Sun of Suns

This book was fun, fun, fun. If you like action-packed adventure SF, I bet you will like this. As a huge fan of Hayao Miyazaki's movies, such as "Castle in the Sky" and "Howl's Moving Castle," which feature dashing heroes in 19th century costume flying through the clouds on wondrous airships, I found much appeal in this story and can't wait for the next chapter. Another thing that this novel and Miyazaki's anime films have in common that I really liked: Their heroes find that even their worst enemies are simply human beings, not monsters. There are few true villains in this story; even Venera Fanning, a nominal villainess, has a gritty determination you have to admire. If you like your SF rigorously hard-boiled, i.e. the universe laid out must be extremely plausible when measured against the physics and biology of our universe, you may be a tad incredulous of Virga (where do all these wooden airships get their lumber, when the floating forests of the Virga Dyson sphere seem to be few and far between?). If you're that sort of reader, you may be annoyed by some of the later story elements involving the technology that makes Virga possible, which relies heavily on Clark's Law ("Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.") Also, in deference to the reviewer who found the language clunky: As a published non-fiction author, I don't agree. I didn't find any bugs in the language ointment of this book, and I usually notice.

I really enjoyed the hell out of this book, and am looking forward to the next two books. It's exciting and fast paced fun for all ages. A unique world with charactors to root for, and hair raising escapes. Sort of a steam punk sci fi fantasy with pirates! What's not to like? Certainly one of the most fun and engaging novels I've read this year.

This is another excellent book from Karl Schroeder, but what I was most impressed by in this book was a truly new idea - Science Fiction aficionados are all familiar with the concept of the Dyson sphere, where all non-solar material in a system is used to create a giant sphere with a 1 A.U. diameter where people live on the unimaginably vast inner surface. The problem with Dyson spheres is that at our current level of technology and understanding of strength of materials, we don't know how to build one. Schroeder solves this by making a sphere of only planetary diameter, with a skin of ice and a contained atmosphere, which puts this fantastic concept well within the realm of possibility. Take "Ringworld" and mix with "The Integral Trees", throw in a rip-roaring good hard-science based storyline, and you've got a formula for success!

I went into this book having never read any of Schroeder's past works, and have to admit I was a tad confused at first trying to grasp the whole concept of Virga and what lay beyond it. Like many of you who are avid SciFi fans I've been caught up in what SciFis are and not what they can be. This book forces the reader to leave the mindset of "Okay we're in a spaceship we go to a planet and shoot up some things and we move on." And instead asks us to imagine the human race creating minature suns with in a large area of space which has been pumped full of oxygen and surrounded by a ball of ice. Granted that's the simple version of it, but I don't want to ruin any of the book. My advice if you're looking for something out of the ordinary than read this book. If you looking for a more traditional Star Wars/Trek style book I'd look elsewhere personally.

This is the third Schroeder book I've read (the other two being Ventus and Permanence), and this one is nothing like those books. The most impressive aspect of this book has to be the sheer creativity of its world-building: the bizarre world of Virga--which seems to be equal parts Wild West, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Star Trek--is nevertheless utterly convincing (in part because of the even more bizarre Universe, only hinted at, in which Virga lies). Likewise, Schroeder doesn't forget the little details, such as what can, and does, happen when bullets don't hit their intended targets. Of course, though, world-building alone can't carry a book, and, just as in Schroeder's earlier works, "Sun of Suns" doesn't disappoint. Schroeder constantly kept me guessing as to what the protagonist, Hayden Griffin, was going to do--and that includes even after Schroeder revealed the book's final surprise. My only criticism, if it can be called that, is this book is relatively short: it is at most half the length of "Ventus." But, in a book as well-crafted as this one, knowing that a sequel awaits more than makes up for any such disappointment. I eagerly await Book Two of Virga.