Sun of Suns (2007)

Amazon received

The real strength in this book is the absolutely vivid world: wooden airships do battle in the mists of a sunless sky, pirates and treasure maps, and solid adventure. The characters are a little on the one-dimensional side, and the writing style is sometimes annoying, but it's a short book and totally worth the ride if you're looking for just a simple little adventure book. This is a great little book, and the great beginning to a new series. ( )

Imagine this, if you will; a 5000-kilometer balloon, floating in space. Countless nations, made of rings that produce centrifugal gravity, surviving within that balloon, relying on local suns. The larger nations have their own sun, but smaller states rely on others for their survival.

On one hand, we have technology so advanced and such an extensive mastery of physics that one could not even imagine how this world could ever be plausible. On the other, we have wooden ships, archaic weapons and swashbucklers reminiscent of the 18th century.

Virga. This is the world Karl Schroeder has introduced me to. From the very first pages, the reader is simply amazed at how detailed Virga is, how amazingly complex it seems. Virga is simply gripping.

Sun of Suns follows Hayden Griffin of Aerie, one of the principalities of Slipstream. His parents have been murdered, and he's bent on revenge. However, he gets involved in a plot to recover the lost treasure of Virga, and joins forces with the man he wants to kill, Admiral Chaison Fanning. Unfortunately, the plot is an overused cliché. Fortunately for Schroeder, it works.

How the author approaches the world and its characters raises questions which are answered in the following novels, Queen of Candesce and Pirate Sun, despite all the detail.

On the other hand, what I found dissappointing was the lack of development of the protagonist. Schroeder has many opportunities to delve in this paradoxal character, which has massive potential, yet doesn't do so. It seems the author was as guarded about Hayden as Hayden was himself. As a result, readers sympathize more with support characters, such as Chaison and Venera Fanning, which are much more developed and entertaining.

Maybe this was Schroeder's intention? ( )

My synopsis of the Virga Series:

In the fullerene balloon world Virga, forests and seas float in free fall, and nations grow up around “town wheels” cobbled together from wood, rope, and metal, each producing different levels of gravity according to their spin, as well as a dazzling variety of people. Critical to the cultures and power structures of most of these nations are artificial suns, and at the heart of Virga is the “sun of suns”, Candesce. As the series progresses, readers will be drawn into the plots and intrigues of a host of vivid characters, including would-be assassin turned hero Hayden Griffin and the irrepressibly scheming anti-heroine Venera Fanning — not to mention pirates, fanatics, and revolutionaries — and treated to a masterfully constructed world of steampunk technology and breathtaking action. Add to this the sinister threat beyond the icy skin of Virga where legendary creatures may hold the secrets to the origins of the world itself, and you have one uniquely swashbuckling space opera.

My review of the series:

The first two books are definitely the best, and as others have noted, inspiration by Niven's "Integral Trees" is pretty obvious. But I think anyone who is seeking non-stop action will enjoy the whole series, and it's the sort of fascinating world that makes you want to continue reading despite any character flaws you might come across (and yes, there are a few). Ironically, I had a long bout of vertigo while I was reading this series; to this day, I still don't know how much of it was exacerbated by all the whacked out gravity environments... ( )

Love the worldbuilding, characters, and suspense.