The Miocene Arrow is a post-apocalyptic

Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction

Apocalyptic fiction is a sub-genre of science fiction that is concerned with the end of civilization due to a potentially existential catastrophe such as nuclear warfare, pandemic, extraterrestrial attack, impact event, cybernetic revolt, technological singularity, dysgenics, supernatural...

 novel by Sean McMullen

Sean McMullen

Sean Christopher McMullen is an Australian science fiction and fantasy author.-Biography:McMullen has a degree in physics and history from Melbourne University , a postgraduate degree in library and information science, and a PhD in Medieval Literature...

. It is the middle book of the Greatwinter

Greatwinter

The Greatwinter Series is a series of science fiction novels by Sean McMullen. In Australia, the home country of the author, the first book was released as two separate novels, Voices in the Light and Mirrorsun Rising...

 trilogy.

Plot summary

In isolated pockets of what used to be America

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, humans fight stylized duel

Duel

A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two individuals, with matched weapons in accordance with agreed-upon rules.Duels in this form were chiefly practised in Early Modern Europe, with precedents in the medieval code of chivalry, and continued into the modern period especially among...

s in small, biodiesel

Biodiesel

Biodiesel refers to a vegetable oil- or animal fat-based diesel fuel consisting of long-chain alkyl esters. Biodiesel is typically made by chemically reacting lipids with an alcohol....

-powered airplanes. In a land where chivalry

Chivalry

Chivalry is a term related to the medieval institution of knighthood which has an aristocratic military origin of individual training and service to others. Chivalry was also the term used to refer to a group of mounted men-at-arms as well as to martial valour...

 and honor are everything, what happens when rebels from Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, enamored of the amazing technology held by the Americans, hatch a plot to bring some of it back to their homes?

Reception

Publishers Weekly

Publishers Weekly

Publishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...

 said that "the tale features labyrinthine politics, a large cast of engaging, thorny and occasionally rather cartoonish characters, and many well depicted scenes of aerial warfare

Aerial warfare

Aerial warfare is the use of military aircraft and other flying machines in warfare, including military airlift of cargo to further the national interests as was demonstrated in the Berlin Airlift...

. The authors inventive use of several oddball technologies is particularly noteworthy, and veteran SF readers may well be reminded of L. Sprague de Camp

L. Sprague de Camp

Lyon Sprague de Camp was an American author of science fiction and fantasy books, non-fiction and biography. In a writing career spanning 60 years, he wrote over 100 books, including novels and notable works of non-fiction, including biographies of other important fantasy authors...

."