From Library Journal
In the fourth millennium, war looms between the lands once known as America and Australia. As a new airborne weapon, the Miocene Arrow, threatens to rule the skies, assassins and spies seek to uncover its origins and properties. Set in the same postapocalyptic universe as his groundbreaking Souls in the Great Machine, McMullen's latest effort elaborates on the evolution of a strange and, ultimately, mystifying future. Recommended for most sf collections.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
McMullen transplants his tales of a postapocalyptic fortieth century from Australia to North America. The mysterious Call, which originated down under in
Souls in the Great Machine (1999), profoundly affects the Americas, too, physically and socially. Carefully placed tethers and padded walls in three Callhavens in the former U.S. prevent the meager population from making for the sea every few days. In other regions, the Call comes continuously; nothing larger than a terrier can resist it. The other incontrovertible power in peoples' lives is the Sentinels, orbiting satellites that systematically fire on any land or air vehicle larger than 29-and-a-half-feet long. A highly organized, relatively peaceful society exists in the Callhavens; ritual combat between kingdoms is popular, but all-out war is a thing of the past. Then one quiet night on the very edges of the Callscour, a new factor enters the equation: people seemingly unaffected by the Call or the Sentinels. Their origin, agenda, and minuscule physical differences will soon create devastating havoc. With remarkable imagination and insight, McMullen conjures factions, personalities, and plots, including well-placed glimpses of a lost, past America. A complex and lively story, rich with the action and reaction of human treachery, courage, battle-fueled passion, and quiet devotion.
Roberta JohnsonCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
