Aurora Rising: Previously published as The Prefect

Alastair Reynolds

Dec 2009 · Hachette UK

About this eBook

Previously published as THE PREFECT.

A rollercoaster ride through the dark and turbulent universe of REVELATION SPACE: an interstellar thriller where nothing - and no one - is what they seem ...

Tom Dreyfus is a Prefect, a policeman of sorts, and one of the best. His force is Panoply, and his beat is the multi-faceted utopian society of the Glitter Band, that vast swirl of space habitats orbiting the planet Yellowstone. These days, his job is his life.

A murderous attack against a Glitter Band habitat is nasty, but it looks to be an open-and-shut case - until Dreyfus starts looking under some stones that some very powerful people would really rather stayed unturned. What he uncovers is far more serious than mere gruesome murder: a covert takeover bid by a shadowy figure, Aurora (who may once have been human but certainly isn't now), who believes the people of the Glitter Band should no longer be in charge of their own destiny.

Dreyfus discovers that to save something precious, you may have to destroy part of it.

'An adroit and fast-paced blend of space opera and police procedural, original and exciting' George R. R. Martin

Ratings and reviews

Good writting and interesting plot, but it all falls apart around the middle of the story. There is a lot of pointless dialog expositions, and it feels sometimes like some were written by different people. But what is it that to have a plot twist characters must behave really dumb? Stupidity is not a good story driver. So.. the story itself isn't bad, it just makes no sense some times due to bad key decisions making further action less relevant.

I enjoyed this book. I found the characters empathy to one another slightly unrealistic but apart from that excellent

wonderful story, it does not disappoint.if you had read any Alastair Reynolds short stories you might recognise some of the characters and bits of the story.

About the author

Alastair Reynolds was born in Barry, South Wales, in 1966. He studied at Newcastle and St Andrews Universities and has a Ph.D. in astronomy. He stopped working as an astrophysicist for the European Space Agency to become a full-time writer. REVELATION SPACE and PUSHING ICE were shortlisted for the ARTHUR C. CLARKE AWARD; REVELATION SPACE, ABSOLUTION GAP, DIAMOND DOGS and CENTURY RAIN were shortlisted for the BRITISH SCIENCE FICTION AWARD and CHASM CITY won the BRITISH SCIENCE FICTION AWARD. You can learn more by visiting www.alastairreynolds.com.