Alastair Reynolds works on a big canvas, a canvas that spans
galaxies. The work he presents needs such a canvas since
the story he has to weave would be poorly served by anything
less. The book attempts to provide a window into a story
with larger than life characters, time lines that span
billions of years, audacious science that is both remarkable
and plausible. In general, Mr. Reynolds book is able to
pull of the daunting task with only a few rough edges.
The story follows the members of a group of clones known as
the Gentian Line. All members of the 'Line' are the result
of large scale cloning technology and are copies of an
individual known as Abigail Gentian. Galactic exploration
is in its infancy and Abigail's plan is to send her clones
into the farthest reaches of the galaxy to gather knowledge
and wisdom. Abigail is not the only individual with this
goal, and a multitude of other Lines have also set forth
into the stars with similar missions.
While on route to one of their regular reunions, used to
exchange learning from their most recent travels, the
Gentian Line is ambushed and nearly wiped out of existence.
The few survivors begin the struggle to uncover the mystery
of who has done this and why. Two members of the Line,
Campion and Purslane -- who are engaged in an elicit romance,
have survived the attack and join with the other survivors
to puzzle out what is going on.
At this point the story takes on the character of a well
written mystery novel. There are different twists and turns
as the truth is slowly reveled to the players. There are
blind alleys, misdirection and red herrings aplenty to keep
the reader guessing as to what the real motivation for the
attack on Abigail's "shatterlings" is all about. In the
end, all is revealed and the romance between Campion and
Purslane comes to a satisfying conclusion.
I can easily recommend this book. I think Reynolds is on
the threshold of taking up the banner of "great science
fiction" author. His works remind me of the early efforts
of the 50's Masters, and I hope he continues to develop his
skills and finish climbing to the top of the heap of SciFi
writers.
Six million years ago, at the dawn of the star-faring era,
Abigail Gentian fractured herself into a thousand male and
female clones, which she called shatterlings. She sent them
out into the galaxy to observe and document the rise and
fall of countless human empires. Since then, every two
hundred thousand years, they gather to exchange news and
memories of their travels.
Only this millennium
there is no gathering. Someone is eliminating the Gentian
line. And Campion and Purslane-two shatterlings who have
fallen in love and shared forbidden experiences- must
determine exactly who, or what, their enemy is, before they
are wiped out of existence.
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