Seven Surrenders is the second novel in a science fiction quartet called Terra Ignota, written by the American author Ada Palmer.
Set in the year 2454, Seven Surrenders is the second half of a fictional memoir written by self-confessed unreliable narrator Mycroft Canner, a brilliant, infamous, and paroled criminal who often serves the world's most powerful leaders.
What began as an oddly obvious minor crime turns out to be a revenge plot thirty years in the making, which threatens to unravel the global system of government.
Rather than geographic nations, people can voluntarily join Hives based on values or remain Hiveless, choosing only a minimum set of laws to adhere to.
There are seven Hives: the Humanists who value achievement; Cousins, philanthropy; Masons, logic; Gordians, intelligence; Europe, national identity; Mitsubishi, land and business; and Utopians, the future.
[1] Also, in its chapter at the start of Seven Surrenders, Sniper advises the reader to not "trust the gendered pronouns Mycroft gives people, they all come from Madame".
Sniper awakens paralyzed inside a lifedoll box as a gift from Dominic Seneschal to Julia Doria-Pamphilli.
Ockham meets with Ganymede, Andō, and European Prime Minister Casimir Perry, to discuss what steps should be taken in the face of recent events.
They propose using O.S., the nickname for the Saneer-Weeksbooth's secret system of strategic assassinations which has maintained world peace for almost three centuries.
The session is interrupted by the arrival of the Utopian Voltaire Seldon, who had tracked the Canner Device to Dominic's room.
A flashback to thirteen years ago depicts the scene at Madame's when the world leaders decided Mycroft's sentence after his murder spree.
Cornel MASON demands an explanation about Apollo Mojave's coat and the immense number of lethal weapons stored within it.
Thisbe drags her away and coerces Carlyle to confess her role as Conclave Head Julia Doria-Pamphili's pawn.
Since the Saneer-Weeksbooth transit system began using Cartesian set-sets 244 years ago, they have caused 2,204 deaths and also saved the world dozens of times.
They debate about current events and faction tensions, before finding Tully Mojave giving another soapbox speech.
Casimir Perry reveals himself to be Merion Kraye, a disgraced European politician who assaulted Danaë and fathered Carlyle.
After faking his own death and clawing his way back into power with a new identity, Perry-Kraye stole the Seven-Ten list in order to expose O.S.
He also reveals that the Mitsubishi set-sets were originally developed to interface with the Canner Device as an alternative assassination system, before they were scattered by the Cousins and reunited by Andō and Danaë.
Mason, having realized that death does not destroy each person's potential universe, declares that he will accept the powers given to him, orders Mycroft to kill Sniper, and decides to publish the truth about all that has occurred so everyone can make informed choices about which side of the war to join.
Bridger puts on the uniform of a World War II soldier and transforms himself into the Major, who is revealed to be the legendary hero Achilles.
Liz Bourke of Tor.com wrote that it is "playfully baroque, vividly characterised, and possessed of a lively sense of humour," though she criticized its density.