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synoptic_view 's review for:
Revelation Space
by Alastair Reynolds
Very solid SF. I had resisted reading this for many years for a couple reasons. First, most SF is crap (Sturgeon's law is probably accurate statically, and dynamically, old SF becomes crap at a rate rivaled only by mid-century American non-genre fiction). Second, I think I read [b:House of Suns|1126719|House of Suns|Alastair Reynolds|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1447892903l/1126719._SY75_.jpg|2020929] a few years ago, but I cannot remember the experience. That's not so bad, really. Sometimes a fun but forgettable book is just the thing. But I have to be in the right mood for that.
Anyway, I am glad I finally picked this up. It has some good ideas--especially after the first third or so when the harder SF picks up. I was hoping that Reynolds' background in astronomy would feature prominently. It could have been even more present, but what was there was interesting.
(Spoilers beyond here)
I am always a sucker for new explanations of the Fermi paradox. This one kinda matches up with an idea Nick and I had a few years ago that a galactic social planner might enforce the Fermi paradox to reduce the extinction probability correlation between sentient species. It also contains a compelling presentation of the paradox when it walks through just how many orders of magnitude separate the age of the universe from the time span over which sentient life could attain star-faring technology. I also like planetary computers. Overall, lots of topical overlap with Remembrance of Earth's Past. I was playing Outer Wilds at the same time I read this, and there was also lots of overlap there, including harnessing black holes, hollow-core planets, and space archeology.
Also, wow, did Reynolds just nail the whole black holes as computers thing.
Anyway, I am glad I finally picked this up. It has some good ideas--especially after the first third or so when the harder SF picks up. I was hoping that Reynolds' background in astronomy would feature prominently. It could have been even more present, but what was there was interesting.
(Spoilers beyond here)
I am always a sucker for new explanations of the Fermi paradox. This one kinda matches up with an idea Nick and I had a few years ago that a galactic social planner might enforce the Fermi paradox to reduce the extinction probability correlation between sentient species. It also contains a compelling presentation of the paradox when it walks through just how many orders of magnitude separate the age of the universe from the time span over which sentient life could attain star-faring technology. I also like planetary computers. Overall, lots of topical overlap with Remembrance of Earth's Past. I was playing Outer Wilds at the same time I read this, and there was also lots of overlap there, including harnessing black holes, hollow-core planets, and space archeology.
Also, wow, did Reynolds just nail the whole black holes as computers thing.