alaster reynolds....a tribute (sci-fi)

kujosHeist

I've read most if not all of his books apart from maybe and i have to say he's one of the best, if not the best writing scf-fi at the moment.

The revelation space series, with a "trilogy", (Revelation Space, Redemption ark and Absolution Gap) one stand alone novel, (Chasm City) and two short stories (Diamond Dogs and Turquoise Days) are probably the best books i've read in any genre.
It depicts a dark, gritty future four hundred years down the line for humanity, which is split into drasticly different and often hostile factions, from the conjoiners, who have achived a hive mind consious and hold the secret to the starship engines which are rigged to blow if tampered with, to the cybernetically altered Ultras who man the lighthuggers which are the only means of transport (slightly slower than ftl) that trade and transport between the colonies.

The general storey is the mystrey that any other alien civilizations which have been discovered have all been wiped out, recently and violently, and the question is are huminity next.. well i dont think its to much of a spoiler to say yes they are and the species/machines (in fact there fully machines) are the inhibitors or wolves, who for millons of years have been roving the galaxy hibernating untill they recieve a sign of inteligence of whereby they attack with planet detroying weapons, some made from other planets infact!

il say no more other than if your into hard sci or space opera in general these will not disapoint, id nearly give a money money back garuntee if i owned a store!

the fact that alaster reynolds worked in ESA for years makes his future science spot on and realistic, he was even so kind as to reply to a few of my equally bad written fan mail!

lemme no if anyone reads his stuff and your thoughts, infact im off to reread the triology for the fifth time! (im unemployed !)

laters,
kujosHeist

AnCapaillMor

The revelation space ending kinda pissed me off, besides that i enjoyed what i've read, Chasm city in particular.

kujosHeist

I'd agree with ya there, they wrapped it up very quickly in the last few chapters of abolution gap, the ending really let it down, but the journey was worth the ****ty destination in my book, oh an can ya guess which character H from redemption ark was in chasm city!?

Garroldy

yeah I think he remebered that he'd left the gas on at home or something......David Brin suffers from the same " well lets see how we can finish this up " syndrome

mcgovern

He is the only writer whose books I pre-order, have them all, including most in hardback. I've also got lots of short story collections solely because he had a story in it. His short stories aren't as good as his novels, but still pretty good.

I think there is something about his futures, especially the Revelation Space universe, that appeals to me, it seems to have limitless potential for anyone with ambition.

Edit: I don't have The Six Directions of Space, anyone know where it can be got for less than the £33 on amazon?

Johnny Storm

I thought Revelation Space was among the best SF books I've ever read. Some of his early short stories are top notch too. Unfortunately, his quality seemed to drop off somewhat after that (IMHO). Still an excellent writer though.
Century Rain was woejous IMHO and Pushing Ice wasn't much better.

kujosHeist

yeah that pushing ice spirelled out of control! from a near future hard sci-fi it jus got crazy, think he tryed to hard to create two political camps over the decesion wheather to turn back or not aswell, have ya read that 1000 suns one yet about all the scaterlings?

oh and here's six directions of space for only 23 dollars http://www.amazon.com/Six-Directions-Space-Alastair-Reynolds/dp/1596061847

ixoy

I've read nearly all his stuff (most recently 'Galactic North'). I really enjoyed the gothic RS universe, although the trilogy had a bit of a limp ending: room for a follow up? Thought 'Chasm City' was a great one off novel too. Also, bit harder to find here, but 'Zima Blue and Other Tales' is a worthy collection.

I didn't care much for 'Century Rain' but I really enjoyed 'Pushing Ice'. I just dug the part where they had to, on the fly, re-compile some OS code

I think that, for me, he strikes the best balance between hard sci-fi and action. His no-FTL rule, for example, is done well (such as the long time gaps in the Revelation series as they go between planets). He doesn't though get too bogged down, which I feel the harder crew, like say Greg Bear, can do sometimes.

Have 'The Prefect' and 'House of a 1000 Suns' waiting to be read on my book shelf - still looking forward to them.

petes

I have to say I really enjoyed Century Rain.

Will have to read more. As ever I have books at home that I bought but haven't gotten around to reading them.

CiDeRmAn

Loved Century Rain, and at the time I found his website and told him so, he emailed me back to say thank you! Nice guy!

Loved all his stuff actually, I'm a big space opera fan and my staple would be Iain M Banks and Peter f Hamilton, and then I gladly added Alastair Reynolds to the list.

Diamond Dogs and Turquoise Days was a stand out book, linked to the rest of the RS universe nicely, excellent.

Looking forward to reading Terminal World, his new one later this year.

Cookie_Monster

I love his books and have most of them apart from the most recent one.

I've read the trilogy, chasm city and pushing ice about 5 times each:)

Didn't like Century rain as much.

The Galatic North collection is also very good and offers some nice insight into the 'past' and begining of his universe.

The Prefect was a great book too, especially to compare the glitter band / rust belt as it's best and worst.

Keep em coming...

Cookie_Monster

@ Anyone

What would you suggest is good reading in the sci-fi vein of Reynolds?

Looking for a few more books...

Johnny Storm

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

@ Anyone

What would you suggest is good reading in the sci-fi vein of Reynolds?

Looking for a few more books...

Iain M Banks - Consider Philebas
Richard Morgan - Altered Carbon
Neal Asher - Gridlinked (though all his books are kind of interchangeable :rolleyes:)

protos

I'm a big fan of Alastair Reynolds as well ........... Revelation Space is a masterpiece.

Another very good series of similar 'hard' sci-fi is Stephen Baxters "Destinys Children" series. The first book is a bit surprising in that it doesn't have any space stuff at all, but it sets up the rest of the series very well. Highly recommended.

Ping Chow Chi

One bit of Revelation Space series that sticks in my mind is that bit in one for his books where they have to steal a space ship, they do a big show of saying 'no one has ever managed to steal a space ship before etc etc' .... Then start the next chapter 6 months in the future with them all riding on the space ship, no mention of how they managed such a feat

loved the series though, he just seems to get a bit bored a rush things from time to time though

Mantel

Anyone read House of Suns? Been holding off getting it incase it's like century rain which I didn't like at all

There's another book based in the Revelation Space universe but before the plague struck, The Prefect. I found it quite good but it was more like Pushing Ice then the Revelation space trilogy. I didn't realise he had another book out now (Six directions) and there's another on the way later this year (Terminal World)

kujosHeist

another great part of the triology i felt was that any decesion that had to be made was never clear cut or black or white, it was always give and take, like when clavain destroyed a ship that he knew his leader/lovers (begins with G! )body was to destroy his enemy

Johnny Storm

Mantel wrote: »

Anyone read House of Suns? Been holding off getting it incase it's like century rain which I didn't like at all
)

Well worth reading IMHO

mcgovern

Johnny Storm wrote: »

Well worth reading IMHO

Agreed. And he has a new one coming out in October that sounds good too, Terminal World.

ixoy

For those who aren't aware, there's now a UK edition of 'Zima Blue' out. It was previously only available in the US (or maybe some specialist shops). Some good tales in there - none from the Revelation Space universe but I believe one is set in the world of 'House of Suns'.

mcgovern

ixoy wrote: »

For those who aren't aware, there's now a UK edition of 'Zima Blue' out. It was previously only available in the US (or maybe some specialist shops). Some good tales in there - none from the Revelation Space universe but I believe one is set in the world of 'House of Suns'.

I got it from Amazon.co.uk years ago, had it pre-ordered I think

Order Date: 2 Dec 2006
Order #: xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Recipient: Stephen McGovern
View order
Items:

* 1 of: The Doomed Planet (Mission Earth)
Sold by: Amazon EU S.a.r.L.
* 1 of: Galactic North (Gollancz S.F.)
Sold by: Amazon EU S.a.r.L.
* 1 of: Your Sandwich Made It!
Sold by: Amazon EU S.a.r.L.
* 1 of: Zima Blue and Other Stories
Sold by: Amazon EU S.a.r.L.
* 1 of: The Prefect (Gollancz S.F.)
Sold by: Amazon EU S.a.r.L.
* 1 of: Pushing Ice (Gollancz SF)
Sold by: Amazon EU S.a.r.L.


Your Sandwich Made It! because it gave free delivery at the time

neosmaster

Just Finished Revelation Space and have to say I loved it from the first page to the last.
Have Redemption Ark ready to start ( Read Joe Abercrombies First Law Trilogy in between ).
AM def ordering more of Alaster Reynolds books.Top Writer and love the world he has created