Gardens of the Sun

The Quiet War #2

by Paul McAuley

The Quiet War is over. The city states of the moons of Jupiter and Saturn, founded by descendants of refugees from Earth’s repressive regimes, the Outers, 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 and 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 the Outers’ greatest genius, Avernus, 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 on Earth, in Greater Brazil, the democratic traditions preserved and elaborated by the Outers have infected a population eager to escape the tyranny of the great families who rule them.

Meanwhile, in the outer reaches of the Solar System, a rag-taggle group of refugees struggle to preserve the last of the old ideals. And on Triton, fanatical members of a cabal prepare for a final battle that threatens to shatter the future of the human species.

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.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Space Opera, Science Fiction Fantasy, Fantasy, Hard Science Fiction, Space

448 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Since about 2000, book jackets have given his name as just Paul McAuley.

A biologist by training, UK science fiction author McAuley writes mostly hard science fiction, dealing with themes such as biotechnology, alternate history/alternate reality, and space travel.

McAuley has also used biotechnology and nanotechnology themes in near-future settings.

Since 2001, he has produced several SF-based techno-thrillers such as The Secret of Life, Whole Wide World, and White Devils.

Four Hundred Billion Stars, his first novel, won the Philip K. Dick Award in 1988. Fairyland won the 1996 Arthur C. Clarke Award and the 1997 John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best SF Novel.

Reviews

[Dirk Grobbelaar · Rating 3 out of 5]

I should have read this much sooner. There were many key plot events from The Quiet War that I could not recall.
I found that character motivations in Gardens of the Sun weren’t very clear (not sure how much of it is because of the above, or whether it is just that kind of novel).

I recently read Red Mars, and in some ways Gardens of the Sun reminded me of that. There are lots of geological descriptions, for example, and the way that the politics panned out across the span of the story, and so on and so forth. The big difference (for me) would be that Red Mars felt more focused.

Lots of science here. Genetic modification and Bio-sciences are a big theme. The author also manages to make the best of the Solar system to tell a sprawling story by injecting some sense of wonder.

So, quick wrap-up.

What did I like?
It’s a big story with some intriguing concepts, especially taking into consideration that the story never really moves outside of our known solar system. I think the author did a good job in that respect.
Some really well written action sequences (although not nearly enough of them).
Some good science and sense of wonder.
The book, in the end, sets up some very promising possibilities for future novels on a grander arena.

What did I not like so much?
I never really felt like I had anybody to root for or care much about. Characters meandered in and out of the story and I couldn’t care less about most of them.
The story occasionally feels a bit muddled, but, like I mentioned, that could be because of the amount of time that passed after I read The Quiet War. The fact that there is a lot of politics involved exacerbated this factor a bit for me.
Some pacing issues (it's a slow burner).

Difficult to rate this, it is the second (and concluding) part of a duology but I have basically read it as a stand-alone (refer par 1 above). I have to give it what amounts to a cop-out rating (6/10). Even so, there are some books that follow, taking place in the same universe, and I am still keen to read them.

[Jason Pettus · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com:]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally.)

As I mentioned when reviewing the first book in this series, The Quiet War, there's a reason that genres become known as "genres" in the first place, which is that the majority of books that end up being written in that genre will end up appealing to only a narrow crowd, mostly by offering up in a fetishistic way all the touchstones that those genre fans are looking for in that genre; that's why, for example, successful crime novels tend to feature an endless amount of cackling serial killers, and successful romance novels an endless amount of sweaty shirtless sailors, even while such details tend to make non-fans of those genres roll their eyes in exasperation. And so too is it the case with science-fiction, with these books by McAuley being a perfect example of Star-Wars-style "space operas," which essentially crib together a dozen different memes floating around in the world of contemporary SF to tell a plot-heavy, character-light story, none of the details particularly original but adding up to a pleasant read by the end: there is for example the idea of a post-apocalyptic Earth, being rebuilt by a post-disaster population that have all become radical environmentalists; their conflict with the "space libertarians" who long ago went out and settled the rest of the solar system; these libertarians' experiments in Singularity-style "post-human" biology; the cold war between these groups that eventually turns into a hot war, and then devolves into Shakespearean/Machivellian complexity; and even an Orson-Scott-Card-style secret army of genetically modified unstoppable warriors developed by Earth's military. McAuley puts all these elements together in a way sure to please existing SF fans, but that will most likely make non-fans sort of shrug and mutter, "Meh;" and like I said, that's the essence of what a literary genre is all about, is that most of that genre's fans are specifically looking for that shopping list of details I just mentioned, and are in general perfectly happy with subpar plotting and sometimes clunky writing as long as these genre details are delivered. It's a middle-of-the-road book, one that quietly comes and goes from the literary world without making much of an impression, which is why today it gets a middle-of-the-road score.

Out of 10: 7.5

[Tamara]

Enjoyed this one as much as the first one. Often, even more than in the Quiet War, it's more of a fictional narrative history of human settlement of the solar system with the occasional dramatization, rather than a novel with the occasional sweeping overview bit. It's even a shame, since theres a still some great characters and even potentially affecting arcs about, but almost everything - including tense conversations and battles - gets told rather than shown, so that rather undercuts it. When some actual dramatic plot development does happen, it's almost hard to notice.

On the other hand - I really didn't mind. It's odd, since usually I read for character and theme and that sort of thing, but in this instance I was a perfectly happy camper reading infodumps about the chemical composition of the atmosphere of Titan or the architecture of space habitats. I think it's because I secretly still want to grow up to live in a space habitat.

[Liviu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just superb end to the QW series (duology plus related ss which are used in the novels somewhat modified); will add more once I do the full FBC review but one of the best books of the year, maybe the best "pure" core-sf so far and an A++

[Tomislav · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gardens of the Sun is a closely-coupled continuation of Paul McAuley’s The Quiet War. If by some chance, you happened upon Gardens of the Sun first, I strongly urge you to obtain and read The Quiet War before this. It is not just a matter of consecutive events in the same universe, but also a continuation of plotlines and individual characters’ lives. In fact, if you wish to avoid spoilers with regard The Quiet War, you should not even read the rest of this review. I read both novels consecutively in an omnibus edition.

Paul McAuley’s Solar-system based human civilization features plausible advanced technology and realistic planetary navigation. After the overpopulation, environmental collapse, and political disarray of the 21st century, known as The Overturn, Brazil has risen to global authoritarian dominance, with two lesser powers in Europe, and in Asia. Meanwhile, the humans who settled on the Moon and Mars during the Overturn, and rebelled against the new authority, have been driven further out into the Solar System. The most recent conflict, whose story is told in The Quiet War, has resulted in the military occupation of the Jupiter and Saturn systems, and the further flight of the Outers to Uranus and Neptune and beyond.

The story lines in this volume follow a handful of characters introduced in The Quiet War, and who have survived that conflict. One surviving group is the Free Outers, who are in flight further outwards, and are caught between the expansionist TPA (Three Powers Authority – Brazil, Europe, Pacific), and the Ghosts, a cultlike extremist Outer faction. Some of the soldiers and political actors who were nemesis in The Quiet War are drawn through circumstance into alignment with revolutionary forces in the occupied settlements and even back on Earth and Moon. A recurring theme is that war makes strange bedfellows. I found the story entertaining and engaging, but not profound. The ending is protracted, and draws in too many new concepts, whose purpose seems to be more of a set-up for future novels, than to flow out of the world built for this story. I do not feel a strong pull to read those sequels at this time.

I was interested to learn that this novel contained revisions of at least four McAuley short stories, published in magazines I’ve read. They are “The Gardens of Saturn”, Interzone, November 1998, “The Passenger”, Asimov’s, March 2002, “The Assassination of Faustino Malarte”, Asimov’s, July 2002, “Dead Men Walking”, Asimov’s, March 2006. Out of curiosity I dug up my old issues of Asimov’s and re-read some of these. I can testify that the stories were not grafted in directly, but heavily reworked.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just as good as, if not better than, the Quiet War. Complex characters, epic plot, and hard science. Surprisingly, although definitely science fiction, the book spends a lot of time with how the characters dealt with the aftermath of a war won by a strong military dictatorship. The characters must cope physically, emotionally, economically, and politically. McAuley also goes out of his way to make sure we visit almost every planet and large moon (and many small moons and asteroids) in the solar system at some point in the duology, even while mostly maintaining focus on the handful of characters from the first book. The one problem I had was that this focus somewhat limited the presentation of the story. Many important events seemed to happen "off stage" as a result of McAuley's focus on just a handfull of "view point" characters. At the very end of the book, however, McAuley allows a secondary character take center stage for a chapter, even though that character is interacting with one of his main view-point characters. When you read the chapter, the reason why he changes view points is clear (the impact of the chapter would not have been as great, given the major changes that had occurred with one of the characters), but it kind of made me wonder why, if he was going to expand the story beyond the view-point characters from the first book, he didn't allow us to see some of the "off stage" events through the eyes of other secondary characters (especially some of the events of the revolution in Greater Brazil). Don't get me wrong, though; this was still a great book that I would recomend to anyone that loves hard sci fi.

[Larou]

In The Quiet War, all plot lines ran towards and finally converged in the title-giving war as their focus. In Gardens of the Sun – not so much a sequel as the second half of the novel – all of the lines diverge again from that point, spread out into many different direction, but, like having passed through a prism, changed from what they were before.[return][return]There are many stories about war, science fiction or otherwise, but not a lot, science fiction or otherwise, who pay much attention to what happens after the war is over, to both victors and defeated. The events of recent years have shown how much of an oversight that is, and Gardens of the Sun takes that lesson very much to heart, with McAuley spinning out the parallels to contemporary events even more distinctly than he did in The Quiet War. He picks up all the threads from that novel, although there is some shift in emphasis – while Macy Minnot is still very much in the foreground, Sri Hong-Owen makes only a few appearances, instead we get a lot of chapters with pilot Cash Baker who point of view is mostly used to show us what is happening in Greater Brazil while the rest of the characters are spread out all over the Solar system.[return][return]So there are both structural and conceptual reasons why Gardens of the Sun is lacking some of the focus that The Quiet War had, and while the reasons make sense, they do make of the later novel a somewhat less compelling read. It’s still excellent stuff though, and definitely will not be the last thing by McAuley I’ve read.

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well thought out (if a little clumsily plotted) space opera by McAuley. This series reminded me a lot of Baxter's work and also Robinson's Red Mars series. In the last novel of the series, the three 'nations' of Earth had conquered the outer plants except for some small groups around Uranus and Neptune. Brazil, however, is splitting at the seams as the decadence of the ruling families is becoming widely known by the 'proles' who are suffering food and water shortages and revolution is in the air. We continue to follow most of the main characters from the first novel in their adventures which culminates in humanity reaching for other solar systems.

McAuley spends a lot of time exploring the geography and human gene tempered (or 'cut' in the novel's language) flora and fauna. It is these (at times exasperating) details that he reminded me most of Robinson's work. Another similarity is the generational family structures with the 'old ones' at the top and the rebellion of the younger ones. I guess I would call this a slow burn, but one punctuated with some good action sequences. 3.5 stars.

[Scruffy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gardens of the Sun is slow to start. Nearly a quarter of the book is spent re-introducing characters and recapping the events of The Quiet War. In fact the whole book moves at a slower pace. It was obvious where the plot of the first book was headed, the title pretty much tells you up front but Gardens of the Sun is a much harder book to pin down. All the multiple plot lines of the previous book are picked up where they left off and at first it feels like some of them should have been left alone. I really began to wonder if some of these plot lines were actually going anywhere.

Once we pass the halfway mark though things really get going and all of the individual stories begin to come together often in surprising ways. The slow start is worth the effort as it all culminates in a very satisfying end. The plot of these two books is very well constructed with each character playing an important role in gradually moving the story along without any one of them becoming more important than the overall plot. In fact the setting of the story seems more important than any of the characters with the geological characteristics of distant moons described in such specific detail that you would think that the author had actually been there.

The most interesting of the stories is that of the Free Outers who are now refugees from the war and so push further out into the solar system to colonise moons around Uranus and Neptune. Paul McAuley does a good job of dealing with the psychology of people who are living out on the frontier far from home, he really sells just how far away from Earth these people are and gives the book a real sense of adventure. It’s also interesting to see a younger generation grow up with no memory of Earth and no idea what it’s like to live anywhere except manmade habitats.

Although it’s quite a dark book with people struggling to survive in harsh environments, dealing with the fallout from war and humanity fracturing in even more ways it’s ultimately quite an optimistic story. The novel is overflowing with big ideas about the nature and diversity of life and left me thinking about how much potential we have as a species. McAuley acknowledges that humanity is flawed but clearly still believes that we are capable of great things.

For more of my reviews please visit http://www.scruffyfiction.co.uk

[Book Calendar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gardens of the Sun by Paul McAuley

This book is a sequel to the science fiction novel, The Quiet War. The three powers led by Greater Brazil have successfully conquered the Outers colonies on the moons of Jupiter and Saturn. Supposedly they have stopped the democratic and transhuman changes occurring to the colonists.

However, the aftermath of the conquest leads to some unexpected changes. Some of the outers have fled to the moons of Titan. My favorite character is Macy Minnot one of the outers who is on Titan. There is also a transhuman colony on Titan. This makes for an interesting story.

Also the ideas of democracy and technology from the Outer colonies are starting to seep into the cultures of the Pacific Community and Greater Brazil. This causes revolutionary change. It is a case of a less advanced society taking over a more advanced society.

There is a lot of interesting technology in the story. The author is a botanist and is very interested in technological change. He writes a lot about building ecologies for survival in space as well as using genetically engineered plants to harvest sunlight, minerals, and produce air. He also has some very interesting descriptions of people being genetically engineered as spies, to live in space, or to live extremely long lives.

I enjoyed the politics and technology in the story. There were some problems with the continuity of the story. The author broke the book into six sections which are slightly broken up in time. The last section called Everything Rises Must Converge felt more like an epilogue than a section.

This book would have been better as a trilogy. There were parts of the story which did not seem fleshed out well enough. The change which Sri Hong Owen the gene wizard uses to make her become transhuman as well as create the habitats orbiting the sun are not very clearly described.

I liked reading the book. I thought the continuity could have been done better, and that duology would have been better as a trilogy. It is worth reading for the ideas.

[Ian Mond · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part technical manual, part future history, Gardens of the Moon – a direct sequel to the Quiet War – is at its best when it focuses on the tumultuous changes occurring on Earth and the outer planets of the solar system. The Quiet War might have been an easy victory for the major powers on Earth -specifically Greater Brazil – but rebellion simmers away, both on Earth and the solar system.

This time around I was more accommodating of the endless descriptions of space plants and space engineering. Some of it – at least the bits I could conceptualise – was quite cool and created, even briefly, a sense of wonder. But scrape away all the engineering and space habitats and what we have is a sweeping and epic historical dealing with oppression and freedom. For all the intricate detail in the novel, the actual political commentary – the super rich are evil, if you suppress the will of the people they will revolt – is simplistic. But maybe that’s McAuley’s point. Yes we’re 500 years in the future, yes we have the technology to tweak our genome and live in inhospitable environments, but when it comes to power and class, nations will clash for supremacy and an angry populace will revolt if given enough cause.

All the characters – at least the one’s still living, and even one I thought had been killed off – appear in Gardens of the Sun. And like I said in my earlier review of The Quiet War, it’s nice to see that women play a critical role in driving the narrative of the novel. In fact I noted that most of the main characters that die happen to be men. Shocking, I know.

Did I love this book? No. Did I admire the technical detail? Yes, even if my eyes glazed over. Overall, though, I found the characters and their plight interesting enough that I never felt the urge to stop reading. And yes, I am curious to see where McAuley takes the story next.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars

Sometimes brilliant, sometimes long-winded, but always astounding and visionary. McAuley's portrayal of the stark and beautiful landscapes of the moons of Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and Uranus, and other bodies, is quite magical.

Into these stark worlds are thrown two kinds of people, those of earth, ruled by criminal families, and those of The Outers, experimenters and visionaries. The clash between these two kinds of lives was started in the first book, The Quiet War, and this book continues the story after the defeat of The Outers.

Like America's insane invasion of Iraq, based on a web of evil lies for MONEY by Darth Cheney, the evil Brazilian and European quasi-criminal empires foment lies to further their ambitions for power and control. In this second book, we see those empires struggling to "win the peace", just as America has failed (or cared) to do in Iraq.

This second book spans a much longer time frame of the decades following The Quiet War, and continues the stories of the primary characters, mostly complex and flawed, with even the worst having some redeeming qualities.

The precision of science in these books is superb (I love the discipline and study required). McAuley brings these worlds alive for us.

Only the ending of Book 2, perhaps 5% of the book, is a bit saccharine and unengaging, as if McAuley ran out of interest, or his editor wanted a finished book to sell.

There are two books of short stories during the period of The Quiet War and after:
1. Stories from the Quiet War
2. Life after Wartime

I would like again to bring your attention to the short story:
Macy Minot's Last Christmas on Dione, ...

It is truly a wonderful, perfect gem.

[Clay Kallam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paul McAuley’s “Gardens of the Sun” (Pyr, $16, 412 pages) is a followup to the very good “The Quiet War,” which should be read first, but “Gardens of the Sun” is even better.

The two books are set in the not-too-distant future, when humanity has figured out how to survive on the various moons and asteroids of the solar system, thanks in great part to the work of gene wizards such as Avernus and Sri Hong-Owen. They devise organisms that extract basic, edible chemical compounds from rock that contains carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen, using only sunlight, and dim sunlight at that, as energy.

McAuley, though he gives full attention to the hard science of his complex story, never lets the pace flag. Earth, weakened in the aftermath of an ecological collapse, is still the dominant power, but the Outers, as the residents of space are called, want to move humanity in new directions. The political and military complexities are neatly drawn, and the main characters are not the usual heroic types.

Unlike many books, “Gardens of the Sun” moves quickly, surprises with plot twists, and yet takes the time to develop character and motivation. So read “The Quiet War,” if you haven’t yet, follow up immediately with “Gardens of the Sun” – and, as obsequious waiters love to say, enjoy.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an absolutely gripping read, it really builds on the first book and involves significantly more decent characterisation than The Quiet War. The book spans a 30 year time period from the end of the War, and shows the evolution of the human race in the solar system, and the desperate clinging to power of the great Earth powers.

The iniquities which are inflicted on the Outer population by Greater Brazil are reminiscent of atrocities inflicted on races of people on earth by Soviets, Nazis or Khmer Rouge. It's not a comfortable read, but in the end, the people on earth and in space overcome this brutal regime.

A fascinating political future history of humanity spreading out into space. Highly recommended.

[Kriegslok · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great follow up to The Quiet War. What I really like about good Sci-Fi is the way it connects with and deals with all that is wrong and bad about humanity and McAuley does that. He also crafts his work on a beleivable if fantasic sounding science. In a society where being Green is the inevitable orthdoxy on a planet trying to recover from runaway global warming yet still trapped in power systems and resoistence to them the struggle has continued to spread across the Solar System. A whole array of characters, who McAuley is not afraid to kill off before the final page, hold the reader to this gripping tale. As with The Quiet War I couldn't put it down!

[Spencer · Rating 5 out of 5]

While there have been some complaints that characterization was flat and lacking, I disagree. The characters were, while in a few cases one-dimensional, usually believable and complex. The science was all possible, so far as I could tell, which is a nice change from some science fiction where everything is half magic and only slightly believable with what we know now. The plot was decent, although it must be noted that since it was a space opera, there wasn't a cohesive linear plot but rather just a bunch of fragements that braided together to form the story.

[Johann_tor · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author clearly enjoys spending time in this universe and so this is an enjoyable work. However, compared with the first book in the series, this feels a bit disjointed, meandering. Character work is deft, but the author seems to have developed a tin ear for drama. Systems change and evolve, but the story seems just to tag along. A bit disappointing, hopefully the next books have a better balance.

[Joshua · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the better scifi books I've read in a long time. This is what a space opera is supposed to be, full of believable technology, believable characters, and believable scenarios. A wonderful follow-up to the The Quiet War and close to Hamilton's Pandora's Star for depth.

[Ryandake]

ugh... the exposition... ugh... the infodumps... ugh... brain has checked out at page 100.

i wish i had reason to continue, because i love gardens. and some of the characters are interesting. but one more infodump and my level of psychic pain will fry every synapse i possess.

[Colin · Rating 4 out of 5]

What it's about: The follow-up to The Quiet War, this book continues the story of the conflict between Earth and the Outers, as well as that of the lives of the various characters from the first book.

Notes:


This was actually a more enjoyable read than The Quiet War. McAuley is better at the big picture, and Gardens of the Sun definitely has a much more expansive scope than the first book. The book adopts a much more "future history" tone, with McAuley describing grandiose social and political movements, migrations, and revolutions from the perspective of his characters, who are both observers and active participants in these events. There isn't much in the way of tension - a lot of the plot threads have an air of inevitability to them, in the sense that we never feel like the characters are acting in opposition to overwhelming odds against them, and the stage is often set for ensuring the survival of the collective (but not so much for the individual characters, who get killed off like flies). And a lot of the plot is told, rather than shown, in long expository passages. But I don't actually mind this, because it plays to McAuley's strengths in world-building.

Surprisingly, the characters all get significant and meaningful development in this book, and are as a consequence much more fleshed-out than in the first book. Characters like Cash Baker, Alder, Dave and even Loc Ifrahim are no longer the one-dimensional ciphers in the Quiet War and are deployed in a much more sympathetic and nuanced light. This really made me enjoy the book that much more.

For all of McAuley's strengths in worldbuilding, however, one problem that emerges in this second book is his plot resolutions. He seems to have a clear ending in mind, but has problems resolving things that he's set up over the course of the book. This leads to certain leaps in plot logic and deus ex machinae that pop up close to the end of the book, and plot elements that one would think deserve a bit more attention are described in the past tense and are taken to have occurred off-screen.


Verdict: While still flawed, Gardens of the Sun is a much more interesting and involved read than its predecessor, and maintains the same grandiosity of worldbuilding as the original.

I give this book: 4 out of 5 Ghost Ships

[Liam Proven · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second in the Quiet War sequence is perhaps more satisfying than the first.

The foolish war that so annoyed my friend Ian Sales when he reviewed the first novel is all but over. Yes, it was stupid and foolish and pointless and achieved nothing. That's the *point*. War *is* stupid and foolish and pointless, it achieves nothing, and all it leaves is damage. That is why this fictional depiction pleased me, as a welcome alternative to the usual jingoistic depictions. (Yes, that's an intentional nod to Pratchett, a novelist who effortlessly transcended such issues.)

In /GotS/ humanity is getting its act back together somewhat, but pulling itself together from the wreckage. And if you miss the unsubtle point, it has an internal echo: on Earth, Greater Brazil (among other new superpowers) is helping to reconstruct the world's environment from The Overturn, as across the Solar System humanity attempts to piece back together civilisation in the new peacetime.

There are multiple characters to root for here, depending on your alliances or preferences. There is also a new enemy. There is a touching depiction of one person, ripped out of the world she loved, slowly adjusting to a new life and new loves in a new world.

This is a very well-considered novel and I feel regret that maybe some potential readers might have been put off by the earlier one. I have no hesitation in recommending this, but yes, you do need to have read the earlier book first.

[Kevin Phyland · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Quiet War is over. The Three Party Alliance (TPA) of Greater Brazil, Europe and Pacific have beaten back the Outers from the moons of Jupiter and Saturn, and some have fled even further out to Uranus and beyond. Captured Outers and political dissidents of Earth have been incarcerated in camps, ostensibly prisons but actually concentration camps. The book follows a number of key characters: the gene savant Avernus and her protege Sri Hong-Owen, who created the tweaked humans used as supersoldiers (like the spy known as, among other aliases, Felice Gottschalk); the adjutant for the brutal Brazilian dictator Arvam Peixoto, Loc Ifrahim; and Cash Baker, retired singleship pilot, killed during the War but revived and used as a military showpiece and recruitment poster boy. Against a backdrop of political machination between the three components of the TPA and the bitter resentment of the Ghosts that inhabit Trans-uranian space, the Outers are trying to get out from under the bootheels of the autocracy. Gene wizardry is secretly creating weapons that may help the resistance, but it seems only the action of a conflicted supersoldier can provide the trigger for a solar system-wide insurrection. Complex, superior space opera from Paul J. McAuley. Best if read in conjunction with the first book, The Quiet War.

[Jim Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

As much as Book 1 was about the lead up to war, this book focusses on its aftermath. It is a rich tapestry exploring the struggle of human evolution taking place on the distant planets of our solar system despite the attempts of the indigenous human population back on Earth to prevent such advances. It's such an intriguing and thrilling premise aided and abetted by an ensemble of mostly expertly sculpted characters. I say mostly because there is the odd exception which flirts with cliché a little too much for my liking. But McAuley and his writing can bring out the humanity in even the most monstrous of warmongers and I'm in awe of his ability to do so. The first half of Gardens of the Sun is just brilliant, eclipsing even the writing from the first book. The second half leaps forward in time several times, and this took away some of the immediacy of the writing. Also, I have to say one of the characters from Book 1 that I thought went nowhere returns to this book and is a much more interesting and dynamic character in this book, so what do I know. This is a really good addition to The Quiet War saga. I can't wait to get my teeth into Book 3.

[David Raz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this one less than I liked the first book of the series. Paul McAuley is still a great futurist and the possibilities he dreams of are mind-opening. The vivid and detailed descriptions of the Solar System remain a candy, and I'm pretty sure I will not see our system the same way as before. All of this remains from the first book, but the the story-telling doesn't match these.
The first book also quite slow but it was new. Too much of the material was repetitive and the same slowness, combined with chapters in which nothing happens, making the more like a news report or a history lesson than a novel, becomes a real challenge at times. Much of the story is not about people pushing the plot but about people being taken by the flood of history. I also didn't especially like the way the author kills characters, which seemed a bit arbitrary to me. I will definitely read the next book in the series, but this one is three stars out of five.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's a lot I don't like about this series. There are so many characters that I don't feel particularly connected to any of them. The one I feel I know the most about (Sri Hong-Owen), I don't really like. I don't know enough about any of the sciences to know how much of the geology, biology, engineering, etc. is based in fact and how much is just McAuley's imagination.

And yet, I keep reading them. The stories are really good and I just want to know what's going to happen. Highly recommended if you like The Martian and wished it had been a whole civilization instead of just one person, and extended over decades and generations instead of just...what was it, months?

[Elizabeth Belchamber · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really really liked this book even more than the first one. I enjoyed the pace and timing of this novel and how Paul would revisit characters that, at certain points, I thought he might have forgotten.
Yes there is still quite a bit of biology speak which can get monotonous at times, but it seemed toned down compared to The Quiet War. I love Paul's detailed world building. On the one hand, the level of detail seems either like he's showing off his vast knowledge or he could just be dedicated to ensuring the realism for the reader.
It's a rich continuation to Paul's epic space opera. I look forward to installment 3.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book. Expands on characters of first book. I loved the genetics, biology and descriptions of the moons and stations. Really captured the existential loneliness of humans away from earth. Very political novel too (rather a theme in sci fi of elaborating the damage politicians do when grasping for power, rather than attempting to fix anything) and interesting exploration of the fears of difference and otherness, along with examining responsibilities of scientists.

[Scott Mattson · Rating 3 out of 5]

After the Events of the Quiet war. The Brazilians are finding winning the peace harder, than winning the war. The Outers, who fled Jupiter & Saturn, are trying to find a home in the outer Solar system. Meanwhile events on Earth and Saturn are about to change everything.

This was a Alright novel. It's a lot of the various characters positioning themselves for the future and political intreige. The action is minimal, but still good. It is interesting to see how everything comes together.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent end to the quiet war duology. The cultures are well realised and the novel looks in depth at how our culture's perpetuate no matter where in the universe humanity resides. Technology is weaved wonderfully into the novels with great concepts that open up interesting story beats. Sometimes the characters themselves lack complexity but the ideas drive a compelling narrative.

[Adriana Porter Felt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gardens of the Sun is a slog. It's full of painfully detailed politics, much of the plot happens in exposition, it has no focus, and it doesn't introduce anything new. I found the ending of The Quiet War satisfactory, and I wish I'd quit there since I enjoyed the first book much more.