A review by ryanwhitley
Elysium Fire by Alastair Reynolds

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

Look, it’s an Alastair Reynolds story so it’s good and interesting. It’s just not the best thing he’s written. For long stretches the story felt dull to me. The stakes weren’t very high and I didn’t really care about this particular plot line. The genius of the previous book is lacking here. And the various political factions of the RevSpace Universe have little play here. But, there’s still whiphounds (which are awesome), the grandeur of the Glitter Band, and hints that Aurora and the Clockmaker AIs are still out there doing their thing. If your not committed to reading all of Reynolds’ books, I’d say you can safely skip this one.