Revelation Space: Volume 1

Alastair Reynolds

May 2002 · Penguin

About this ebook

The highly-acclaimed first novel in the Revelation Space universe—a debut that has redefined the space opera with a staggering journey across vast gulfs of time and space to confront the very nature of reality itself...

“[A] TOUR DE FORCE…RAVISHINGLY INVENTIVE.”—Publishers Weekly
 
Nine hundred thousand years ago, something annihilated the Amarantin civilization just as it was on the verge of discovering space flight. Now one scientist, Dan Sylveste, will stop at nothing to solve the Amarantin riddle before ancient history repeats itself. With no other resources at his disposal, Sylveste forges a dangerous alliance with the cyborg crew of the starship Nostalgia for Infinity. But as he closes in on the secret, a killer closes in on him. Because the Amarantin were destroyed for a reason—and if that reason is uncovered, the universe—and reality itself—could be irrevocably altered...

Ratings and reviews

The author has the uncanny knack for poor writing. When writing about a new substance (ie: new minerals), he doesn't even bother to come up with an original name; but instead, goes with something like "hyperdiamond". I mean, even television shows know that new materials need new names, like dilithium, trinium, naquada, whatever. But at the same time, he randomly inserts made-up words as adjectives with no other descriptors to help the reader understand what they mean. Not to mention how difficult it is to tell one scene from another. Case in point: at the beginning of the story, a character is in a tomb examining the skeletal remains of an ancient race... and then suddenly he's back home examining a wooden box with the skull of a human. No transition at all, no flashback. It all streamed into one paragraph.

This is a rather enjoyable novel in a genre that seems over-saturated at the moment. Alastair Reynold’s vision of the future is compelling and cohesive, so it’s not hard to be pulled into his work. Despite this, the prose was distractingly simple, sometimes reading like a young adult novel, which pulled me back out of the story. The atmosphere Reynolds created is impressive, and so is the lore he created for this universe. I loved reading about all the different kinds of aliens and exotic technology that existed in the book. The way the plot handled all of the characters and the way their stories merged was nothing short of extraordinary, but the ending of the book was a tad ridiculous. When I finished, I had little desire to pick up the second book because of the way this novel ended. All things considered, this is a fun space opera with some minor flaws that don’t entirely spoil fun of the story, but do detract from the conclusion.

An interesting view of the fat future. I was drawn to it based on many readers' comments about its Gothic mood. Unfortunately, while it starts out strong, many rewarding possibilities for plot and character development are introduced and then quickly discarded. I was looking for something to read after Peter Hamilton's Commonwealth Saga. This book left me quite disappointed.

About the author

Alastair Reynolds is the author of the Poseidon’s Children series and the Revelation Space series. Born in Barry, South Wales, he studied at Newcastle University and the University of St. Andrews. A former astrophysicist for the European Space Agency, he now writes full-time.