REVIEW | Gardens of the Sun by Paul McAuley (Pyr)

I went into Gardens of the Sun with eagerness, but also somewhat trepidatiously as The Quiet War was one of my favorite Science Fiction reads last year. Would McAuley loose the sense of the characters? Would the continuation of their story seem unneeded? Is there more to learn about this incredible vision of the future?

Most of my fears were quite unfounded as McAuley was able to put a nice cap on this Universe and a fitting end to most of the characters. Gardens of the Sun picks up not long after the close of The Quiet War, but it leaps months and sometimes years in the narrative as it moves along. During The Quiet War it felt as though the characters were pushed by larger powers while now they are fighting to make their own destinies

An odd juxtaposition occurred while reading Gardens of the Sun in terms of me liking and connecting with certain characters.  In The Quiet War I was drawn to Sri Hong-Owen and Ken Shinto (the spy). While in Gardens of the Sun it is Loc Ifrahim and Macy who standout the most. Macy has always struggled to fit in wherever she went and now in exile with the other free outers, including her now husband, she still is pushed aside despite all she has left behind to be among them. Loc was probably the least ambiguous character in the first book with his underhanded and backstabbing ways. This time around McAuley does try to reform him to a certain degree and by the end I was shocked to find I actually liked him.

A sense of tension and inevitably that was present in War is missing though. You knew a war was coming in the first, but with Gardens you are left with more of a sense of the unexpected, which McAuley delivers in spades. Especially in regards to Avernus and Sri. A few of the characters who had such clear missions in The Quiet War find themselves lost in the shuffle as with Shinto (the spy) and Cash (the pilot). For the majority of the book I couldn't see how all the principles were going to come together in the end as well as they did in The Quiet War, but to McAuley's credit he finesses things just so to give you the unexpected. Many times in Science Fiction you'll find that the ship the characters inhabit is a character into itself, while McAuley makes the Universe a character as much as any of the others. It is a cold, but inviting place for those with the taste for adventure and freedom.

If The Quiet War represented fear of what could be than Gardens of the Sun is meant as a sign of hope for the future and that against everything humanity has a desire to live and grow. I give The Quiet War 8.5 out of 10 Hats. While Gardens of the Sun was not as enrapturing as the first volume the universe still comes alive and together form a duology that will be seen years from now as a classic Space Opera. McAuley also hinted in a recent interview that he is working on something set in this universe pushed forward a little. Given the ending of Gardens of the Sun he certainly left himself fertile ground for a return.


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REVIEW | The Quiet War by Paul McAuley (Pyr)

The Quiet War is Space Opera that hits close to home and is surprisingly digestible with its pacing. I find many Space Opera's a bit overdone, but that is not the case here. In fact this is the first must-read Sci-fi book of the year. The Quiet War having already been nominated for the Arthur C. Clarke Award is quite deserving.

Earth and the outer separatist colonies have been at odds for the past 200 odd years. Earth is recovering from a planetary wide environmental collapse, which seems all too feasible presently. A Green fervor has taken hold of the people and the politics as they have repairing the planet, which leaves all of the power to the most wealthy families. The colonies exists as an egalitarian societies loosely connected, where debates run rampant and action is slow.

However, the people of Earth and the colonies are diverting on more than just politics. The colonies are situated on moons around planets in our solar system where they have been changing themselves genetically for generations to adapt to these new environments and also lengthening their life spans to hundreds of years. Many now consider them a separate species and as the gap widens so does the trust each group has for the other. Earth's own attempts at toying with humanity's capabilities are quite startling, especially the creation of the people on the moon, which I wish were used a tad more.

The Quiet War shows that no matter what side you are on, throwing yourself too much in any direction can take you further away from your goal as so much scheming is going on you never know when a favor will be called in. Nearly every character is a pawn in a greater game of chess. Just when you think you've reached the Queen a new piece swoops in to take position. Told from multiple points of view at a multitude of locales The Quiet War brings heaps of action and suspense. The characters are sometimes stuffy, but never uninteresting. The science is spot on and believable.

This is my first exposure to McAuley's work, but he has definitely piqued my interest with his highly informed style and voice. The Quiet War is the best Space Opera I have read in years. I give The Quiet War 9.25 out of 10 Hats. I didn't find out until I finished, but there is a a sequel, Gardens of the Sun, scheduled for release in October in the UK. No US publication date has been announced but McAuley has said Pyr will be the publisher so don't be surprised if you see it on their Spring/Summer 2010 list. That said The Quiet War does stand on its own but I for one would like to see what the future holds for some of these characters.


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