Hub 121 by Various

Author:Various
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction, Horror, Fantasy
Publisher: Right Hand Publishing

House of Suns

by Alastair Reynolds

Gollancz

rrp £7.99

reviewed by martin willoughby

The Star Trek films became partly known for the odd numbered films being regarded as bad ones, which I always thought was a little unfair. I was beginning to wonder if Reynolds had also got trapped in good/bad mode. Century Rain had been a superb book, whilst Pushing Ice was a disappointment. So after enjoying The Prefect, I approached House of Suns with a little worry: I needn’t have. It is a superb book, well paced, well thought out and as much a murder mystery as SF. There are a few red herrings along the way, but by the time you get two-thirds of the way through, you may well guess the ending... only to find out you’re wrong.

The Gentian Line is result of a cloning of Abigail Gentian. She shattered herself into 1000 clones six million years ago, as did several other rich people. Now, however, the line is deemed to be a danger and they are going to be exterminated by the House of Suns.

The House of Suns plays the long game and plan to destroy the Gentian line at their next reunion. An ambush is planned which doesn’t go according to plan as a number of the shatterlings escape. This is the background to the novel.

In the foreground we have a man and a woman in love, but have to hide that love due to the Line’s rules that forbid it. This doesn’t stop them and they resort to lies and subterfuge to hide it. At this reunion they are likely to be found out as they are so late and will arrive together. Before they get to the reunion they are almost kidnapped and come across a frozen member of the Machine People, who has agreed to join them at the reunion. They hope that bringing Hesperus will ameliorate their punishment.

After the ambush, they arrive at Neume where we meet a mysterious entity called the Spirit of the Air whose interesting history is slowly revealed.

Add into this mix the internal politics of the Gentian Line, some well thought out technology and you have a gripping story.

There is also a smaller story about Abigail herself that takes up the first few pages of each part to the novel (there are eight parts). My first thought was that this was unnecessary, but its conclusion gives some more explanation of events and people, especially the Gentian shatterlings. The two main characters are Purslane and Campion and most of the story is told from their points of view. That the story is written in first person form is fine, but it takes some getting used to when both main characters points of view are used. It doesn’t swap in each chapter, but it takes a few lines, or paragraphs, of each chapter to realise who is telling the story.

I’ve never been enamoured with Reynolds’ characters, and these two are no different. It’s not that I’m not interested in them, far from it, it’s just that they lack some depth.

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