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A review by kynan
Elysium Fire by Alastair Reynolds
3.0
TL:DR: A reasonable sequel to [b:The Prefect|89195|The Prefect (Prefect Dreyfus Emergency, #1)|Alastair Reynolds|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327988786l/89195._SX50_.jpg|3102565], definitely worth a read if you enjoyed that, but also definitely not as good. DO NOT READ THIS BOOK, OR REVIEW BEFORE The Prefect! Spoilers abound!
TL: Elysium Fire picks up almost directly after the, now renamed, [b:Aurora Rising|35830705|Aurora Rising (Prefect Dreyfus Emergency, #1)|Alastair Reynolds|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1501066815l/35830705._SY75_.jpg|3102565] (nee The Prefect). It's slightly more just-after the short story [b:Open and Shut|37835151|Open and Shut|Alastair Reynolds|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|59519304] (in which we learn that Jane Aumonier is recovering nicely from her decapitation). Elysium Fire takes place in 2429, two years after the events in The Prefect, and a considerable portion of the cast have come along for the ride, specifically Dreyfus, Ng, Bancal, Aumonier and, rather bizarrely (I thought), Aurora. It continues the "< href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_procedural">police procedural in space" theme and contains very similar elements including the use of flashbacks (although they're full-on flashbacks, not just retellings of historical events) and about a millionty different characters.
The story starts from the perspective of a child in a bedroom, and the story oscillates between that child's perspective on past events and those of the "current day", which has Panoply (the Glitter Band equivalent to a federal police force, concerned mostly with ensuring that the instruments of society continue to function) dealing with several crises including a secessionist demagogue pushing habitats out of Panoply's protection and a spate of deaths involving the seemingly random inside-out cooking of Glitter Band residents! Both plots hook successfully, and the narrative is well told without the curse that often comes with this kind of narrative, the "don't swap now I need to know what's going on here" problem.
Whilst I did enjoy this book, it did feel very much like The Prefect 2.0, but with annoyances. I find this quite surprising because Reynolds had 10 years between the two books to mature, but I felt like The Prefect was better written! My major gripe with this book was that several of the characters appeared to have had personality-transplants between the two books - this was especially jarring when read back-to-back. Sparver and Thalia in particular, both individually and in terms of their relationship just seemed...wrong, based on what they went through in The Prefect. Sparver's petulance in the first half of the book just feels terribly wrong, and the justification for it that pops up half-way through very much does nothing to actually justify it. Second in line: Aurora. This is edging into spoiler territory, so I don't want to say much, but I felt that she was a very different entity to the Aurora from The Prefect, I don't care what's going on between her and the Clockmaker, it doesn't explain what we see here, and I definitely don't think that the interactions between Dreyfuss and Aurora make sense at all!
That leads in to my other main issue: the "villain" of this story is very much a capital-v stereotypical Filler Villain. A lot of work went into trying to justify things and a very (perhaps too) convoluted plot tries to make them more relatable, but it doesn't work, and with that, the ending lacks any real emotional punch and the whole filler-villain thing is emphasised as the main protagonist for the third (final?) Dreyfus book is teased at the end.
That's a lot of whining, so I feel like I should make it clear that I was quite happy with this book! It's still a 3-star "liked it" kinda deal, but it's well short of the 4-star quality of The Prefect.
TL: Elysium Fire picks up almost directly after the, now renamed, [b:Aurora Rising|35830705|Aurora Rising (Prefect Dreyfus Emergency, #1)|Alastair Reynolds|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1501066815l/35830705._SY75_.jpg|3102565] (nee The Prefect). It's slightly more just-after the short story [b:Open and Shut|37835151|Open and Shut|Alastair Reynolds|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|59519304] (in which we learn that Jane Aumonier is recovering nicely from her decapitation). Elysium Fire takes place in 2429, two years after the events in The Prefect, and a considerable portion of the cast have come along for the ride, specifically Dreyfus, Ng, Bancal, Aumonier and, rather bizarrely (I thought), Aurora. It continues the "< href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_procedural">police procedural in space" theme and contains very similar elements including the use of flashbacks (although they're full-on flashbacks, not just retellings of historical events) and about a millionty different characters.
The story starts from the perspective of a child in a bedroom, and the story oscillates between that child's perspective on past events and those of the "current day", which has Panoply (the Glitter Band equivalent to a federal police force, concerned mostly with ensuring that the instruments of society continue to function) dealing with several crises including a secessionist demagogue pushing habitats out of Panoply's protection and a spate of deaths involving the seemingly random inside-out cooking of Glitter Band residents! Both plots hook successfully, and the narrative is well told without the curse that often comes with this kind of narrative, the "don't swap now I need to know what's going on here" problem.
Whilst I did enjoy this book, it did feel very much like The Prefect 2.0, but with annoyances. I find this quite surprising because Reynolds had 10 years between the two books to mature, but I felt like The Prefect was better written! My major gripe with this book was that several of the characters appeared to have had personality-transplants between the two books - this was especially jarring when read back-to-back. Sparver and Thalia in particular, both individually and in terms of their relationship just seemed...wrong, based on what they went through in The Prefect. Sparver's petulance in the first half of the book just feels terribly wrong, and the justification for it that pops up half-way through very much does nothing to actually justify it. Second in line: Aurora. This is edging into spoiler territory, so I don't want to say much, but I felt that she was a very different entity to the Aurora from The Prefect, I don't care what's going on between her and the Clockmaker, it doesn't explain what we see here, and I definitely don't think that the interactions between Dreyfuss and Aurora make sense at all!
That leads in to my other main issue: the "villain" of this story is very much a capital-v stereotypical Filler Villain. A lot of work went into trying to justify things and a very (perhaps too) convoluted plot tries to make them more relatable, but it doesn't work, and with that, the ending lacks any real emotional punch and the whole filler-villain thing is emphasised as the main protagonist for the third (final?) Dreyfus book is teased at the end.
That's a lot of whining, so I feel like I should make it clear that I was quite happy with this book! It's still a 3-star "liked it" kinda deal, but it's well short of the 4-star quality of The Prefect.