Reviews

Inhibitor Phase by Alastair Reynolds

hecate64's review against another edition

5.0

I’d give it five stars just for the return of Scorpio and the introduction of new hyperpigs. Overall, the book started a little slowly—I found the Sun Hollow setting a little dull (which may have been the point) and both Nicola and Victorine annoying. But it really picks up with the rendezvous with Lady Arek and Pinky and moves along smartly from there. The last-minute introduction of the Slugs was a little jarring. Revelation Space remains my favorite in the series.

megblak's review against another edition

5.0

Miguel de Ruyter has been hiding with a group of human survivors in a cave on Michaelmas for the past 30 years. Human interstellar civilization is practically gone after relentless attacks by the “wolves,” aliens machines bent on total extermination. When a spaceship comes near enough to their planet to draw dangerous attention, Miguel volunteers to destroy it to protect his people. But what happens next takes him on a journey across the universe to take on the very wolves they thought were indestructible.

This was my first Alastair Reynolds books and it is a part of universe of several interconnected series. I appreciated that is book came with a forward explaining some aspects of the back story from the other books without giving spoilers. This book was slow to start for me, but I’ve seen that this is common in Reynold’s books as he “builds up the sense of dread.” I enjoyed reading it in the end. This book is definitely great for readers who like their sci-fi heavy on the sci, and would appeal to die hard space opera fans.

cybergoths's review against another edition

5.0

A welcome return to the Revelation Space setting that first introduced me to Alastair Reynolds, Inhibitor Phase builds momentum throughout and comes to a satisfying ending. If you like space opera with a hard SF feel, you'll find this fun. It's written such that you don't need to know what has happened before (there's a timeline at the end if you feel it will help) but there are enough easter eggs that readers of the series will enjoy without losing newcomers. I enjoyed the a lot, and read it in a 24h period.

gon8go's review against another edition

4.0

Compared to the other novels in the series this is very focused. This is a first person perspective adventure story taking a victory lap of locations from the revelation space universe without all the side stories. It still has many familiar characters and plot devices we’ve seen in Reynolds’ other books but none of it was unwelcome. This was a really enjoyable book that does tie up some story threads from the series but don’t expect a neat ending to the inhibitors storyline.

jaydoncornell's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

quiraang's review against another edition

4.0

I gave this a 4, but bits of the book seemed disjointed - some flash backs - can't say more without giving too much away. Also a lot of philosophical introspection and self justification.

Having said that the plot and story were good. Can't quite work out if there is mote to come.

longhorn396's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

ninjalawyer's review against another edition

2.0

This books is a good reminder that writing dialogue is hard. So many passages - from the main character’s weirdly sterile/formal conversations with his wife, to his desperate-for-love conversations with a pig-person - are cringeworthy.

I kind of expected that, but I didn’t expect the bad plotting. A lot of the first half of this is characters chasing after one poorly explained magic object after another, and the plot only works at all because of secret knowledge revealed at the end that’s basically a wallpapered over deus ex machina.

Oh, and the plot just kind of ends pre-climax.

kai_wanders's review against another edition

Not my favourite RS book - it felt kind of unnecessary to the overall plot of the series - but still enjoyable and I'll probably reread next time I go through the series. I felt the flashback to Mars bits in particular fizzled out way more disappointingly than they should have given the significance of what happened to the characters.

I like that it doesn't perfectly match the pro/epilogue of Absolution Gap - it gives a whole "reality is messy and things don't tie up neatly and events have a lot of contributing factors" feel that I really enjoyed

Probably would have been 3 stars, but I added an extra half for it missing most of the ableism of the earlier RS books, and Goodreads won't let me rate it 3.5, so 4 it is I guess?

pshotts's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25