Reynolds, A: Blue Remembered Earth

BLUE REMEMBERED EARTH is the first volume in a monumental trilogy tracing the Akinya family across more than ten thousand years of future history ... out beyond the solar system, into interstellar space and the dawn of galactic society. One hundred and fifty years from now, in a world where Africa is the dominant technological and economic power, and where crime, war, disease and poverty have been banished to history, Geoffrey Akinya wants only one thing: to be left in peace, so that he can continue his studies into the elephants of the Amboseli basin. But Geoffrey's family, the vast Akinya business empire, has other plans. After the death of Eunice, Geoffrey's grandmother, erstwhile space explorer and entrepreneur, something awkward has come to light on the Moon, and Geoffrey is tasked - well, blackmailed, really - to go up there and make sure the family's name stays suitably unblemished. But little does Geoffrey realise - or anyone else in the family, for that matter - what he's about to unravel. Eunice's ashes have already have been scattered in sight of Kilimanjaro. But the secrets she died with are about to come back out into the open, and they could change everything. Or shatter this near-utopia into shards . . . Praise for Alastair Reynolds: 'An adroit and fast-paced blend of space opera and police procedural, original and exciting' George R. R. Martin on Aurora Rising 'The most enjoyable book Reynolds has ever written' SFX on Revenger 'The span here is mind-boggling, cosmos-spanning concepts, a breath-taking journey' Good Book Guide on Chasm City '[A] wonderfully entertaining puzzle wrapped inside an adventure story' The Guardian on Eversion 'A fabulous and satisfying novel' SF Crowsnest on Revenger 'An excellent adventure that's sure to keep readers on their toes' Publishers Weekly on Revenger 'A fun, character focused bottle mystery that shifts settings like a chameleon walking across a rainbow carpet' The Quill to Live on Eversion 'Entertaining and thought-provoking' Locus on Revelation Space 'Pirates in space, full of peril and high-jinks . . . This is a novel that's elegantly plotted, full of surprises and, as first time round, rip-roaring fun' SFX on Revenger 'Reynolds is one of the modern masters of science fiction' Starburst 'This is a story to break hearts and make you turn pages. It's great stuff; pick it up, you'll want to know what happens next' SF&F Reviews on Century Rain 'Much of the fun of these books comes from the construction of a far, far-future space-opera . . . the mapping of Age of Sail tropes onto space travel is just the start . . . Nevertheless, at the centre of this baroque masquerade party resides a sober consideration of what it might mean to go off adventuring, what it might cost' Locus on Revenger 'Reynolds is a master singer of the Space Opera' The Times