Product Description

With this book Schroeder launches a saga set on Virga, a balloon-world warmed by artificial suns. The inhabitants build, besides their own suns, floating towns. The spaces between the towns, lacking nearby suns, are wintry cold, and only a few pirates and the utterly desperate live on the towns' edges. Hayden Griffen is dead set on revenge for his parents' deaths in the destruction of his home, Aerie, by the nation of Slipstream six years before. Somewhat unexpectedly, after catching the attention of Venera Fanning and becoming her driver, Hayden is dispatched on a mission under Admiral Chaison Fanning, the man he believes responsible for his parents' demise, to find a vast treasure and, even more valuable, a key to the sun and the world outside, where posthumanity reigns. The satisfying opening of a promising space opera.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #25040 in eBooks
• Published on: 2008-03-11
• Released on: 2008-03-11
• Format: Kindle Book
• Number of items: 1

From Publishers Weekly
The swashbuckling space settlers of Schroeder's fantastical novel (after 2005's Lady of Mazes) inhabit warring nation-states inside a planet-sized balloon called Virga. This adventure-filled tale of sword fights and naval battles stars young Hayden Griffin of the nation of Aerie, orphaned by an attack on the artificial sun that his parents tried to build. He grows up to seek vengeance against the man who led it, Adm. Chaison Fanning of the nation Slipstream. Getting close to Fanning, though, entails infiltrating the flagship Rook and interfering in the schemes of the admiral's wife, the devious Venera. Schroeder layers in scientific rationales for his air-filled, gravity-poor world—with its spinning cylinder towns and miles-long icebergs—but the real fun of this coming-of-age tale includes a pirate treasure hunt and grand scale naval invasions set in the cold, far reaches of space. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
With this book Schroeder launches a saga set on Virga, a balloon-world warmed by artificial suns. The inhabitants build, besides their own suns, floating towns. The spaces between the towns, lacking nearby suns, are wintry cold, and only a few pirates and the utterly desperate live on the towns' edges. Hayden Griffen is dead set on revenge for his parents' deaths in the destruction of his home, Aerie, by the nation of Slipstream six years before. Somewhat unexpectedly, after catching the attention of Venera Fanning and becoming her driver, Hayden is dispatched on a mission under Admiral Chaison Fanning, the man he believes responsible for his parents' demise, to find a vast treasure and, even more valuable, a key to the sun and the world outside, where posthumanity reigns. The satisfying opening of a promising space opera. Regina Schroeder
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
"SUN OF SUNS is a rip-roaring story full of marvellous images and cutting edge ideas. Schroeder has the rare and invaluable ability to develop wholly new concepts and turn them into compelling narratives. The scientists are already studying Schroeder's ideas. Take him very seriously." -STEPHEN BAXTER"

What if space had air in it? That's the-ostensibly-insane premise of Schroeder's latest wooden-hulled, middle-tech adventure (Lady of Mazes, 2005, etc.), the first in a projected series.How to fill space with air? Well, enclose a planet-sized volume in an impermeable barrier, call it Virga, then fill it with air, water, rocks, dirt, life forms and people. Make it habitable by creating min-suns (actually fusion reactors that shut down at night). The inhabitants will have to create their own "gravity" by building huge wheels from wood and rope (metals are scarce) and spinning them to generate centrifugal force. Fish and birds-the two are practically indistinguishable-fly or swim with ease. Out beyond the suns lies the cold darkness of winter. Much of this construct, indeed, is counterintuitive but ruthlessly logical. You want a story, too? Eight years earlier, Chaison Fanning, admiral of Slipstream nation's fleet, conquered Aerie, young Hayden Griffin's tiny, sunless nation. Now a skilled jet-bike rider, Griffin, having wormed his way into the good graces of Fanning's beautiful and ambitious wife, Venera, is poised to assassinate the admiral. But when spies uncover a plot by a totalitarian nation to invade Slipstream, Griffin finds himself assisting Fanning, who, he can't help noticing, is brave and honorable and may not even be guilty. Meanwhile, Griffin notices ship's armorer Aubri Mahallan; fascinating Aubri, he learns, comes from outside Virga, where a predatory and all but incomprehensible regime, Artificial Nature, reigns supreme. Still on the agenda: stunning naval battles, giant flying icebergs, zero-gee swordfights and a pirate's treasure that's at once much less and considerably more than it seems.Outrageously brilliant and absolutely not to be missed. (Kirkus Reviews)

Customer Reviews

Pirates and Airships and SciFi Oh My!
With this book Karl Schroeder engages in a ground-breaking exercise in world building on a scale not seen since Ringworld. The result is a swashbuckling adventure through the shifting political landscape of a fragmented world. For all the hard science underlying the story it has the charm of a Miyazaki or Matsumoto anime. In a world where space is filled with air and asteroids are the basis of small towns, military combat often resolves with wooden ships firing broadsides at each other! He also tantalizes us with hints of the incredible technology that was used to create Virga. Is it the work of an ancient, fallen civilization? An exercise in lavish indulgence by a jaded culture longing for a simpler era? A refuge for humanity? Or something much more sinister?

Strong characters with vividly crafted backgrounds propel the narrative along, preventing the story from being mired in the wonder and mystery. While the story adequately covers the ground it sets out to, it definitely leaves you wanting more. Fortunately, all three books in the initial trilogy are now in print.

Ultimately, my highest recommendation is this: after buying this book in paperback, I purchased the second book in hardcover, and then re-purchased this in hardcover. 4 and a half stars.

Great start to an excellent series
Sun of Suns is the first book of the Virga trilogy (at least so far). The book itself is excellent. Virga is the most original setting for a novel since Ringworld, and in many ways is even more novel and stunning. I won't bother with the synopsis that is already well covered. But the story is an extraordinarily creative synthesis of steampunk, space opera, and post-singularity SF. I'd give it 4.5 stars if I could - the half off just for ending too soon. Not as big a problem now that all three books are out.

Far Out SciFi
It was OK, but I doubt that I will read any more of his books.