting is interstellar travel, the majority of science fiction authors postulate some sort of FTL (Faster Than Light) drive. It's the only way that humans as-we-know-them can traverse the tremendous distances between stars in the duration of a single lifetime. Alastair Reynolds, in contrast, posits that relativity can never be overcome, and his stories always depict how humans and other sophonts must change and evolve to adapt to the time spans involved.
House of Suns does no More...
House of Suns does no More...
May 21, 2009
David
rated it:
My first encounter with the novels of Alastair Reynolds and… well, for a start, he certainly doesn’t lack vision.
House of Suns is set not just in the far future, but in the far future of a far future (as it were) where humans have colonised the galaxy. In addition to myriad planet-dwelling sub-species (some of whom are barely recognisable as human), there are the star-faring Lines, each comprising a thousand clones (or ’shatterlings’) of individuals who, six million years previously, More...
House of Suns is set not just in the far future, but in the far future of a far future (as it were) where humans have colonised the galaxy. In addition to myriad planet-dwelling sub-species (some of whom are barely recognisable as human), there are the star-faring Lines, each comprising a thousand clones (or ’shatterlings’) of individuals who, six million years previously, More...
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Aug 06, 2009
Mike
rated it:
I popped on this morning to review this book, to let flower my deep thoughts, to nurture the blossoming wonder that is my wisdom about this novel and science fiction, but I got distracted.
I am probably a 3.5 stars on this, having enjoyed the outsized imagination and the generally vigorous plotting, even if it felt at times a bit long, a bit beholden to Banks (right down to a series of interspersed chapters set in a virtual fantasy game). Reynolds follows a Line of clones who have tr More...
I am probably a 3.5 stars on this, having enjoyed the outsized imagination and the generally vigorous plotting, even if it felt at times a bit long, a bit beholden to Banks (right down to a series of interspersed chapters set in a virtual fantasy game). Reynolds follows a Line of clones who have tr More...
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Nov 10, 2010
David
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My first Alastair Reynolds novel, I found this to be a pretty good stand-alone space opera that avoids some of the usual tropes of the genre. Humans are alone in the galaxy -- the many civilizations populating the galaxy are far future posthumans evolved from the original human race. There is no FTL travel; humans spend literally hundreds of thousands of years touring the galaxy in sub-light ships of immense size.
House of Suns begins with an attempt to wipe out the Gentian line by my More...
House of Suns begins with an attempt to wipe out the Gentian line by my More...
Sep 18, 2010
Raj
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Purslane and Campion are two "shatterlings" of the Gentian Line. At the dawn of the spacefaring age, Abigail Gentian, from a family of experts in cloning, created a thousand clones of herself, adjusted to be male and female, downloaded her personality into them and sent them wandering the galaxy, recording their knowledge and exchanging memories during their reunions after each circuit of the galaxy, 200k or so years apart. This time they're running late for the latest reunion and when
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Apr 14, 2010
Brendan
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House of Suns works to describe the vast spaces of the distant future, in which space-faring adventurers cross incomprehensible distances in enormous ships with bewildering firepower over mind-bogglingly long stretches of time. And between stasis, cryo-sleep, and some sort of biological engineering, they survive for millions of years. The plot of the novel turns on the 100k-year reunion of one “line” at which an ambush occurs and most of the family are killed. Then it becomes a galactic murde
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Feb 11, 2011
Jon
rated it:
This book was a real treat and kinda came out of nowhere, just having seen it recommended by Felicia Day in a blog post. For a while I was largely "taking a break" from reading, not having many go-to franchises that I could rely on and having too little patience to read through hours worth of introduction before getting wrapped up in the narrative.
In the case of House of Suns, Alastair Reynolds grabbed me in the first couple chapters. The hard sci-fi mixed with a strong sense More...
In the case of House of Suns, Alastair Reynolds grabbed me in the first couple chapters. The hard sci-fi mixed with a strong sense More...
Jul 25, 2009
Adam
rated it:
My first successful journey with Captain Reynolds in a universe other than his Revelation Space universe. This is not that gothic, cyberpunk, nightmare infused setting with realism, grit, and atmospheric, cinematic imagery. This is more playful with ideas and fantastical tone (though still lots of hard science), an almost comic romp reminding me of Barrington J. Bayley, Moorcock’s Dancers at the End of Time, and the lighter moments of Banks’s Culture. Still tense with some great set pieces (the
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Dec 23, 2009
Lauren
rated it:
Started off slow, but built momentum up to a thrilling end. Some of the time concepts were difficult to grasp for this reader who never worked for a space agency, but it makes for interesting plot developments. Imagine being 55 years late to a family reunion! Even with stasis/abeyance machines to help the centuries move along, these characters have a lot of patience.
The one thing I found difficult was the point of view switch between characters; even if they are technically all the same c More...
The one thing I found difficult was the point of view switch between characters; even if they are technically all the same c More...
Aug 13, 2009
Tama
rated it:
I had heard about this book in more than a few places so decided to check it out. The novel is split into two narratives set in the distant future. One is of a girl, living in an ever changing house, the other is a group of clones, called the House of Flowers, coming together for one of their rare gatherings.
Essentially this is epic sci fi space opera, but at it's heart it's a whodunnit set in space. More than that though, reading it is rather like pealing an onion in reverse; every More...
Essentially this is epic sci fi space opera, but at it's heart it's a whodunnit set in space. More than that though, reading it is rather like pealing an onion in reverse; every More...
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Jun 29, 2009
Mr. Brammer
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I don't read a lot of science fiction; sci-fi authors tend to take short-cuts. Free from the restrictions of depicting the world as we know, many liberties are taken with dialogue, plot structure, or giving the reader the sense that reality in the book could happen anywhere else than in the author's fevered imagination. Reynolds tries to keep _House of Suns_ grounded in recognizable human emotions and melodrama, and as a former astrophysicist, he doesn't resort to some of the easy tropes (and
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May 08, 2011
Angie
rated it:
Maybe a 2 1/2. Interesting story but way too much description of stars and galaxies, etc., for my taste and lots of possibilities opened up, such as alien rases, that should have been developed more or not bothered with at all. This book apparently is part of a universe used in other books, so I might have liked it more if I had read them.
One element I enjoyed was Reynolds' take on how people might feel if their lives were extended almost without end. It was different from many others and More...
One element I enjoyed was Reynolds' take on how people might feel if their lives were extended almost without end. It was different from many others and More...
Nov 24, 2010
Vermillion
rated it:
This is the first of Alastair reynolds books I've read and on this evidence I would definitely go back for more. It's wholeheartedly Epic Sci-Fi with all manner of capital letters to accompany the big concepts spanning cosmic time and distance. Yet at its heart this is a fairly straightforward conspiracy thriller, with secret agendas and internal betrayals driving things forward.
It might be slightly predictable that some ideas get left no more than partially developed or seeminly hurried ov More...
It might be slightly predictable that some ideas get left no more than partially developed or seeminly hurried ov More...
Aug 09, 2011
Kate
rated it:
Not being a big SCIENCE fiction reader, it took me a little while to actually get into this book. However, once they stopped explaining the technology of the world and started in on the plot, I was hooked.
Although I couldn't care less about the scientific pre-chatter, it was actually rather well done, and totally necessary to the plot. It was really interesting seeing what a culture exploring the galaxy without warp or other FTL technology would look like. The time manipulation an More...
Although I couldn't care less about the scientific pre-chatter, it was actually rather well done, and totally necessary to the plot. It was really interesting seeing what a culture exploring the galaxy without warp or other FTL technology would look like. The time manipulation an More...
Aug 10, 2010
Billthebloody
rated it:
Another epic vision of the far future from SF master Reynolds I was drawn into this book superbly.
The story focuses on two shatterlings - variant clones of a single person, Purslane and Campion who despite convention and tradition are in love with each other. Their line (themselves and their fellow shatterlings) must deal with a devasting attack on one of their reunions and the ramifications stemming from the reason why they were ambushed.
My favourite Alastair Reynolds book still is More...
The story focuses on two shatterlings - variant clones of a single person, Purslane and Campion who despite convention and tradition are in love with each other. Their line (themselves and their fellow shatterlings) must deal with a devasting attack on one of their reunions and the ramifications stemming from the reason why they were ambushed.
My favourite Alastair Reynolds book still is More...
Jul 23, 2010
Booknerd
rated it:
Really more of a 3.5. One of the problems with far-future space opera is creating characters who are recognizably human when they are millions of years in the future and/or millions of years old. This was a problem with Marrow. There's more than a bit of that here, but at least it's contained, and the people more or less stayed people.
Another difficulty is that the novel's over padded in places, spending too little time for the payoff and too much for the build-up.
Otherw More...
Another difficulty is that the novel's over padded in places, spending too little time for the payoff and too much for the build-up.
Otherw More...
Jan 12, 2012
Banner
rated it:
This is a space opera that is almost boundless in scope. Humanity has spread out to almost every part of the galaxy. But when you consider the universe is infinite that still leaves a lot of space. Reynolds has produced a very creative work, that incorporates concepts of space-time that stretches imagination. The plot is complex, but somehow keeps you from getting lost. I didn't care for the switching between plot and subplot that much, even though some of it was helpful, but the subplot seemed
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