© Cover Illustration © Sparth
Design by Jacqueline Cooke
Design by Jacqueline Cooke
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The Quiet War is over. The city states of the moons of Jupiter and Saturn have fallen to the Three Powers Alliance of Greater Brazil, the European Union and the Pacific Community. A century of enlightenment, rational utopianism and exploration of new ways of being human has fallen dark. Outers are herded into prison camps and forced to collaborate in the systematic plundering of their great archives of scientific and technical knowledge, while Earth's forces loot their cities, settlements and ships, and plan a final solution to the 'Outer problem'. But Earth's victory is fragile, and riven by vicious internal politics. While seeking out and trying to anatomise the strange gardens abandoned in place by Avernus, the Outers' greatest genius, the gene wizard Sri Hong-Owen is embroiled in the plots and counterplots of the family that employs her. The diplomat Loc Ifrahim soon discovers that profiting from victory isn't as easy as he thought. And in Greater Brazil, the Outers' democratic traditions have infected a population eager to escape the tyranny of the great families who rule them. After a conflict fought to contain the expansionist, posthuman ambitions of the Outers, the future is as uncertain as ever. Only one thing is clear. No one can escape the consequences of war - especially the victors.
When I saw the cover for The Quiet War, I was more than blown away at how gorgeous the high gloss image was. And Gardens of the Sun is at least twice as nice. I love the use of green in it. Can't wait to put it on my shelf next to the first one!
ReplyDeleteI got to see a rough for Sparth's concept for Cowboy Angels today. You're going to like that too!
ReplyDeleteAnother beautiful cover, and just in time as I finished The Quiet War this week. Is Gardens the end of the story, or does McAuley plan more in this universe?
ReplyDeleteYou know how I feel about this cover!
ReplyDeleteI'm almost positive you posted the isbn number so I could order it through Amazon, but I can't find it, and it looks like I didn't order it. :-(
Could you please re-post it? Just reading the summary below the cover made my mouth water!
Ces, if you click the title of the book, right above the art, there's a direct link to the Amazon page.
ReplyDeleteDave, just saw your post, apologies. The two books form a duo logy. Paul has an idea set in the far future of this universe, but it may not be his next book, and these two tales stand on their own without it.
ReplyDeleteBut Lou! The first book's ending clearly tells you that there is more to come! Oh dear. How will I ever survive a duology? Oh dear. You know, I read the Ringworld triology, and then discovered that Niven went back and wrote a pre-quel trilogy, so I bought and read that and now I want to know what happens between the 2 trilogies bcause gosh gee something happened! (And of course Martiniere's cover on the third book of the prequel trilogy is just astonishingly gorgeous!) So please, tell Mr. McAuley that his readers will anxiously wait for the resumption of his duology.
ReplyDeletePhew! got that out! Now, back to ordering Gardens! And Sasha.
I finished Sasha! It did get better for me, but still not as absorbing as the Cassandra trilogy. I have ordered Petrodor however - I see its potential for being more interesting to me.
ReplyDeleteGlad it got better for you. Petrodor is better still. The fighting up and down the... oh, I won't spoil it...
ReplyDeleteDave and Ces, I've just started work on a third book in the Quiet War universe. More of a standalone than a direct sequel, set a fair way into the future. Making it, I guess, a duology (or diptych) plus one.
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