Sun of Suns

This is as close to a call-back to the best works of Robert Heinlein and Larry Niven. We have a fantastic, novel setting inside of an air-filled “fullerene” balloon that has a 5,000 mile diameter. This balloon constitutes the “planet” of Virga. There is no gravity inside Virga and very little “ground.” The people of Virga live in a weightless environment where they can fly for thousands of miles. They live in settlements that produce gravity by centrifugal effects. All light in Virga is created by artificial “suns” that illuminate only scant territories of this enormous domain.

In the best tradition of Larry Niven, this is a lot to take in.

Clustered around individual “suns” are nations. Hayden Griffin belongs to the nation of Aerie which was conquered by the nomadic nation of Slipstream. His parents are part of the Aerie resistance with plans to light up a new sun and declare independence. Things go wrong and Hayden is left with a mission of vengeance.

Flash forward 15 years and Hayden is infiltrating into Slipstream society. Suddenly, he is called out to travel with his enemy to the outer darkness in search of a device that will allow Slipstream to fight its enemies.

We get the Cook's tour of Virga. We see the vast cloud banks, the pirates, and the outer darkness. We get a glimpse of Virga's history and society. Sword fights and battles between airships.

It's all good fun and quite exciting.