- Hardcover: 85 pages
- Publisher: Subterranean Press; Sgd Ltd edition (1 Dec 2008)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1596061847
- ISBN-13: 978-1596061842
- Product Dimensions: 21.8 x 14.5 x 1.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 511,838 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
What if Genghis Khan got his wish, and brought the entire planet under the control of the Mongols? Where would he have gone next?
A thousand years after Khan's death, Yellow Dog is the codename of a female spy working for a vast Mongol-dominated galactic empire. When she learns of anomalous events happening on the edge of civilised space -- phantom ships appearing in the faster-than-light transit system which binds the empire together -- Yellow Dog puts herself forward for the most hazardous assignment of her career. In deep cover, she must penetrate the autonomous zone where the anomalies are most frequent, and determine whether the empire is really under attack, and if so by who or what. Yellow Dog's problems, however, are only just beginning. For the autonomous zone is under the heel of Qilian, a thuggish local tyrant with no love for central government and a reputation for extreme brutality. Qilian already knows more about the anomalies than Yellow Dog does. If she is going to learn more, she will have to earn his confidence -- even if that means working for him, rather than against him.
So begins a deadly game of subterfuge and double-cross -- while the anomalies increase...
A thousand years after Khan's death, Yellow Dog is the codename of a female spy working for a vast Mongol-dominated galactic empire. When she learns of anomalous events happening on the edge of civilised space -- phantom ships appearing in the faster-than-light transit system which binds the empire together -- Yellow Dog puts herself forward for the most hazardous assignment of her career. In deep cover, she must penetrate the autonomous zone where the anomalies are most frequent, and determine whether the empire is really under attack, and if so by who or what. Yellow Dog's problems, however, are only just beginning. For the autonomous zone is under the heel of Qilian, a thuggish local tyrant with no love for central government and a reputation for extreme brutality. Qilian already knows more about the anomalies than Yellow Dog does. If she is going to learn more, she will have to earn his confidence -- even if that means working for him, rather than against him.
So begins a deadly game of subterfuge and double-cross -- while the anomalies increase...
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
As brevity is the major attribute of this story (being only 88 pages in length) it probably isn't a huge compliment, or a definitive indication of the quality to say that I easily finished it in one sitting. But I have to say that I did generally find `The Six Directions of Space' to be an involving, taut and extremely well-paced novella. It's been a while since I read a science-fiction story this short and this enticing, aided in no small part by a flowing prose that made reading virtually effortless.
But the reading isn't always so smooth. At times Reynolds' descriptions become quite dense. The problem for me was the occasional structure of sentences with words that I didn't find particularly expressive of what was being described, or conducive to picturing in my mind the technological structures in the Mongol Expansion and beyond. Also, when Reynolds isn't detailing complex technologies, the dialogue that intersperses it is surprisingly colloquial with common English phrases throughout (*this being used by a people derived from Mongols in some distant future). Personally, I would have preferred for the characters' language to reflect more of their intelligence, or at least to have had some ethnic aspect that denoted their Mongol ancestry in their dialect. But these only prove to be minor stumbling blocks, because before you're aware Reynolds has moved on and the story becomes a real page-turner.
It's an underrated quality, but commendable nonetheless I find when an author is able to coin names for people and places that ring true in the readers' mind. So often in science-fiction and fantasy, extravagant and unpronounceable names mar excellent storytelling. However, while I was impressed by character names that rolled off the tongue and Reynolds world-building in general, I would have welcomed some more background info. (on the heroine Ariunaa, A.K.A. Yellow Dog in particular), or even a short paragraph detailing her appearance. I think that would have endeared me to her more. Or maybe it's enough just to know she's a ruthless lesbian spy. I'm not sure. But that isn't to say the characters don't make a vivid impression on the readers' mind, because they do, especially for such a modest page-count. Perhaps what feels lacking is a depth to these characters that a novella-length story is unable to provide.
`The Six Directions of Space' is a little gem despite its imperfections with a story that clearly has bags of potential, and one which I hope Reynolds will develop into something more substantial in the future that I will definitely be keeping an eye out for.
But the reading isn't always so smooth. At times Reynolds' descriptions become quite dense. The problem for me was the occasional structure of sentences with words that I didn't find particularly expressive of what was being described, or conducive to picturing in my mind the technological structures in the Mongol Expansion and beyond. Also, when Reynolds isn't detailing complex technologies, the dialogue that intersperses it is surprisingly colloquial with common English phrases throughout (*this being used by a people derived from Mongols in some distant future). Personally, I would have preferred for the characters' language to reflect more of their intelligence, or at least to have had some ethnic aspect that denoted their Mongol ancestry in their dialect. But these only prove to be minor stumbling blocks, because before you're aware Reynolds has moved on and the story becomes a real page-turner.
It's an underrated quality, but commendable nonetheless I find when an author is able to coin names for people and places that ring true in the readers' mind. So often in science-fiction and fantasy, extravagant and unpronounceable names mar excellent storytelling. However, while I was impressed by character names that rolled off the tongue and Reynolds world-building in general, I would have welcomed some more background info. (on the heroine Ariunaa, A.K.A. Yellow Dog in particular), or even a short paragraph detailing her appearance. I think that would have endeared me to her more. Or maybe it's enough just to know she's a ruthless lesbian spy. I'm not sure. But that isn't to say the characters don't make a vivid impression on the readers' mind, because they do, especially for such a modest page-count. Perhaps what feels lacking is a depth to these characters that a novella-length story is unable to provide.
`The Six Directions of Space' is a little gem despite its imperfections with a story that clearly has bags of potential, and one which I hope Reynolds will develop into something more substantial in the future that I will definitely be keeping an eye out for.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
15 reviews
16 of 18 people found the following review helpful
This is a little gem of a book.
24 Jan 2009
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Only 84 or so pages long, this is another refreshing dive into the cosmos that is the writing of Alastair Reynolds.
The story follows "Yellow Dog", a female government spy for an intergalactic empire of the Mongol Empire who is investigating 'phantoms' in what appears to be their spacelane wormhole. She has a pony.
As for the rest of it, the book is too short for me to give you more without spoiling it. Suffice it say, it's emotionally the usual combination of mean and very kind that is characteristic of Reynold's work. (Particularly because he is a horse lover.)
The book also has anti-Christian, anti-tribalism themes that are amazingly current for this time in history. If that's your sort of thing, you will be suitably impressed. If not, this isn't the book for you.
Ridicule of at least one major religion aside, what is most striking about the story is that it nails Gen-X themes of disenfranchisement by government, religion, and home. Reynolds seems to believe that the only thing that is real, in the Cartesian sense of the word, even, is self-reliance and kindess towards others. It's a world view many in our age have.
Very interesting.
P.S. Because of backroom negotiations between Amazon and Golancz that I can't write about without Amazon refusing to publish this review, it's not actually hard to get this book by ordering it through Amazon. It just looks like that's difficult--you may have to wait a few weeks from the time of ordering.
And if you do buy it, you may be wonderfully surprised: mine was a signed copy of 1000. I'm particularly touched that I inadvertently acquired something the author actually held in his hands.
The story follows "Yellow Dog", a female government spy for an intergalactic empire of the Mongol Empire who is investigating 'phantoms' in what appears to be their spacelane wormhole. She has a pony.
As for the rest of it, the book is too short for me to give you more without spoiling it. Suffice it say, it's emotionally the usual combination of mean and very kind that is characteristic of Reynold's work. (Particularly because he is a horse lover.)
The book also has anti-Christian, anti-tribalism themes that are amazingly current for this time in history. If that's your sort of thing, you will be suitably impressed. If not, this isn't the book for you.
Ridicule of at least one major religion aside, what is most striking about the story is that it nails Gen-X themes of disenfranchisement by government, religion, and home. Reynolds seems to believe that the only thing that is real, in the Cartesian sense of the word, even, is self-reliance and kindess towards others. It's a world view many in our age have.
Very interesting.
P.S. Because of backroom negotiations between Amazon and Golancz that I can't write about without Amazon refusing to publish this review, it's not actually hard to get this book by ordering it through Amazon. It just looks like that's difficult--you may have to wait a few weeks from the time of ordering.
And if you do buy it, you may be wonderfully surprised: mine was a signed copy of 1000. I'm particularly touched that I inadvertently acquired something the author actually held in his hands.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
A good novella, but...
21 Sep 2009
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Disappointingly, I found after receiving TSDoS, that it was just a hard cover printing of the same novella that had previously been published in the "Galatic Empires" collection edited by Gardner Dozois for the Science Fiction Book Club. If you've not already read it, it's an excellent story of several galactic empires ovelapping in alternate universes. However, I'd recommend the "Galactic Empires" collection instead, in which you'll get 6 good short stories, instead of just this one.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Am I the Only One?
10 Aug 2009
Format:Hardcover
I loved this short story, but I too was brought up by the "then there were other adventures" shortcut. The author is a recently emerged giant in his field and all of us who enjoy his writing anxious await his next novel. Now to my point, this story was included, in total, in the SFBC edition of 2008 titled "Galactic Empires" along with pieces by Peter F. Hamilton, Neal Asher, Robert Reed, Stephen Baxter and Ian McDonald, a dream team of writers with terriffic stories of their own. Those that feel they overspent for this book may what to seek "Galactic Empires" out on the secondary market at AMAZON. Hope this gets printed, I am a very good and enthusiastic supporter of AMAZON.
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