A review by outcolder
Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds

5.0

This had some tropes in common with an SF series I just finished reading: the Heechee books by [a:Frederik Pohl|22996|Frederik Pohl|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1226540337p2/22996.jpg]: alien artifacts but missing aliens, computer simulations of dead people, and an alien menace that doesn't want anyone exploring space. I liked this much better though for a bunch of reasons. 1. Reynolds colors inside the lines. Although we would think of the computerized characters as more or less human, his human characters don't... the whole idea of immortality by uploading your brain leads to all kinds of crap here that [a:Ray Kurzweil|47744|Ray Kurzweil|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1238471819p2/47744.jpg] probably hasn't considered... although Reynolds does it make it possible at the end when our heroes are in a giant quantum computer the size and density of a neutron star. I should take a point off for what was really a deus ex machina but I had too much fun reading it. 2. No FTL drives. 3. The vocabulary... I had to look up the word "entoptic." 4. The darkness of it. There is a quote from [a:Paul McAuley|20433|Paul McAuley|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1367680738p2/20433.jpg] on the cover that called it "gonzo cybergoth." The spider room kind of tipped it into steampunk for a second but mostly it has its own creepy style on the edge between space opera and weird.

At times it is like he is having a conversation with [a:Ian M Banks|6525815|Ian M Banks|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] Culture novels. The Culture novels have this optimism... AI is not only possible it becomes a pantheon of benevolent gods who love us. Reynolds' galaxy is more or less an exciting place to die painfully and slowly as a plague turns you into a metal plant and an alien intelligence takes over your brain.