Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Nov 2012
464 pages
Genre: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Speculative, Alt. History
Publication Information
Stephen Baxter's imaginative and bold novel Stone Spring drew readers into an alternate prehistoric scenario that now continues with Bronze Summer. Thousands of years have passed. And a wall that was built to hold back the sea, must now hold back the advancing armies of a reviving Troy…
What would have been the bed of the North Sea is now Northland, a society of prosperous, literate and self-sufficient people. They live off the bounty of the land, an area created by the building of the Wall. It began as a simple dam, thousands of years ago. Now, inhabited from end to end, the Wall is a linear city stretching for hundreds of miles, and a wonder of the world.
For millennia, the Wall has also kept the growing empires of the Bronze Age at bay. But decades of drought have destabilized those eastern civilizations. Men - and women - filled with greed and ambition have now turned their eyes toward the fertile West. A new and turbulent age is dawning. For any wall, no matter how strong, can be breached - particularly from within…
"Starred Review. Gripping, well researched and sharply intelligent." - Kirkus Reviews
"Baxter mixes some engaging intrigue and espionage into his ancient world, but too often focuses almost fetishistically on brutality, with a barrage of descriptions of violence and rape." - Publishers Weekly
"Thought-provoking, the characters within fascinating...Add to this Stephen's own unique writing style, cracking prose...a piece that demonstrates the futility of war, [and that] creates a story that will stay with you long after the final page is turned." - Falcata Times
"An interesting world and a compelling narrative." - Solarbridge.com
This information about Bronze Summer was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Stephen Baxter is a trained engineer with a degree in mathematics from Cambridge and a doctorate in aero-engineering research from the University of Southampton. After teaching for a number of years and working in the information technology industry, he began writing full-time in 1995. He is a winner of the British Science Fiction Award and the Locus Award, as well as a nominee for several Arthur C. Clarke and Hugo awards. His novel Voyage won the Sidewise Award for the best alternate history novel of the year, and he won the Philip K. Dick Award twice, for The Time Ships and for Vacuum Diagrams. He was also a recipient of the John W. Campbell Award for The Time Ships.
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