Sun of Suns

Sun of Suns is a perfect alignment of plot and setting. Schroeder wanted to write something in the vein of steampunk or space opera: sword fights on exploding battlecruisers, glittering 'civilized' cities and dank pirate hideaways, heroics and sacrifice and revenge written across the sky. A lesser author would just say 'screw realism' and do it: Schroeder actually does the world building to make it work.

Enter Virga, a 5000 mile bubble of air orbiting Vega, hemmed in by a shell of ice and light from within by artificial suns. Zero-G forests hide shoals of fish and birds Towns rotate to generate gravity, lest their inhabitants become enfeebled weightless spiders. Immense floating seas and fogbanks conceal pirate armadas, while show more jet-propelled men-of-war launch rocket barrages before closing to board. There are rumors that the whole thing is sustained by/protecting itself against post-human high technology. I'm not a meterologist, but the incredible weather of Virga and the ships that ply its sky are both awesome and pass my smell test.

After all that praise for the setting, it pains me to do anything less for the plot and characters, but they're merely good as opposed to great. Revenge is a major motivation, and contrasted against friendship, human decency, and the possibility to make something new. There are a lot more Virga books, which I'll read when I get the chance, but Sun of Suns stands on its own and then some. show less

There's only a few hard science fiction writers I can stand to read. Schroeder is one. First, because he's writing about something really different; in the case of Suns, "different" means floating freefall cities built around nuclear-reactor suns, making for a truly bizarre but well-grounded set of societies. Second, and more importantly, because Schroeder performs that oft-forgotten but all-important step of putting actual people in his techno-dreams. And people, moreover, that I like. Gregory Benford, I hope you're taking notes.

Aside from the floating cities, the wild battles, and the woman wounded by a bullet fired in some unknown war millions of miles away (freefall! Nothin' to stop it movin'!), Schroeder also fascinates me with show more his... I suppose it's best described as a conflicted attitude towards AI. It's not the first time it's come up in his work -- you can see edges of it in Ventus and it's a strong undercurrent in Lady of Mazes. Schroeder seems to take the position that people in his future need to be protected from the all-powerful AIs, not because the AIs are hostile, but because the AIs can do and be everything... and thus there is no particular need for humans to do or be anything.

It's not a world-view I agree is an inevitable consequence of true AI, and certainly not one I would care to write about, but it's fascinating to watch Schroeder exploring all the consequences.

At any rate, aside from the techno-dream and the good characters, this is also a whizz-bang great bloody fun adventure story. If you've been looking for your sensawunda, I suggest you look for it here. show less

A friend in my science fiction book group recommended this as a super space opera romp, and so it is - remarkably inventive hard science fiction (the world of Virga is ... let's just say it will stretch your brain in terms of gravity and light) with fun, fascinating characters as well. The characters reminded me of those in Scott Lynch's Locke Lamora series and Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle, and - as in both of those series - the action is fairly non-stop. I bought the second book immediately upon finishing the first book (and now I'm on book 4).

This was the first book I've read by Karl Schroeder, and it was a pleasant discovery - I liked it well enough that I've already picked up a couple of other books by him. It's exciting sci-fi adventure with an unusual setting that reminded me a little of Flash Gordon (the movie). Virga is a bubble-like world, filled with floating cities and towns heated and lit by artificial suns. Settlements' wandering paths often take them into each other's way, causing political conflict. Hayden Griffin's life has been formed by such a conflict - his people, from the tiny nation of Aerie, perished in a rebellion against a larger nation, and he has been bent on revenge for years... but when he finally infiltrates the inner coterie of the powerful show more Fanning family, whom he believes to be his enemies, what he learns besets him with doubt. And when he meets a woman who says she is from outside Virga, and tells him strange things about the Universe outside Haydn's world, he realizes much more may be at stake than the future of Aerie show less

Imagine a balloon circling a distant star.

Imagine this balloon is thousands of miles in diameter.

Imagine that within this balloon there are societies clustered around fusion-powered miniature suns, all floating in the atmosphere within this balloon. Societies, polities, nations existing in low gravity who sail the skies on ships and bicycles of a mostly steampunk level of technology. A world of action, adventure, and swashbuckling goodness.

Welcome to Virga!

Sun of Suns introduces this audacious and awesome setting created by its author, Karl Schroeder (who I previously enjoyed his Lady of Mazes). Virga is sui generis as a setting, and Schroeder has carefully constructed his world to tell the kind of stories he wants. (There are good show more reasons why technology, aside from the fusion suns, technology is low, reasons that are revealed in the novel).

Clearly influenced by Dumas-like fiction, Sun of Suns is the first in a series of novels set in Virga. Sun of Suns tells the story of Hayden Griffin. His family was killed in an attempt to free his nation of Aerie from dominance by the nation of Slipstream, and he has sworn revenge and to continue his parents work to free Aerie. Events cause him, however, to join to an attempt by a small fleet from Slipstream to follow a map that may lead to a treasure beyond price that will give a decisive advantage over its own deadly rivals.Rivals that are no friends of Aerie, either...

Ships and bicycles that sail the skies. Nations and pirates. Sword duels and pistols. I am reminded of a lower tech milieu of the Disney movie Treasure Planet, except everything is contained within this balloon. We get hints of what the universe is like of this clearly artificial world, and are introduced to a character exiled from that outside world into Virga.

From Hayden Griffin's desire for revenge, to Admiral Fanning's quest for a decisive edge for Slipstream, to his wife,Venera Fanning, who has an obsession with a bullet wound from years ago, to the mysterious armorer from beyond Virga, Aubri McMallan, not only is the novel a rollicking adventure with flying ships, it also has larger-than-life characters appropriate to the setting.

My only complaint, perhaps is that Sun of Suns is a bit too short. Still, that only means that I will *definitely* be reading more of the three additional novels Schroeder has written in this amazing world.

If you are the type of fantasy and SF reader who enjoys Dumas-style action and adventure in addition to your SF fix, hoist sail and get thee a copy of Sun of Suns. You won't regret it. show less

I like the setting of this immense artificial environment and Schroeder gets enough plot into this one short novel for a whole trilogy, particularly when he starts letting his readers on to the bigger game that he's playing.

What's a little problematic is that you have to get almost a third of the way into the book before you're really acclimatized to the reality you're reading about, as it's all so disorienting. I can see how some readers might not have the patience to do so.

Also off-putting at the start is the character of Hayden Griffin, who I gather one is supposed to care about. The problem for me is that too many real-life quiet loners with lethal missions have made it difficult for me to care about one in a novel. Hayden does rise show more above his seeming level, but it takes awhile. It's thus fortunate that one has the character of Verena Fanning, embittered survivor and high-ranking noblewoman to fill in the gap. She does capture one's imagination from the very start and holds the reader's attention while the threads of the story are woven together.

That I don't rate this novel a little higher is that I'm waiting to see if Schroeder can keep up the level of inventiveness he's shown, or whether he's already pretty much shot his bolt. show less

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 show more 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? show less