This will be a short review,
because this is a book I read years ago. However, it's a book with unique and
interesting aspects, worth considering.
The story rests on two kinds
of "what if" premises. It's alternative history in the sense it
assumes the empire of Alexander the Great was able to continue for over 1000
years. As a result, the heritage of the ancient Greeks plays a much greater
role in the world. Perhaps, even more significantly, it means there were no
Dark Ages, no Catholic Church resisting certain kinds of scientific advances,
no centuries of stagnation. Although the story takes place fewer centuries
after the time of Alexander than our year of 2009, scientific progress was
continuous, allowing them to already be in the space age. On the other hand, a
major part of their civilization is the centuries-long war with what evolved
from the ancient Chinese civilization. Faced with an opponent such as a
bigger, better empire of Alexander, the Chinese have had to develop differently
as well.
The second area of premises
is scientific. In the book, the physics of Aristotle's time is valid. All
materials are composed of some combination of "the four elements" -
earth, air, water and fire. The Earth is the center of the universe, with the
Sun and all other celestial bodies orbiting around it. Ptolemy's celestial
spheres exist and are solid barriers like concentric Dyson spheres surrounding the
Earth. However, there is a gap in each celestial sphere around the celestial
body associated with that sphere. Therefore, a spaceship can pass through the
Moon's or Venus' celestial sphere by flying through the gap of a few miles
around the Moon or Venus. It's interesting to read a book that works at being
scientifically accurate to such archaic science.
These two premises connect in
the plot. The Greek civilization plans to finally win their long war with the
Asians by acquiring the ultimate weapon - a piece of the Sun. This requires
them to send a spaceship through the various celestial spheres to reach the
Sun. Their mission faces various obstacles, both natural and human.
Those who envision
alternative history stories as always portraying the bad guys winning WWII, the
US Civil War or other crucial conflicts don't have to worry about that in
Celestial Matters.
You'll certainly not learn
anything about modern science here, and you probably won't get a hi-tech high
from reading it. Nevertheless, it's a fascinating combination of "what
if" ideas. Read it when you're more in the mood for
"entertaining" and "imaginative", but not when you need
"cutting-edge science".
.