The plot boils down to a noble named Sharrow getting the gang back together to retrieve the one thing that may save her from a death sentence by a religion.
Of course the details are far greater than that. Sharrow has a history - her mother was assassinated by that religion, she fought in a major war and had something called synchroneurobonding done to her and her crew, survived a major crash, became an Antiquities thief (this is important as the world, Golter, has 10,000 years of documented history) and on and on. Now, while Sharrow and her history are the viewpoint characters, the world is as much a star with its legalistic World Court ruling over a patchwork of nations, Solipsistic mercenaries, weird secular cults, other inhabitable worlds (some terraformed, some natural), oddball polities, ultratech voodoo, etc.
The one thing capable of saving Sharrow from murder I mentioned earlier? The Lazy Gun, a product of a weird civilization who's world was destroyed in a war several thousand years ago. How it kills and destroys varies from use to use and can be pretty improbable. And they are very effectively tamper proofed.
Its interesting, sort of fun, but grim. In many ways it reminds me of Consider Phlebas, but more hopeful at the end. The protagonist is put through hell, but it may be worth it.
Of course the details are far greater than that. Sharrow has a history - her mother was assassinated by that religion, she fought in a major war and had something called synchroneurobonding done to her and her crew, survived a major crash, became an Antiquities thief (this is important as the world, Golter, has 10,000 years of documented history) and on and on. Now, while Sharrow and her history are the viewpoint characters, the world is as much a star with its legalistic World Court ruling over a patchwork of nations, Solipsistic mercenaries, weird secular cults, other inhabitable worlds (some terraformed, some natural), oddball polities, ultratech voodoo, etc.
The one thing capable of saving Sharrow from murder I mentioned earlier? The Lazy Gun, a product of a weird civilization who's world was destroyed in a war several thousand years ago. How it kills and destroys varies from use to use and can be pretty improbable. And they are very effectively tamper proofed.
Its interesting, sort of fun, but grim. In many ways it reminds me of Consider Phlebas, but more hopeful at the end. The protagonist is put through hell, but it may be worth it.
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