So I delivered On the Steel Breeze, the follow-up to Blue Remembered Earth. I think I'm going to try to say a bit less about this book, generally, than I did of BRE, for no other reason than that I don't want to talk it to death before it appears. But I can say a few things.
It's a sequel, obviously. But like BRE I hope it also functions as a standalone novel, which just happens to be set in the same universe and revolves around members of the Akinya family. The central character, Chiku, is totally new, although she is closely related to characters in the first book. When I started thinking about this trilogy, almost five years ago, I had in mind a kind of logarithmic structure which would see the first book span 100 years, the second 1000, and the third 10,000. For that reason it was a handy shorthand to call it the 11K sequence. Things have moved on, though, and while the action in OTSB does take us quite a bit further into the future than BRE, we certainly don't get to see life a thousand years from now. That was indeed how it started, but after months of progress I came to feel that the narrative felt too detached from BRE, and I wanted to bring it a little closer to home. There was also the technical challenge that I wanted the book to feature a good deal of action set in and around Earth, including at least one scene in Africa, but I did not want those events to be happening ten centuries from now.
Resolving these demands has pushed the timeline quite a bit nearer to the present than I expected, but we are still two centuries on from BRE at the start of the novel, and quite a bit more than that by the end of it. The action involves a 220 year expedition to an extrasolar planet aboard a caravan of huge iceteroid "holoships", the tension between human and artificial intelligence, and, of course, elephants. Lots of elephants. There are scenes set on the holoships, around another solar system, on our own Earth, as well as in and around Venus, Mars and Saturn.
From now on the book will be moving through edits, and I am mindful that - as always - there is much still to be done. But I also enthusiastic about moving on to the third novel, which will take us much further into both the galaxy and the future.
[Edited to remove minor spoiler for those yet to read BRE]
Sounds extremely enticing and I look forward to reading it. Enjoyed BRE very much :)
ReplyDeleteCan't wait! Awaiting patiently!
ReplyDeleteExcited for this. Noticed on Amazon.uk that its publication date is mid-August. Does it still have to go through edit and proofreading, or is this beyond that and down to artwork, formatting, etc.? It's almost time to do my pre-ordering from UK schtick! Pre-order gets a better price, but it washes out in the postage across the pond. Whatever...love reading your novels months before most people have seen them here. Thanks for your work!
ReplyDeleteBRE was a wonderfully refreshing sci-fi story, and I'm very much looking forward to the sequel. Any idea on a release date yet?
ReplyDeleteSounds great, Al. Is there a publication date set yet?
ReplyDeletePub date is August, but there's all the editing, typesetting and proofing to be done before then. Will be a busy summer for me as the Doc Who book should be out in June.
ReplyDeleteThat's Aug in the UK? Any idea about when it comes to your U.S. fans?
DeleteAl,
ReplyDeleteDo you do any calculations on what kind of ship size/weight/composition/thrust is plausible? I am especially interested if there are specific ships or features of ships you've ever ruled out in the past because you thought they were too ambitious for the people you were writing about.
Just really curious what your opinions and ideas about this are.
Sounds like you breezed through it! Looking forward to it!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the delivery Al. It must feel good to put the writing on this one to bed, and clear your mind a little. Editing must be a tedious process but I'm glad you've got some room now to start thinking about no. 3!
ReplyDeleteMaybe this has been taken up before, if so apologies...
ReplyDeleteBut for somebody of my generation (child of 60s- i.e. old!) the title "Steel Breeze" has one major connection, a line from Pink Floyd's "Shine on you Crazy Diamond."
"You were caught on the cross fire of childhood and stardom,
Blown on the steel breeze."
Is there a resonance here, or is it pure coincidence?
Chris
You're onto something there C.John. His 3rd book in the series could be called, 'Do goody good bullshit'! lol
DeleteRusty: I believe we're looking at June 2014 for the US edition - sorry it's such a long way off.
ReplyDeleteAnon: I try to keep it semi-plausible given the implied physics of the culture/civilisation but whether or not I get into detailed calcs (ie real basic back of envelope stuff) will depend on the book.
Dave: it was anything but a breeze, unfortunately. I took a number of wrong terms and then wrongfooted myself with the Dr Who book, which was not supposed to take 4 months to finish. When I came back to OTSB, I didn't like the 100,000 words I'd already written. So it was back to square one.
Liam: far from it: the editing and revision is the bit I most enjoy because there is already a finished book to work from and improve. It's the first draft I find the least enjoyable - everything else is a pleasure. (I don't like the final round of copy editing, though, but normally that's just because it tends to be done under tight time constraints).
C John: no coincidence. In fact there is a shout-out to the same lyric in House of Suns, if my memory serves. No connection to the two stories, though.
WOW! This contains an impressive statement. 100K words is a complete novel in other genres, and you started back at square one? You are dedicated and inspired. I would've re-written some of it, but tried to retain as much as possible. But then, you're not me. Wish you well!
DeleteI'm extremely happy that you're going to pick up the plot line about the extrasolar planet mentioned at various points throughout BRE - I get such a kick out of that kind of stuff!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely going to pre-order this from Amazon UK as soon as it becomes available!
Awesome - better clear June and August for Al Reynolds-fest!
ReplyDeleteJiminy cricket I am excited.
ReplyDeleteWill you be touring/signing for OTSB/Dr Who?
ReplyDeleteIf you do, come to Bristol!
Hi Magic - no idea, I'm afraid. I was approached about possibly signing in Bristol last summer, but nothing came of it.
ReplyDeleteHey Al, very exciting news! Love the Poseidon's Children cycle, that is, judging from what we currently have of it, i.e., one book so far. OTSB sounds even more up my alley, as am a hard / far future sci fi fan by inclination. However, of late I've been finding near-future fiction very interesting, I've been toying with a background worldscape to a near-future trilogy. Aside from the difficulties of the publishing world, I find trying to write fiction really interfere's with my theoretical physics / philosophy of physics day job...
ReplyDeletePS Does the fact the series is called poseidon's children have anything to do with the pre-1975 name of Pasiphaë?
ReplyDeleteI’m kinda looking forward to this. To be honest, as a huge fan of your work, I wasn’t taken by BRE. For me, there was no meat, and there was too much meandering that didn’t benefit the plot. It reminded me in parts (and I HATE to say this, because the following book is the worst I’ve ever read) of 2312. That book was bizarre… It told no story, it had no real plot, and had no conclusion. Whilst BRE certainly wasn’t in the same league, it shared that problem: it struggled to tell a story, it just meandered and got lost within itself as different strands that went nowhere fought for attention which at the end benefitted nothing.
ReplyDeleteOn the positive side though, as I mentioned, I’m a big fan of your work, and I hope and trust that BRE was a hiccup, as it didn’t live up to your Revelation Space universe, Pushing Ice, or other fantastic stories.
Plus.. Too many elephants. That’s another 2312 thing – this strange focus on animals. I thought we were reading sci-fi?
Thanks for the update. I'm very excited about this, as I really enjoyed Blue Remembered Earth. And even though I am in the US, I'm not going to let a little thing like the Atlantic Ocean stand between me and the new book in August!
ReplyDeleteAnon: I'm perfectly happy to listen to criticism but we'll have to disagree about 2312; I thought it was masterful. And no plot? Are you serious?
ReplyDeleteTangentially, though - why wouldn't animals be a fit subject for SF? Even if you take the view that SF must in some way concern itself with science, surely the natural world is a valid subject for examination? Animals fascinate me, as indeed they presumably fascinate KSR. What goes on in their heads? Do they have a sense of self? Are they conscious in any way that we would recognise? Do they have any notion of time's arrow, of the past and the future, or are they prisoners of the moment? Do they experience emotions?
These are, to me, massively interesting questions.
I agree Al, there’s no reason for animals not to play a part in sci-fi, and I don’t begrudge anyone who wants to read about them. My point was that just that in BRE, what did that strand really contribute to the story? I didn’t feel that it did much, besides give us an inkling into how a major human character’s mind worked, and that, well, he was a little elephant obsessed ;)
DeleteThe issues you mentioned are certainly interesting, but are of such scale that they should probably be given their own book, not share space with too many other strands. Just my thoughts!
And yes, I’m deadly serious about 2312. I mean, there were moments of genius (the concept of shooting pebbles from different locations in the solar system as a weapon! Amazing), but the rest was mush. Why do I want to read about a humanoid frog and (dear god) the mechanics of whistling Mozart for 20 pages whilst walking through a barren tunnel on Mercury for weeks. Or read about the central character (who is certifiably crazy) running around for 50 pages chasing caribou pretending to be a wolf? It’s like people are trying to cram as much in to a book without actually realising that half of the story can be cut and that it’d actually improve pacing, and readability.
I actually wish I could un-purchase 2312. I don’t want it showing up on my Kindle App. Worst book I ever read. Ever. X 1000.
Al, I very much enjoy both yours and Stan's fiction and I can't comment on BRE or OTSB vs. 2312 as they await reading due to a growing time leak towards my own very humble efforts at writing.
ReplyDeleteBut I do think you're the better plotter! I would also say that Stan has got information dumping down to a fine art, which as a scientist I both love and am frustrated with in equal measure. I never feel the same with your fiction. That is, if you're dumping, it's a more organic process altogether, which brings me to...
As a biological scientist, I firmly support the idea that animals are a branch of science!
Chris
Al, MinZhi here. Can't wait for your "steel breeze". I have re-read BRE for the third time now. LOL... congratz for everything you have done!
ReplyDeleteAfter having my mind blown by the relelation space series.... I had a break from reading SF and went to theoretical physics for my bedtime reading. Apart from the heroes demise they are without doubt the finest SF books Ive ever read. Now I've just finished BRE and after a slow start I thought it was an excellent book. Can't wait for the next one! Good work AR :-)
ReplyDeleteBlue Remembered Earth was wonderful! I immediately pre-ordered On the Steel Breeze!
ReplyDeleteI like your ideas that you put into your books very much. This series is set in such a nice atmosphere that it's really fun to read.
For me BRE is one of the best novels you've wrote so far and I loved how it ended on a supposition. Having just started reading 2312 though I can see where Anon is coming from, it does seem to drag a bit, particularly when it's on Mercury. Cannot wait to see what happens in OTSB!
ReplyDelete