'' Evening's Empires'' is a 2013

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

novel by

Paul J. McAuley Paul J. McAuley (born 23 April 1955) is a British botanist and science fiction author. A biologist by training, McAuley writes mostly hard science fiction. His novels dealing with themes such as biotechnology, alternative history/alternative re ...

, the fourth in his '' Quiet War'' sequence.

Summary

Reception

Dave Hardy of SF Crowsnest noted "In essence, this is a quest. Not a magical one, of course, but, for most of the book, this is about the search for Dr. Gagarian’s head. It is also a good example of modern space opera." Greg L. Johnson of

SF Site SF may refer to: Locations * San Francisco, California, United States * Sidi Fredj, Algeria * South Florida, an urban region in the United States * Suomi Finland, former vehicular country code for Finland In arts and entertainment Genre ...

wrote "That's plenty of story for any novel, and Paul McAuley places it in a setting that is both decaying, and, from our perspective, full of wonders. For the characters, life in the solar system is akin to Europe after the

collapse of the Western Roman Empire The fall of the Western Roman Empire (also called the fall of the Roman Empire or the fall of Rome) was the loss of central political control in the Western Roman Empire, a process in which the Empire failed to enforce its rule, and its vas ...

, with pockets of civilization and relative prosperity separated by lengthy and dangerous travel. It's a far cry from the beginnings of a solar system wide civilization depicted in '' The Quiet War'' and '' Gardens of the Sun'', and from the cultural struggles going on in distant

Fomalhaut Fomalhaut is the brightest star in the southern constellation of Piscis Austrinus, the "Southern Fish", and one of the brightest stars in the night sky. It has the Bayer designation Alpha Piscis Austrini, which is Latinized from � ...

in '' In The Mouth of the Whale'', yet McAuley provides enough of an historical background to tie them all together. The life of

genetic engineer Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification or genetic manipulation, is the modification and manipulation of an organism's genes using technology. It is a set of technologies used to change the genetic makeup of cells, including t ...

Sri Hong-Owen is one of the connecting threads in the novels and, in a way, influences every character in Evening's Empires, though it is separated from the other novels by vast distances in time and space".

References

{{Reflist Dystopian novels 2013 British novels 2013 science fiction novels British science fiction novels Fiction set around Fomalhaut Space opera novels Works by Paul J. McAuley Victor Gollancz Ltd books