The only trouble with Having a fairly small clique of favorite authors When Is That you've read and enjoyed massively Entire Their back-catalog, it is a really long wait entre new novels. This HAS-been definitely the case with this next installment of the trilogy Poseidons Children. I finished the first volume, Blue Remembered Earth, back in Feb.2013 and I've read a lot, drunk a lot, and got older Generally HAD ample opportunity to forget What Was Going On. Thankfully, though, I got back into the now Slightly faded world of the dynasty Akinya pretty thanks to Quickly Carefully sown memory joggers. While, like the first novel, It was a little slow to get going, the pace Was Judged perfectly, with the right amount of time Spent On character development and world building. DESPITE icts seeming stately pace, there is a lot going on. The main character is the granddaughter of the founding matriarch dynastys Effectively Who has created identity has triplicate, two experiencing the epic journey of the vast holo-ships to the far planet of Crucible and the mysterious object from different viewpoints Mandala while the third lost Was searching Their grandmothers for ASSUMED remains on the Far Reaches of the Galaxy. The triple identity is a clever device first Explored in Reynolds astonishingly original House of Suns (well worth a read if you havent) and it works very well in this setting. While the main plot is the drive to travel Crucible, there are major sub-plots vying for attention Perhaps MOST importantly the machinations of the artificial intelligence Arachne, the misleading data from Ocular and links with the Slightly Sinister Mechanism. The whole cleverly plotted, multi-threaded narrative can really be boiled down to the old questions of how humanity will continue to progress ounce They Can Be Surpassed my Machine intelligence? Not a new question, By Any Means, Reynolds goal is not a dystopian future Neither is it a Banksesque Culture; it is somewhere in-between, presenting the reader with a world populated Carefully regarded by an array of characters with plausible motives. Very clever and, while on the subject, the title is a nice reference to Pink Floyds amazing Shine on you Crazy Diamond. Very cool. DESPITE icts and Somewhat Slightly slow start deus ex machina ending, I thoroughly enjoyed this second volume. I am, HOWEVER, a huge fan and Reynolds-have great regard for Both His firm grasp of the craft of writing and his intrinsic understanding of the art of storytelling. Perhaps a victim of the dread mid-blues trilogy, I have admitted to That I wasnt quite as gripped as I Was with Blue Remembered Earth (and the huge gap entre paperback publication dates didnt help) but I still thoroughly enjoyed this one from splendid Offering Few of the masters of penmanship in contemporary science fiction.
