- Paperback: 352 pages
- Publisher: Gollancz; New edition edition (9 Sep 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1857988922
- ISBN-13: 978-1857988925
- Product Dimensions: 17 x 10.8 x 2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,289,111 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Paul J. McAuley's Confluence trilogy with its far-future bio- engineered setting, lush prose, and messianic themes adds up to brilliant literary storytelling. Ancients of Days is the second book in the trilogy--the first was Child of the River, in which young Yamamanama (referred to as Yama, thankfully) began to search for the secrets of his bloodline. His world, Confluence, is an artefact of a civilisation long gone, a vast and keeled structure that rocks back and forth on its long axis as it travels around its sun. Confluence is populated by nano-engineered peoples tracing their origins from thousands of animal species. The entire galaxy--including the locations of stars--has been artificially manipulated in this unimaginably distant future, presumably by ancient humans-- known as the Preservers--as they extended their reach beyond Earth. In Ancients of Days Yama continues his quest, learning that he may be one of the Builders, the first bloodline created by the Preservers. He can control the many machines that roam Confluence, and people of other bloodlines obey him. But Confluence is a world in conflict, and the evil Prefect Corin continues his hunt for Yama in order to use the young man's powers to control weapons of war. Yama's friends help him as best they can, but as his power grows they must decide whether to trust him or fear him. Is Yama one of the Ancients of Days, a messiah come to raise up the bloodlines from their base existences? Or is he a hapless tool of the malevolent feral machines that hover in orbits just off the horizon of Confluence? Don't miss this amazing series, destined to be one of the most memorable in science fiction. --Therese Littleton, Amazon.com
Product Description
Confluence is riven by a civil war fired by the heresies of the last humans, the Ancients of Days. And the Great River, lifeblood of the inhabited part of the world, is failing. Yama was found as a baby on the breast of a dead woman in a boat on the Great River. He has two ambitions: to fight against the heretics, and to solve the mystery of his birth. Yama has the ability to control the machines which maintain the fabric of the world. As he journeys, so his powers increase, but his understanding of them is still limited and he finds himself becoming the unwilling focus of a dispute in the ancient and gigantic Palace of the Memory of the People.
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Pandaras entered the shadowy arena of the Basilica just as one half of the defence force charged at the other. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Pandaras entered the shadowy arena of the Basilica just as one half of the defence force charged at the other. Read the first page
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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Ancients of Days is the second book in the Confluence trilogy, and shares the main problem off all �middle� books � as neither the beginning or end of the tale this travelogue can occasionally feel a little like padding. Nevertheless, structurally the book is sound � Yama learns more about his heritage in Ys, and ends up travelling back down the river in a neat reversal of the plot in Child of the River. The most effective scenes are those involving Yama�s return to his old hometown, with the changes in his situation bringing tragedy on a grand scale. Ancients of Days is an enjoyable continuation of the Confluence trilogy, but so many threads remain unresolved this is one series that will ultimately stand or fall on its concluding volume.
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