John Watmuff
I've been reading Alastair Reynolds books for like 9 years. There are only a few others authors who have so consistently sustained my trust. His sense of realism is unlike any in the industry. His futures are not jaded by modern space cliches -- each feels intuitive, tangible, and a bit scary. He creates fair, complex rules, and plays by those rules with intellect & grace. At his best, his ideas stir up new inquiries for philosophy, and when more common, reading Alastair is thoroughly enjoyable -- as his writing sparks all forms of curiosity. My favorite aspect of his work, is that he rarely backs down from the simulation of cataclysmic events. He always plays out his wild scenarios, and allows his world & characters to respond to these absurdities -- it's great entertainment. There is little doubt that Alastair is one of the great science fiction authors of our time -- the future is obvious to him -- and he makes it easy to see how we'll get there.
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