illions of years in our future, mankind was at war throughout the galaxy, and decided to choose 1,000 humans who would be the least corruptible by power to become cloned Families of augmented immortal superbeings and establish peace. Ten million years of peace follow, as the Families save human and alien civilizations throughout the galaxy from calamities both natural and manmade, while using their awesome powers and technologies to terraform new planets for humanity and other life forms.
Ord is the newest member of the Chamberlains, one of the most powerful Families, known for their expertise in creating new worlds. He is growing up with other Chamberlains on the family estate on Earth, where young Chamberlains spend their first few centuries growing up, being gradually augmented with new abilities called Talents. The Chamberlain students are involved in the winter tradition of snow wars, where one team builds a massive snow fort and the other attacks and tries to capture its flag using relatively simple snowball throwers and energy weapons. Also on Ord's team are Xo of the Nuygen (known as capable administrators) and Ravleen of the Sanchex (an aggressive Family known for dangerous work saving worlds from natural disasters).
During the snow wars, the Chamberlains are surprised by the return of Alice, one of the earliest Chamberlains, rumored to be working with a large group of members of various Families at the core of the galaxy on a mysterious project. Alice inexplicably chooses to meet with Ord, to whom she reveals that their grand project at the core has gone horribly wrong, and is now sending out a wave of destruction that could, over the millennia, destroy much of the galaxy. Alice is put on trial by Earth authorities, and as punishment is stripped of most of her godly Talents and imprisoned. She nevertheless somehow provides Ord with a gift of Talents, and with the help of a reclusive older Chamberlain, called Brother Perfect, sends Ord on an important mission.
With his augmented physical and mental powers, Ord travels at near-light speed toward the core, pursued by an angry Ravleen and rebellious Xo, on a secret mission that might save the galaxy and mankind from total destruction.
Radical hard SF in the regressive mode
Although this novel was written and published as five shorter works in Asimov's Science Fiction over seven years, it is a surprisingly seamless narrative that works effectively as a novel. And while its précis may seem like a superhero comic book, Robert Reed's compelling narrative in Sister Alice is pure, radical, hard science fiction, albeit in a somewhat recursive mode, in that his far future has as many aspects reminiscent of the past as those extrapolated from the present.
The augmented individuals in the Families not only retain their basic human nature and emotions, but they seem enhanced, making them very similar to the gods of ancient Greece and Rome. The Chamberlains' estate has a noticeable resemblance to a 19th-century British boarding school. Reed builds a galactic civilization that is stable for millions of years based on an inherently unstable social model—essentially rule by an elite and powerful upper class with no middle class. Reed only shows glimpses of mortal humans, and only three of the thousand Families, the Nuygens, Sanchex and Chamberlains, who, in the mold of the medieval monarchy, can be seen to represent the bureaucrats, palace guard and merchant/explorer classes. One would imagine that in such a system, most Family members' time would be spent enforcing prohibitions against normal, mortal humans using advanced technology to enhance themselves, but this is never even mentioned.
Yet—and this is really an amazing accomplishment—Reed pulls it all off, showing just enough to keep readers entranced, without time to think too much about what they are not seeing. He has created superhuman characters that are both sympathetic and believable, while engaging in action that is engaging and understandable despite the use of technology that is essentially indistinguishable from magic. Sister Alice is one of the most imaginative and compelling SF novels of the year.
