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A review by charles__
Inhibitor Phase by Alastair Reynolds
3.0
Sequel to Reynolds’ Absolution Gap. Revelation Space heroes band together in a quest to halt the nigh complete genocide of humanity by the alien, self-replicating, robotic, Inhibitors.
The Swine Queens Court?
My ebook formatted version was 660-pages. A dead tree copy would be 497-pages. It had a UK 2021 copyright. This book includes a: Dramatis Personae, a Historical Note and a Glossary. I highly recommend reading the Historical Note before starting the book.
Alastair Reynolds is a British science fiction author. He has written more than twenty novels, primarily in three major series and standalone. This was the fourth book in his Inhibitor Sequence story arc of the Revelation Space universe. I have read many of the authors books. The last book I read by him was Century Rain (my review).
Its strongly recommended to have a firm grounding in the Revelation Space universe, particularly the Inhibitor Sequence story arc before reading this. In particular, this is a sequel to Abolution Gap. This book would be incomprehensible, without already being Revelation Space savvy.
This story was a turning-of-the-tide for the on-the-ropes humanity facing their genocide by the Inhibitors. The story takes place after most of the year 2727 events in Absolution Gap. A band of re-badged heroes from the Inhibitor Sequence stories are gathered together by rogue Conjoiners to put paid to the Inhibitors (re-badged as wolves) by using alien technology to re-create a superweapon before humanity goes extinct .
This book, which many of us have been waiting for since 2003’s Absolution Gap, somewhat makes-up for Reynolds' misstep. Inhibitor Phase is one of the best science fiction stories I've read in the past two years. Some of you may know how discerning I am about books, and how hard it is for me to express that opinion? Its hardish science fiction, written by a skilled writer of the genre. There has not been much of that out there lately. This story is marginally better than [a:Adrian Tchaikovsky's|1445909|Adrian Tchaikovsky|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1282303363p2/1445909.jpg]'s science fiction, when he stays away from the Standard Sci-Fi Setting trope.
Several parts of the book held me in rapt attention. Reynolds was not shy about killing-off, well-developed characters. That kept me on my toes. It also doesn’t hurt that I’m a sucker for the Heroic Sacrifice trope. I got more than a few chuckles out of the hyperpig porcine humor. Revelation Space aliens have oft been copied by less imaginative authors. There's a deeper dive into a couple of the best in this story. Also the astrogation was real. (As any fan of KSP will note.) For example, there was a very lucid description of a solar, gravity deceleration. Typically, you read about "sling-shot" accelerations, not the other way around.
However, this was not a great work. There were several things that kept it penned into the only Good category.
Firstly, you really need to already be a Revelation Space junkie to get everything out of this story. The author heavily re-uses its: characters, locations, plot lines and plot elements. For example, I had forgotten the properties of the story's Gideon Stones McGuffin. That annoyed me for several chapters. (Were they first introduced in [b:Zima Blue and Other Stories|860926|Zima Blue and Other Stories|Alastair Reynolds|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1391343221l/860926._SX50_.jpg|86083]?)
Reynolds is a proficient author. Also, I like Brit-speak narratives. However, the editing was only adequate. There were several grammar errors, some typographical issues, and several technical errors. For example, I would have liked that Warren Clavain’s, Martian flashbacks which began several chapters to have had more separation than a “¶” before (re)entering the present.
Note that there was no: Sex, Substance Abuse or Rock ‘n Roll in the story. This was despite there being oblique references to it having happened in the past. In this way the story felt very YA.
However, it was a couple of scenes in the ruins of the Glitter Band and Chasm City that set my teeth on edge. It had me wondering why his editor hadn’t slapped the author up against the side of the head, and sent him back to his laptop.
Eighteen (18) years after Absolution Gap Reynolds finally got back to that story. However, a large portion of his audience has perished in reefersleep. (Some committed seppuku over his writing the Revenger series.) Their memories of Revelation Space have dimmed. Folks have moved on to Reynolds-esque, new authors like Adrian Tchaikovsky and others who are still writing hard-ish, space operas. This was a good story, but not a really good story. It was uneven in its narrative. Mostly it was hyper-realistic, vintage Reynolds, but it also contained a lot of drivel too. I thought this book also arrived about 15-years too late for his fans. Its success depended on a deep knowledge, of the very richly embroidered Revelation Space universe. To too many of us Yellowstone has become only a dim memory.
My hope is that he follows this up quickly with a Greenfly story in the Inhibitor Sequence ?
The Swine Queens Court?
My ebook formatted version was 660-pages. A dead tree copy would be 497-pages. It had a UK 2021 copyright. This book includes a: Dramatis Personae, a Historical Note and a Glossary. I highly recommend reading the Historical Note before starting the book.
Alastair Reynolds is a British science fiction author. He has written more than twenty novels, primarily in three major series and standalone. This was the fourth book in his Inhibitor Sequence story arc of the Revelation Space universe. I have read many of the authors books. The last book I read by him was Century Rain (my review).
Its strongly recommended to have a firm grounding in the Revelation Space universe, particularly the Inhibitor Sequence story arc before reading this. In particular, this is a sequel to Abolution Gap. This book would be incomprehensible, without already being Revelation Space savvy.
This story was a turning-of-the-tide for the on-the-ropes humanity facing their genocide by the Inhibitors. The story takes place after most of the year 2727 events in Absolution Gap. A band of re-badged heroes from the Inhibitor Sequence stories are gathered together by rogue Conjoiners to put paid to the Inhibitors (re-badged as wolves) by using alien technology to re-create a superweapon before humanity goes extinct .
This book, which many of us have been waiting for since 2003’s Absolution Gap, somewhat makes-up for Reynolds' misstep. Inhibitor Phase is one of the best science fiction stories I've read in the past two years. Some of you may know how discerning I am about books, and how hard it is for me to express that opinion? Its hardish science fiction, written by a skilled writer of the genre. There has not been much of that out there lately. This story is marginally better than [a:Adrian Tchaikovsky's|1445909|Adrian Tchaikovsky|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1282303363p2/1445909.jpg]'s science fiction, when he stays away from the Standard Sci-Fi Setting trope.
Several parts of the book held me in rapt attention. Reynolds was not shy about killing-off, well-developed characters. That kept me on my toes. It also doesn’t hurt that I’m a sucker for the Heroic Sacrifice trope. I got more than a few chuckles out of the hyperpig porcine humor. Revelation Space aliens have oft been copied by less imaginative authors. There's a deeper dive into a couple of the best in this story. Also the astrogation was real. (As any fan of KSP will note.) For example, there was a very lucid description of a solar, gravity deceleration. Typically, you read about "sling-shot" accelerations, not the other way around.
However, this was not a great work. There were several things that kept it penned into the only Good category.
Firstly, you really need to already be a Revelation Space junkie to get everything out of this story. The author heavily re-uses its: characters, locations, plot lines and plot elements. For example, I had forgotten the properties of the story's Gideon Stones McGuffin. That annoyed me for several chapters. (Were they first introduced in [b:Zima Blue and Other Stories|860926|Zima Blue and Other Stories|Alastair Reynolds|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1391343221l/860926._SX50_.jpg|86083]?)
Reynolds is a proficient author. Also, I like Brit-speak narratives. However, the editing was only adequate. There were several grammar errors, some typographical issues, and several technical errors. For example, I would have liked that Warren Clavain’s, Martian flashbacks which began several chapters to have had more separation than a “¶” before (re)entering the present.
Note that there was no: Sex, Substance Abuse or Rock ‘n Roll in the story. This was despite there being oblique references to it having happened in the past. In this way the story felt very YA.
Spoiler
I found it strange that the male character Warren Clavain was almost immediately, so comfortable with the female HourGlass character's lady parts in Reynolds exercise of the Two Beings, One Body trope?However, it was a couple of scenes in the ruins of the Glitter Band and Chasm City that set my teeth on edge. It had me wondering why his editor hadn’t slapped the author up against the side of the head, and sent him back to his laptop.
Spoiler
The scene using the starship Scythe to move huge stones around inside a hollow, Glitter Band asteroid was ridiculous. It was like using your Porsche to clean your property by employing it to bulldoze your crap to the kerb. As if, the Inhibitors wouldn’t detect all the construction activity to make those big stone tumblers? The second was the Mad Max aspect of the Swine Queen’s court in Chasm City. I thought I was reading a rip-off of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome ? The Swine Queen had too many minions, and too few hyperpig captives for everyone to get three squares of the other white meat. The whole hyperpig cannibalism-fetish plotline was too OTT for a Reynolds story.Eighteen (18) years after Absolution Gap Reynolds finally got back to that story. However, a large portion of his audience has perished in reefersleep. (Some committed seppuku over his writing the Revenger series.) Their memories of Revelation Space have dimmed. Folks have moved on to Reynolds-esque, new authors like Adrian Tchaikovsky and others who are still writing hard-ish, space operas. This was a good story, but not a really good story. It was uneven in its narrative. Mostly it was hyper-realistic, vintage Reynolds, but it also contained a lot of drivel too. I thought this book also arrived about 15-years too late for his fans. Its success depended on a deep knowledge, of the very richly embroidered Revelation Space universe. To too many of us Yellowstone has become only a dim memory.
My hope is that he follows this up quickly with a Greenfly story in the Inhibitor Sequence ?