Brilliant new line of characters and narrative... the Lines. Cloned dynasties. Will be interesting to see where this leads to. ( )

As ever, Reynolds excels when it comes to the big picture - great ideas thrown across a canvas the size of the universe and the depth of millions of years. This book has some very cool ideas - where it is flawed is in the pace and depth of the narrative. [Warning: Spoiler] For a book that throws around so many mind-expanding images and themes and is about a 'line' of clones that have made it their business to explore the galaxy for six million years, too much time is spent sitting around on one planet (which curiously enough for a planet chosen at randomn just happens to be the planet that hosts the one being able to resolve a galactic crisis.)

Good, as most Reynolds is, but not his best. ( )

Majorly let down by the ending, which is missing perhaps one more chapter.

Purslane and Campion are consorting shatterlings from the Line of the House of Flowers. Which probably tells you all you need to know about this tale. At heart it;s a romance amoung the starts as a pair of lovers are parted, and seek to rejoin each other. Of course not many love tales feature intelligent space ships some 16 million years in the future, or a peril facing the entire Milky Way, but then Reynolds is no ordinary romance writer.

In alternating chapters we follow Purslane and Campion as they interact with the other Flowers of their house, running late for a grand re-union of all their tales from them adventures in this circuit of the galaxy, they stop off to upgrade their ships and pick up Hersperus - a Machine Person. When tratgedy strikes, they realise that the oft-times aloof Machine people will be deeply involved in determining the fate of all mankind, Lines and turnover civilisations.

Reynolds is a world / universe builder of highest renoun, and this is no exception. A great idea the 'shattering' of one person into a 1000 clones and their expansion and investigation of the galaxy, and as a physics doctorate, his understadning of deep time works well too. But as a work it's not entirely without faults. The constant changing of View between Campion and Purslane is frequently distracting, especially when one fades into sleep/stasis and the other resumes the story. The other big problem he has, is introducing too many ideas, and not resolving them all. This has happened with some of his other works, and is again the major drawback of this one. Ideas which seem vitally connected to the underlying story just get left.

Overall though it is a fascinating tour through the deepest parts of the galaxy with some great concepts, ideas and characters. It just needs that little bit more work to turn it into something truly great.

..................................................................................................................... ( )

http://tamaranth.blogspot.com/2009/04... ( )

Perhaps Reynolds' least successful novel. That, however, is relative, as it is still better than most.

There are two plot strands in this novel, one showing the young Abigail and how the technology and decision to scatter thousands of clones of a particular person across the galaxy to explore and periodically reunite. Functionally immortal and able to travel at almost the speed of light these travels cover large distances and huge amounts of time, such that being 'late for a reunion' can be measured in decades.

The second and more important is far in the future, and a particular pair of Shatterlings from one particular origin - The Gentian Line. They have a big problem, as they are ambushed at their latest gathering, and need to find out why. This part is where Reynolds runs into trouble a little, and is a bit bloated - his penchant for mysteries perhaps getting away with him, drawing out an interrogation and gathering and scene setting middle section of the book too much, without the sharply delineated characters to make this a bit more interesting. They are all clones, after all.

Although this is a different milieu to Revelation Space - you get a bit of this horror feel with the sectioning interrogation.

Once you are past that, you get a space chase that gets a little bit Edmond Hamilton perhaps. Then you have the good, wild Reynolds, strange entities, enigmatic machine life, and astronomical revelations. This does redeem the draggy middle as it ups the ante.

Call this one a 3.75, a fine start, a fine end, but just a bit above average middle.

http://notfreesf.blogspot.com/2008/09... ( )