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Iron Sunrise by Charles Stross is a sequel to Singularity Sky.  This space opera opens with a bang, literally!  A supernova is triggered by an outside agency that wipes out a colony planet.  The few survivors launch a counteroffensive against the most likely culprit, the nearest neighboring star system with only a slight problem, they’re attacking an innocent civilization.  The same super agent from Singularity Sky, Rachel Mansour is sent from Earth to track down the true culprit and avert a second catastrophe of immense proportions.

Iron Sunrise had some great sections but overall, this sequel wasn’t nearly as good as the first novel.  There were about 5 main plot threads told through different viewpoints and this was a couple too many.  A precocious but misunderstood teenager (aren’t they all) with the name of Wednesday Shadowmist ends up being in the center of the action.  Her character was quite well drawn and when she was involved, the story shined.  These sections of the novel along with Rachel’s were generally fun with lots of exciting action.  A couple of the other plot threads weren’t as interesting, primarily due to characters that I couldn’t really care about, and these sections of the book tended to drag. 

If you loved the first book and want to read more about Rachel in action, you’ll definitely want to read Iron Sunrise.  Otherwise, I would give this book a pass.