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Greatwinter #3
Eyes of the Calculor
In Sean McMullen's glittering, dynamic, and exotic world two thousand years in the future, librarians fight duels to settle disputes, there is no electricity, fueled engines are banned by every major religion in Australica, humanity has split into two species, and intelligent cetezoids rule the oceans.
In space, the enigmatic Mirrorsun has begun to spin. Immense solar sails are pushing vast amounts of energy into its ancient orbital band, energy that could tear it apart--or be directed down at Earth. Already the hypnotic Call has ceased, and all electrical machines have been reduced to molten metal. A religious prophet has risen and is attempting to bring together the entire continent of Australica under her rule.
Meanwhile, her diesel-powered sailwing shot down by religious fanatics, the American princess Samondel is forced to set aside her trade-seeking mission and disguise herself as a student. Her only friends are a disgraced monk who is a member of the secret police and a beautiful young librarian who is a dangerous and unstable psychopath. From these unlikely friendships she must form an alliance between two continents and two species, and prevent ultimate war.
Fundamentally, unexpectedly, things are changing everywhere. As catastrophe looms and civilization begins to crumble, the Dragon Librarians of Australica have just one means left to hold their world to kidnap every numerate person on the continent and rebuild their out-of-date human-powered computer--the Calculor.
In space, the enigmatic Mirrorsun has begun to spin. Immense solar sails are pushing vast amounts of energy into its ancient orbital band, energy that could tear it apart--or be directed down at Earth. Already the hypnotic Call has ceased, and all electrical machines have been reduced to molten metal. A religious prophet has risen and is attempting to bring together the entire continent of Australica under her rule.
Meanwhile, her diesel-powered sailwing shot down by religious fanatics, the American princess Samondel is forced to set aside her trade-seeking mission and disguise herself as a student. Her only friends are a disgraced monk who is a member of the secret police and a beautiful young librarian who is a dangerous and unstable psychopath. From these unlikely friendships she must form an alliance between two continents and two species, and prevent ultimate war.
Fundamentally, unexpectedly, things are changing everywhere. As catastrophe looms and civilization begins to crumble, the Dragon Librarians of Australica have just one means left to hold their world to kidnap every numerate person on the continent and rebuild their out-of-date human-powered computer--the Calculor.
587 pages, Hardcover
First published September 26, 2001
About the author
Sean McMullen
141 books97 followersDr. Sean McMullen, author of the acclaimed cyberpunk/steampunk Greatwinter Trilogy, is one of Australia's top Science Fiction and Fantasy authors.
Winning over a dozen awards (including multiple Analog Readers Awarda and a Hugo Award finalist), his work is a mixture of romance, invention and adventure, populated by strange and dynamic characters. The settings for Sean's work range from the Roman Empire, through Medieval Europe, to cities of the distant future. He is a musician, medievalist, star gazer, karate instructor, felineophile, and IT manager.
Winning over a dozen awards (including multiple Analog Readers Awarda and a Hugo Award finalist), his work is a mixture of romance, invention and adventure, populated by strange and dynamic characters. The settings for Sean's work range from the Roman Empire, through Medieval Europe, to cities of the distant future. He is a musician, medievalist, star gazer, karate instructor, felineophile, and IT manager.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
July 1, 2026
Eyes of the Calculor begins right where The Miocene Arrow leaves off. Australica is the primary location once again, though there are chapters in Mounthaven (United States). The theme for the first book was revolution, the second was war, and this third was tolerance. In the first book there's a ruthless dictator forcing the transformation of society in every way within the limitations of what's possible in order to survive. The second is the American aristocracy declaring war on each other due to foreigners manipulating their society. This third removes many of the limitations and imposes a previous one once again. The question that now drives the action is "How do we learn to tolerate each other and live together"? For me and for many others that's a less compelling narrative in terms of entertainment. The narrative is also far less focused and if you're someone who wants an overarching purpose to a series, then that isn't here. There's no grand purpose, there's only a continuation of events that lead to further events. Technology and society progresses and regresses and people must adapt to those changes.
There are returning characters from the first two books and new characters. The new are somewhat more prominent. Characters who had a viewpoint previously return without having one, so they're present but without the sympathetic allowance that being a viewpoint character engenders. One major character has a peculiar depiction that tries to do a lot of different ideas at once and doesn't succeed all that well. It's a jumble of ideas regarding sexuality, body acceptance, rights, and much else. The romantic relationships between the characters remain melodramatic, though it's not as ridiculous as the second book. The characters continued to develop in expected and unexpected ways and I appreciate that McMullen followed through on the trajectory that one of the characters had been on since their introduction in the second book, despite the possible disappointment and alienation from readers who been fans of that character. A smaller group of readers could appreciate it for the opposite reason, though the theme is against them.
I didn't enjoy this one as much as the first two, but I still quite liked it despite it making several decisions that I found to be questionable. Mainly that too much happens that isn't initiated or resolved to my satisfaction. To fully accomplish its theme of tolerance would've required a far longer book, or even another book of equal or greater length, which surely would've had a different theme. Instead, at the end by the power of authorial fiat the theme is brought to its conclusion. I would've gladly read more books in this setting. Despite not finishing as well as I hoped, given what I wrote about the previous two books, this is among the best series I've read and I feel that it ought to be read more.
There are returning characters from the first two books and new characters. The new are somewhat more prominent. Characters who had a viewpoint previously return without having one, so they're present but without the sympathetic allowance that being a viewpoint character engenders. One major character has a peculiar depiction that tries to do a lot of different ideas at once and doesn't succeed all that well. It's a jumble of ideas regarding sexuality, body acceptance, rights, and much else. The romantic relationships between the characters remain melodramatic, though it's not as ridiculous as the second book. The characters continued to develop in expected and unexpected ways and I appreciate that McMullen followed through on the trajectory that one of the characters had been on since their introduction in the second book, despite the possible disappointment and alienation from readers who been fans of that character. A smaller group of readers could appreciate it for the opposite reason, though the theme is against them.
I didn't enjoy this one as much as the first two, but I still quite liked it despite it making several decisions that I found to be questionable. Mainly that too much happens that isn't initiated or resolved to my satisfaction. To fully accomplish its theme of tolerance would've required a far longer book, or even another book of equal or greater length, which surely would've had a different theme. Instead, at the end by the power of authorial fiat the theme is brought to its conclusion. I would've gladly read more books in this setting. Despite not finishing as well as I hoped, given what I wrote about the previous two books, this is among the best series I've read and I feel that it ought to be read more.
July 12, 2021
BLUF: As the coda to an enjoyable series-- I'll explain in a moment why I insist on "series" rather than "trilogy"-- this was a disappointment. Good for completeness, but nothing new or exciting or even a resolution to any open threads from the previous installments.
The good: McMullen continues with an immersive world and some existing interesting concepts. I would like to see more stories in this world-- maybe even branch out from North America and Australia to see how the rest of the world fared.
The not-so-good, from most to least petty on my part:
1. This is billed as a trilogy. I expect a trilogy to have some overarching story/theme/lesson uniting the three entries, not simply be three successive stories told in the same world. The book was fine as the third (and even final) book in a series, but that's what it is: a three-book series, not a trilogy.
2. The book really needed a good proofread. It's riddled with typos including misspellings of the names of characters and species. At one point, a character who died off-scene without ever actually being on-scene is purported to say something that's clearly supposed to be coming from another character with a name that starts with the same letter.
3. A pivotal and nefarious plot is discovered by two main characters about 80% of the way through the book. But the plot was planned by another main character. Why not show that character taking some of the steps so the reader could piece together the mystery rather than having two other characters learn of these independent actions and determine his intent in the space of a few paragraphs?
The good: McMullen continues with an immersive world and some existing interesting concepts. I would like to see more stories in this world-- maybe even branch out from North America and Australia to see how the rest of the world fared.
The not-so-good, from most to least petty on my part:
1. This is billed as a trilogy. I expect a trilogy to have some overarching story/theme/lesson uniting the three entries, not simply be three successive stories told in the same world. The book was fine as the third (and even final) book in a series, but that's what it is: a three-book series, not a trilogy.
2. The book really needed a good proofread. It's riddled with typos including misspellings of the names of characters and species. At one point, a character who died off-scene without ever actually being on-scene is purported to say something that's clearly supposed to be coming from another character with a name that starts with the same letter.
3. A pivotal and nefarious plot is discovered by two main characters about 80% of the way through the book. But the plot was planned by another main character. Why not show that character taking some of the steps so the reader could piece together the mystery rather than having two other characters learn of these independent actions and determine his intent in the space of a few paragraphs?
June 12, 2008
Just fantastic- one of those books built around an idea so original and outlandish it makes you laugh for joy.
The prose is solid and while the plot teeters on the edge of being too twisty for its own good it never goes completely off the rails.
The conceit (predictably enough) can't carry the sequels to equal heights, but they're still entertaining and worth a look.
The prose is solid and while the plot teeters on the edge of being too twisty for its own good it never goes completely off the rails.
The conceit (predictably enough) can't carry the sequels to equal heights, but they're still entertaining and worth a look.
July 31, 2013
One of my favorite books. I still want to track down the rest of the series.
February 19, 2021
these books should be way better than they are.
September 29, 2021
Absolutely freakin' divine. Luminously perfect, with a dark, scheming, fierce engine of intellect behind the beauty.
September 13, 2023
Brilliant
What a wonderful end to a fantastic trilogy, I hope to read more from McMullen soon, especially if we can revisit this world!
What a wonderful end to a fantastic trilogy, I hope to read more from McMullen soon, especially if we can revisit this world!
March 2, 2017
I like stories about theoretical futures, this one being thousands of years from now and strange dis-junctures in technology. Well written overall, but had lots of made up words. Understand the future will hold new words-we develop them every day. For me, there was just too many that distracted me from becoming one with the flow of the story. He should write a prequel to tell how Mirrorsun got there and how the Call came about. Maybe there is one and I just don't know it.
November 24, 2020
I didn't realise this was the 3rd in the series when I bought it, so maybe any revelations lost their punch. Overall, it was enjoyable.
May 10, 2010
This trilogy kept me off balance. Characters didn't stay in neat, enduring categories of good or bad. They kept doing positive and negative things for their own selfish reasons. On the aggregate, it eventually worked out for the better for all involved. (But not in a Rand-ian market way.) Just enough of the characters were biased just enough toward the common good that they got through the tumultuous years with positive spin.
This trilogy has a lot of big ideas, delivered in little drips-drops and glimpses through oodles of character-driven plot. Frustrated me, but in the final pages the payload came through.
I'm glad I made time for all 1800 pages (or whatever..).
This trilogy has a lot of big ideas, delivered in little drips-drops and glimpses through oodles of character-driven plot. Frustrated me, but in the final pages the payload came through.
I'm glad I made time for all 1800 pages (or whatever..).
January 19, 2011
Post apocalyptic future as the Medieval Dark Ages again. Only difference is this one's set in Australia.
Want to Read
May 23, 2012Roberta Johnson's Top 5 Favorite Science Fiction Books
July 15, 2014
Too many characters and story lines at the same time. Although it had some interesting concepts and characters. I only made it through a third of the book.
May 31, 2016
The last and longest instalment of this wonderful trilogy. I've thoroughly enjoyed rereading it.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews