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War of the Maps
On a giant artificial world surrounding an artificial sun, one man - a lucidor, a keeper of the peace, a policeman - is on the hunt. His target was responsible for an atrocity, but is too valuable to the government to be truly punished. Instead he has been sent to the frontlines of the war, to use his unique talents on the enemy. So the lucidor has ignored orders, deserted from his job, left his home and thrown his life away, in order to finally claim justice.
Separated by massive seas, the various maps dotted on the surface of this world rarely contact each other. But something has begun to infiltrate the edges of the lucidor's map, something that genetically alters animals and plants and turns them into killers. Only the lucidor knows the depths to which his quarry will sink in order to survive, only the lucidor can capture him. The way is long and dangerous. The lucidor's government has set hunters after him. He has no friends, no resources, no plan.
But he does have a mission.
432 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 19, 2020
150 people are currently reading
1469 people want to read
About the author
Paul McAuley
227 books414 followersSince 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 99 reviews
April 24, 2020
Three and a half stars.
The main premise of War of the Maps is simply fascinating: an artificial world, a Dyson sphere and the human beings inhabit its surface, although for them the origin of the giant planet, its creation by supposed deities and their subsequent departure leaving them abandoned to their fate a long time ago, is ceasing to be history to increasingly becoming a myth. Thus, they have some technology, some ancient devices, that they continue to use it as much as possible, being aware that this knowledge does not belong to them. As a result it is a society equivalent to our 19th or early 20th centuries. In other words, a sort of steampunk society, but without “steam”.
In a Paul McAuley’s story everything is very accurate or precise: well thought-out arguments, which far from seeking the spectacularity of another type of science fiction offer to the reader a great amount of details but at the same time without neglecting to offer us a share of the sense of wonder. At some point of the book, during a journey by the main protagonist, it made me think of Jack Vance’s novels. I commented this to the author via Twitter, who kindly replied that it was not the case, that he admires Jack Vance’s novels (especially he had great regard for The Dying Earth stories), but that he had not been inspired by this work, at least consciously. As I moved further into the novel I understood my mistake in making the comparison: Paul McAuley's works actually have an individuality of their own, making them hardly comparable to other science fiction works.
Of course, in War of the Maps you will find some of the the preferred themes by the author: the characters have little control of the situation but they try to survive and achieve their purposes, unleashed biology (The title of the novel partly refers to this), incomprehensible technologies and capricious entities insensitive to human life: in this case the so-called godlings, that maybe are AIs abandoned by the creators, but who knows.
As a flaws or aspects that I do not liked, The stubbornness of the main character is a bit tiresome, although I must point out that all the characters are well depicted. On the other hand, a subject that complicates the plot is that some of them have a gift, a kind of power -for example, the gift of the main character is to nullify other powers-; This topic is interesting and has some importance in the story but it seems somewhat arbitrary and for me it is not entirely well justified.
As usual I will not reveal anything about the plot, you can read the synopsis of the book. Mr. McAuley develops his adventure in his “quiet” way, taking his time to narrate the adventures of the protagonist - who by age could well be him himself -, which in turn makes the reading a bit cold, including in the action or violence scenes, but in return the style is more realistic. Although the book is very speculative in some parts, it also has an hard science fiction component. A curiosity about the main character. We know his name, although at the same time throughout the novel it is seldom used to refer to him. Instead, we know him as “the lucidor", a sort of policeman at the service of ethics rather than of the laws or the state powers.
It is only my guess, but I think that if this book have success, this great planet imagined by the author could hold a lot more of adventures, more discoveries or intrigues in its possible sequels. I really like this author and I've read many of his books since Fairyland totally captivated me, but I think that this quiet and rational style, likewise makes him an author not for everyone. But as I said in a previous review, I consider that Paul McAuley is one of the best contemporary authors of science fiction.
You can see also this review on my blog: http://girotix.blogspot.com/search/la...
The main premise of War of the Maps is simply fascinating: an artificial world, a Dyson sphere and the human beings inhabit its surface, although for them the origin of the giant planet, its creation by supposed deities and their subsequent departure leaving them abandoned to their fate a long time ago, is ceasing to be history to increasingly becoming a myth. Thus, they have some technology, some ancient devices, that they continue to use it as much as possible, being aware that this knowledge does not belong to them. As a result it is a society equivalent to our 19th or early 20th centuries. In other words, a sort of steampunk society, but without “steam”.
In a Paul McAuley’s story everything is very accurate or precise: well thought-out arguments, which far from seeking the spectacularity of another type of science fiction offer to the reader a great amount of details but at the same time without neglecting to offer us a share of the sense of wonder. At some point of the book, during a journey by the main protagonist, it made me think of Jack Vance’s novels. I commented this to the author via Twitter, who kindly replied that it was not the case, that he admires Jack Vance’s novels (especially he had great regard for The Dying Earth stories), but that he had not been inspired by this work, at least consciously. As I moved further into the novel I understood my mistake in making the comparison: Paul McAuley's works actually have an individuality of their own, making them hardly comparable to other science fiction works.
Of course, in War of the Maps you will find some of the the preferred themes by the author: the characters have little control of the situation but they try to survive and achieve their purposes, unleashed biology (The title of the novel partly refers to this), incomprehensible technologies and capricious entities insensitive to human life: in this case the so-called godlings, that maybe are AIs abandoned by the creators, but who knows.
As a flaws or aspects that I do not liked, The stubbornness of the main character is a bit tiresome, although I must point out that all the characters are well depicted. On the other hand, a subject that complicates the plot is that some of them have a gift, a kind of power -for example, the gift of the main character is to nullify other powers-; This topic is interesting and has some importance in the story but it seems somewhat arbitrary and for me it is not entirely well justified.
As usual I will not reveal anything about the plot, you can read the synopsis of the book. Mr. McAuley develops his adventure in his “quiet” way, taking his time to narrate the adventures of the protagonist - who by age could well be him himself -, which in turn makes the reading a bit cold, including in the action or violence scenes, but in return the style is more realistic. Although the book is very speculative in some parts, it also has an hard science fiction component. A curiosity about the main character. We know his name, although at the same time throughout the novel it is seldom used to refer to him. Instead, we know him as “the lucidor", a sort of policeman at the service of ethics rather than of the laws or the state powers.
It is only my guess, but I think that if this book have success, this great planet imagined by the author could hold a lot more of adventures, more discoveries or intrigues in its possible sequels. I really like this author and I've read many of his books since Fairyland totally captivated me, but I think that this quiet and rational style, likewise makes him an author not for everyone. But as I said in a previous review, I consider that Paul McAuley is one of the best contemporary authors of science fiction.
You can see also this review on my blog: http://girotix.blogspot.com/search/la...
April 10, 2020
After a few misses, finally, another highly expected 2020 novel that delivered and more; very inventive and packing a lot in its 400 odd pages, War of the Maps is mainly a novel about exploring a new and very interesting far future universe with many twists and turns - it reminded me of the zany and brutal sf and sfnal novels of French author Serge Brussolo (which sadly are not translated in English) in which in one cool description, the hero or heroine goes from bad to worse and even more worse so to speak during his or her sfnal journey across a crazy, generally devasted realm - and as I highly enjoy those novels, I expected to really enjoy this one as it was clear fairly soon how it's going to go; so expect continual changes and (again not for the better) in the Lucidor's journey to catch a supergenius malefactor that has been secretly traded by the powers to be to a neighboring country to help with an apocalyptic invasion...
I am really curious how the book will be received as it departs to a large extent from the English language sf traditions (the author did that to some extent in his Quiet war sequence) of victory against all odds and gets closer to the French tradition of everyone fails in the end so well exemplified by S Brussolo's oeuvre.
Highly, highly recommended and a top 10 for the year but be prepared for mayhem, disaster and darkness without necessarily too much light at the end of the tunnel, unless that is an accelerating train coming from the other side...
I am really curious how the book will be received as it departs to a large extent from the English language sf traditions (the author did that to some extent in his Quiet war sequence) of victory against all odds and gets closer to the French tradition of everyone fails in the end so well exemplified by S Brussolo's oeuvre.
Highly, highly recommended and a top 10 for the year but be prepared for mayhem, disaster and darkness without necessarily too much light at the end of the tunnel, unless that is an accelerating train coming from the other side...
June 25, 2023
‘On us, on other maps … A war of the maps, yes, why not? It’s possible that the invasion was not quickened by a skyfall after all, but is an accident caused by misuse of applied philosophy.’
Review to follow.
Review to follow.
April 4, 2020
At its most basic level the War of the Maps is a revenge tale, a story of a bad guy used by the good guys to get rid of problems. We begin with something like a science-fictional version of Stephen King’s The Gunslinger – a lone man on a horse travelling across a landscape. Thorn is a lucidor – a retired policeman on a mission. As he travels amongst the Maps looking for his quarry, we discover how he got to be a lucidor and the purpose of his quest.
Much of the novel is used to describe what this world the man is travelling through is like. There are a variety of landscapes – mountains and marshlands, industrial cities and medieval-esque markets. Initially the novel seems very much like the landscape and society of the Old American Wild West, or even Joss Whedon’s Firefly, surrounded by oceans.
Details of such environments are drip-fed through the novel as we go and we realise that in actuality this world is science-fictional. The bright sunlight beating down on our lead character is actually from mirrors above the planet. The world is really enveloped by the light of an artificial sun, and the Maps are actually places on this planet living as little kingdoms separated by vast seas generally having little to do with each other, apart from the odd skirmish or foray into each other’s different societies.
However, most of this is incidental. The main plot point is that Thorn is a man on a mission – he is hunting for the unusually named "Remfrey He", a criminal who, for reasons that will become clearer over the course of the novel, has been set free but, due to complex politics, seems to still owes society for an atrocity he instigated. Our character, a retired lawman, is determined to make him pay.
To this aim we follow Thorn as he moves across desert to avoid assassins, helps a group of miners overthrow their slave masters, crosses seas, defends a wagon train as it travels across mountains and sails on a boat to rescue a group who may have the answer to an ongoing global issue.
The bigger picture is that Remfrey He (referred to with his full name throughout the novel) may be responsible for something that seems to disassemble genetics and recreate plants and animals into something new. A red weed seems to change women into ‘alter females’, a strange creature that seemingly loses most of its human characteristics and attacks humans. Remfrey He may have the solution to their mysterious origins – are they part of a new species designed to wipe out humans or are they a genuine adaptive response? As Thorn gets nearer to his quarry, things become stranger and we step into Jeff Vandermeer territory.
Around all of this there are also god-like intelligences that may be playing a bigger, more convoluted game, a situation made more complicated by the fact that Thorn seems to connect with one. All of this leads to a big conclusion.
War of the Maps starts slowly. Not all readers will like its languid pace, as it takes until after halfway in the novel before the lucidor’s planetary meandering begins to make sense. There is an element of ‘ignore the plot, feel the environment’ in the first half. Paul likes to describe the landscape and, as well done as it is, it can slow things down to a point where some readers may become frustrated. I did enjoy it myself.
But here’s the rub. Despite getting Thorn’s backstory drip-fed through the book, and an understanding of who he is and how he got to this, this character’s downbeat, emotionless default setting left me rather cold. At no point did I really feel emotionally connected to Thorn, the other characters he meets or their world. Instead, I read it in a rather detached, observatory manner. At times this dour mood and lack of emotion made the book, for all of its clever and detailed writing, a bit of a slog that I struggled to continue reading.
But as the plot’s bigger mysteries are resolved towards the end, the full impact of the tale becomes clear, a story that at its heart is science-fictional despite all the trappings that initially suggests that it is not.
In the end, War of the Maps for me is a conundrum – a well written, clever novel, but one which I admired rather than totally loved. It is not a disappointment – far from it – but at the same time I could not wholeheartedly recommend it.
Much of the novel is used to describe what this world the man is travelling through is like. There are a variety of landscapes – mountains and marshlands, industrial cities and medieval-esque markets. Initially the novel seems very much like the landscape and society of the Old American Wild West, or even Joss Whedon’s Firefly, surrounded by oceans.
Details of such environments are drip-fed through the novel as we go and we realise that in actuality this world is science-fictional. The bright sunlight beating down on our lead character is actually from mirrors above the planet. The world is really enveloped by the light of an artificial sun, and the Maps are actually places on this planet living as little kingdoms separated by vast seas generally having little to do with each other, apart from the odd skirmish or foray into each other’s different societies.
However, most of this is incidental. The main plot point is that Thorn is a man on a mission – he is hunting for the unusually named "Remfrey He", a criminal who, for reasons that will become clearer over the course of the novel, has been set free but, due to complex politics, seems to still owes society for an atrocity he instigated. Our character, a retired lawman, is determined to make him pay.
To this aim we follow Thorn as he moves across desert to avoid assassins, helps a group of miners overthrow their slave masters, crosses seas, defends a wagon train as it travels across mountains and sails on a boat to rescue a group who may have the answer to an ongoing global issue.
The bigger picture is that Remfrey He (referred to with his full name throughout the novel) may be responsible for something that seems to disassemble genetics and recreate plants and animals into something new. A red weed seems to change women into ‘alter females’, a strange creature that seemingly loses most of its human characteristics and attacks humans. Remfrey He may have the solution to their mysterious origins – are they part of a new species designed to wipe out humans or are they a genuine adaptive response? As Thorn gets nearer to his quarry, things become stranger and we step into Jeff Vandermeer territory.
Around all of this there are also god-like intelligences that may be playing a bigger, more convoluted game, a situation made more complicated by the fact that Thorn seems to connect with one. All of this leads to a big conclusion.
War of the Maps starts slowly. Not all readers will like its languid pace, as it takes until after halfway in the novel before the lucidor’s planetary meandering begins to make sense. There is an element of ‘ignore the plot, feel the environment’ in the first half. Paul likes to describe the landscape and, as well done as it is, it can slow things down to a point where some readers may become frustrated. I did enjoy it myself.
But here’s the rub. Despite getting Thorn’s backstory drip-fed through the book, and an understanding of who he is and how he got to this, this character’s downbeat, emotionless default setting left me rather cold. At no point did I really feel emotionally connected to Thorn, the other characters he meets or their world. Instead, I read it in a rather detached, observatory manner. At times this dour mood and lack of emotion made the book, for all of its clever and detailed writing, a bit of a slog that I struggled to continue reading.
But as the plot’s bigger mysteries are resolved towards the end, the full impact of the tale becomes clear, a story that at its heart is science-fictional despite all the trappings that initially suggests that it is not.
In the end, War of the Maps for me is a conundrum – a well written, clever novel, but one which I admired rather than totally loved. It is not a disappointment – far from it – but at the same time I could not wholeheartedly recommend it.
July 13, 2021
This is a far future SF, with people living at a gameplay map abandoned by initial godlike players, so that a lot of tech is actually closer to the past (mounts, slave labor) than the future. This is my first book by the author.
The story is set on the outer surface of a Dyson sphere. Inside the sphere is a dwarf star and in the sky above there are mirrors, which refract the light back to the surface. Most of the giant sphere is covered with water, on which unconnected land area (called maps) are located. Long-long time ago the godlike beings created this world and its inhabitants, just to inhabit some of the bodies to play out their incomprehensible games. Now godlings are out and the world slowly decays. Moreover, there is a relatively new problem simply dubbed the invasion – new species that either harm of gain control over the older bioforms, including people.
The protagonist is an old gray-haired man named Thor, who is mostly referred to as the lucidor (light-giver), a kind of a policeman from the Free State. His homeland is a version of communal society with no private enterprise and strong regulation of all spheres, including science, which is mainly referred to as a [natural] philosophy. The book starts with the hero wondering thru new to him territories. He is following a notorious criminal Remfrey He, who initially looks like a version of Dr. Moriarty but later shifts to more a kind of mad scientist. Thor has previously arrested He, but his country decided to give the prisoner to the neighboring state, the move our hero disapproves of enough to go rogue on a personal quest of recapturing the criminal.
As his quest goes on, the lucidor meets new people of different cultures and sees new places. While the world reminds of a western movie setting – small arms, trains, horses, the very style of a good guy hunting down a bad one, there are quite a lot of modern and even futuristic items. For example, there are map readers, who are ‘reading life maps and tweaking animals’ i.e. genetically modify them. this is a kind of natural gift, others being an “electricker” who can hit with electricity ray-like or the gift of the protagonist – to cancel or weaken the powers of others.
The book has a lot of ‘side quests’ which allows to see the world better. However, they also add a slog to the book – I think it could have been much shorter and more to the point. While there is a lot of thought being spend on creating the setting, sometimes it looked clumsy for me. Other reviewers I guess correctly compare this novel to Jack Vance’s The Dying Earth series, for it also has an end-time gloom, which is not what I was after, so I was disappointed with the story, even if it has a lot of potential and a surprising twist at the end.
The story is set on the outer surface of a Dyson sphere. Inside the sphere is a dwarf star and in the sky above there are mirrors, which refract the light back to the surface. Most of the giant sphere is covered with water, on which unconnected land area (called maps) are located. Long-long time ago the godlike beings created this world and its inhabitants, just to inhabit some of the bodies to play out their incomprehensible games. Now godlings are out and the world slowly decays. Moreover, there is a relatively new problem simply dubbed the invasion – new species that either harm of gain control over the older bioforms, including people.
The protagonist is an old gray-haired man named Thor, who is mostly referred to as the lucidor (light-giver), a kind of a policeman from the Free State. His homeland is a version of communal society with no private enterprise and strong regulation of all spheres, including science, which is mainly referred to as a [natural] philosophy. The book starts with the hero wondering thru new to him territories. He is following a notorious criminal Remfrey He, who initially looks like a version of Dr. Moriarty but later shifts to more a kind of mad scientist. Thor has previously arrested He, but his country decided to give the prisoner to the neighboring state, the move our hero disapproves of enough to go rogue on a personal quest of recapturing the criminal.
As his quest goes on, the lucidor meets new people of different cultures and sees new places. While the world reminds of a western movie setting – small arms, trains, horses, the very style of a good guy hunting down a bad one, there are quite a lot of modern and even futuristic items. For example, there are map readers, who are ‘reading life maps and tweaking animals’ i.e. genetically modify them. this is a kind of natural gift, others being an “electricker” who can hit with electricity ray-like or the gift of the protagonist – to cancel or weaken the powers of others.
The book has a lot of ‘side quests’ which allows to see the world better. However, they also add a slog to the book – I think it could have been much shorter and more to the point. While there is a lot of thought being spend on creating the setting, sometimes it looked clumsy for me. Other reviewers I guess correctly compare this novel to Jack Vance’s The Dying Earth series, for it also has an end-time gloom, which is not what I was after, so I was disappointed with the story, even if it has a lot of potential and a surprising twist at the end.
May 20, 2020
Paul McAuley, possibly best known for his Quiet War series, is a versatile author adept at an impressive range of genre forms, including techno-thrillers (I adored Mind’s Eye and White Devils), space opera, alternative history and climate fiction. He’s also a top shelf short story writer and I can’t believe he hasn’t scored a bucket of Hugos across his decades of impressive literary contribution.
In War of the Maps, sensibilities of epic fantasy and sf are twisted and intertwined. The tale of the lucidor, an ageing, weather beaten former lawman who hunts the wicked, cruel and artful Remfrey He across the fractured surface of an artificial planet in the extremely far-flung future where a war is waging against an invasion of little monsters in an artificial landscape littered with remnants of synthetic biology run rampant and deadly, accidents resulting from the misuse of applied philosophy.
The maps referred to in the title are of both landform and biological varieties. As usual, McAuley’s biologist background pushes through, with thick, lyrical paragraphs bringing this strange new world to life. A narrative to immerse yourself in rather than merely read. Its intricate layers of cultural warp and weft provide a rugged, tactile imaginative soaking, with tendrils of biology and technology coiling dark and damp and deep.
War of the Maps evoked similar sensations to China Mieville’s Bas-Lag series and Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials and Claire McKenna’s Monstrous Heart, the book I finished directly after this one.
Highly recommended.
In War of the Maps, sensibilities of epic fantasy and sf are twisted and intertwined. The tale of the lucidor, an ageing, weather beaten former lawman who hunts the wicked, cruel and artful Remfrey He across the fractured surface of an artificial planet in the extremely far-flung future where a war is waging against an invasion of little monsters in an artificial landscape littered with remnants of synthetic biology run rampant and deadly, accidents resulting from the misuse of applied philosophy.
The maps referred to in the title are of both landform and biological varieties. As usual, McAuley’s biologist background pushes through, with thick, lyrical paragraphs bringing this strange new world to life. A narrative to immerse yourself in rather than merely read. Its intricate layers of cultural warp and weft provide a rugged, tactile imaginative soaking, with tendrils of biology and technology coiling dark and damp and deep.
War of the Maps evoked similar sensations to China Mieville’s Bas-Lag series and Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials and Claire McKenna’s Monstrous Heart, the book I finished directly after this one.
Highly recommended.
January 29, 2022
A YA, Cattle Punk-like, story, set in the far future, where a retired lawman chases his evil, genius nemesis across the surface of a neglected Dyson sphere with a remnant human population amidst a lethal biological invasion.
The ‘Maps” would be the human populated hexes sheathing the star.
My audiobook was about 16-hours in length. A dead tree version would be a substantial 430 pages. The book had a 2021 UK copyright.
Paul J. McAuley is a British author of science fiction. Many of his stories have a biological theme. He has published almost 30 novels standalone and in several series. This appears to be the first book in his World of Maps series? I’ve read most of the author’s books. The last book being Into Everywhere (Jackaroo Series, #2) (my review).
TL;DR Synopsis
I approached this book with a lot of excitement. McAuley is a fave author. In addition, cosmic megastructures are a meme which I’ve been interested in since first reading Ring World . I was disappointed.
This story most closely reminded me of the soft science fiction of Jack Vance written in the early 1960’s. It was a Quest story, where the U.S. Marshal-type, elder hero (referred to by more than one name at different times, although he’s Thorn at the end) chases his McGuffin nemesis (the Evil Genius Remfrey He) across the megastructure, defeats The Big Bad (invasion of lethal invasive species) and Saves the Princess (the Tomboy Princess/Hero Scientist Orjen Starbreaker). Sidequests extend the story. Along the way Thorn’s history and beliefs, and the really interesting world building are trickled out to the reader. Story contains the scarcest minimum of objectionable material or behavior.
The Review
McAuley is a proficient author. All his prose is always top-notch. Dialog was about equal with descriptive prose. In this story, he uses a split POV, the protagonist Thorn and later 3rd-person. It was reasonably well done. Unfortunately, ear-reading does not give a good opportunity to inspect the prose. (The narrator functions as an Editor.) Finally, I got the feeling the story’s prose has been Americanized? There were no overt British-isms to be found.
Characters were good, although they hewed very closely to trope. The majority of the principal characters have minor, mental super powers in the story. These are a vestige of humanities far past. Most folks are powerless. The protagonist was Thorn. A different points he has several names. He’s always, “The Lucidor”, which I interpreted to be a variation of luchador? He’s a principled, retired lawman similar to a U.S. Marshall. He’s got a lot of baggage who has been dragooned out of retirement into a Quest on a variation of the One Last Job trope. Thorn’s superpower was that his presence suppresses the powers of others in his presence. (Handy for a lawman?) The principal antagonist was Remfrey He. He’s a caricature of the Evil Genius. If Thorn was Sherlock Holmes, then He was his Moriarty. Along with being a genius, He has the superpower of a Charm Person, making people want to do what he wants them to do. This made him a particularly odious “Bad Guy”. He’s co-antagonist was The Shatterling. It was a derelict AI set on a plan to Take Over the World. It’s your basic Psycho Prototype that has been waiting millennia for an unwitting adventurer to liberate it. You can guess who that was? Finally, there was the co-protagonist, Orjen Starbreaker. She’s a princess in a country, Thorn follow’s He to. Properly, she’s a Science Hero, chasing the bio-plague invasion of deadly, invasive species. Her superpower was a supra-normal facility with gene mapping. She provides both biotech support and influence at Court in support of Thorn’s quest.
In addition, there was a cast of thousands of supporting characters. There were: policemen, soldiers, sailors, mercenaries, brigands, thieves, politicians, court functionaries, scientists (called “Philosophers”), monsters, A.I.s, physicians, merchants and peasants. McAuley’s world was remarkably egalitarian in terms that women were interchangeable with men in any role (except when Royalty was involved).
There was no sex, minimal drugs, and no rock ‘n roll in the story. Nobody had sex, despite several folks being married. Oddly, only the Princess was threatened with forced sex. Opium-like drugs were consumed, along with alcohol. Alcohol consumption was moderate and without drunkenness. Nobody consumed any entertainment, except to share a few songs around the campfire while Thorn was ‘on the trail’. Violence was: physical, edged-weapons, firearms and ray-blasters. There were small, military-like skirmishes with multiple casualties and deaths. Violence could be gory at times, but was not overly, graphically so. Surprisingly, the affects of small wounds and trauma were accurately described. (Heroes were not invulnerable.) Body count was high. However, this book could easily be classified as YA by popular standards.
Plotting was well within the scope of The Quest. Thorn chases the escaped villain He across a couple of “Maps” (landscapes) to bring him back to justice. Along the way there are side adventures. The most important of which involves Starbreaker’s search for the source of the biological invasion of her ‘map’. The reader’s knowledge of the World of Maps was added to along the way. Frankly, I came to think of the story as too simple. Despite the solid world building, and biological science-- the story was saccharinely YA. I became impatient for the quest for Remfrey He and the biological plague to end. The story was not gritty enough to interest me.
For example, Thorn wore his White Hat too tightly throughout. After defeating a trio of brigands in armed combat on the road who would have killed him; he leaves them trussed-up on the side of the road to be found by their compatriots. The Lucidor dismisses the choice with, “Good guys don’t kill prisoners.” (I’m paraphrasing.) This was despite them being able to provide valuable intelligence on his abilities and movements. Shortly afterward, the brigands kill a few of his allies. (The Lucidor was without remorse over this.)
World building was the strong suite of the story. I spent a lot of time thinking about how the megastructure was constructed. (There are several ways to do it.) I hung on every tidbit from the story. The biological science has also good. The Lucidor’s map (landscape on the exterior of the Dyson sphere) had lost a lot of tech, but still retained a sophisticated bio-science capability. That tech was unevenly distributed. The clash of biospheres (the ‘War of the Maps’), and human attempts to remediate the invading species mostly held my interest. It vaguely reminded me of David Gerrold's The War Against the Chtorr - Invasion . As mentioned, tech was unevenly distributed on the World of Maps. The humans were ‘metal-poor’, although they had photovoltaic electricity and bioplastics. There was also a certain amount of remnant, technology “from the Age of the Gods” still laying around. In places this tech leant a supernatural tint to the story I could have done without. Thorn’s world was vaguely at an early Victorian level of both technologically and societally at its urban centers. The hinterlands were medieval, with an American Old West look ‘n feel. The societal world building was OK, but I found it strikingly unoriginal. I also thought that some folks having superpowers was a bit naft.
Summary
Firstly, McAuley is a fave author. His The Quiet War series is a personal fave. In general, I found this to be a science fiction book with solid science, but a puerile work of fiction.
This was a well-written story, but it just wasn’t a good story. I frankly found Thorn’s journey across his map and to other maps boring. I only hung on for the drip-feed of the background tech. I wish the World of Maps structure had been described in greater detail. The biological plague’s monsters were mildly entertaining. (Do decapod crustaceans have to appear in every modern sf story?) Thorn’s Sherlock-like dual with his Moriarty in a Cattle Punk-like context as the main plotline was too derivative for me to find interesting. It set the story too close to Steam Punk, a genre I have little interest in. The story was also YA. McAuley steam-cleaned all of the solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short out of the story. Although, Thorn was quite solitary. So, intelligent science in the world building. OK war against the biological invasion. Unimaginative, squeaky clean, remnant, human society scrambling amongst the ruins. Poor implementation of the Thorn quest. I likely won’t be reading anything further written in War of the Maps, its not 'good 'nough'.
The ‘Maps” would be the human populated hexes sheathing the star.
My audiobook was about 16-hours in length. A dead tree version would be a substantial 430 pages. The book had a 2021 UK copyright.
Paul J. McAuley is a British author of science fiction. Many of his stories have a biological theme. He has published almost 30 novels standalone and in several series. This appears to be the first book in his World of Maps series? I’ve read most of the author’s books. The last book being Into Everywhere (Jackaroo Series, #2) (my review).
TL;DR Synopsis
I approached this book with a lot of excitement. McAuley is a fave author. In addition, cosmic megastructures are a meme which I’ve been interested in since first reading Ring World . I was disappointed.
This story most closely reminded me of the soft science fiction of Jack Vance written in the early 1960’s. It was a Quest story, where the U.S. Marshal-type, elder hero (referred to by more than one name at different times, although he’s Thorn at the end) chases his McGuffin nemesis (the Evil Genius Remfrey He) across the megastructure, defeats The Big Bad (invasion of lethal invasive species) and Saves the Princess (the Tomboy Princess/Hero Scientist Orjen Starbreaker). Sidequests extend the story. Along the way Thorn’s history and beliefs, and the really interesting world building are trickled out to the reader. Story contains the scarcest minimum of objectionable material or behavior.
The Review
McAuley is a proficient author. All his prose is always top-notch. Dialog was about equal with descriptive prose. In this story, he uses a split POV, the protagonist Thorn and later 3rd-person. It was reasonably well done. Unfortunately, ear-reading does not give a good opportunity to inspect the prose. (The narrator functions as an Editor.) Finally, I got the feeling the story’s prose has been Americanized? There were no overt British-isms to be found.
Characters were good, although they hewed very closely to trope. The majority of the principal characters have minor, mental super powers in the story. These are a vestige of humanities far past. Most folks are powerless. The protagonist was Thorn. A different points he has several names. He’s always, “The Lucidor”, which I interpreted to be a variation of luchador? He’s a principled, retired lawman similar to a U.S. Marshall. He’s got a lot of baggage who has been dragooned out of retirement into a Quest on a variation of the One Last Job trope. Thorn’s superpower was that his presence suppresses the powers of others in his presence. (Handy for a lawman?) The principal antagonist was Remfrey He. He’s a caricature of the Evil Genius. If Thorn was Sherlock Holmes, then He was his Moriarty. Along with being a genius, He has the superpower of a Charm Person, making people want to do what he wants them to do. This made him a particularly odious “Bad Guy”. He’s co-antagonist was The Shatterling. It was a derelict AI set on a plan to Take Over the World. It’s your basic Psycho Prototype that has been waiting millennia for an unwitting adventurer to liberate it. You can guess who that was? Finally, there was the co-protagonist, Orjen Starbreaker. She’s a princess in a country, Thorn follow’s He to. Properly, she’s a Science Hero, chasing the bio-plague invasion of deadly, invasive species. Her superpower was a supra-normal facility with gene mapping. She provides both biotech support and influence at Court in support of Thorn’s quest.
In addition, there was a cast of thousands of supporting characters. There were: policemen, soldiers, sailors, mercenaries, brigands, thieves, politicians, court functionaries, scientists (called “Philosophers”), monsters, A.I.s, physicians, merchants and peasants. McAuley’s world was remarkably egalitarian in terms that women were interchangeable with men in any role (except when Royalty was involved).
There was no sex, minimal drugs, and no rock ‘n roll in the story. Nobody had sex, despite several folks being married. Oddly, only the Princess was threatened with forced sex. Opium-like drugs were consumed, along with alcohol. Alcohol consumption was moderate and without drunkenness. Nobody consumed any entertainment, except to share a few songs around the campfire while Thorn was ‘on the trail’. Violence was: physical, edged-weapons, firearms and ray-blasters. There were small, military-like skirmishes with multiple casualties and deaths. Violence could be gory at times, but was not overly, graphically so. Surprisingly, the affects of small wounds and trauma were accurately described. (Heroes were not invulnerable.) Body count was high. However, this book could easily be classified as YA by popular standards.
Plotting was well within the scope of The Quest. Thorn chases the escaped villain He across a couple of “Maps” (landscapes) to bring him back to justice. Along the way there are side adventures. The most important of which involves Starbreaker’s search for the source of the biological invasion of her ‘map’. The reader’s knowledge of the World of Maps was added to along the way. Frankly, I came to think of the story as too simple. Despite the solid world building, and biological science-- the story was saccharinely YA. I became impatient for the quest for Remfrey He and the biological plague to end. The story was not gritty enough to interest me.
For example, Thorn wore his White Hat too tightly throughout. After defeating a trio of brigands in armed combat on the road who would have killed him; he leaves them trussed-up on the side of the road to be found by their compatriots. The Lucidor dismisses the choice with, “Good guys don’t kill prisoners.” (I’m paraphrasing.) This was despite them being able to provide valuable intelligence on his abilities and movements. Shortly afterward, the brigands kill a few of his allies. (The Lucidor was without remorse over this.)
World building was the strong suite of the story. I spent a lot of time thinking about how the megastructure was constructed. (There are several ways to do it.) I hung on every tidbit from the story. The biological science has also good. The Lucidor’s map (landscape on the exterior of the Dyson sphere) had lost a lot of tech, but still retained a sophisticated bio-science capability. That tech was unevenly distributed. The clash of biospheres (the ‘War of the Maps’), and human attempts to remediate the invading species mostly held my interest. It vaguely reminded me of David Gerrold's The War Against the Chtorr - Invasion . As mentioned, tech was unevenly distributed on the World of Maps. The humans were ‘metal-poor’, although they had photovoltaic electricity and bioplastics. There was also a certain amount of remnant, technology “from the Age of the Gods” still laying around. In places this tech leant a supernatural tint to the story I could have done without. Thorn’s world was vaguely at an early Victorian level of both technologically and societally at its urban centers. The hinterlands were medieval, with an American Old West look ‘n feel. The societal world building was OK, but I found it strikingly unoriginal. I also thought that some folks having superpowers was a bit naft.
Summary
Firstly, McAuley is a fave author. His The Quiet War series is a personal fave. In general, I found this to be a science fiction book with solid science, but a puerile work of fiction.
This was a well-written story, but it just wasn’t a good story. I frankly found Thorn’s journey across his map and to other maps boring. I only hung on for the drip-feed of the background tech. I wish the World of Maps structure had been described in greater detail. The biological plague’s monsters were mildly entertaining. (Do decapod crustaceans have to appear in every modern sf story?) Thorn’s Sherlock-like dual with his Moriarty in a Cattle Punk-like context as the main plotline was too derivative for me to find interesting. It set the story too close to Steam Punk, a genre I have little interest in. The story was also YA. McAuley steam-cleaned all of the solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short out of the story. Although, Thorn was quite solitary. So, intelligent science in the world building. OK war against the biological invasion. Unimaginative, squeaky clean, remnant, human society scrambling amongst the ruins. Poor implementation of the Thorn quest. I likely won’t be reading anything further written in War of the Maps, its not 'good 'nough'.
March 24, 2020
I thoroughly enjoyed this one. The worldbuilding, as ever with McAuley, was both detailed and plausible. But what I liked most of all about this story was that we mostly stayed in the viewpoint of the lawman, known as a lucidor, who is determined to track down a truly horrible antagonist – a murderer who casually commits atrocities, and enjoying watching his victims suffer. Unfortunately, he is also one of the foremost scientific thinkers on the planet who is able to help fight the influx of mutated creatures engulfing villages, countryside and towns, slaughtering humanity, domestic animals and wildlife alike. There are some gripping passages of the ruined landscape where no birds or insects break the silence…
So, who is right – the dogged lucidor who is convinced that Remfrey He should account for the lives he has torn apart? Or the authorities who feel that, in this extremely unusual case, Remfrey He should be allowed to atone for his misdeeds by travelling to the site of the suffering land to assist in beating back the alter women? These grotesque mutations have a social structure resembling ants and gather everything in their path to tear up and reuse it for their own purposes – including people.
Remfrey He is one of the most satisfyingly nasty characters I’ve encountered in a while, and by contrast, I grew to love the lucidor, whose name we hardly ever see. He has adopted his birth name, Thorn, after he retired from his profession of tracking down lawbreakers, when he was known as Lucidor Kyl. He is elderly, tough, resourceful and trusts no one and we’re in his head for a large chunk of the narrative. This story starts off as one man tracking another through an increasingly dangerous landscape, and broadens out as the lucidor is sucked into some of the upheavals caused by the dangerous mutations.
One of the intriguing details is that some people are gifted with particular talents, such as scrying. As well as being brilliant and resourceful, Remfrey He is a silvertongue, with the gift of persuading most people to become his disciples. And the reason why the lucidor was sent after him, is that his gift nullifies the talents of those in close proximity. I liked how that played out, because the consequence is that other people who might be able to successfully apprehend Remfrey He don’t want to work with the lucidor, as he sucks their gift dry.
This isn’t a fast-paced book. McAuley’s habit of writing dense description about every step of the way ensures that we see the world through the lucidor’s eyes and his days of plunging headlong into adventures are well and truly over. But I not only could see the world, I could taste and hear it, as this book swallowed me up and had me engrossed until right up to the end. It’s a gem that deserves to be far better known than it is. Highly recommended by fans of well-written intelligent colony world adventures and epic fantasy. The ebook arc copy of War of the Maps was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest opinion of the book.
10/10
So, who is right – the dogged lucidor who is convinced that Remfrey He should account for the lives he has torn apart? Or the authorities who feel that, in this extremely unusual case, Remfrey He should be allowed to atone for his misdeeds by travelling to the site of the suffering land to assist in beating back the alter women? These grotesque mutations have a social structure resembling ants and gather everything in their path to tear up and reuse it for their own purposes – including people.
Remfrey He is one of the most satisfyingly nasty characters I’ve encountered in a while, and by contrast, I grew to love the lucidor, whose name we hardly ever see. He has adopted his birth name, Thorn, after he retired from his profession of tracking down lawbreakers, when he was known as Lucidor Kyl. He is elderly, tough, resourceful and trusts no one and we’re in his head for a large chunk of the narrative. This story starts off as one man tracking another through an increasingly dangerous landscape, and broadens out as the lucidor is sucked into some of the upheavals caused by the dangerous mutations.
One of the intriguing details is that some people are gifted with particular talents, such as scrying. As well as being brilliant and resourceful, Remfrey He is a silvertongue, with the gift of persuading most people to become his disciples. And the reason why the lucidor was sent after him, is that his gift nullifies the talents of those in close proximity. I liked how that played out, because the consequence is that other people who might be able to successfully apprehend Remfrey He don’t want to work with the lucidor, as he sucks their gift dry.
This isn’t a fast-paced book. McAuley’s habit of writing dense description about every step of the way ensures that we see the world through the lucidor’s eyes and his days of plunging headlong into adventures are well and truly over. But I not only could see the world, I could taste and hear it, as this book swallowed me up and had me engrossed until right up to the end. It’s a gem that deserves to be far better known than it is. Highly recommended by fans of well-written intelligent colony world adventures and epic fantasy. The ebook arc copy of War of the Maps was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest opinion of the book.
10/10
October 7, 2023
Finished this one a while ago.
Just an incredible blend of a fantasy & sci fi book!
For me it checked all the boxes of the aspects that I want to read about in a novel of this kind.
A post apocalyptic event set in a medieval world with a lot of mutant creatures and also, some demigods included, checked;
An interesting central character, in an old, retired policeman, that`s not so invincible or strong and mighty powerful, like your common type hero;
A truly evil mastermind, cruel and twisted, in his search of "healing" the land;
A very well built story, with a lot of adventure on the way, and with an unexpected ending, but so rewarding and true to the whole feeling of the novel;
A fantastic world building!!
So, overall, this was a truly impressive effort that I can`t recommend it enough to be read!
Just an incredible blend of a fantasy & sci fi book!
For me it checked all the boxes of the aspects that I want to read about in a novel of this kind.
A post apocalyptic event set in a medieval world with a lot of mutant creatures and also, some demigods included, checked;
An interesting central character, in an old, retired policeman, that`s not so invincible or strong and mighty powerful, like your common type hero;
A truly evil mastermind, cruel and twisted, in his search of "healing" the land;
A very well built story, with a lot of adventure on the way, and with an unexpected ending, but so rewarding and true to the whole feeling of the novel;
A fantastic world building!!
So, overall, this was a truly impressive effort that I can`t recommend it enough to be read!
May 27, 2020
Thank you to Will and Gollancz for providing me an ARC. All thoughts are my opinion.
The Wars of the Maps is the combination of what the Witcher of Rivia would look like if he time travelled into the 21st century. It’s Witcher III the video game combined with Assassin Creed III. These are the video-game examples of what I’m comparing too. Because this novel has such a cinematic feel to the lush and dark environments of this world, it is amazing.
This books spans multiple oceans, spider crabs (yes. You heard it right. Spider crabs and mutated fish and leviathans) with a man that’s looking for really…a journey of his own re-demption. The Lucidor is an old man, but I just couldn’t help but imagine him reading in Geralt’s voice. He’s funny, he’s smart, and above all, he has a very dry sense of humor. Needless to say, this world is dangerous with rival kingdoms fighting against each other, separated across vast distances of oceans. There are endless deserts, lush mountain scenary that reminded me of North America for some reason.
And the poor Lucidor, as you will instantly guess: is mired into the political trappings of everyone trying to make a living for themselves. There are foolish characters. There are brave characters. There are characters that should have in my opinion, stayed for longer. Cyf is a character that I wished to see more off, as a slight criticism for me. The plot itself resembles something like a Spanish Expedition into the New World. You’ll soon see that during the course of the novel. This world has elements of steam-punk, but there’s not much steam in it. There’s the whole history of the First Peoples (as I’ve seen this being used in many novels, let’s call them the advanced civilization, an apt example would be the High Elves in the Old World of Warhammer) and the novel is really centered around discovering what they did. Why did these Gods leave this artifical world that they had created?
historical references that are really well hidden. I guess you’ll find them, but it is hard to judge – its the context really. This novel is slow paced, and it really picks up during the later stages. The reason for this is two-fold. One, this is a novel setting up the world. And two,
There are many historical references that are really well hidden. I guess you’ll find them, but it is hard to judge – its the context really. This novel is slow paced, and it really picks up during the later stages. The reason for this is two-fold. One, this is a novel setting up the world. And two, most fantasy novels in their first stages can be either setting up the character through the world, or setting up the world and then exploring the character’s motives. It’s a tricky situation for writers when they do this. Because you want a world where the reader has to be interested in every single element of world-building. You can’t go 100% Tolkein and write an entire bible because that’s not important. The world-building in this novel is VERY crucial. It’s drip-fed and doesn’t feel that imposing. I would say some areas did rely a little too much on describing some elements of the story. But if you want to know more about this advanced civilisation, then I urge you to read it. The world has very clear references of what human nature can do to destroy nature, and you’ll see nature fighting back. There’s diseases, mutations etc. It would take me a lot of time to describe it.
The writing is amazing, the prose stunning, the worldbuilding on an awesome scale. I think it’s a great novel. Fantastic work. Fantastic descriptions. And this novel has characters that serve their purpose.
Overall, a great read, and def worth buying.
The Wars of the Maps is the combination of what the Witcher of Rivia would look like if he time travelled into the 21st century. It’s Witcher III the video game combined with Assassin Creed III. These are the video-game examples of what I’m comparing too. Because this novel has such a cinematic feel to the lush and dark environments of this world, it is amazing.
This books spans multiple oceans, spider crabs (yes. You heard it right. Spider crabs and mutated fish and leviathans) with a man that’s looking for really…a journey of his own re-demption. The Lucidor is an old man, but I just couldn’t help but imagine him reading in Geralt’s voice. He’s funny, he’s smart, and above all, he has a very dry sense of humor. Needless to say, this world is dangerous with rival kingdoms fighting against each other, separated across vast distances of oceans. There are endless deserts, lush mountain scenary that reminded me of North America for some reason.
And the poor Lucidor, as you will instantly guess: is mired into the political trappings of everyone trying to make a living for themselves. There are foolish characters. There are brave characters. There are characters that should have in my opinion, stayed for longer. Cyf is a character that I wished to see more off, as a slight criticism for me. The plot itself resembles something like a Spanish Expedition into the New World. You’ll soon see that during the course of the novel. This world has elements of steam-punk, but there’s not much steam in it. There’s the whole history of the First Peoples (as I’ve seen this being used in many novels, let’s call them the advanced civilization, an apt example would be the High Elves in the Old World of Warhammer) and the novel is really centered around discovering what they did. Why did these Gods leave this artifical world that they had created?
historical references that are really well hidden. I guess you’ll find them, but it is hard to judge – its the context really. This novel is slow paced, and it really picks up during the later stages. The reason for this is two-fold. One, this is a novel setting up the world. And two,
There are many historical references that are really well hidden. I guess you’ll find them, but it is hard to judge – its the context really. This novel is slow paced, and it really picks up during the later stages. The reason for this is two-fold. One, this is a novel setting up the world. And two, most fantasy novels in their first stages can be either setting up the character through the world, or setting up the world and then exploring the character’s motives. It’s a tricky situation for writers when they do this. Because you want a world where the reader has to be interested in every single element of world-building. You can’t go 100% Tolkein and write an entire bible because that’s not important. The world-building in this novel is VERY crucial. It’s drip-fed and doesn’t feel that imposing. I would say some areas did rely a little too much on describing some elements of the story. But if you want to know more about this advanced civilisation, then I urge you to read it. The world has very clear references of what human nature can do to destroy nature, and you’ll see nature fighting back. There’s diseases, mutations etc. It would take me a lot of time to describe it.
The writing is amazing, the prose stunning, the worldbuilding on an awesome scale. I think it’s a great novel. Fantastic work. Fantastic descriptions. And this novel has characters that serve their purpose.
Overall, a great read, and def worth buying.
March 9, 2022
Paul McAuley is one of my favorite SF writers. His 2020 novel "War of the Maps" isn't (in my opinion) his best work, but it's pretty darned good. Recommended reading: 3.5 stars, rounded up.
As others have noted, McAuley is a Jack Vance fan (as am I) and his latest novel could be regarded as a Vancean tale with better science than the Old Master. Set on a novel variation of a Dyson Sphere, it's an immense shell built by god-like aliens who have since vanished -- though there are still echoes of their creation of this world. The novel is a quest story, a lone lawman out to recapture a monstrous villain, one Remfree He, another Vancean touch. The ending is surprising but foreshadowed, and there's plenty of room in this new fictional universe, should McAuley chose to write more in it. Personally, I hope he continues with more of his intriguing Jackaroo stories, which hit my SFnal sweet spot.
The best review I saw online was Kat Hooper's, https://www.fantasyliterature.com/rev...
The author's comments on writing this book are interesting, and spoiler-free: https://unlikelyworlds.blogspot.com/ (scroll down to January 17, 2021)
As others have noted, McAuley is a Jack Vance fan (as am I) and his latest novel could be regarded as a Vancean tale with better science than the Old Master. Set on a novel variation of a Dyson Sphere, it's an immense shell built by god-like aliens who have since vanished -- though there are still echoes of their creation of this world. The novel is a quest story, a lone lawman out to recapture a monstrous villain, one Remfree He, another Vancean touch. The ending is surprising but foreshadowed, and there's plenty of room in this new fictional universe, should McAuley chose to write more in it. Personally, I hope he continues with more of his intriguing Jackaroo stories, which hit my SFnal sweet spot.
The best review I saw online was Kat Hooper's, https://www.fantasyliterature.com/rev...
The author's comments on writing this book are interesting, and spoiler-free: https://unlikelyworlds.blogspot.com/ (scroll down to January 17, 2021)
May 3, 2020
McAuley, Paul. War of the Maps. Gollancz, 2020.
In War of the Maps, Paul McAuley has created a far future universe with a lot of potential. The story is set on a decaying Dyson’s sphere long abandoned by its builders. It is still populated by some human beings who may or may not be the descendants of the builders. The sphere’s carefully balanced environments are falling apart and being invaded by mutant species and technologies that are, to say the least, not always healthy for its inhabitants. Our protagonist, an aging law officer from a reasonably well-managed nation, exiles himself to pursue a sociopath through the sphere’s dangerous frontier environments. Reviewers who liked this novel better than I did commented appreciatively about the protagonist and the characters he meets along the way, but as much as I like stories of old warriors strapping it one for one last dance, this time I never became engaged. I can’t quite put my finger on why this one just failed to grab me.
In War of the Maps, Paul McAuley has created a far future universe with a lot of potential. The story is set on a decaying Dyson’s sphere long abandoned by its builders. It is still populated by some human beings who may or may not be the descendants of the builders. The sphere’s carefully balanced environments are falling apart and being invaded by mutant species and technologies that are, to say the least, not always healthy for its inhabitants. Our protagonist, an aging law officer from a reasonably well-managed nation, exiles himself to pursue a sociopath through the sphere’s dangerous frontier environments. Reviewers who liked this novel better than I did commented appreciatively about the protagonist and the characters he meets along the way, but as much as I like stories of old warriors strapping it one for one last dance, this time I never became engaged. I can’t quite put my finger on why this one just failed to grab me.
January 30, 2021
This is not an easily readable book that can be got through in a weekend. Instead, it is fairly old-school science fiction, with hints of a fantasy sentiment in it reminiscent Gene Wolfe’s Book of the New Sun (thanks to Nigel Quinlan for making that connection).
Thorn is a lucidor, a law-keeper from the Free State, on the hunt for a psychopath, Remfrey He, who has been ‘lent’ to the neighbouring state of Patua to help in their war efforts against a new biological agent invading their country. He is old, convincingly old in a way most old people in science fiction are not, full of aches and pains and stubbornness, mourning his wife, missing his old job, holding on to the only thing that keeps meaning in his life - his sense of justice and belief in serving it.
He is not fun, he is not friendly, he does not twinkle with humour. Luckily, his path crosses with more likeable characters - almost all of them women, incidentally - and his encounters with these other characters brings life to a book that starts in danger of being too dry.
As the story progresses, we start to see the scope of the world that Thorn is on, the outside of a Dyson sphere, a world ocean dotted with continents (the ‘maps’ of the title) each implied to have a similar landmass to that of Earth. Inside the sphere is the Heartsun, a dying star, and its light is reflected onto the outside of the sphere by rings of mirrors circling the structure.
Then there is the biological invasion, some kind of infection that rewrites the DNA (‘life maps’, or often just ‘maps’) of the creatures it encounters, giving rise to colonies of alter women, to vast seamonsters, to murderous crabs.
Then there is the politics of the Free State and of Patua, presented by the author without value judgements, both flawed, refreshingly not especially symbolic of any current political fights being enacted on Twitter.
And then there is the history of this huge world, the creator gods that rode the first peoples, and the Ur-men, and the godlings that rebelled and fell to earth. Other, later, civilisations that have since fallen but left their ruins. The history of the relationship between the neighbouring map of Simud and Patua. The history of the relationship between Patua and the Free State. It’s all just so immense, so detailed and layered and yet somehow not rammed down your throat all the time, all part of the story.
This is the kind of science fiction that I started reading in my late teens, and that I love reading - not easy, but worth it.
Thorn is a lucidor, a law-keeper from the Free State, on the hunt for a psychopath, Remfrey He, who has been ‘lent’ to the neighbouring state of Patua to help in their war efforts against a new biological agent invading their country. He is old, convincingly old in a way most old people in science fiction are not, full of aches and pains and stubbornness, mourning his wife, missing his old job, holding on to the only thing that keeps meaning in his life - his sense of justice and belief in serving it.
He is not fun, he is not friendly, he does not twinkle with humour. Luckily, his path crosses with more likeable characters - almost all of them women, incidentally - and his encounters with these other characters brings life to a book that starts in danger of being too dry.
As the story progresses, we start to see the scope of the world that Thorn is on, the outside of a Dyson sphere, a world ocean dotted with continents (the ‘maps’ of the title) each implied to have a similar landmass to that of Earth. Inside the sphere is the Heartsun, a dying star, and its light is reflected onto the outside of the sphere by rings of mirrors circling the structure.
Then there is the biological invasion, some kind of infection that rewrites the DNA (‘life maps’, or often just ‘maps’) of the creatures it encounters, giving rise to colonies of alter women, to vast seamonsters, to murderous crabs.
Then there is the politics of the Free State and of Patua, presented by the author without value judgements, both flawed, refreshingly not especially symbolic of any current political fights being enacted on Twitter.
And then there is the history of this huge world, the creator gods that rode the first peoples, and the Ur-men, and the godlings that rebelled and fell to earth. Other, later, civilisations that have since fallen but left their ruins. The history of the relationship between the neighbouring map of Simud and Patua. The history of the relationship between Patua and the Free State. It’s all just so immense, so detailed and layered and yet somehow not rammed down your throat all the time, all part of the story.
This is the kind of science fiction that I started reading in my late teens, and that I love reading - not easy, but worth it.
May 12, 2020
Amazing scifi world building built around a fantasy revenge style story. First novel by this author and from what I've read I need to read more. Initially was not really understanding what was being told but it slowly came together.
April 4, 2020
Excellent story, beautifully written. It would be great to read more about the world.
February 3, 2022
This wasn’t quite what I was expecting, and in the end, wasn’t worth the effort.
War of the Maps is set in the far, far future on a Dyson Sphere (an artificial world built around a dying sun to better harvest its energy), although McAuley does a poor job of establishing this facet of his setting, and ultimately it’s to no end. This could have been set on any old planet, anywhere, without really changing anything. It’s a wasted opportunity.
Its main influence seems to be Stephen King’s The Gunslinger, as a lone hero (our sole POV) rides through a world in its sunset years, in pursuit of a nemesis, encountering fractured groups of people - some kind, some not - and ancient technology along the way. Unlike King, though, McAuley never brings any of it to life; there’s no personality here. Instead he gets bogged down in repetitive descriptions of the landscape and reiterating the one-or-two traits that his main characters exhibit.
McAuley also seems to have a loathing for punctuation (aside from the humble comma) which means a lot of very long, plodding sentences. I got used to it after a while, but it contributes to making it feel like a bit of a slog.
There are other elements to the story - some people, for ill-defined reasons, have what amounts to mild superpowers; a mysterious plague is changing the wildlife into strange and dangerous new forms; there are arcane beings that may relate to the myths about how this world was created; and even politics, as our hero comes from a communist state, but has ventured out into a world of capitalism - but none of these are developed to any real satisfaction. And the central cat-and-mouse chase between our hero and his nemesis never comes alive, which leaves… not a lot.
The episodic nature of the story inevitably means that some bits work better than others, and there are times when I was having some fun with this, and enjoying the intermittently evocative world, but the climax takes a long time to arrive, and is underwhelming when it does. McAuley is also not adept at set-pieces, so there’s no enjoyable action to punctuate the increasingly lumbering prose and story.
Late on, McAuley drops a memorable quote from the great M John Harrison’s Kefahuchi Tract series (I’d be amazed if it was a coincidence). “Sparks. Sparks in everything”, goes the phrase. It’s an ironic one to borrow, given how little spark there is here.
War of the Maps is set in the far, far future on a Dyson Sphere (an artificial world built around a dying sun to better harvest its energy), although McAuley does a poor job of establishing this facet of his setting, and ultimately it’s to no end. This could have been set on any old planet, anywhere, without really changing anything. It’s a wasted opportunity.
Its main influence seems to be Stephen King’s The Gunslinger, as a lone hero (our sole POV) rides through a world in its sunset years, in pursuit of a nemesis, encountering fractured groups of people - some kind, some not - and ancient technology along the way. Unlike King, though, McAuley never brings any of it to life; there’s no personality here. Instead he gets bogged down in repetitive descriptions of the landscape and reiterating the one-or-two traits that his main characters exhibit.
McAuley also seems to have a loathing for punctuation (aside from the humble comma) which means a lot of very long, plodding sentences. I got used to it after a while, but it contributes to making it feel like a bit of a slog.
There are other elements to the story - some people, for ill-defined reasons, have what amounts to mild superpowers; a mysterious plague is changing the wildlife into strange and dangerous new forms; there are arcane beings that may relate to the myths about how this world was created; and even politics, as our hero comes from a communist state, but has ventured out into a world of capitalism - but none of these are developed to any real satisfaction. And the central cat-and-mouse chase between our hero and his nemesis never comes alive, which leaves… not a lot.
The episodic nature of the story inevitably means that some bits work better than others, and there are times when I was having some fun with this, and enjoying the intermittently evocative world, but the climax takes a long time to arrive, and is underwhelming when it does. McAuley is also not adept at set-pieces, so there’s no enjoyable action to punctuate the increasingly lumbering prose and story.
Late on, McAuley drops a memorable quote from the great M John Harrison’s Kefahuchi Tract series (I’d be amazed if it was a coincidence). “Sparks. Sparks in everything”, goes the phrase. It’s an ironic one to borrow, given how little spark there is here.
April 1, 2020
Wondering if you can call a book, Picaresque? Coz that is the apt description to this one. Lots of travel. Terrific, terrific worldbuilding. Interesting twisted characters. But the plot itself, an eloborate ruse to foil an impending invasion by an alien species, in the guise of arresting a mad genius psycho, out to bend the whole world of maps, to his will. Ultimately the fuse gave out, and my interest frankly fizzled out. Perhaps I was just weary of trudging through crazy terrains, chasing after this elusive psychopath, miles and miles of mind numbing wonders and amazing terran species. It's definitely a crazy feat of imagination but ultimately, the descriptions deter, feel like a distraction to the ultimate goal of capturing the aforementioned mad man. It's a pity, coz I was so enamored by the premise, and the ideas.
March 14, 2022
'Fantasy' set in the far far future; one of my favourite genres. On the exterior of a Dyson sphere built around the white dwarf corpse of our own sun, our descendants have recreated the human race for fun. It has a 'wild west' vibe. Some of the early story is a bit 'episodic', with relatively unconnected events occuring, but it all--sort of--comes together. Well written, and I was involved most of the way, it doesn't quite land a satisfying end. I think there's something about the last third of the book being set months ahead of the previous three quarters which didn't work for me. Still, it's a good book; I enjoyed it and would read more by the same author (already ordered) and, especially, anymore stories set in the same fictional world.
March 28, 2021
This is a highly readable and entertaining slice of space opera, from an author whose work I hadn't encountered before, though I bought it on the Twitter recommendation of Adam Roberts, and wasn't disappointed. Its far-future setting - on a vast Dyson sphere - is entirely convincing, and its protagonist, the Lucidor, a sympathetic and humane protagonist, whose determination to bring to justice Remfrey He - a man responsible for countless atrocities who has been unwisely set free in the hope that his abilities might help defeat an alien invasion - borders on madness, but is born from a very real sense of honour. It's exciting, sometimes grotesque, and frequently moving.
October 18, 2021
The world setup here would allow a far bigger story, but I think the smallness of it is consistent with the decay and forlornness it evokes. I found the ending a bit of a letdown, but I will be adding this author to my must-read list.
April 21, 2020
This is an excellent story, well written and engrossing.
I was fascinated by the amazing world building and the well crafted plot.
The cast of characters is well thought and interesting.
One small issue: it was a bit repetitive at times but this didn't reduce the enjoyment.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
I was fascinated by the amazing world building and the well crafted plot.
The cast of characters is well thought and interesting.
One small issue: it was a bit repetitive at times but this didn't reduce the enjoyment.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
May 29, 2022
'War of the Maps' is a bit of a slog, something I wouldn't normally say about a Paul McAuley book. Although the mix of fantasy and hard SF is intriguing the whole thing somehow feels more like an anthology of side quests than a coherent story, and the lucidor's backstory never amounts to much more than a perfunctory filling-in of details.
Disappointing.
Disappointing.
August 7, 2020
9 I really enjoyed this SF-novel, even though it started a bit slow and asked a lot of concentration to get into, the second half made that investment worthwile. There's a lot to unpack here and I think this book deserves a second read to get all the layers. Let's first get out of the way that this is well written, by an author with a knack for description (especially of desolate deformed environs) and with a large vocabulary (also an author with a knowledge of history and other cultures that he uses in his descriptions to give a lived in sense to his environments). The worldbuilding is top notch, and importantly: the post human, 'big dumb object', biotechnology elements did not overpower the plot or the characters. It's situated on a Dyson Sphere with old technology roaming about and people with gifts, but still approachable. The author achieves this to go back to almost mythical elements: a Clint Eastwood like old lawman going after the one catch that eluded him, a winding down evironment reminiscent of the 'dying earth'-stories of older SF. The elements of worldbuilding are mostly hinted at and thus are part of the landscape and not the main attraction. Fitting with the more mythical approach, as a reader we are kept at a distance from the main character. In the narration he is consistently not called by name, but by his title 'The lucidor'. (Just like in most Clint Eastwood films he plays the 'man with no name'). He is also a man obsessed with his goal, and not willing to let go, even once. Even so the reader gets caught up in his quest to apprehend a mad scientist. There's a fascinating discussion about several political and economical systems (The lucidor comes from a communist-like society where everybody is treated equally, and he has problems with the easy deferrence to authority in other cultures - but also with the ant-like society of the alter women. Then there are the allusions to work of literature and the bible (there's even a phenomenon that's a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night). It serves to give a layer of meaning to the narrative: it's a battle about the future of the human race even in a future where the gods have left their creation. All in all a very involving SF-novel and I look forward to reading more books by Paul McAuley.
January 18, 2022
I've got a lot of good things to say out this. Interesting and well drawn characters, well thought out and very imaginative world building, an epic plot of the outmatched but relentless lawman pursuing his quarry through ever more bizarre landscapes.
But I nearly gave up on it in the first chapter. For some reason, the author seems to have got into the habit of using some very long, clumsy sentences, stuck together with multiple uses of 'and' - as many as four in one example I noted. I don't know if there's any rule about how many times 'and' can be used, but that many did not work. The effect of this style of writing was to take my attention away from the story and onto the construction, which is the exact opposite of what a writer wants to achieve.
I've read McAuley before, and haven't noticed this problem. Fortunately, it wasn't persistent, and after the first chapter it either stopped happening or I got used to it, because from then on I was able get involved in the story and enjoy it.
So if this issue bothers you, persevere - it does get better, and it's worth reading when it does. Just a pity it happens at all.
But I nearly gave up on it in the first chapter. For some reason, the author seems to have got into the habit of using some very long, clumsy sentences, stuck together with multiple uses of 'and' - as many as four in one example I noted. I don't know if there's any rule about how many times 'and' can be used, but that many did not work. The effect of this style of writing was to take my attention away from the story and onto the construction, which is the exact opposite of what a writer wants to achieve.
I've read McAuley before, and haven't noticed this problem. Fortunately, it wasn't persistent, and after the first chapter it either stopped happening or I got used to it, because from then on I was able get involved in the story and enjoy it.
So if this issue bothers you, persevere - it does get better, and it's worth reading when it does. Just a pity it happens at all.
March 17, 2021
4,5 stars. I liked this one. It kept me interested from the beginning to the end.
More fantasy than science fiction. Nice also that lots of women had strong, leading roles.
Bad guy reminds me of Neil Asher's "Skellor" - horrible character.
More fantasy than science fiction. Nice also that lots of women had strong, leading roles.
Bad guy reminds me of Neil Asher's "Skellor" - horrible character.
January 14, 2022
Didn't like the voice, too much detailed imagery and passive voice. Didn't like the political socialism vs capitalism underlying theme. Decent plot and story but pacing was an issue at the beginning and middle.
January 6, 2022
This book will make you want to drink a cup of chai.
June 7, 2020
This is a fascinating SF story, with lovely world building. Set on a Dyson Sphere deep in the future, the remnants of humanity live on 'maps' set in a huge ocean. The creators of the sphere have left, and their successors as well, and the technology is far beyond the abilities of the present inhabitants who are maintaining life at a level seen in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries with some recovered technological artefacts. There are godlings and shatterlings of the intelligences which built and controlled the maps in hidden places, more rumour than fact. The maps we see in the story used to trade with each other, but no longer because of a war. Some humans exhibit gifts; effectively psionic powers.
The protagonist is a former law enforcement officer from the Free State, a country which is a form of working communist/socialist state which rebelled several hundred years ago. He retired after his wife, an engineer, died and - illegally - returns to action to track down and bring back to justice the criminal who he had tracked down in his biggest case, Remfry He. Remfry has a gift; he has a silver tongue talent which allows him to control people, is extremely intelligent and sociopathic. He has been released by a faction in the government who want to appease the neighbouring state of Patua. Other people oppose that, and the lucidor, our protagonist, is contacted and set on the trail of his nemesis.
The reason that Remfry He has been released is because it is believed that he can help against the invasion, based on his previous activities. Progressively, a new form of life from another place is invading the map, converting and assimilating life including that of humanity. You can see McAuley's background as a biologist coming out in this. Remfry has been released to help the war effort against that activity. Needless to say, he is playing his own game.
The protagonist is pretty much always call 'the lucidor' in the story. We do know his name, but he is an embodiment of the role that he committed his life too. He is stubborn to a fault, and set on bring Remfry He back to justice or dying in the attempt. It's an interesting stylist approach, to continually refer to him by his role, as it defines how we see him throughout, except when we see little flashbacks to his love and loss of his wife. Knowing what has happened in McAuley's recent past with the death of his own wife, it made me wonder if sometimes he sees himself as 'the author', in a similar manner, and we are seeing a window into his loss?
The story is a slow paced travelogue of the lucidor's journey and encounters across the maps as he doggedly tries to complete his self-appointed mission. I really enjoyed it; it's in a more classic science-fiction style than some of his previous works and a fulfilling read.
The protagonist is a former law enforcement officer from the Free State, a country which is a form of working communist/socialist state which rebelled several hundred years ago. He retired after his wife, an engineer, died and - illegally - returns to action to track down and bring back to justice the criminal who he had tracked down in his biggest case, Remfry He. Remfry has a gift; he has a silver tongue talent which allows him to control people, is extremely intelligent and sociopathic. He has been released by a faction in the government who want to appease the neighbouring state of Patua. Other people oppose that, and the lucidor, our protagonist, is contacted and set on the trail of his nemesis.
The reason that Remfry He has been released is because it is believed that he can help against the invasion, based on his previous activities. Progressively, a new form of life from another place is invading the map, converting and assimilating life including that of humanity. You can see McAuley's background as a biologist coming out in this. Remfry has been released to help the war effort against that activity. Needless to say, he is playing his own game.
The protagonist is pretty much always call 'the lucidor' in the story. We do know his name, but he is an embodiment of the role that he committed his life too. He is stubborn to a fault, and set on bring Remfry He back to justice or dying in the attempt. It's an interesting stylist approach, to continually refer to him by his role, as it defines how we see him throughout, except when we see little flashbacks to his love and loss of his wife. Knowing what has happened in McAuley's recent past with the death of his own wife, it made me wonder if sometimes he sees himself as 'the author', in a similar manner, and we are seeing a window into his loss?
The story is a slow paced travelogue of the lucidor's journey and encounters across the maps as he doggedly tries to complete his self-appointed mission. I really enjoyed it; it's in a more classic science-fiction style than some of his previous works and a fulfilling read.
January 24, 2021
War of the Maps
Paul J McAuley
Originally published 2020, paperback published in 2021 by Orion
McAuley is a prolific writer of “hard” science fiction; a phrase coined back in the late 1950s to define books that are considered scientifically accurate and logically sound. Some writers in this genre are well known such as Arthur C Clarke, Stanislaw Lem, Isaac Asimov and Michael Crichton.
War of the Maps is set on Dyson sphere surrounding dwarf star: “it’s a hypothetical megastructure that completely encompasses a star and captures a large percentage of its power output”. To be honest I was none the wiser either. Suffice to say that is a strange world with a dying “Heartsun” and illumination from arcs of mirrorlights in the sky.
The plot sees a the lucidor, a retired lawkeeper on the trail of his nemesis Remfrey He. The thing is that he has already “captured” his arch-enemy before but is now on his trail once more convinced that he may the only man to be able to bring him to justice. What quickly unfolds seems to be a familiar Holmes/Moriarty relationship with Remfrey He’s downfall, according the the lucidor, being his pride and the fact that he has to show off how clever he is. The lucidor believes that if he can get Remfrey He to start talking about his achievements then he can overpower and capture him. It reminded me of that scene in The Incredibles which parodies the dangers of monologuing.
There is a journey across land and sea where we meet an array of characters some descended from Gods, Godlings and First People with many of the characters possessing almost magical powers. Then there are the Alter Women, shatterlings, spider crabs, leviathans and a host of other creatures great and small. It becomes clear that the maps of the title refers not just to the different countries but also to the human map, the DNA if you like, of the various inhabitants. The war is an invasion of genetically altered creatures but its origin is unclear.
As if all this was not enough McAuley throws in a plethora of subplots and allusions. There are the Alter Women’s nests which behave like ants or bees signalling to individuals as well as other nests; there are references to archeological digs, mythology, philosophical and ethical dilemmas and even references to such as Coleridge and his Ancient Mariner and even a possible hint of Melville and his white whale.
It’s a complex story which demands your attention. The technical issues are tackled with great expertise but the depth of the characters – from the lucidor, who we follow from the very beginning, to the bad boy Remfrey He – is simply not there. None of these seemed really convincing or indeed inspired me to have any affinity with. Even the scientist Orjen Starbreaker and her steward Lyra who the lucidor joins forces with offer no real bite and I was left feeling that although the world was wonderful and strange, the people were just a little grey and flat.
Paul J McAuley
Originally published 2020, paperback published in 2021 by Orion
McAuley is a prolific writer of “hard” science fiction; a phrase coined back in the late 1950s to define books that are considered scientifically accurate and logically sound. Some writers in this genre are well known such as Arthur C Clarke, Stanislaw Lem, Isaac Asimov and Michael Crichton.
War of the Maps is set on Dyson sphere surrounding dwarf star: “it’s a hypothetical megastructure that completely encompasses a star and captures a large percentage of its power output”. To be honest I was none the wiser either. Suffice to say that is a strange world with a dying “Heartsun” and illumination from arcs of mirrorlights in the sky.
The plot sees a the lucidor, a retired lawkeeper on the trail of his nemesis Remfrey He. The thing is that he has already “captured” his arch-enemy before but is now on his trail once more convinced that he may the only man to be able to bring him to justice. What quickly unfolds seems to be a familiar Holmes/Moriarty relationship with Remfrey He’s downfall, according the the lucidor, being his pride and the fact that he has to show off how clever he is. The lucidor believes that if he can get Remfrey He to start talking about his achievements then he can overpower and capture him. It reminded me of that scene in The Incredibles which parodies the dangers of monologuing.
There is a journey across land and sea where we meet an array of characters some descended from Gods, Godlings and First People with many of the characters possessing almost magical powers. Then there are the Alter Women, shatterlings, spider crabs, leviathans and a host of other creatures great and small. It becomes clear that the maps of the title refers not just to the different countries but also to the human map, the DNA if you like, of the various inhabitants. The war is an invasion of genetically altered creatures but its origin is unclear.
As if all this was not enough McAuley throws in a plethora of subplots and allusions. There are the Alter Women’s nests which behave like ants or bees signalling to individuals as well as other nests; there are references to archeological digs, mythology, philosophical and ethical dilemmas and even references to such as Coleridge and his Ancient Mariner and even a possible hint of Melville and his white whale.
It’s a complex story which demands your attention. The technical issues are tackled with great expertise but the depth of the characters – from the lucidor, who we follow from the very beginning, to the bad boy Remfrey He – is simply not there. None of these seemed really convincing or indeed inspired me to have any affinity with. Even the scientist Orjen Starbreaker and her steward Lyra who the lucidor joins forces with offer no real bite and I was left feeling that although the world was wonderful and strange, the people were just a little grey and flat.
August 7, 2022
A really nice adventure story that made me think of some of Jack Vance's work.
The "maps" of the title seem to refer to both gene maps (what makes an organism what it is) and a more figurative map, where instead of a paper or electronic representation of a place, it refers to an actual place. I thought of these maps as more continents or countries.
Anyway, Thorn, the lucidor (which I continually misread as "luchador" with interesting mental image results) is pursuing Remfrey He, a dangerous "philosopher." In this context, philosopher is more like the 17th/18th century practitioners of natural philosophy, a study of the physical environment and the creatures in it. Remfrey He is also basically a mad scientist. His story is complicated and I don't want to spend time talking about it here, but basically, he's a Bad Dude. The lucidor has captured and brought him in before, but due to some political maneuvering with a neighboring map, Remfrey He got released and is doing his mad scientist stuff for them. But since he's also only out for himself, he also skips out on the new map and runs off AGAIN. The lucidor is after him now, in more of a private capacity. This is the story of how all that plays out.
The world is set on a Dyson sphere. The maps are all on the surface of the sphere. The time period appears to be WAY into the future, after people have essentially risen to essentially become gods, and then went away again to some unspecified sort of place (uploaded? I wasn't clear.) The world they left behind has its own problems, including an invasion by some other sort of organism or set of genes that seems intent on remaking the world.
I appreciate books with older protagonists. The lucidor (that's mainly how he was referred to) had retired from his lawkeeping job. He took on the recapture of Remfrey He kind of as a favor to an old associate. I liked his character.
I think this is the first Paul McAuley book I've finished. I've started one or maybe two others, but got distracted by something else shiny. I enjoyed this one all the way through.
The "maps" of the title seem to refer to both gene maps (what makes an organism what it is) and a more figurative map, where instead of a paper or electronic representation of a place, it refers to an actual place. I thought of these maps as more continents or countries.
Anyway, Thorn, the lucidor (which I continually misread as "luchador" with interesting mental image results) is pursuing Remfrey He, a dangerous "philosopher." In this context, philosopher is more like the 17th/18th century practitioners of natural philosophy, a study of the physical environment and the creatures in it. Remfrey He is also basically a mad scientist. His story is complicated and I don't want to spend time talking about it here, but basically, he's a Bad Dude. The lucidor has captured and brought him in before, but due to some political maneuvering with a neighboring map, Remfrey He got released and is doing his mad scientist stuff for them. But since he's also only out for himself, he also skips out on the new map and runs off AGAIN. The lucidor is after him now, in more of a private capacity. This is the story of how all that plays out.
The world is set on a Dyson sphere. The maps are all on the surface of the sphere. The time period appears to be WAY into the future, after people have essentially risen to essentially become gods, and then went away again to some unspecified sort of place (uploaded? I wasn't clear.) The world they left behind has its own problems, including an invasion by some other sort of organism or set of genes that seems intent on remaking the world.
I appreciate books with older protagonists. The lucidor (that's mainly how he was referred to) had retired from his lawkeeping job. He took on the recapture of Remfrey He kind of as a favor to an old associate. I liked his character.
I think this is the first Paul McAuley book I've finished. I've started one or maybe two others, but got distracted by something else shiny. I enjoyed this one all the way through.
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