House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds

If you are an Alastair Reynolds fan, as I am, you tend to really be an Alastair Reynolds fan. It’s very hard science fiction, full of lofty physics and ideas that sometimes blow your mind. (Reynolds was a working astrophysicist before becoming an author.) House of Suns is one of those books; it reaches for the stars and the entire universe. The plot spans 10s of thousands of light years and, therefore, 10s of thousands of years of time. The scope of the story is just as ambitious. And assuming you love this side of Reynolds, this is his best book.

This is a standalone book. It is 512 pages in paperback form, so it isn’t really very long. It feels much more substantial than the page count. The early chapters are dense with world-building and unique terminology. Some of that terminology is unique not just to the genre but to Reynolds. Shatterlings are unique “people”. Light years are called lights. Some of the technology that will be used millions of years in the future is so evolved that it is at the very edge of physics as we know it. Once the foundation is laid, though, the story amazes.

The plot is pretty straightforward. Campion and Purslane are on their way to meet up with their shatterling ‘siblings’ after roaming the galaxy for 200,000 years. They get delayed, and that ends up saving their lives. And they in turn work to save the galaxy, with plenty of mystery along the way. They are joined by some iconic characters and situations, in events so strange that your jaw may drop. A few are brand-new ideas and creations, at least in this reviewer’s vast reading of science fiction canon. The Vigilance with its mega-humans. The majesty and humanity of the machine people. The shatterling lines of immortals. The vast variety of space craft (are any two the same?). The different ways of “enduring” sub-light travel.

This is characterized by Amazon as a space-opera, but that is that is too easy. It is full of complex ideas, that make you stop and think, right up to the last page. Literally, I put the book down at certain books, so that I could absorb the ideas. This is a massive yet intricate universe, perhaps one of Alastair Reynolds best. It is one that absolutely begs for more books and more characters but by itself, House of Suns is brilliant.