Secret Harmonies

Four Hundred Billion Stars #2

by Paul J. McAuley, Paul McAuley

The planet Elysium is long settled, but troubles lay underneath the seeming paradise. Citizens of the Port of Plenty have benefited from new technology, but settlers across the planet are left to fend for themselves.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

333 pages, Paperback

First published May 13, 1989

About the author

name Paul McAuley previously wrote under

Reviews

[Jon Pennycook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Almost completely disconnected from the rest of the 400 Billion Stars series, and without telepathy. A planet relies on colony ships arriving from Earth on a schedule. On this planet are a native intelligent species who freeze up in the presence of humans. The latest colony ship does not arrive and nothing is heard. A revolution ensues - people from the city-based Government, from the countryside, and the central computer vie for control, not realising that they may be being used by another power.
There's no need to read any other books in the series before reading this one.
My copy suffers from poor editing with typos, as though it has been through an OCR process, despite being a paperback from the 90s.

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

It may have been because I took a long time to read this book that I missed a few things that would have made this a 4 star book for me. So, fair or not, this is my opinion.
I did not feel that the tension between the city and the settlements was shown to be at such a high level that it would lead to civil war.
The city's government and hierarchy was not made clear enough to me, nor was Savory's and Constat's role in it clear until almost the end of the book.
Still, I enjoyed the book. I enjoy the author's style. I will continue to read his books and I recommend this book.

[Leo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh. A bit of a slog for very little reward.
Perhaps a decent short story, bloated out past 300 pages?
Has very little bearing on the first book in the 'trilogy'. Set in the same universe, but contributes nothing to the first book.
It gets two stars for internal consistency...
Moving on to the third book of the trilogy, Eternal Light, but without much hope.

[Emmanuel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another alien setting, but with more human and AI in the forefront of the story.

[Kate Millin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Science fiction book about a settlement on a new world with existing intelligent life – a reasonable read with some Orson Scott card similarities with symbiotic life.

[Lutefisk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting ideas, but it's very man focused and a lot happens off page.

[Kevin Phyland · Rating 3 out of 5]

The planet Elysium, around Tau Ceti, has been settled for nearly a century with regular supplies and contact from Earth, but when the Earth ships stop it is a signal for the simmering resentment of the settlers for the police rulers to erupt into insurrection. The settlement has been run by the supercomputer called Constat which has achieved functional AI, and it monitors everywhere within the human sphere. Some settlers periodically escape the towns and go dingo - become lone wanderers - but unbeknownst to most of the inhabitants, Constat has chipped most so that it can control their movements if necessary, via their portable computer consoles. Then there are the vaguely humanoid aborigines - thought not be sentient but who act like they have at least rudimentary intelligence. The book weaves the stories of three inhabitants of Elysium, Rick (an historian), Miguel (a dingo) and De Ramaira (a suspect academic) who, each in their own way, will contribute to the insurrection. When the insurgents finally break through into the city the plans of the computer are revealed in its sadly human-like hubris. Interesting tale from Paul J. McAuley but it leaves a few loose ends which presumably get tied up in the final book. This book is also known as Secret Harmonies.

[Dmadden · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bang, bang. Fizzle. Typical.