House of Suns

By: Alastair Reynolds

Narrated by: John Lee

Length: 18 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

Six million years ago, at the very dawn of the starfaring era, Abigail Gentian fractured herself into a thousand male and female clones: the shatterlings. Sent out into the galaxy, these shatterlings have stood aloof as they document the rise and fall of countless human empires. They meet every 200,000 years to exchange news and memories of their travels with their siblings.

Not only are Campion and Purslane late for their 30-second reunion but they have also brought along an amnesiac golden robot for a guest. But the wayward shatterlings get more than the scolding they expect: they face the discovery that someone has a very serious grudge against the Gentian line, and there is a very real possibility of traitors in their midst. The surviving shatterlings have to dodge exotic weapons while they regroup to try to solve the mystery of who is persecuting them and why---before their ancient line is wiped out of existence forever.

©2008 Alastair Reynolds (P)2009 Tantor

Had the makings of greatness... until...

What made the experience of listening to House of Suns the most enjoyable?

This is an okay book. It is an extrapolation of Humanity out into the future, and explores some failings that persist even after perfection is achieved. It is a great "who-dun-it", with glorious landscapes and interesting characters... until the writer ran out of steam for the last fifty pages, and the story comes to a rather abrupt and bizarre end. I really liked it, right up to the last bit... but felt bereft when the unsatisfying ending just kind of fell flat. Would still read again for the story.

amazing imagination

it is an amazing story for the ages, you won't be able to put it down.

Great science, great fiction, great story

This is the 4th book of Reynolds’s that I’ve listened to with Lee as the narrator? And my favorite to date. I really enjoyed the plot and the tempo. I’m just getting a feel for the author’s style. Putting it so far in humanity’s future opened up many possibilities and storylines. The machine intelligences were particularly interesting. I’d enjoy hearing more from this universe.

Better

The scope of this novel is huge. The deep history and the thousands of years of story time makes for an epic sci-fi.

Not your conventional story

Great story with numerous twists and unexpected events, exploring interesting ideas and concepts. Well written and entertaining. A story I will remember

My overall favorite of the genre

I'm a huge fan of Reynolds, but House Of Sun's is my absolute favorite of his. I've also read many sci-fi classics over the years and in my opinion, House Of Sun's easily stands among them.

Absolutely fantastic world building and excellently paced, I just wish it was as long as some of his other titles.

One of the best I’ve ever read/heard

Wow! All I can say is wow. The scope and magnitude of this story is immense. Reynolds knows his stuff, from a technical, scientific perspective but he also tells a killer story.

One of my favorite elements of science fiction is the ability of the writer to reach inside me and find that switch in my brain that turns on my imagination and makes me dream. And dream in colors beyond my limited visual acuity. This book does that. Just, wow!

Outstanding

Anyone interested in any combination of astrophysics, relativity, cosmology, or scifi should absolutely read this book.

Great story!

I enjoyed the setting and the story. The cast of characters was large, and it was sometimes difficult to tell who the narrator was speaking as. Still an excellent read!

Best modern standalone scifi novel

The best standalone scifi novel since the turn of the century. Great performance by the narrator as well.