Singularity Sky by Charles Stross

The New Republic is seeking help from Earth when their isolated colony is under attack from the information plague.



Rating: Three Stars***

Genre: Science Fiction

Awards: Nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2004

Summary: The New Republic is a colony that has isolated itself from the Eschaton, a super human artificial intelligence that has infiltrated the minds of humans into releasing any kind of information in exchange for any desired goods. Martin Springfield and Rachel Mansour have traveled to the New Republic from Earth, which has gone under Singularity, where the Eschaton rules. Martin is hired by the New Republic to upgrade their warships, while Rachel is there to serve as counter intelligence. Both have been assigned conflicting tasks by their authorities in the warfare between colonies.

Evaluation: The writing is dense and is slow paced, even though it encompasses many battle scenes. The love interest and conflicting roles between Martin and Rachel adds a bit of complexity and relief to the heavy laden plot, but the overtake of information by the Eschaton is the selling point of the story.

Read-a-likes:The Last Colony by John Scalzi
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card