The Quiet War is science fiction novel after the Earth has gone through the Overturn — a catastrophic climate event brought about by global warming. A new world order, based around conservative green values, emerges and attempts to restore the planet. Meanwhile, humanity has spread to the Moon, Mars and the outer planets. These outer colonies are dominated by liberal minded transhumanists — those who are attempting to transform the human condition through a combination of genetic engineering and technology. The book focuses on the tensions between the two groups, as Earth attempts to control the Outer colonies, while the colonies themselves attempt to evolve in new directions.
The book’s proceeding in starts and fits. It’s Paul J. McAuley’s first novel, and it shows — there are times when he glosses over big plot developments, and others when he focuses in on conversational minutiae — but I’m enjoying the setting, and his “Grand Tour” of the Outer Planets (starting on Jupiter’s moons, then moving on to Saturn) has been fascinating and compelling.