- Hardcover: 512 pages
- Publisher: Tor Books (Dec 2000)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 031287197X
- ISBN-13: 978-0312871970
- Product Dimensions: 24.3 x 16.6 x 3.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,359,390 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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First Sentence
THE MANOR HOUSE of Salt Inspector Castor lay across the top of the hill like a sleeping cat. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
THE MANOR HOUSE of Salt Inspector Castor lay across the top of the hill like a sleeping cat. Read the first page
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Outstanding SF,
By
This review is from: Ventus (Mass Market Paperback)
Karl Schroeder's debut novel is an exciting blend of fast-paced adventure quest, speculative hard-sf dealing with nano-technology and AIs and some intriguing ideas about the intersection of nature, man and technology. This is definitely one of the best sf debuts in the last few years and firmly establishes Schroeder as an SF author to watch. Highly recommended to all SF fans.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant hard SF,
By
This review is from: Ventus (Mass Market Paperback)
I got this book on the recommendation of Charles Stross, and although I downloaded the free CC-licenced ebook to my smartphone I wasn't expecting to get to it any time soon. It was only because I finished my paper book while on holiday sooner than I expected that I turned to this. And I was gripped within the first chapter. It starts off very much as a typical fantasy story where the young protagonist is stolen away and ends up on a quest to discover himself, but as the world widens, we discover a very hard SF story.
The world of Ventus was seeded about a thousand years ago by a nanotech seed pod to terraform it. Powerful AIs called Winds oversee this process, but when the settlers finally arrive, they find the Winds refusing to communicate with them. Worse, seeing them as a threat to their ecosystem, they wipe out their technology, reducing them to a pre-industrial civilisation. Fast-forward to the present day, and young Jordan Mason finds himself kidnapped by off-worlders because in his head is a remote sensor placed there by a former slave of the destroyed rogue AI "3340" who wants to take control of the Winds and recreate his former master. The scope of the world building is tremendous, from the Archipelago of human worlds to the immensely intricate world of Ventus itself. The idea of a completely artificial world, where nanotechnology is in everything but where everything could also be out to get you is a powerful one. Jordan is a good everyman character through whose eyes it's fascinating to see the world, and to see him grow as the story progresses. The other really interesting character for me, is Queen Galas - a monarch with remarkably progressive views, who tries to make radical changes in her nation, thus sparking off a civil war with the establishment. Her experimentation and struggle in such a staid civilisation felt remarkably fresh, if somewhat doomed to failure. There's also a strong philosophical thread running through a lot of the book about intelligence and narcissism which I enjoyed. There's an awful lot to like in this book. It's grounded and has an almost space-opera feel to it which is unusual but which I sometimes see in Iain M. Banks' work (definitely a compliment, I love Banks' Culture novels). Although an option to buy the book (through PayPal) is available on the author's website, I didn't pay for it at the time since I didn't know if I'd like it or not. As soon as I finished it, I went back and left a donation via the PayPal button. This is definitely an author I'd encourage to keep writing, and this is my little way of doing that. I'll definitely look out for more of his work in future.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Intelligently written but forgettable,
By
This review is from: Ventus (Hardcover)
I read it and all I can remember was that early on the author's obvious talents gave me the impression this was going to be quite a book - but that it wasn't. Read Walter Jon Williams' "Aristoi" for a much better book that uses the same ideas - and many more - to much greater effect.
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