Singularity Sky

Stross is an award winning short story sci-fi writer who with this series tries his hand at novel length stories.  So far with book one he does a decent job, but the tale tale signs of a short story writer is there. The story is told in a number of third person limited pov chunks and sometimes chapters.  While eventually we are introduced to some main characters it takes a while to figure them out and get back to them as the story starts out spread out then condenses.  There is some cursing and some sexualy crass language, so the story is only appropriate for older young adults and above. There seems to be some format issues during shifts of povs at times and annoyingly no numbered chapters.   To be blunt the audible version had a fantastic narrator that makes the story come alive more than simply reading would…There is a good chance that my eyes would have crossed if I had read it myself. While there is at times some good descriptive language in the story it does have the short story sparseness about it.  There is a lot of  sociological and philosophical language thrown around that makes the reader pause to figure out what the heck the author was trying to get across.  This happens early and often so it is hard to get hooked in even with the cool sci-fi elements that come off more as magic than anything.     Stross somehow still made it interesting as I listened to it and found the main plotline among the scattered characters.  As a short story writer the author did have fast snappy dialogue that again was brought to life by the audible narrator. Reading through it though I think it would be hard to find the difference in the characters voices, particularly the alien ones.     This story was good and entertaining. I do think that it does require a particular taste for the genre to really be engaged and enjoy it right away. I am glad to have taken a chance on it, and as a hobby writer it is always interesting to see such sharp writing of a different style.  I also appreciate the little nugget the author left at the very end.

Singularity Sky seems to be one of those expansive essays of contrasting political ideology set against the back-drop of a Star Trek-esque space opera. And Stross drives his point home with a sledge hammer: information wants to be free, censorship is a malfunction, and sic semper tyrannis.Along the way, however, Stross seems to employ every gonzo-journalism, "power to the people" revolutionist cliché (ie., pg 85 "what we've got here is an unprecedented opportunity to cast off the economic slavery that bind us to soil and factory..."). And while the main characters (Martin and Rachel, which are really one character) can be cliché (ie., Bones or Chuck television series), they are fun, witty, and exercise an agreeable mixture of cynicism and wry humor. At times they are reminiscent of a classic Twain or Vonnegut character that plays foil to the dullard establishment.Singularity Sky does reveal an evolved approach on some venerable themes: 1) a seemingly omniscient, super-artificial intelligence that exists to ensure humans do not violate the space-time continuum; 2) a primitive civilization chances upon a "genie's lamp" and is granted wishes (and technology) at the expense of its proverbial soul resulting in a "Pandora's Box" effect; and, 3) that the pen (freedom of expression) is always mightier than the sword (the attempt to prevent it).Luckily, the novel is not all entirely metaphor or political criticism (maybe?). The New Republic battle fleet combat sequences are entertaining for those that like the techno-military gab of a Tom Clancy novel. Unfortunately, the reader must choose: 1) to suspend virtual reality, since the interplay between officers, crew and machinery seems ponderous, verbose, and more akin to the interplay on a Clancy submarine rather than on a 25th century starship; 2) to accept that Stross used the battle sequence as yet another metaphor: no matter how sophisticated, advanced, and powerful this New Republic thinks it is, ignorance and isolationism will be its undoing; or, 3) all of the above.Stross' theoretical explanation of "faster than light" travel is satisfactory at best, with his descriptions often reading like a watered-down version of Greg Bear's machinations in Moving Mars. The omniscient super-artificial intelligence Eschaton is alluded to several times, however it tends to lurk in the background, only rearing itself indirectly through bipartisan communication with Martin. And while Stross builds-up the Eschaton character as the "hand of God", that hand is never played directly into the plot. Didn't Anton Chekhov preach that if you hang a rifle on the wall in the first chapter somewhere within the remainder of the story the rifle must be fired...? Well, maybe I missed the shot. Or maybe Martin was the 200-page "shot". Either way, the same lack of denouement could also be attributed to the Fringe and Mime creatures.The good news is that Singularity Sky is a fun read, the same way Star Trek can be fun, and where it lacks in execution it surely makes up for it in dripping demagoguery. I get it, Mr. Stross. You are not a fan of big government. Page 299: "As long as you expect someone or something else to take responsibility for you, you're a child." And "What would you call a parent who never let their children grow up? That's what we think of your government."That's cool. I'm not a fan of big government either.

Stross is a master of singularity and post-singularity imaginative fiction. The challenge is telling an interesting and credible post-scarcity story, which Stross can do. Part spy story, part military adventure, part political critique, there are enough threads to challenge the staunchest reader.

Excellent as usual!

Charles Stross is probably one of the most exciting writers in sci-fi, and perhaps one of the most exciting writers in fiction. Singularity Sky represents a lot of what makes him a great writer, the universe he creates is clever and well thought through with an interesting take on the traditional human-centric view of most space opera; this is combined with an ironic appreciation of the genre and well developed characters.It is perhaps the element of irony and irreverence to the genre that makes the work such a delight. The story line focuses on a particular human empire's response to an attack on one of their colonies, Stross uses this to satirise the genre on a range of topics including the need for spaceships to look good, through to the place of authoritarian regimes in space.The work also handles the subject of time travel and causality in an intelligent way, certainly far better than most novels in the genre. Whilst Stross certainly gives space opera a humorous and at sometime cheeky send up, what does shine through is his awareness, in depth working knowledge and appreciation of the genre. In this respect humour is used perhaps to help create things that are truly alien and never at the expense of the integrity of the story. Purists I'm sure will be offended however I can't believe that Stross irreverent tone is not born out of a sincere appreciation of the genre. I'll avoid an in depth discussion of the plot to avoid spoiling the story for potential readers, however it is enough to say that it is thoroughly engaging and intelligent and will reward both new readers and experienced sci-fi fans. The sequel Iron Sunrise is also an excellent read!

At last! A modern science fiction writer who can write a whole book without trying to baffle the reader with a superfluous treatise on quantum mechanics. The best bits of the story roll along with a real Harry Harrison vibe; witty, intelligent and creative, the only baffling bits being the totally alien Festival culture (which should, I suppose, be a bit baffling).Unfortunately, I did find the quality of the writing unaccountably inconsistent; Stross is clearly a talented author but, on the strength of this book alone, an Iain M. Banks he is not. However, on the whole, I really enjoyed this book. I will definitely read more of Stross' work, but I'm not sure whether to go for the next in the series (`Iron Sunrise') or `Accelerado'.

I've read many of Mr Stross's books -including the excellent 'Laundry files' series - and thoroughly enjoyed them. I stumbled over this one, which I gather is his first book, and read the reviews on Amazon with interest before I bought it. I'm glad I was not put off by some of them.I guess this - and indeed all his books - are 'Marmite' books - love them or hate them. If you like Gibson, or Banks (Culture universe), if you like word play, political philosophy and defective charters, then you'll like this. If you are looking for a straightforward 'easy on the tired brain book' then this isn't it. Good plot, good science, clever book.

Having really enjoyed the 'Laundry Series' by the author I thought I would give some of his other works a try. This was the first one and I must say I did not really enjoy it. It seems to be space opera in one volume - I love space opera, but this is too condensed. Also there are too many pages devoted to how a captain orders his crew to move ships (think most submarine films you have seen). In places Mr. Stross is guilty of slinging together random sciency words which have no business being together.There are some good bits of the book - especially the towards the star, but after about 1/3 if the book it becomes a hard slog; slow paced with just too much detail. Overall, I would have to say I don't recommend it, but if you do decide to read it, you may well have a different opinion - it's a bit of a marmite book I think!