Coalescent

Motor writes "Coalescent is the first book in a new trilogy (Destiny's Children) by Stephen Baxter, a hard SF author with an impressive bibliography; Raft, Ring, and the awesome Manifold trilogy (Time, Space, Origin), among others. Baxter is an engaging writer whose ideas are as numerous as they are interesting and original. Coalescent spans history from the Roman era to 20,000 years in the future, and examines the beginnings and evolution of a strange form of human society. It has three main narratives." Read on to find out what they are, and for the rest of Motor's review. Coalescent: Destiny's Children, Book One author Stephen Baxter pages 480 publisher Gollancz rating 9 reviewer Motor ISBN 0575074248 summary Sisters matter more than daughters. Ignorance is strength. Listen to your sisters.

One thread follows George Poole, an educated and intelligent man in modern day Britain. After his father's sudden death, George has to put his affairs in order, and in the process discovers a previously unknown twin sister sent away to join "The Puissant Order of Holy Mary Queen of Virgins", a secretive (but apparently respectable) sixteen-hundred-year old religious order in Rome. He decides to find out more, and begins to investigate with the help of an old school friend, a member of a "fringe group of outsiders united by new technology" who communicate via the Internet and moderate each other's contributions to keep things ordered -- what a bizarre idea.

At the same time in Rome, Lucia is a fourteen-year old member of the Order who finds herself, unlike her fellow sisters, undergoing some alarming physical changes... puberty.

The other narrative thread follows Regina, a girl born around 400 A.D in Roman Britain. She is spoiled and pampered until her world is shattered by the death of her father and the ending of Roman rule in Britain.

Of the three threads, Regina's story is by far the most vivid and compelling. It is easy to read the broad sweep of history books documenting the decline and fall of the Roman Empire, but what did it mean for the people living through it? Currency, the rule of law, the specialised labour needed to provide metal, and the army to keep the peace... all gone. As one of the characters (Peter, in the "George" thread) says, "It must have been like a nuclear war." No longer enjoying the protection of the Emperor and his armies, the scattered and disorganised British have to fend for themselves against the invading Saxons intent on looting, pillaging and removing all traces of Roman civilisation. Regina must learn how to survive, and eventually her drive and ruthlessness leads her to Rome to confront her past and make a better future for her daughter. Driven by instinct and a desire to protect her family from the barbarian sackings of Rome, she establishes an unusual way of life which threatens to change the meaning of what it is to be human.

There is a great deal more, but it would be unfair to reveal too much and spoil things for others. The dangling threads (the mysterious Kuiper Belt anomaly) and hints (the war 20,000 years hence) leave plenty for future novels in the trilogy to push the story further into big science, big ideas and deep time that Baxter is well known for. Coalescent is scrupulously researched, intriguing, educational and has a genuine effect on the way you see social interactions and communities. Hard to beat, and highly recommended.

You can purchase Coalescent from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.

Comments

some more reviews

[Anonymous Coward]

There are some more reviews out there.

Parent is trolling, and mods bit the bait

[klipsch_gmx]

1.) Stolen straight from Amazon.com customer reviews (second one down) with slight modifications.

2.) Homepage URL is a porn link.

Peter F Hamilton

[kcm]

It was accompanied by an another long short story in the Futures compendium by Peter F Hamilton called 'Watching Trees Grow'.

I've said it (here) before, and I'll say it again. If you're looking for excellent authors in the space-opera subgenre of SF, read all of Peter F Hamilton's stuff first.

I just finished his Second Chance at Eden, a collection of short-stories loosely related to his other novels and works. Very good stuff. But, the Reality Dysfunction/Neutronium Alchemist/Naked God trilogy (6 700+ pg paperbacks in the US) is just plain excellently engrossing, in my opinion. Check it out.