Greatwinter

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Greatwinter Series is a sequence of science fiction novels by Sean McMullen. In Australia, the home country of the author, the first book was released as two separate novels, Voices in the Light and Mirrorsun Rising. In the United States, the series was a trilogy, composed of the following books:

• Souls in the Great Machine
• The Miocene Arrow
• Eyes of the Calculor

The series is set in the 40th century, with action taking place in both North America and Australia, called "Australica". The Greatwinter Series has certain steampunk-like elements, such as a rejection of electrical and steam or combustion technologies throughout the series, focusing instead on wind-, solar-, or man-powered devices and technologies. This is achieved through the plot device of orbiting machines which destroy anything detected as electronics, assumed created during a war at some point earlier.

As an entry into the steam punk genre, there are several interesting characteristics of this series. The first is the building of an entirely human powered computer used to calculate probabilities in battle. The second is that it is an externally enforced technology limitation, and in the later books the machine enforcing the limitation becomes a more direct part of the plot. Electronics can be shielded from its sensors, and in the end of the series, the machine reaches an accommodation with humanity, paving the way (presumably) for future generations to return to more sophisticated technology. Many readers^[who?] were put off by The Eyes of the Calculor because the former hero warden-killer had become the villain. Glasken became a woman which was also controversial.^{[citation needed]}