Iron Sunrise, by Charles Stross
Another solid post-cyberpunk SF novel in the world of the Eschaton
(Review posted 20 Dec 2005 03:46:14)

Well, like the summary says: another solid post-cyberpunk SF novel in the world of the Eschaton. Same world, I think, as Singularity Sky.

This is really my favorite subgenre of SF these days; people really thinking out on the edge, beyond last century's clichés (into, presumably, this century's clichés, but that's okay). Thinking about what happens when the world really gets strange.

The Eschaton is this, well, this Thing that sort of happened at some point on Earth, and it somehow sort of managed to bootstrap itself backwards or sideways or something in time, so that it (is extremely intelligent and) can sends signals backward to earlier versions (sort of) of itself, and these can do things (mostly things having to do with making sure that no one else does the same thing or otherwise poses a threat to it).

This particular story set in that context does a good job of introducing new wild and/or disturbing elements, like the slower than light doomsday fleets that serve as a deterrent to interplanetary war, and the scary bad guys of the Remastered. The actual plot was really sort of secondary, at least for me; I have to admit that I'm not really sure what the heck happened in the Climactic Final Scene (why did Wednesday throw exactly one of the keys out into the void, again?). But the characters were interesting (I cared about them), and the settings and the tech were all good, and I don't really mind not being yanked along by the plot in those circumstances; there's plenty else to yank me along without it.

I hope and expect to continue reading everything that Stross writes in this universe (and quite likely elsewhere). Here's hoping that whatever it was that ate Robert Jordan's brain stays far away from him.

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