Summerland

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Hannu Rajaniemi: Summerland (2018, Gollancz)

Published June 28, 2018 by Gollancz.

ISBN:
978-1-4732-0328-0
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4 stars (21 reviews)

"How do you catch a spy who's already dead?"

Loss is a thing of the past. Murder is obsolete. Death is just the beginning. In 1938, death is no longer feared but exploited. Since the discovery of the afterlife, the British Empire has extended its reach into Summerland, a metropolis for the recently deceased. Yet Britain isn't the only contender for power in this life and the next. The Soviets have spies in Summerland, and the technology to build their own god. When SIS agent Rachel White gets a lead on one of the Soviet moles, blowing the whistle puts her hard-earned career at risk. The spy has friends in high places, and she will have to go rogue to bring him in.

5 editions

Review of 'Summerland' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Summerland has a fantastic setting! London after World War I with access to the afterlife recently discovered. England has already colonized it (what else would you expect of them) but the Russians have built a God so there is a cold war and tensions in Spain. The afterlife is four-dimensional with mysteries surrounding us in both of the new directions. Oh and all the characters are spies.

It's so imaginative! I love this setting. Comparatively, [b:The Quantum Thief|7562764|The Quantum Thief (Jean le Flambeur, #1)|Hannu Rajaniemi|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327950631s/7562764.jpg|9886333] had a very constrained setting. The Quantum Thief is hard sci-fi, respecting physical laws and filled with extrapolations from existing technologies. Summerland has no such constrains. Anything goes here!

How is it then that The Quantum Thief is so colorful while Summerland feels relatively bland? In The Quantum Thief a digitized human mind is smuggled in the crystal lattice of a chocolate sculpture. It's poetry! …

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