Singularity Sky

Author: Charles Stross

The New Republic, a repressive state has launched an attack against an invasion of one of its colony, little does the New Republic realize, that they've actually been visited by technologically advanced aliens who can grant the colony any wish, including giving them the Festival's technology. Like any third world civilization that goes from squalor to having their wishes granted (wait, no, we aren't that pleasant to our third world countries on real-life Planet Earth), socio-economic and political issues crop up, causing conflict within the colony. And because it's space opera, we have our Days of Our Lives installment of an engineer and intelligence operative trying to stop this happening and falling in love on the New Republic's flagship. What is there to love about the usual space opera elements of intergalactic battle and a love story between super intelligent people? The themes in this are ones that resonate today, particularly in the midst of the Prism scandal - information should be free and widely available, no matter what level of society you're from.

Books in Eschaton Series (1)

Iron Sunrise