1591023084.01._AA_SCMZZZZZZZ_.jpgThis is the first of three books in the “Nulaperion” sequence by John Meaney.  I picked it up at Borders (*sigh*) because I was intrigued by the jacket description, and by the review which said “After Meaney everything is different”.  He’s apparently well-regarded in the UK, so I thought I’d give it a chance.  My only hesitation was the terrible binding (not quite book-club quality, but bad), and the rather sparse amount of print on the page (I’m all for maximizing information density!)

Its a very interesting and engaging book.  Like the complex novels of authors like Iain Banks and Alastair Reynolds (both also from the UK), this is a book that’s hard to summarize in a nuanced way.  The basic story follows Tom Corcorigan, a young man born on the world of Nulaperion in humanity’s far future.  Tom’s world is highly-stratified (literally), and after the death of his father and the “claiming” of his mother by a prescient Oracle (whose predictive abilities maintain the rigid status quo of Tom’s world), Tom is sent on a journey that will take him to the heights and depths of his world and his society.  Tom’s accidential encounter with a mythical Pilot, whose mysterious ability to navigate mu-space enables space travel (or SPACE TRAVEL! as Frank Herbert would say), and the data crystal she gives him initiates a transformation in Tom that engenders a transformation of his world.

There’s a lot to like here, and little to dislike.  I’d put this in the category of “cool sci-fi”.