The Sunless Countries

io9 gave the book a great review, saying among other things:

“Other books in the series have dealt with rebels who want to build their own suns, and the political machinations of the great nations near the center of Virga. But The Sunless Countries is a standalone adventure that takes place at the periphery of everything: In a history department at a university in the sunless nation of Sere. Specifically, it concerns the strange adventures of a rebellious history researcher named Leal who is caught up in an ideological battle against intellectuals within her own nation—as well as a battle against all of humanity being waged by mysterious creatures from beyond Virga's skin.

  • Schroeder paints his unique world with deft touches while keeping the story moving briskly. ...Inventive and solidly enjoyable.

    —Publisher’s Weekly

  • A rollicking good read. It's fun, bookish, and full of insane air battles that take place in a world without land. And the political thought experiments are as good as Schroeder's overarching scientific thought experiment about what it would be like to live in a world where you can have what amounts to a space battle using Newtonian physics.

    —io9

  • Virga, and now the universe that surrounds it, are realms ripe with ideas and adventure, and should continue to make repeated visits worthwhile for both the author and his readers.

    —SFSite

  • As the iron glove of populist reality tighten around her world, Leal faces the classic dilemma of intellectuals under emerging fascism. Does she cooperate in order to have some ability to protect the precious knowledge that the Eternists seek to suppress, hoping that the wheel will turn again in her lifetime? Or does she openly oppose them, putting herself at risk? Though the author does a fine job of showing the slippery Orwellian slope that leads good people to despair, he also shows the folly of fascism when it faces threats from the very realms that it has declared to be non-existent.

    —SFRevu

  • What makes these books so much fun is not only their intricate and energetic storytelling but the density and variety of Schroeder's imaginings.

    --Locus Magazine

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