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Dreaming in Smoke
Kalypso Deed is a shotgun, riding the interface between the AI Ganesh and human scientists who solve problems through cyberassisted Dreams. But she's young and a little careless; she'd rather mix drinks and play jazz. Azamat Marcsson is a colorless statistician: middle-aged, boring, and obsessed with microorganisms. A first-class nonentity--until one of his Dreams implodes, taking Kalypso with it.
Now Ganesh is crashing, and nothing could be worse. For on the planet T'nane, it is the AI alone that keeps the colonists alive, eking out a grim existence in an environment inimical to human life. To save the colony, Kalypso must persuade Marcsson to finish the Dream that is destroying Ganesh. But Marcsson has gone mad, and T'nane itself has plans for them both that will alter their minds--and their world--forever.
Now Ganesh is crashing, and nothing could be worse. For on the planet T'nane, it is the AI alone that keeps the colonists alive, eking out a grim existence in an environment inimical to human life. To save the colony, Kalypso must persuade Marcsson to finish the Dream that is destroying Ganesh. But Marcsson has gone mad, and T'nane itself has plans for them both that will alter their minds--and their world--forever.
416 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
7 people are currently reading
515 people want to read
About the author
Tricia Sullivan
34 books75 followersTricia Sullivan (born July 7, 1968 in New Jersey, U.S.) is a science fiction writer. She has also written fantasy under the pseudonym Valery Leith.
She moved to the United Kingdom in 1995. In 1999 she won the Arthur C. Clarke Award for her novel Dreaming in Smoke. Her novel Maul was also shortlisted for the same award in 2004.
Sullivan has studied music and karate. Her partner is the martial artist Steve Morris, with whom she has three children.
She moved to the United Kingdom in 1995. In 1999 she won the Arthur C. Clarke Award for her novel Dreaming in Smoke. Her novel Maul was also shortlisted for the same award in 2004.
Sullivan has studied music and karate. Her partner is the martial artist Steve Morris, with whom she has three children.
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
April 4, 2016
Winner of the 1999 Arthur C Clarke sci-fi award, Dreaming in Smoke is a good, but flawed book that doesn’t quite live up to it’s potential. The book starts out with an interesting premise: after a initial probe shows the distant planet of T’Nane having an atmosphere capable of supporting human life, a colony ship is dispatched with 50 colonists in suspension and a cargo of embryos to help seed a thriving colony. Unfortunately, when the ship arrives 50 years later, the colonists find that the planet has changed dramatically since the probe contact and it’s atmosphere is now poisonous. A generation later, the colonists are barely hanging on and eking out an existence living in the scuttled transport ship. The ship AI, Ganesh, has been the main thing keeping the colonists alive, but Ganesh soon starts crashing and if it goes, the colony goes too. So far, so good and Sullivan doesn’t waste any time in ratcheting up the tension. Ganesh starts crashing in the 1st chapter of the book and the life or death stakes make for an initially exciting read.
There are a number of innovated ideas in the novel, not the least of which is the matriarchal nature of the Colonist’s society. The females in the original group of colonists are the leaders and they are collectively called “The Mothers”. The old saying: “the hand that rocks the cradle, rules the world” is proven true in Ganesh society. The embryos that were carried in transport were transplanted into each of the original females and brought to term. All of the original female colonists served as surrogates for the 1st generation born on T”Nane:
“You assemble a group of highly able, multitalented women of childbearing age, ones who when given the best medical support their age can offer will pop out babies like machines. You add some big, strong men with psychological profiles showing just enough leadership to make them reliable to take over in a crisis, but not enough for uncontrollable ambition or destructive rivalry. You ensure that the first-generation children will be physically and mentally above the common herd by making their parents pass rigorous tests and pay large sums of money to get their embryos stored on the ship”
However, the generational conflict in such a society is touched on only briefly and Sullivan could have dealt with it in more depth. She also doesn’t explore the surrogacy concept with any depth either. None of the first-generation born on T’Nane are the biological offspring of any of the Mothers and that is commented on only in passing. There’s also a plot hole there when you think about it. Since men are included in the original group of colonists, wouldn’t it make sense that they would be having sex with the Mothers in-between the Mothers popping out surrogate babies? No one got pregnant the old-fashioned way? Not even once? There’s also no children yet of the first-generation offspring and since most of them are in their 20’s, that doesn’t seem very likely either.
The world of T’Nane is well done and Sullivan has carefully thought out an alien ecology that is completely non-terrestrial. Sullivan does delve into hard science perhaps a little too often in creating T’Nane, but the world building is very good.
I have some mixed feelings about the central concept that created the crisis in the 1st place. In the book, Sullivan puts a fresh spin on some cyberpunk tropes and imagines a technology where a person’s dreams can be entered: and the creative energies of the dreamer directed towards more productive ends. Essentially, the AI, Ganesh, and a person known as a “shotgun” can help a dreaming scientist access his subconscious and work out complex problems in his research while he sleeps. An innovated idea, but it does set the book up for a number of dream sequences that are often a little confusing. Dream sequences are difficult to do well and keeping them to a minimum is probably a good idea.
By far the biggest weakness in the novel is the main character, Kalypso Deed. Kalypso is a shotgun who frequently oversees the dreams of one of the scientists trying to terraform T’Nane. Unfortunately, Kalypso is a slacker and brings about the crisis by being bored with her current assignment and not paying attention. Throughout the novel, Kalypso is shown to be uninformed and clueless. Her usual response to something she doesn’t understand is too think “I guess I should have paid more attention when they taught that to us” She’s also something of a helpless victim through most of the novel, which is surprising given the strong matriarchal society that Sullivan so carefully builds. You would think that her central female character would be strong and resourceful also.
Sullivan’s writing is good and the book is above average, but could have been better with some attention to details and a main character a little less irritating.
There are a number of innovated ideas in the novel, not the least of which is the matriarchal nature of the Colonist’s society. The females in the original group of colonists are the leaders and they are collectively called “The Mothers”. The old saying: “the hand that rocks the cradle, rules the world” is proven true in Ganesh society. The embryos that were carried in transport were transplanted into each of the original females and brought to term. All of the original female colonists served as surrogates for the 1st generation born on T”Nane:
“You assemble a group of highly able, multitalented women of childbearing age, ones who when given the best medical support their age can offer will pop out babies like machines. You add some big, strong men with psychological profiles showing just enough leadership to make them reliable to take over in a crisis, but not enough for uncontrollable ambition or destructive rivalry. You ensure that the first-generation children will be physically and mentally above the common herd by making their parents pass rigorous tests and pay large sums of money to get their embryos stored on the ship”
However, the generational conflict in such a society is touched on only briefly and Sullivan could have dealt with it in more depth. She also doesn’t explore the surrogacy concept with any depth either. None of the first-generation born on T’Nane are the biological offspring of any of the Mothers and that is commented on only in passing. There’s also a plot hole there when you think about it. Since men are included in the original group of colonists, wouldn’t it make sense that they would be having sex with the Mothers in-between the Mothers popping out surrogate babies? No one got pregnant the old-fashioned way? Not even once? There’s also no children yet of the first-generation offspring and since most of them are in their 20’s, that doesn’t seem very likely either.
The world of T’Nane is well done and Sullivan has carefully thought out an alien ecology that is completely non-terrestrial. Sullivan does delve into hard science perhaps a little too often in creating T’Nane, but the world building is very good.
I have some mixed feelings about the central concept that created the crisis in the 1st place. In the book, Sullivan puts a fresh spin on some cyberpunk tropes and imagines a technology where a person’s dreams can be entered: and the creative energies of the dreamer directed towards more productive ends. Essentially, the AI, Ganesh, and a person known as a “shotgun” can help a dreaming scientist access his subconscious and work out complex problems in his research while he sleeps. An innovated idea, but it does set the book up for a number of dream sequences that are often a little confusing. Dream sequences are difficult to do well and keeping them to a minimum is probably a good idea.
By far the biggest weakness in the novel is the main character, Kalypso Deed. Kalypso is a shotgun who frequently oversees the dreams of one of the scientists trying to terraform T’Nane. Unfortunately, Kalypso is a slacker and brings about the crisis by being bored with her current assignment and not paying attention. Throughout the novel, Kalypso is shown to be uninformed and clueless. Her usual response to something she doesn’t understand is too think “I guess I should have paid more attention when they taught that to us” She’s also something of a helpless victim through most of the novel, which is surprising given the strong matriarchal society that Sullivan so carefully builds. You would think that her central female character would be strong and resourceful also.
Sullivan’s writing is good and the book is above average, but could have been better with some attention to details and a main character a little less irritating.
May 31, 2021
I'm.... confused.
25% of this was fascinating because cool science and technobabble about this alien luma substance and how will these people survive on this inhospitable planet... yeah, I liked that. The luma system was a great idea. (Think... sentient Solaris ocean mashed up with a coral reef ecology? It's a system, not an organism.)
Then like 25% was Kalypso, the protagonist, being a dumb lazy-ass. She has cultivated zero talents or skills, knows absolutely nothing helpful, and literally ZONES OUT when conversations get too hard or the action too intense. A lot of her reactions are literally "Oh yeah maybe I should have paid attention in school when they were teaching us about this, woops". YA THINK?
She is literally infamous for being the only person on this habitat with nothing to contribute. She cannot and will not help herself or others for most of the book. What a waste of space! How is this even possible in a tiny population struggling to survive!
(Now that I think about it, it's likely something to do with the leaders all being drug addicts and drunkards. How are these peopke even still alive might be a better question.)
The remaining 50% is cyberpunky drug-like dream sequences where people interface with their AI system in a loony toons Fantasia virtual reality or something. This is where *I* zoned out because it was incomprehensible, repetitive, and non-productive.
And yet I liked the basic story underlying it all?
Not necessarily a Clarke winner I'd recommend, but not awful. Just... frustrating.
25% of this was fascinating because cool science and technobabble about this alien luma substance and how will these people survive on this inhospitable planet... yeah, I liked that. The luma system was a great idea. (Think... sentient Solaris ocean mashed up with a coral reef ecology? It's a system, not an organism.)
Then like 25% was Kalypso, the protagonist, being a dumb lazy-ass. She has cultivated zero talents or skills, knows absolutely nothing helpful, and literally ZONES OUT when conversations get too hard or the action too intense. A lot of her reactions are literally "Oh yeah maybe I should have paid attention in school when they were teaching us about this, woops". YA THINK?
She is literally infamous for being the only person on this habitat with nothing to contribute. She cannot and will not help herself or others for most of the book. What a waste of space! How is this even possible in a tiny population struggling to survive!
(Now that I think about it, it's likely something to do with the leaders all being drug addicts and drunkards. How are these peopke even still alive might be a better question.)
The remaining 50% is cyberpunky drug-like dream sequences where people interface with their AI system in a loony toons Fantasia virtual reality or something. This is where *I* zoned out because it was incomprehensible, repetitive, and non-productive.
And yet I liked the basic story underlying it all?
Not necessarily a Clarke winner I'd recommend, but not awful. Just... frustrating.
March 14, 2020
Booklog notes from 1999: I wanted to like it more than I did. There's a good deal of half-baked cyberspace "dreaming" that I skimmed, and the setup is a bit pat & artificial. Still, it's well-written. I wasn't in a good mood to read it, maybe?
I'd forgotten it was a Clarke Award winner. Well, a weak one, I think. I kept my copy, and could possibly try again? From the comments here, probably not.
I'd forgotten it was a Clarke Award winner. Well, a weak one, I think. I kept my copy, and could possibly try again? From the comments here, probably not.
August 4, 2020
I found it a little hard to follow in some parts. Some chapters are very fast paced and then followed by ones which are more slower paced. Also after reading it I came out of it still confused as to what was actually going on.
The writing however is very good and I will certainly be reading one of her other books but this one was not for me I think.
The writing however is very good and I will certainly be reading one of her other books but this one was not for me I think.
January 10, 2019
This was an interesting read, albeit one which requires a fair bit of work from the reader. It's a weird mix of cyberpunk meets colonial sci-fi meets social commentary, held together by some fantastic prose. Right from the first paragraph the writing comes across as a strongly jazz-influenced melange of images and ideas and perfectly sets the stage for what quickly becomes a confusing journey through an alien ecosphere, as seen through the eyes of our protagonist, Kalypso Deed.
Kalypso is a shotgun, a person whose job is to tag along on the dreams of another and keep them free of distractions while they work on whatever it is they're dealing with. In this context, the dreams are accessed through what appears to be a form of cerebral interface, and allow the Dreamer to focus their normally unconscious creative energies on their own personal projects. The structure of the dreams is provided by Ganesh, the colony AI, and when the AI is corrupted by an unidentified force Kalypso finds herself being dragged deeper and deeper into a literal battle for her own survival and that of the colony she calls her home.
The hierarchy of the colony is heavily stratified. At the top of the ladder are the Mothers, the original female colonists sent from Earth. These are the women who gave birth to the first generation of locally born colonists, though it's made clear that none of the children are biologically related to any of the mothers in any way; instead, the embryos were created back on Earth and implanted into the Mothers once they arrived at the planet, T'Nane. Below the Mothers are the Grunts, their male counterparts whose sole purpose seems to be to provide physical support and labour. Finally, there are the kids themselves, the generation which Kalypso belongs to, carefully bred to be the best the human race has to offer. Unfortunately for Kalypso, having the best genes doesn't change the fact that she is essentially lazy and unmotivated. All she wants to do is ride shotgun for Dreamers and listen to music from the archives.
As far as protagonists go, Kalypso initially seems to be a bad choice. Her deliberate lack of knowledge and apparent lack of agency leave her being dragged along in the story, taking the reader with her, but ultimately this works better than you'd think. Through Kalypso's growing awareness of the world around her the reader is able to grow with her, learning as Kalypso learns (or doesn't, as the case may be).
One thing that Sullivan does well in this book, apart from the prose, is the way in which she introduces us to and explains the alien nature of the planet the colony is situated on. The local ecology is shown to be far removed from what we recognise as life, so much so that she makes a point of repeatedly telling us, though the various character voices, not to think of it in terms of organisms. It's a system, distributed throughout multiple layers, each part of the system affecting and being affected by the parts around it, and for me represents perhaps the most innovative element of the book by presenting us with a genuinely alien ecology.
While there are sections of the narrative that I found genuinely incomprehensible, particularly when it comes to some of the Dreamer sequences, overall this is an excellent read. Despite Kalypso's lack of knowledge or motivation there's still a strong sense of character growth by the end of the story, and while the ending wouldn't be considered groundbreaking or particularly fresh to a modern audience, I'd still say it was a satisfying denouement.
This may not be a book for everyone, but if you're a fan of later cyberpunk or truly alien worlds then I'd say give this one a try.
The night Kalypso Deed vowed to stop Dreaming was the same night a four-dimensional snake with a Canadian accent, eleven heads and attitude employed a Diriangen function to rip out all her veins, then swiftly crocheted them into a harp that could only play a medley of Miles Davis tunes transposed (to their detriment) into the key of G. As she contemplated the loss of all blood supply to her vital organs it seemed to her that no amount of Picasso's Blue, bonus alcohol rations, or access privileges to the penis of Tehar the witch doctor could compensate for having to ride shotgun to Azamat Marcsson on one of his statistical sprees with the AI Ganesh. She intended to tell him so--as soon as she could find her lungs.
Kalypso is a shotgun, a person whose job is to tag along on the dreams of another and keep them free of distractions while they work on whatever it is they're dealing with. In this context, the dreams are accessed through what appears to be a form of cerebral interface, and allow the Dreamer to focus their normally unconscious creative energies on their own personal projects. The structure of the dreams is provided by Ganesh, the colony AI, and when the AI is corrupted by an unidentified force Kalypso finds herself being dragged deeper and deeper into a literal battle for her own survival and that of the colony she calls her home.
The hierarchy of the colony is heavily stratified. At the top of the ladder are the Mothers, the original female colonists sent from Earth. These are the women who gave birth to the first generation of locally born colonists, though it's made clear that none of the children are biologically related to any of the mothers in any way; instead, the embryos were created back on Earth and implanted into the Mothers once they arrived at the planet, T'Nane. Below the Mothers are the Grunts, their male counterparts whose sole purpose seems to be to provide physical support and labour. Finally, there are the kids themselves, the generation which Kalypso belongs to, carefully bred to be the best the human race has to offer. Unfortunately for Kalypso, having the best genes doesn't change the fact that she is essentially lazy and unmotivated. All she wants to do is ride shotgun for Dreamers and listen to music from the archives.
As far as protagonists go, Kalypso initially seems to be a bad choice. Her deliberate lack of knowledge and apparent lack of agency leave her being dragged along in the story, taking the reader with her, but ultimately this works better than you'd think. Through Kalypso's growing awareness of the world around her the reader is able to grow with her, learning as Kalypso learns (or doesn't, as the case may be).
One thing that Sullivan does well in this book, apart from the prose, is the way in which she introduces us to and explains the alien nature of the planet the colony is situated on. The local ecology is shown to be far removed from what we recognise as life, so much so that she makes a point of repeatedly telling us, though the various character voices, not to think of it in terms of organisms. It's a system, distributed throughout multiple layers, each part of the system affecting and being affected by the parts around it, and for me represents perhaps the most innovative element of the book by presenting us with a genuinely alien ecology.
While there are sections of the narrative that I found genuinely incomprehensible, particularly when it comes to some of the Dreamer sequences, overall this is an excellent read. Despite Kalypso's lack of knowledge or motivation there's still a strong sense of character growth by the end of the story, and while the ending wouldn't be considered groundbreaking or particularly fresh to a modern audience, I'd still say it was a satisfying denouement.
This may not be a book for everyone, but if you're a fan of later cyberpunk or truly alien worlds then I'd say give this one a try.
December 28, 2020
Kalypso was bred to assist colonists from Earth who came to T'nane, thinking that the atmosphere would be stable and habitable. To fix what they call the Oxygen Problem, they use Dreaming to sort through data and come up with conclusions - but so far to no avail. Kalypso's assistance in a Dreaming gone wrong will... result in stuff. I don't know.
Lately I've been disappointed by books that have a great premise, but suffer from poor execution. This is one of those. The world-building was chaotic, confusing - and just boring. The writing itself wasn't fluid or decent, so I wasn't able to power through the worst scenes. As a result, this might be one of the worst novels I've ever forced myself to finish. And I did want to like it when I first cracked it open.
Lately I've been disappointed by books that have a great premise, but suffer from poor execution. This is one of those. The world-building was chaotic, confusing - and just boring. The writing itself wasn't fluid or decent, so I wasn't able to power through the worst scenes. As a result, this might be one of the worst novels I've ever forced myself to finish. And I did want to like it when I first cracked it open.
July 7, 2020
https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/3422081.html
I felt there was a good book in here trying to get out. It's a feminist take on human colonisation of an alien planet, spoiled by the annoyingly lazy and passive character of the protagonist, and by various dream sequences which aren't really all that descriptive and don't take the plot further. I found it rather hard to engage with, frankly, and perhaps it is a novel that demands more effort from the reader than I was in the mood to give.
I felt there was a good book in here trying to get out. It's a feminist take on human colonisation of an alien planet, spoiled by the annoyingly lazy and passive character of the protagonist, and by various dream sequences which aren't really all that descriptive and don't take the plot further. I found it rather hard to engage with, frankly, and perhaps it is a novel that demands more effort from the reader than I was in the mood to give.
March 13, 2019
This was a very weird book, but I can’t quite put my finger on what was so weird about it. Granted, it’s science fiction which is inherently weird, but this was something else. The plot is pretty complicated on the surface, but when you dig deeper it’s actually pretty basic, which isn’t something that’s easy to achieve in literature. Still, it wasn’t one of my favourite reads of late so I had to mark it down for that.
March 17, 2012
I'm not convinced on the merit of using a viewpoint character that is wilfully ignorant of pretty much everything going on around her.
There were some interesting ideas buried amongst the confusion, dream imagery and interminable sections where nothing much at all was happening.
My last visit for a while to the shelf of “books I have owned for years but never gotten around to”.
There were some interesting ideas buried amongst the confusion, dream imagery and interminable sections where nothing much at all was happening.
My last visit for a while to the shelf of “books I have owned for years but never gotten around to”.
August 13, 2025
I usually don't like cyberpunk or any of its derivatives, but this story goes beyond the half-assed hackery of most CP fiction. Real characters with real problems stuck on a harsh planet with a toxic atmosphere rely on a broken AI system that's compromised by a disturbed renegade: the result is pretty good!
March 18, 2019
The odd thing about Tricia Sullivan is that I kinda think I've read more of her books than I actually have. It's probably because they fill my head when I read them. They wriggle their way around my brain, rerouting signals, creating false(?) memories, and changing the way that I think. That's what a really good writer does. I read Maul when I was on holiday a decade or so ago, and then I read it again almost immediately, which almost never happens. But ... I had to check that I'd really read what I'd read.
And so to 'Dreaming in Smoke'. It's a shock when you realise that someone you think of as a 'new author' has made it to Gollancz Masterworks status, and you still haven't read that particular book. So, I bought a copy, and I read it. It took me a while to get into it. It's one of those one chapter a night for a few nights books, that turns into a 'leave me alone I need to finish this book' books.
We meet our protagonist in a dream. It's very confusing, everything happens very fast, and what should be safe and mellow falls into violence before the reader can possibly understand what's going on. Trust Tricia. Just trust her, she knows what she's doing. The back story unfolds naturally as the plot advances and the characters take shape. I found myself swept along by the story, and bereft when it finished.
It's pure science fiction, and I loved it.
And so to 'Dreaming in Smoke'. It's a shock when you realise that someone you think of as a 'new author' has made it to Gollancz Masterworks status, and you still haven't read that particular book. So, I bought a copy, and I read it. It took me a while to get into it. It's one of those one chapter a night for a few nights books, that turns into a 'leave me alone I need to finish this book' books.
We meet our protagonist in a dream. It's very confusing, everything happens very fast, and what should be safe and mellow falls into violence before the reader can possibly understand what's going on. Trust Tricia. Just trust her, she knows what she's doing. The back story unfolds naturally as the plot advances and the characters take shape. I found myself swept along by the story, and bereft when it finished.
It's pure science fiction, and I loved it.
August 5, 2019
I found it super creative and psycodelic. The way the synesthesia is described may be one of my favourite aspects of the book. Character development and plot twists are also really good. Def recommend it!!!
June 20, 2024
I don’t know why I’ve waited so long to read this book. But if I hadn’t, then I wouldn’t have just had the joy of reading it for the first time. This book grabs you by the nether regions and catapults you head first into the deep end. To give you some idea what I’m talking about, here’s the opening. It begins with a quote to set the tone.
Men and the world are mutually toxic to each other – Phillip K Dick (Valis)
Then chapter 1 starts.
The night Kalypso Deed vowed to stop Dreaming was the same night a four-dimensional snake with a Canadian accent, eleven heads and attitude employed a Diriangen function to rip out all her veins, then swiftly crocheted them into a harp that could only play a medley of Miles Davis tunes transposed (to their detriment) into the key of G. As she contemplated the loss of all blood supply to her vital organs it seemed to her that no amount of Picasso’s Blue, bonus alcohol rations, or access privileges to the penis of Tehar the witch doctor could compensate for having to ride shotgun to Azamat Marcsson on one of his statistical sprees with the AI Ganesh. She intended to tell him so – as soon as she could find her lungs.
Over the following couple of chapters this all starts getting some context.
Tricia Sullivan isn’t a name I’ve seen mentioned much, probably because she doesn’t have a massive list of books to her name. Her first book was published in 1995 and she take 2 to 3 years between books. Her last was in 2017. Dreaming in Smoke was published in 1998 and won the Arthur C. Clarke award. There is a Gollancz SF Masterworks series edition of this book published in 2018. It should be fairly easy to get a copy. And you’d be doing yourself a favour by getting a copy.
Frankly this cover doesn’t really do the book justice in my opinion. It makes it look like a fantasy to me. And the SF Masterworks edition is just a riff off of this cover. The best cover I’ve seen on ISFDB is the Bantam Spectra pb edition from ’98. It actually has an SF feel about it.
So what is this book about? A quick summary would be Adrian Tchiakovsky’s ‘Alien Clay’, but written 20 years earlier and with an added layer of cyberspace and AI.
The setup is a newish colony on a very hostile alien world. The story takes place 30ish years after the first colonists arrived. They are still alive and remember Earth. The first generation of people born on the planet are in the 20s. The story is told from the perspective of Kalypso Deed who is one of the people born on the world.
The colonies system are run by an AI called Ganesh, for reasons that are never explained, and there is metaphorical and imagery links to the diety. There is a social and psychological gap between the generations of the Earth-born and the T’Nane -born. I saw strong parrallels to the technological divide between those of us who knew a world before mobile phones, and those who have a panic attack if they lose signal.
The colony habitat is situated above an oceanic volcanic rift which it uses to generate power. A lovely idea, but with some fairly large inherent risks. Fortunately the AI Ganesh monitors and controls the habitats system to compensate for fluctuations from the rift. So naturally the AI crashes and the manure hits the air-conditioning unit. The AI can be interacted with through a fully immersive VR cyberspace interface, as well as via direct computer code. And it takes combined efforts in VR and real world to try and restore the AI
Meanwhile there’s native life with weird properties that allows it to be interfaced with technology and is being used for data storage to expand Ganesh’s capabilities. And a drug manufactured from local lifeforms called Picasso’s Blue that’s addictive which they were hoping to export back to earth.
This book has a little bit of everything. And it’s all brilliantly intermeshed into a cohesive story. It did become a little too much philosophical debate in the lead up to the climax, but that only lasted for a couple of chapters. I highly recommend this book as a wild ride. I’ll be moving the other couple of books by Tricia that I acquired recently much higher in Mount TBR.
Men and the world are mutually toxic to each other – Phillip K Dick (Valis)
Then chapter 1 starts.
The night Kalypso Deed vowed to stop Dreaming was the same night a four-dimensional snake with a Canadian accent, eleven heads and attitude employed a Diriangen function to rip out all her veins, then swiftly crocheted them into a harp that could only play a medley of Miles Davis tunes transposed (to their detriment) into the key of G. As she contemplated the loss of all blood supply to her vital organs it seemed to her that no amount of Picasso’s Blue, bonus alcohol rations, or access privileges to the penis of Tehar the witch doctor could compensate for having to ride shotgun to Azamat Marcsson on one of his statistical sprees with the AI Ganesh. She intended to tell him so – as soon as she could find her lungs.
Over the following couple of chapters this all starts getting some context.
Tricia Sullivan isn’t a name I’ve seen mentioned much, probably because she doesn’t have a massive list of books to her name. Her first book was published in 1995 and she take 2 to 3 years between books. Her last was in 2017. Dreaming in Smoke was published in 1998 and won the Arthur C. Clarke award. There is a Gollancz SF Masterworks series edition of this book published in 2018. It should be fairly easy to get a copy. And you’d be doing yourself a favour by getting a copy.
Frankly this cover doesn’t really do the book justice in my opinion. It makes it look like a fantasy to me. And the SF Masterworks edition is just a riff off of this cover. The best cover I’ve seen on ISFDB is the Bantam Spectra pb edition from ’98. It actually has an SF feel about it.
So what is this book about? A quick summary would be Adrian Tchiakovsky’s ‘Alien Clay’, but written 20 years earlier and with an added layer of cyberspace and AI.
The setup is a newish colony on a very hostile alien world. The story takes place 30ish years after the first colonists arrived. They are still alive and remember Earth. The first generation of people born on the planet are in the 20s. The story is told from the perspective of Kalypso Deed who is one of the people born on the world.
The colonies system are run by an AI called Ganesh, for reasons that are never explained, and there is metaphorical and imagery links to the diety. There is a social and psychological gap between the generations of the Earth-born and the T’Nane -born. I saw strong parrallels to the technological divide between those of us who knew a world before mobile phones, and those who have a panic attack if they lose signal.
The colony habitat is situated above an oceanic volcanic rift which it uses to generate power. A lovely idea, but with some fairly large inherent risks. Fortunately the AI Ganesh monitors and controls the habitats system to compensate for fluctuations from the rift. So naturally the AI crashes and the manure hits the air-conditioning unit. The AI can be interacted with through a fully immersive VR cyberspace interface, as well as via direct computer code. And it takes combined efforts in VR and real world to try and restore the AI
Meanwhile there’s native life with weird properties that allows it to be interfaced with technology and is being used for data storage to expand Ganesh’s capabilities. And a drug manufactured from local lifeforms called Picasso’s Blue that’s addictive which they were hoping to export back to earth.
This book has a little bit of everything. And it’s all brilliantly intermeshed into a cohesive story. It did become a little too much philosophical debate in the lead up to the climax, but that only lasted for a couple of chapters. I highly recommend this book as a wild ride. I’ll be moving the other couple of books by Tricia that I acquired recently much higher in Mount TBR.
December 29, 2023
I had to sit on this book a little before I reviewed it, because I was left with conflicting feelings that I wasn’t entirely sure how to put into words.
The foreword by Pat Cadigan, whilst hyping up the book, explains that in the first chapter, “you won’t know what’s going on”, and that “you might still be kind of baffled after the second chapter”. Well, she wasn’t wrong. She admitted that this book isn’t an “easy read”, that you won’t understand at first what’s going on, but that you’ll be drawn into the story from the first sentence and will keep reading. She wasn’t wrong about that either.
However, whilst I think the premise of the book was a good one, I feel that the technobabble went on a bit much and went over my head, and by the end of the book I wasn’t really sure what had happened or why, I was mixed up about what character was whom and each person’s purpose, and I felt that I was in over my head. Perhaps that’s more a failing on my part, I don’t know. Someone with a more technical frame of mind might follow it better.
I did see, though, a few reviews that stated how annoying Kalypso was for not being good at her job or not understanding everything herself, being a bad protégé, essentially. Funnily enough, that’s why I liked Kalypso – she was human, and flawed like a human. She wasn’t a hero, Indiana Jones-type saving the day with either brains or brawn. She wasn’t described as either beautiful or unattractive. She was just muddling along trying to fix things and survive, in a human way.
The overall feeling the book left me with was emotionally confusing as well as technically confusing, for me. The relationship-that-isn’t-a-relationship developing in the book disturbed me. Having been in abusive relationships and grown up on ’90s rom-coms based on toxic dynamics such as hate-to-love, I’m not a fan of that kind of stuff. And yet I had to also acknowledge to myself that there was a disturbing humanity in the kind of Stockholm Syndrome that ends up happening, a tenderness out of the brutality. It disturbed me, because I could see the beauty in it at the same time that the idea of it repulses me, so I was also disturbed by my own reactions to this novel and the things it brought up. Hence why I didn’t immediately write a review.
I did feel hooked on it while I was reading it, and perhaps if I understood more of the technical aspects and actually understood what was happening in the end, I would have enjoyed it more. I both enjoyed and was frustrated by the novel. It’s hard to leave a star-based review, frankly, because I’m torn between hate and love myself (just like Kalypso).
The foreword by Pat Cadigan, whilst hyping up the book, explains that in the first chapter, “you won’t know what’s going on”, and that “you might still be kind of baffled after the second chapter”. Well, she wasn’t wrong. She admitted that this book isn’t an “easy read”, that you won’t understand at first what’s going on, but that you’ll be drawn into the story from the first sentence and will keep reading. She wasn’t wrong about that either.
However, whilst I think the premise of the book was a good one, I feel that the technobabble went on a bit much and went over my head, and by the end of the book I wasn’t really sure what had happened or why, I was mixed up about what character was whom and each person’s purpose, and I felt that I was in over my head. Perhaps that’s more a failing on my part, I don’t know. Someone with a more technical frame of mind might follow it better.
I did see, though, a few reviews that stated how annoying Kalypso was for not being good at her job or not understanding everything herself, being a bad protégé, essentially. Funnily enough, that’s why I liked Kalypso – she was human, and flawed like a human. She wasn’t a hero, Indiana Jones-type saving the day with either brains or brawn. She wasn’t described as either beautiful or unattractive. She was just muddling along trying to fix things and survive, in a human way.
The overall feeling the book left me with was emotionally confusing as well as technically confusing, for me. The relationship-that-isn’t-a-relationship developing in the book disturbed me. Having been in abusive relationships and grown up on ’90s rom-coms based on toxic dynamics such as hate-to-love, I’m not a fan of that kind of stuff. And yet I had to also acknowledge to myself that there was a disturbing humanity in the kind of Stockholm Syndrome that ends up happening, a tenderness out of the brutality. It disturbed me, because I could see the beauty in it at the same time that the idea of it repulses me, so I was also disturbed by my own reactions to this novel and the things it brought up. Hence why I didn’t immediately write a review.
I did feel hooked on it while I was reading it, and perhaps if I understood more of the technical aspects and actually understood what was happening in the end, I would have enjoyed it more. I both enjoyed and was frustrated by the novel. It’s hard to leave a star-based review, frankly, because I’m torn between hate and love myself (just like Kalypso).
August 8, 2019
An interesting book that I enjoyed more than I thought that I would enjoy. I found the world building to be intriguing and the overall plot, while confusing in places, was interesting. Where the book failed to work for me was in the character department. While there were various interesting groupings of characters, I didn't connect with any on an individual level. This resulted in a complete lack of tension in any of the conflicts throughout the book which is ultimately why I rated this three stars instead of four stars.
September 2, 2020
I so wanted to like this book. There is an incredibly imagined alien world inhabited by very well described microbes. This world has now been populated by human colonists that are reliant on an AI, which starts malfunctioning. But the 'mad scientist' who promoted the malfunctioning kidnaps his unwilling female accomplice and then everything really starts falling apart (the human society and the story). And there is torture of this female, which really is not my cup-of-tea.
October 26, 2025
Ms Sullivan knows her science. That makes a huge difference. Plus stretch the plausibility's of destablelising events that pretenders often fall flat down in such instances. The main character considers herself an unlikely heroine and isn't that wrapped either. Nor I but that is a matter of my bad taste not the author's. Bio-molecular life forms that don't always behave as they used to on other terrestrial environments is where Ms Sullivan excels.
October 9, 2021
This book is weird. It reminds me a bit of the posthuman works of the mid-2000s where you never quite sure what's going on and go from one technology to the other. Originally I would keep looking back and trying to ensure that I was understanding everything but I just let it wash over me bull stop strange about enjoyable
November 19, 2022
Arthur C Clark award winner 1999.
I seem to struggle between the overly science driven heavy old school sci fi, which can be pedestrian and hard work, and books like this that at times are too jocular. As such, whilst it had a few interesting moments, for me it was only a good read and not one that I will likely reread.
I seem to struggle between the overly science driven heavy old school sci fi, which can be pedestrian and hard work, and books like this that at times are too jocular. As such, whilst it had a few interesting moments, for me it was only a good read and not one that I will likely reread.
Want to read
October 13, 2020Not entirely sure wether I already read this one, will read it, maybe again.
June 19, 2021
I liked the mashup of cyberpunk and alien contact in this, but it feels more dated than it should for a 1999 novel...
November 3, 2022
A dense ride! Much fun!
And, though it was published in 1998 and deals with hardware and software, it has aged well!
Clever and fully imagined.
And, though it was published in 1998 and deals with hardware and software, it has aged well!
Clever and fully imagined.
January 12, 2017
Huge potential. Zero payoff.
July 26, 2019
I liked it! I could relate to much of the writing angst and decisions about stepping away from the novel writing. Not sure I’d recommend it for non-writers though.
June 26, 2024
Few books compel me to write a review but this one did and sadly not for good reasons. The author presents us with an interesting setup but then mires it in a lot of incomprehensible babble that introduces ideas that aren’t really explained or otherwise made clear. The world feels like it’s sketched rather than fully drawn out and detailed in any way which strangely leaves the whole thing feeling claustrophobic rather than epic in scope.
The main character Kalipso sounds promising but ends up being passive and weak making her very annoying and more of a vehicle for some half baked pseudoscientific nonsense that sounds more clever than it actually is.
It totally makes sense that this won awards, it’s just the kind of thing book reviewers like to say is good because they are worried that if they don’t it might not look like they understood it.
Total nonsense, one to avoid.
The main character Kalipso sounds promising but ends up being passive and weak making her very annoying and more of a vehicle for some half baked pseudoscientific nonsense that sounds more clever than it actually is.
It totally makes sense that this won awards, it’s just the kind of thing book reviewers like to say is good because they are worried that if they don’t it might not look like they understood it.
Total nonsense, one to avoid.
March 31, 2014
Awful. I liked the main character and what I could gather about the story but the writing is not good enough to tempt me to engage my brain - and so the plot was clear as mud. I do suspect the plot might have been clear as mud even if I did engage my brain.
April 9, 2009
An interesting combination of cyber SF and alien worlds. It drags at some points but it's refreshingly different from Gibson and most of the rest of the cyberpunk wordsmiths of the day.
October 24, 2015
Fierce and brilliant, as ever.
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