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

FWIW,

[Tirel]

I wrote this review for hackwriters.com, I hope it present an complanar view to the above.

There is a category of science romance out there, running parallel to science fiction. Neal Stephenson (Snow Crash)- a mathematician is one and Stephen Baxter is another. Putting the science back in fiction and taking us along with it into extraordinary scenarios with fantastic sweeps across history.
I'd previously come across Stephen Baxter when reading Reality Dust - pure but very alternative and thoughtful science fiction. It was accompanied by an another long short story in the Futures compendium by Peter F Hamilton called 'Watching Trees Grow'. An amazing detective story spanning generations, about a Britain that has never left the Roman Empire. The Empire, now nearly thousand years old never vanished or collapsed, but redoubled it's strength and held on, shaping all of history forever. But it's Stephen Baxter who has reached prominence with an extraordinary output of very intelligent science fiction and non-fiction too, with his engrossing book which traces the path not yet taken in Deep Future.

In Coalescent Baxter takes a different tack to Peter Hamilton. He sticks to reality. Rome collapses, a slow terrible implosion over hundreds of years as the Barbarians crush the life out of her. He now deals in historical fact. It's Britain where Rome chooses to leave first, needing soldiers to defend Rome itself and Gaul. The population, led from Rome, is used to almost five hundred years of rule of law and prosperity. It cannot adjust, basic craftsmen skills seem to vanish, crime soars, most cannot believe the Emperor won't be back. Order will be restored soon they hope. But this not science fiction; Baxter uses history to chart a novel that is quite wonderful in many respects, doing something that has long been needed and probably should become a textbook for all high schools across the land.

This is a story of a young girl Regina, a Roman British girl living in a villa with a lavish lifestyle and slaves who is suddenly abandoned by her mother Julia after her father accidentally kills himself. Regina is saved from ruin by her Grandfather, an old soldier and they flee to the safety of the wall. Regina's story is central to this book, told over her lifespan and more, alternating with a more contemporary story of one George Poole searching for his long lost twin sister in Rome.

It is Regina's story and the story of Britain suddenly engulfed by marauding Saxons and tribal chieftans trying to fill the gap that the absence of Roman garrison's left behind.
The disintegration of Romano Britain is a huge hole in the teaching of history in schools. We know they came, what they did, when they left, but then history glazes over and becomes the 'Dark Ages'. Baxter shines a very bright light indeed on those years and with subtle weaving entangles the adult Regina and her daughter Brica with the forever battling Artorius (Authur) and his mystic Myrddin (Merlin).
Baxter is no romantic. This shambolic, receding, violent Britain is full of rapists and killers and Regina has to learn to survive with cunning. Everything is crumbling. Eventually she finds a way to get herself and her reluctant daughter to Rome - ostensibly to find her mother, but also to seek revenge for the man who raped her when she was a beautiful seventeen and left her with child.

The sub-story of George Poole and his search for his sister is consumed by the growing story of 'The Puissant Order of Holy Mary Queen of Virgins'. What is the connection between this secret convent in Rome and Regina's story some sixteen centuries ago? Who is the mysterious Peter, friend of George's father who seems to appear in George's life without warning. What does he want from George?

Baxter has a vision and everything always comes back to Rome. Our modern history began there and it is still entwined in modern Europe. Indeed as I write this review, the Prime Minister of Italy is wrapping up six months of Presidency of Europe.

My take on 'Coalescent'

[W32.Klez.A]

Coalescent is unmistakeably a Stephen Baxter novel, but it's not the sort of novel you expect Stephen Baxter to write. The material is as big and bold as ever - this is a novel concerned with civilisation and society, order and chaos, as viewed through the lens of evolutionary biology - but the focus is more intense than usual. This is a novel about the role of the group and the role of the individual. This is a novel about family. Specifically, the Poole family.

I often find it more interesting when science fiction broadens its horizons into the dynamics of relationships and family, and not just blowing up spaceships.

Jack Whyte

[CptNerd]

If you're interested in non-fantasy books (at least books with no orcs and dragons) about post-Roman Britain, look up the Camulod Chronicles books by Jack Whyte. Very well written, and well-researched. I just wish he'd finished them.

I like Baxter, but...

[Wylfing]

Baxter is a great short story writer. But when he gets into the roominess of a novel you see that he has a very gloomy and pathetic opinion of humanity. I mean, having the entire human race obsessed with waging war on the Xeelee because we can't stand being second best? Come on.

Re:... baxter ...

[Uncle Barnard's Star]

Ya, I found the astrosquid to be over the top too. What I don't like most in sci-fi is anachronistic technologies. I don't mind worm holes and warp drives, even if we don't have the physics yet to support their existence. But I find it ludicrous at best that a novel where a species can hop galaxies will also show them as suffering from ailments like old age, disease and even death. In my book the cure for death will be found before somebody figures out how to build the first warp drive. Technologically it's far far easier to cheat death (at least until the universe itself runs down) than to beat the speed of light.

By the time we figure out how to "enhance" a creature's IQ, we'd have found out how to create an autonomous enough artificial intelligence. Perhaps Baxter was just trying to counterpoint Clarke's HAL. I still find machines (or robots) to be the best substitute for a crewed mission to (put your favorite space exploration destination here).