Free Karl Schroeder Novels

Userpic
Matt Arnold
April 29, 2008

Finally I get to read "Sun of Suns" by Karl Schroeder. The publisher, Tor Books, is making it available for free as PDF, html, or Mobipocket formats! Well, I shouldn't say I'm "reading" it. I can't wait to free up some free time for reading, so I put it into Readthewords.com and synced it to my audio device. So I've been listening to a computer read it.

Karl Schroeder likes to present very accessible swashbuckling adventures, but that is a clever disguise. When you get beneath the surface, books like "Ventus" (now available as a free e-book) and "Sun of Suns" are super-intellectual science fiction. So it satisfies both audiences.

"Sun of Suns" takes place inside a planet-sized balloon full of air called Virga. The only gravity is provided by centrifuge cities built of wood, and Virga is full of tiny artificial suns. The greatest of these suns, Candesce, creates forms of radiation that block the artificial virtual-realities that form the backdrop for the rest of Karl Schroeders universe, where books like "Permanence" and "Lady of Mazes" are set. The zero-gravity non-vacuum environment and the restrictions on high-tech create a setting where flying boats (that wondrous old trope of whimsy), become not only possible, but easy and necessary. Here is a haiku I wrote yesterday.

Read on, "Sun of Suns"

Credulity satisfied

How can there be fish?

Comments


none

Leave a Comment

Enter your full name, maximum 100 characters
Email will not be published
Enter a valid email address for comment notifications
Enter your comment, minimum 5 characters, maximum 5000 characters
Minimum 5 characters 0 / 5000