Sean McMullen is one of the hottest new writers working today. He is a three-time winner of the Ditmar Award in his native Australia, and has also won that country's Aurealis Award. His last novel, Souls in the Great Machine, began the steampunk saga of Greatwinter and garnered him much critical acclaim. The Miocene Arrow continues McMullen's story of a far-future Earth flung back to its pre-technological roots.
Ultra-light American diesel gunwings can hold their own against Australian human-powered battle computers and a tram-based net. But they are helpless against the ultimate doomsday machine: The Miocene Arrow.
In a fortieth-century America of ancient kingdoms with opulent courts, hereditary engineering guilds, and rigid class distinction in warfare, a centuries-old balance of power is shattered by a few dozen Australian infiltrators. Against a rich backdrop of war, chivalry, conspiracy, and a diesel-powered arms race, a dangerous secret alliance has formed. Now the unlikely trio of an airlord, an abbess, and a fugitive are joined together in a desperate race against time to stop the Miocene Arrow from being launched--and save the world in the process.
At the publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied.
From Library Journal
In the fourth millennium, war looms between the lands once known as America and Australia. As a new airborne weapon, the Miocene Arrow, threatens to rule the skies, assassins and spies seek to uncover its origins and properties. Set in the same postapocalyptic universe as his groundbreaking Souls in the Great Machine, McMullen's latest effort elaborates on the evolution of a strange and, ultimately, mystifying future. Recommended for most sf collections. Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Description:
Sean McMullen is one of the hottest new writers working today. He is a three-time winner of the Ditmar Award in his native Australia, and has also won that country's Aurealis Award. His last novel, Souls in the Great Machine, began the steampunk saga of Greatwinter and garnered him much critical acclaim. The Miocene Arrow continues McMullen's story of a far-future Earth flung back to its pre-technological roots.
Ultra-light American diesel gunwings can hold their own against Australian human-powered battle computers and a tram-based net. But they are helpless against the ultimate doomsday machine: The Miocene Arrow.
In a fortieth-century America of ancient kingdoms with opulent courts, hereditary engineering guilds, and rigid class distinction in warfare, a centuries-old balance of power is shattered by a few dozen Australian infiltrators. Against a rich backdrop of war, chivalry, conspiracy, and a diesel-powered arms race, a dangerous secret alliance has formed. Now the unlikely trio of an airlord, an abbess, and a fugitive are joined together in a desperate race against time to stop the Miocene Arrow from being launched--and save the world in the process.
At the publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied.
From Library Journal
In the fourth millennium, war looms between the lands once known as America and Australia. As a new airborne weapon, the Miocene Arrow, threatens to rule the skies, assassins and spies seek to uncover its origins and properties. Set in the same postapocalyptic universe as his groundbreaking Souls in the Great Machine, McMullen's latest effort elaborates on the evolution of a strange and, ultimately, mystifying future. Recommended for most sf collections.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
McMullen transplants his tales of a postapocalyptic fortieth century from Australia to North America. The mysterious Call, which originated down under in Souls in the Great Machine (1999), profoundly affects the Americas, too, physically and socially. Carefully placed tethers and padded walls in three Callhavens in the former U.S. prevent the meager population from making for the sea every few days. In other regions, the Call comes continuously; nothing larger than a terrier can resist it. The other incontrovertible power in peoples' lives is the Sentinels, orbiting satellites that systematically fire on any land or air vehicle larger than 29-and-a-half-feet long. A highly organized, relatively peaceful society exists in the Callhavens; ritual combat between kingdoms is popular, but all-out war is a thing of the past. Then one quiet night on the very edges of the Callscour, a new factor enters the equation: people seemingly unaffected by the Call or the Sentinels. Their origin, agenda, and minuscule physical differences will soon create devastating havoc. With remarkable imagination and insight, McMullen conjures factions, personalities, and plots, including well-placed glimpses of a lost, past America. A complex and lively story, rich with the action and reaction of human treachery, courage, battle-fueled passion, and quiet devotion. Roberta Johnson
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