In an ocean of weightless air where sunlight has never been seen, only the running lights of the city of Pacquaea glitter in the dark. One woman, Leal Hieronyma Maspeth, history tutor and dreamer, lives and dreams of love among the gas lit streets and cafes. And somewhere in the abyss of wind and twisted cloud through which Pacquaea eternally falls, a great voice has begun speaking. As its cold words reach even to the city walls - and as outlying towns and travellers' ships start to mysteriously disappear - only Leal has the courage to try to understand the message thundering from the distance. Even the city's most famous and exotic visitor, the sun lighter and hero named Hayden Griffin, refuses to turn aside from his commission to build a new sun for a foreign nation. He will not become the hero that Leal knows the city needs; so in the end, it is up to her to listen, and ultimately reply, to the worldwasp.
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Product Description
About the Author
Karl Schroeder lives in Toronto, Ontario.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
The world-building continues wonderful; the barrelless zero-gravity vineyard is distinctly memorable, the cold ambience of the Sunless Zones pretty good. The political message about the rise of the Know-Nothings is laid on with a trowel, and the hints about the structure of Virga manage to be as confusing to the reader as they are to the characters; the scope widens a little, but it's still dragging somewhat as the fourth section of a single very, very long novel.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.5 out of 5 stars
8 reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
The world of Virga continues to amaze.
29 Nov 2009
By N. Bird
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
Contrary to my expectation that closer inspection would reveal the flaws, the more we see of Virga the more sensible and logical it is. This book talks about some of the biological industry, history and construction of Virga, and hints on the larger ecosystem of which Virga is but a pocket.
This book starts a new story arc with Hayden the Sunlighter now playing second fiddle to a historian thrown into the fray because no one else will do it. I think Schroeder's plot construction is getting stronger; the book was well paced with some twists, but nothing just crazy out of the blue.
While not the pinnacle of science fiction (hence only giving it 4 stars) I thought it was a thoroughly enjoyable read and meat for thought.
This book starts a new story arc with Hayden the Sunlighter now playing second fiddle to a historian thrown into the fray because no one else will do it. I think Schroeder's plot construction is getting stronger; the book was well paced with some twists, but nothing just crazy out of the blue.
While not the pinnacle of science fiction (hence only giving it 4 stars) I thought it was a thoroughly enjoyable read and meat for thought.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Karl always delivers
21 Oct 2009
By Denny Dukes
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Once again, Karl gives us another great book. This series is very enjoyable, and every entry is excellent. Each book in the Virga series has a different main character, which is an interesting approach. This time it's Leal, an excellent, likable heroine. I really like the way Karl writes females; it really feels like a woman's voice and point of view, very believable. It breaks my heart to have to wait for the next book. But it'll be well worth the wait, as always.
6 of 8 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Solid; 3.5 Stars
15 Aug 2009
By R. Albin
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
The Sunless Countries is the beginning of what is probably a second trilogy involving Virga, a very well imagined space habitat. Inspired by books like Larry Niven's Ringworld and Bob Shaw's Orbitsville, the basic idea is an exotic extrasolar space habitat, in this case a 5000 mile diameter sac containing a breathable atmosphere and a central fusion "sun." As is typical for this genre, the novels are adventure stories showcasing the exotic features of the habitats and their inhabitant societies. Schroeder is a competent writer and his habitat is a clever construction. In this series, Schroeder is expanding the setting by introducing more characters from outside Virga and also moving outside Virga for some of the action. Compared with prior books, I found this one a bit slow to start and character development is not as good as some prior books. We'll see what the next books bring.
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4.5 out of 5 stars
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