Kim Miller
The second book of Tom Dreyfus, and the sequel to Aurora Rising. In this story people are dying suddenly from something in their head overheating and destroying their brain. The people are unconnected and all over the Glitterband. And the deaths are increasing so the Panoply can plot the rising curve and predict a catastrophe in the near future.
Dreyfus sees a tenuous link, the people are risk takers either in sport or business etc. Is this real or imagined? A very dangerous person offers help, but there's a cost and he's forced into a decision he never thought he'd be making.
Alongside the deaths there is trouble brewing from political/social unrest being fomented by a charismatic member of a once powerful family from the beginnings of the Glitterband. He seems to have inside knowledge of the deaths and spreads the rumour among various habitats in the system. And he also has knowledge of Dreyfus' movements. So Dreyfus starts putting things together.
He looks into the family's history and finds a link to a mysterious decommissioned clinic on an abandoned habitat. Restored computer records show links into the mysterious deaths and the race accelerates.
The story is told from two timelines. One is Dreyfus and the investigation. The second is about two boys, twins, who are growing up in the home of the originator of the Glitterband but we are not told when this timeline is happening. The boys are being trained to manipulate quickmatter and how to interfere with the Glitterbands polling system of governance. They are in conflict with each other but joined together in their fight against their parents' control of their lives.
As the story progresses we see how these two boys figure in the current investigation. At about the 76% mark things start rushing towards a disaster as the deaths build up. But as they close in on what seems to be the source of the deaths, they cause an increase in the rate of death. Are they being given a warning?
The crisis builds and Reynolds works his magic of story telling as the action comes from all directions. The book closes in a satisfactory manner as the twists and turns start to unwind and we can see the path he's been leading us down since the beginning.
The second book of Tom Dreyfus, and the sequel to Aurora Rising. In this story people are dying suddenly from something in their head overheating and destroying their brain. The people are unconnected and all over the Glitterband. And the deaths are increasing so the Panoply can plot the rising curve and predict a catastrophe in the near future.
Dreyfus sees a tenuous link, the people are risk takers either in sport or business etc. Is this real or imagined? A very dangerous person offers help, but there's a cost and he's forced into a decision he never thought he'd be making.
Alongside the deaths there is trouble brewing from political/social unrest being fomented by a charismatic member of a once powerful family from the beginnings of the Glitterband. He seems to have inside knowledge of the deaths and spreads the rumour among various habitats in the system. And he also has knowledge of Dreyfus' movements. So Dreyfus starts putting things together.
He looks into the family's history and finds a link to a mysterious decommissioned clinic on an abandoned habitat. Restored computer records show links into the mysterious deaths and the race accelerates.
The story is told from two timelines. One is Dreyfus and the investigation. The second is about two boys, twins, who are growing up in the home of the originator of the Glitterband but we are not told when this timeline is happening. The boys are being trained to manipulate quickmatter and how to interfere with the Glitterbands polling system of governance. They are in conflict with each other but joined together in their fight against their parents' control of their lives.
As the story progresses we see how these two boys figure in the current investigation. At about the 76% mark things start rushing towards a disaster as the deaths build up. But as they close in on what seems to be the source of the deaths, they cause an increase in the rate of death. Are they being given a warning?
The crisis builds and Reynolds works his magic of story telling as the action comes from all directions. The book closes in a satisfactory manner as the twists and turns start to unwind and we can see the path he's been leading us down since the beginning.