Not the kind of book that I would typically read: Hard SF with military and political intrigue. But the descriptions -- really concise -- of the Jovian and Saturnian systems, the terraforming, were neat and called immediately to mind Chesley Bonestell and other astronomical art images. I read this for the Worcester Public Library SF Book Club. ( )

I picked this book up from recommendations saying that it would be a "similar" book to Peter F. Hamilton's sprawling space operas, which I adore. However, I guess I just wasn't in the mood for this book -- I found it tedious and frustrating, and just wasn't getting into the politics. Maybe the infodump at the beginning spoiled me, since I found myself skimming it quickly.

I do want to try this again when I'm more in the mood for it -- I saw a lot of promise in its pages, but they just weren't clicking with me when I was reading it. Quit about 40% of the way through. ( )

Brilliant example of Hard SF. Uses the weirdness of the solar system, rather than breaking the laws of physics to make up stuff further away.

This seems descended from some of the very best SF ancestors--Gibson, Herbert, Cherryh all strongly on my mind as I read this.

Recommended if you like space opera or military SF but want something a little more grounded, or if you like Kim Stanley Robinson but want something with some more action.

One thing worth noting is that the novel feels fairly grim overall. I highly recommend his collection [b:Stories from the Quiet War|13305970|Stories from the Quiet War|Paul McAuley|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1353413072s/13305970.jpg|18511558] to round out this universe a bit.

Notes from the Chicago Speculative Fiction discussion:
http://positronchicago.blogspot.com/2015/09/chi-sf-quiet-war.html ( )

Book set in the near future (23rd century) when Earth passed trough a ecological cataclysm but humanity has spread through the planets (and more precisely satellites) of the Solar system. Has several separate sub-plots and characters followed through the book all involved in a conflict between Earth people and the Outers. Overall the book was very disappointing and suffered from major issues: too much description on some topics while others are explained in 2-3 lines and unclear/or useless characters. For example the Outers seem to have extremely advanced infrastructure, ships, computers, but no description about that except a lot of talk about ecosystems and genomics - which even that does not seem to be descriptive except "they make nice things" and "ecosystems are complex". No insight into how their economy works or if they need one - the kudos system seems more like a copy of the current social networks than an economic system. But if everything is can/be automated then why Earth does not have it?... Many characters are observed but for the important ones (Sri, Avernus) the behaviour does not seem to be connected with what they say they want and while some discrepancy could be accepted, feels more like they decide to do things to advance the plot. The whole world seems non-consistent and does not have a common style except people acting irrationally (both individuals and mobs). Would not recommend at all. ( )

Doesn't quite work, but sort of fun space opera - hard sf. Limited by technology to the solar system, mainstream humanity remains fearful of those emigrants to the far moons of Saturn who's adapted gene-splicing technology to cope with the rigours of life out there.

There's an odd romance as the backdrop to all this, but mostly we follow the careers of a significant earth based gene-splicer - working with plants and agriculture rather than humans. Her career is mostly determined by the loyalty to the greater Family she belongs too. There are two factions, those who think a war with outer space is inevitable and Earth should get the first blow in; and those who'd rather make peace. The politics swings between the two. Likewise out in the greater solar system there are those who think war is inevitable and essentially foregone conclusion that they will win - destructive power of orbital mechanics is overwhelming; and those who would rather the cradle of humanity isn't destroyed.

There's a lot of exposition, quite a bit of description of technology, and long dry passages as people move around. But ti's also quite neat in places, some clever thoughts about how we could live in the solar system, a thorough understanding of just how much space and material is present. Likewise the constraints on such lives are fully realised. I was less certain about the political hooks that were used to provide motivation for the characters. ( )