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A review by talne
Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds
5.0
I'll start off with my feeling as I closed the book - that was one of the best science fiction books I've read in recent memory. Part mystery, part space opera, the book flew by and left me wildly excited for what's to come in this universe. The pacing was excellent; by the time I was putting the pieces together and getting ready for the best parts of the novel, it was almost over. The balance between action, narrative and dialogue was perfect; exposition was expertly laid in between well written dialogue; each bit of story that was revealed only answered part of the question, leaving you hungry for more.
In addition to the novels structure, the content was incredible. Reynolds has crafted what feels like a deep and living universe. It's clearly a future version of humanity, but he doesn't rely on callbacks to 20th or 21st century earth to anchor his narrative. There are new factions of humanity, new places and a rich history that we only get piecemeal. When I finished the novel, many questions that arose during my reading were answered, but many were left unanswered, and more still bubbled up. A particular bright spot for me personally was the harder edge to the science fiction. Reynolds approaches most of his science with an idea of plausibility in mind (no FTL here), but also isn't afraid to push those boundaries when storytelling calls for it. Concepts such as human augmentation, trans/post-humanism, intelligent life (or the lack thereof) in the universe are all approached with a scientific frame of mind. Even when the science approached more of the fiction end of the spectrum, I was reminded of my favorite Arthur C. Clarke quote:
In addition to the novels structure, the content was incredible. Reynolds has crafted what feels like a deep and living universe. It's clearly a future version of humanity, but he doesn't rely on callbacks to 20th or 21st century earth to anchor his narrative. There are new factions of humanity, new places and a rich history that we only get piecemeal. When I finished the novel, many questions that arose during my reading were answered, but many were left unanswered, and more still bubbled up. A particular bright spot for me personally was the harder edge to the science fiction. Reynolds approaches most of his science with an idea of plausibility in mind (no FTL here), but also isn't afraid to push those boundaries when storytelling calls for it. Concepts such as human augmentation, trans/post-humanism, intelligent life (or the lack thereof) in the universe are all approached with a scientific frame of mind. Even when the science approached more of the fiction end of the spectrum, I was reminded of my favorite Arthur C. Clarke quote:
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.