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Pushing Ice
2057. Bella Lind and the crew of her nuclear-powered ship, the Rockhopper, push ice. They mine comets. But when Janus, one of Saturn's ice moons, inexplicably leaves its natural orbit and heads out of the solar system at high speed, Bella is ordered to shadow it for the few vital days before it falls forever out of reach.
In accepting this mission she sets her ship and her crew on a collision course with destiny—for Janus has many surprises in store, and not all of them are welcome...
In accepting this mission she sets her ship and her crew on a collision course with destiny—for Janus has many surprises in store, and not all of them are welcome...
458 pages, Hardcover
First published October 27, 2005
685 people are currently reading
15843 people want to read
About the author
Alastair Reynolds
310 books9,163 followersI'm Al, I used to be a space scientist, and now I'm a writer, although for a time the two careers ran in parallel. I started off publishing short stories in the British SF magazine Interzone in the early 90s, then eventually branched into novels. I write about a novel a year and try to write a few short stories as well. Some of my books and stories are set in a consistent future named after Revelation Space, the first novel, but I've done a lot of other things as well and I like to keep things fresh between books.
I was born in Wales, but raised in Cornwall, and then spent time in the north of England and Scotland. I moved to the Netherlands to continue my science career and stayed there for a very long time, before eventually returning to Wales.
In my spare time I am a very keen runner, and I also enjoying hill-walking, birdwatching, horse-riding, guitar and model-making. I also dabble with paints now and then. I met my wife in the Netherlands through a mutual interest in climbing and we married back in Wales. We live surrounded by hills, woods and wildlife, and not too much excitement.
I was born in Wales, but raised in Cornwall, and then spent time in the north of England and Scotland. I moved to the Netherlands to continue my science career and stayed there for a very long time, before eventually returning to Wales.
In my spare time I am a very keen runner, and I also enjoying hill-walking, birdwatching, horse-riding, guitar and model-making. I also dabble with paints now and then. I met my wife in the Netherlands through a mutual interest in climbing and we married back in Wales. We live surrounded by hills, woods and wildlife, and not too much excitement.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,311 reviews
April 17, 2022
Very long time space colonization caught in time paradoxes, alien artifacts, and a literally endless battle for dominance between different fractions.
A bit too much character focus that escalates toward drivel
I wonder how this could have happened to Reynolds, because he usually tends to fully focus on worldbuilding or future humans´ modifications and its effects on their psychology, ideology, and, duh, physiology cyborging full throttle, but here he escalates towards redundancy. That´s especially annoying because it´s not connected to aliens or the mentioned body upgrades, but based on a friendship vs rivalry constellation around a basic plot decision that keeps being a problem throughout the whole novel. The most annoying thing is that
Different alien and future human fractions
pop up so late in the story and make it a real space opera that one seriously asks why it couldn´t have lifted off much, much earlier. Don´t get me wrong, there are still fascinating ideas about cryogenics, Clarketech, time travel paradoxes, alien cultures, etc., but I´ve read most of Reynolds´works twice and know that he can do so much bigger, better, and more complex. He kind of wasted a perfect plot for the sake of character focus as if he wanted to try out some social studies in space instead of doing what he is famous for, hard sci fying with fascinating meta concepts. If another author would have done this from his first work on, I absolutely wouldn´t have a problem with this social sci fi attitude, but Reynolds´just didn´t deliver the usual dessert, making this work the definitively not brightest candle on his hard sci fi space opera chimera cake.
Micro future human society
The very long timeline combines the problems of resource scarcity, best use of an alien artifact, and the mentioned über focus on protagonists to one more idea of how . If there are artifacts, superstructures, and relicts out there, is their origin based on the extinction of the aliens that built them, a kind of cosmic Chuck Norrising to show everyone what they got both for prestige and deterrence, bait to attract alien civilizations to put them in a cosmic zoo or laboratory, or just a hobby for everyday, multidimensional, immortal, almighty, and thereby bored, godlike aliens?
Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...
A bit too much character focus that escalates toward drivel
I wonder how this could have happened to Reynolds, because he usually tends to fully focus on worldbuilding or future humans´ modifications and its effects on their psychology, ideology, and, duh, physiology cyborging full throttle, but here he escalates towards redundancy. That´s especially annoying because it´s not connected to aliens or the mentioned body upgrades, but based on a friendship vs rivalry constellation around a basic plot decision that keeps being a problem throughout the whole novel. The most annoying thing is that
Different alien and future human fractions
pop up so late in the story and make it a real space opera that one seriously asks why it couldn´t have lifted off much, much earlier. Don´t get me wrong, there are still fascinating ideas about cryogenics, Clarketech, time travel paradoxes, alien cultures, etc., but I´ve read most of Reynolds´works twice and know that he can do so much bigger, better, and more complex. He kind of wasted a perfect plot for the sake of character focus as if he wanted to try out some social studies in space instead of doing what he is famous for, hard sci fying with fascinating meta concepts. If another author would have done this from his first work on, I absolutely wouldn´t have a problem with this social sci fi attitude, but Reynolds´just didn´t deliver the usual dessert, making this work the definitively not brightest candle on his hard sci fi space opera chimera cake.
Micro future human society
The very long timeline combines the problems of resource scarcity, best use of an alien artifact, and the mentioned über focus on protagonists to one more idea of how . If there are artifacts, superstructures, and relicts out there, is their origin based on the extinction of the aliens that built them, a kind of cosmic Chuck Norrising to show everyone what they got both for prestige and deterrence, bait to attract alien civilizations to put them in a cosmic zoo or laboratory, or just a hobby for everyday, multidimensional, immortal, almighty, and thereby bored, godlike aliens?
Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...
September 25, 2021
I got a whiptimelash just from reading it.
Vertigo-inducing experience of super-relativistic speeds and time dilation. Elusive entities, gristleships, alien structures encompassing dozens of galaxies - quirky!
Now, who in their sane minds would think to trust anything to a pack of aliens calling themselves 'Musky Dogs' and engaged in consta-pissing contests? Svetlana was getting on my nerves a lot with this crap.
Q:
“Some promises are best broken. Trust me on this: I’m a politician.” (c)
Q:
‘We push ice. It’s what we do.’” (c)
Q:
Her name was Chromis Pasqueflower Bowerbird and she had travelled a long way to make her case. ... What she had in mind was, even by her own admission, a deeply unorthodox suggestion. (c)
Q:
I think I’m going to make an idiot of myself in there.”
“We’ve all made idiots of ourselves at some point. In this line of work it’s almost obligatory.” (c)
Q:
Politically, they had very little in common, but by the same token they had very little worth squabbling over. (c)
Q:
“I’m really worried, Rudd. Worried I’m about to screw up nearly a thousand years of preparation.” (c)
Q:
It’s called Frost Angel.”
“Frost Angel? No one’s ever mentioned anything called Frost Angel to me.”
“It isn’t widely discussed outside the medical section. It’s something we hoped never to have to put into practice.”
“You have no idea how encouraging that sounds.”
...
The idea is that we kill you now. ... That’s one option.”
“I’m just dying to hear the other one,” … (c)
Q:
“That’s what I keep telling myself—as if I haven’t already lived up to enough imaginary expectations.” (c)
Q:
Cowards were exactly the kind of people you wanted around nuclear technology. (c)
Q:
We’re miners. We push ice. They sent us out here to do a job, to mine Janus, only this time for knowledge. It’s still mining. It’s still what we do. I say we stay. I say we stay here and finish the job. (c)
Q:
Furniture oozed into readiness, anticipating their arrival. A chair nudged Bella’s ankles with puppy-dog eagerness. She kicked it aside irritably. (c) Noooo, you don't kick them!
Q:
“It looks pretty vile. Almost too vile. Do you think they’re really so bad?”
“Just look at it, Liz. Does that strike you as the product of the kind of intelligence you really want to do business with?” (c)
Q:
That was the universe: you could beat it once, you could float a message in a bottle across half of eternity, but the universe would always find a way to have the last laugh. (c)
Q:
“… if nothing we do here has any guarantee of lasting, if even the best gestures have only a slim chance of outliving us—is there any reason not to just give up?”
“Every reason in the world...We’re here and we’re alive. It’s a beautiful evening, on the last perfect day of summer… Now let’s go down there and make the most of it, while it lasts.” (c)
Goash, these anchordolls!
Q:
“It must be quite a burden, to be leading this mission,” the anchordoll said in her perky, almost cartoon-like voice.
“It’s a responsibility, certainly,” Bella said, “but I have a good crew under me. I couldn’t ask for a better team.”
“You must be apprehensive, though.”
“I have a duty to exercise professional concern. Janus may throw some surprises at us, but that’s been the case with every comet we’ve ever steered home. There’s never been anything routine about pushing ice.”
“How do you think you’ll react if you meet a real-life alien?”
“As opposed to a not real-life alien?” .... “I don’t think it’ll happen. I think we’ll find automated systems, that’s all.”
“How do you feel about that?”
Bella shrugged. “We’ll take pictures, run scans, maybe try to extract a physical sample. But I’m not expecting great conversation from a machine.”
The anchordoll huffed. “Well, we machines may have something to say about that!” (с) Gee, I love these anchordolls already!
Q:
“We’ve had reports that your second-in-command is going to die!” the doll said cheerily. (c)
I'd really like some infodump on this one:
Q:
“The eighteens again?”
“Same old trimix problem.”
“Don’t forget to file the LOC log. (c) Whatever this is supposed to mean.
Vertigo-inducing experience of super-relativistic speeds and time dilation. Elusive entities, gristleships, alien structures encompassing dozens of galaxies - quirky!
Now, who in their sane minds would think to trust anything to a pack of aliens calling themselves 'Musky Dogs' and engaged in consta-pissing contests? Svetlana was getting on my nerves a lot with this crap.
Q:
“Some promises are best broken. Trust me on this: I’m a politician.” (c)
Q:
‘We push ice. It’s what we do.’” (c)
Q:
Her name was Chromis Pasqueflower Bowerbird and she had travelled a long way to make her case. ... What she had in mind was, even by her own admission, a deeply unorthodox suggestion. (c)
Q:
I think I’m going to make an idiot of myself in there.”
“We’ve all made idiots of ourselves at some point. In this line of work it’s almost obligatory.” (c)
Q:
Politically, they had very little in common, but by the same token they had very little worth squabbling over. (c)
Q:
“I’m really worried, Rudd. Worried I’m about to screw up nearly a thousand years of preparation.” (c)
Q:
It’s called Frost Angel.”
“Frost Angel? No one’s ever mentioned anything called Frost Angel to me.”
“It isn’t widely discussed outside the medical section. It’s something we hoped never to have to put into practice.”
“You have no idea how encouraging that sounds.”
...
The idea is that we kill you now. ... That’s one option.”
“I’m just dying to hear the other one,” … (c)
Q:
“That’s what I keep telling myself—as if I haven’t already lived up to enough imaginary expectations.” (c)
Q:
Cowards were exactly the kind of people you wanted around nuclear technology. (c)
Q:
We’re miners. We push ice. They sent us out here to do a job, to mine Janus, only this time for knowledge. It’s still mining. It’s still what we do. I say we stay. I say we stay here and finish the job. (c)
Q:
Furniture oozed into readiness, anticipating their arrival. A chair nudged Bella’s ankles with puppy-dog eagerness. She kicked it aside irritably. (c) Noooo, you don't kick them!
Q:
“It looks pretty vile. Almost too vile. Do you think they’re really so bad?”
“Just look at it, Liz. Does that strike you as the product of the kind of intelligence you really want to do business with?” (c)
Q:
That was the universe: you could beat it once, you could float a message in a bottle across half of eternity, but the universe would always find a way to have the last laugh. (c)
Q:
“… if nothing we do here has any guarantee of lasting, if even the best gestures have only a slim chance of outliving us—is there any reason not to just give up?”
“Every reason in the world...We’re here and we’re alive. It’s a beautiful evening, on the last perfect day of summer… Now let’s go down there and make the most of it, while it lasts.” (c)
Goash, these anchordolls!
Q:
“It must be quite a burden, to be leading this mission,” the anchordoll said in her perky, almost cartoon-like voice.
“It’s a responsibility, certainly,” Bella said, “but I have a good crew under me. I couldn’t ask for a better team.”
“You must be apprehensive, though.”
“I have a duty to exercise professional concern. Janus may throw some surprises at us, but that’s been the case with every comet we’ve ever steered home. There’s never been anything routine about pushing ice.”
“How do you think you’ll react if you meet a real-life alien?”
“As opposed to a not real-life alien?” .... “I don’t think it’ll happen. I think we’ll find automated systems, that’s all.”
“How do you feel about that?”
Bella shrugged. “We’ll take pictures, run scans, maybe try to extract a physical sample. But I’m not expecting great conversation from a machine.”
The anchordoll huffed. “Well, we machines may have something to say about that!” (с) Gee, I love these anchordolls already!
Q:
“We’ve had reports that your second-in-command is going to die!” the doll said cheerily. (c)
I'd really like some infodump on this one:
Q:
“The eighteens again?”
“Same old trimix problem.”
“Don’t forget to file the LOC log. (c) Whatever this is supposed to mean.
September 6, 2015
Alastair Reynolds is like a sci-fi triple threat, big “SFnal ideas”, unpredictable plot, and well developed characters, all wrapped up in very readable narrative. After reading six books by him I now feel like I can always come back to him a “reliable author” for a good reading experience. One of these days he will probably let me down badly because that always happens when I become complacent about an author but I see no sign of that so far.
Pushing Ice is often cited as one of Reynolds’ best books by the PrintSF online reading community. While I have some complaints I can understand the enthusiasm. One the face of it the plot seems like a BDO themed story made popular by the likes of Clarke’s Rendezvous with Rama and Greg Bear’s Eon. However, Pushing Ice switches gear several times and the story is more about the characters, colonization and the last remnant of humanity’s fight for survival.
Putting aside the patented Reynolds enigmatic prologue, the story takes off when Janus, one of Saturn’s moons, suddenly starts moving under its own motive power. Imagine our moon suddenly revving up and zooming away, of course we would want to give chase. In this case Janus is the moon zooming away like a spaceship, because it is in fact a spaceship in disguise. Our heroes are comet ice miners whose spaceship happen to be the nearest to Janus, so they are assigned by the Government to follow the runaway moon. Unfortunately after landing on Janus they find that it is accelerating and traveling much faster than they bargained for, they have come too far and too fast to go back home.
The first half (may be 40%) of the book is similar to other BDO themed sf novels in that a mysterious alien object is found and the beings who made it are entirely absent. From the characters' viewpoint the story spans over a hundred years but in objective time many more years have passed since the discovery of the runaway moon due to the time dilation effect.
Janus's arrival at a huge structure in the Spica star system launches the second phase of the story where the crew of the mining ship has to colonize the moon they just chased and landed on. They spend decades making the moon their home, during which time they meet a (very) alien race that is not responsible for creating the Janus ship. Before too long other alien races show up and all hell soon break loose.
There is a hell of a lot of character development in this book, especially for the central characters. At times I think there is too much of it. There is a feud between two main characters that span almost a century. Reynolds seems to be very interested in exploring the theme of how an intense friendship can turn into the bitterest enmity. The ramifications of this feud turn out to be very serious for both humans and aliens as factions and infighting inevitably develop between the human colonists. To make matters worse some bizarre, very unpleasant and unhygienic aliens show up to exploit this very human foibles for their own ends.
My gripe with the human drama aspect of the book is that there is a little too much of it, especially as the feud goes on for almost a century, well pass the point of plausibility. The two characters are essentially good people after all. However, given that I am not as interested in this feud as Reynolds wants me to be, it never actually bog down the book, which is a credit to his narrative skill. As with all the Reynolds books that I have read so far the sci-fi aspect of the book makes everything worthwhile. There are enough weird aliens, amazing super science and mind bending scenarios to keep me riveted the entire time. The climax and denouement also work perfectly. So in spite of my reservations about the surfeit of human drama in still going to rate this book at 5 stars as the good so far outweigh the bad that the latter just slide right off the scale.
Pushing Ice is often cited as one of Reynolds’ best books by the PrintSF online reading community. While I have some complaints I can understand the enthusiasm. One the face of it the plot seems like a BDO themed story made popular by the likes of Clarke’s Rendezvous with Rama and Greg Bear’s Eon. However, Pushing Ice switches gear several times and the story is more about the characters, colonization and the last remnant of humanity’s fight for survival.
Putting aside the patented Reynolds enigmatic prologue, the story takes off when Janus, one of Saturn’s moons, suddenly starts moving under its own motive power. Imagine our moon suddenly revving up and zooming away, of course we would want to give chase. In this case Janus is the moon zooming away like a spaceship, because it is in fact a spaceship in disguise. Our heroes are comet ice miners whose spaceship happen to be the nearest to Janus, so they are assigned by the Government to follow the runaway moon. Unfortunately after landing on Janus they find that it is accelerating and traveling much faster than they bargained for, they have come too far and too fast to go back home.
The first half (may be 40%) of the book is similar to other BDO themed sf novels in that a mysterious alien object is found and the beings who made it are entirely absent. From the characters' viewpoint the story spans over a hundred years but in objective time many more years have passed since the discovery of the runaway moon due to the time dilation effect.
Janus's arrival at a huge structure in the Spica star system launches the second phase of the story where the crew of the mining ship has to colonize the moon they just chased and landed on. They spend decades making the moon their home, during which time they meet a (very) alien race that is not responsible for creating the Janus ship. Before too long other alien races show up and all hell soon break loose.
There is a hell of a lot of character development in this book, especially for the central characters. At times I think there is too much of it. There is a feud between two main characters that span almost a century. Reynolds seems to be very interested in exploring the theme of how an intense friendship can turn into the bitterest enmity. The ramifications of this feud turn out to be very serious for both humans and aliens as factions and infighting inevitably develop between the human colonists. To make matters worse some bizarre, very unpleasant and unhygienic aliens show up to exploit this very human foibles for their own ends.
My gripe with the human drama aspect of the book is that there is a little too much of it, especially as the feud goes on for almost a century, well pass the point of plausibility. The two characters are essentially good people after all. However, given that I am not as interested in this feud as Reynolds wants me to be, it never actually bog down the book, which is a credit to his narrative skill. As with all the Reynolds books that I have read so far the sci-fi aspect of the book makes everything worthwhile. There are enough weird aliens, amazing super science and mind bending scenarios to keep me riveted the entire time. The climax and denouement also work perfectly. So in spite of my reservations about the surfeit of human drama in still going to rate this book at 5 stars as the good so far outweigh the bad that the latter just slide right off the scale.
January 22, 2019
Review - Retcon
OK. Here’s the thing. In my initial review (quite a while ago) I ranted a bit about one or two things that bothered me about Pushing Ice. Lately though, I find that the novel keeps haunting me. A lot. Since this is exceptional, I went back and had a quick glance at some of the details. While I still have an issue with some aspects of the power struggle dominating the story, I have to admit that there is quite a bit of wonder to be had from the novel. The Structure, in particular, is a fascinating concept.
In my original review I complained about the lack of detail surrounding the Big Dumb Objects (Janus / The Structure), but, in retrospect, perhaps this is exactly what lends them such an aura of mystique. Now if only Mr Reynolds will expand this particular Universe and give us a sequel – I’m sure that will lay all my frustrations to rest.
I’m going to bump my rating up a notch; this novel still resonates with me a long time after having read it, which is saying something. Also, you can’t fault Reynolds’ writing, he keeps things tight and the story moves along nicely. I was expecting Revelation Space, which this isn’t, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
…also, any novel with beings called The Uncontained should get the benefit of the doubt!
Original review - condensed
Is this a novel about a Big Dumb Object (artifact) or is it a rehash of any number of Science Fiction ideas that have been floating about? The first part brings to mind Ben Bova's Grand Tour of the Solar System books (Mars, Jupiter, Venus et al). So, it starts off as a Hard SF novel. The book then changes into: a chase scene, a Generation Ship novel, a Contact novel, a political thriller and a Space Opera. More or less in that sequence. Oh - and of course there is a great reveal (it is after all an artifact novel) right near the end. Now if only this particular reveal had been explored in more depth...
The power struggle between the two female leads got a bit much. I'm also not sure why the rest of the cast tolerated it. Surely you can’t have a military dictatorship without a military presence?
I don't think Alastair Reynolds can write a really bad book, even if paid to do so. I just think he can do so much better (I loved the Revelation Space novels, for example). I was hoping for more with Pushing Ice.
OK. Here’s the thing. In my initial review (quite a while ago) I ranted a bit about one or two things that bothered me about Pushing Ice. Lately though, I find that the novel keeps haunting me. A lot. Since this is exceptional, I went back and had a quick glance at some of the details. While I still have an issue with some aspects of the power struggle dominating the story, I have to admit that there is quite a bit of wonder to be had from the novel. The Structure, in particular, is a fascinating concept.
In my original review I complained about the lack of detail surrounding the Big Dumb Objects (Janus / The Structure), but, in retrospect, perhaps this is exactly what lends them such an aura of mystique. Now if only Mr Reynolds will expand this particular Universe and give us a sequel – I’m sure that will lay all my frustrations to rest.
I’m going to bump my rating up a notch; this novel still resonates with me a long time after having read it, which is saying something. Also, you can’t fault Reynolds’ writing, he keeps things tight and the story moves along nicely. I was expecting Revelation Space, which this isn’t, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
…also, any novel with beings called The Uncontained should get the benefit of the doubt!
Original review - condensed
Is this a novel about a Big Dumb Object (artifact) or is it a rehash of any number of Science Fiction ideas that have been floating about? The first part brings to mind Ben Bova's Grand Tour of the Solar System books (Mars, Jupiter, Venus et al). So, it starts off as a Hard SF novel. The book then changes into: a chase scene, a Generation Ship novel, a Contact novel, a political thriller and a Space Opera. More or less in that sequence. Oh - and of course there is a great reveal (it is after all an artifact novel) right near the end. Now if only this particular reveal had been explored in more depth...
The power struggle between the two female leads got a bit much. I'm also not sure why the rest of the cast tolerated it. Surely you can’t have a military dictatorship without a military presence?
I don't think Alastair Reynolds can write a really bad book, even if paid to do so. I just think he can do so much better (I loved the Revelation Space novels, for example). I was hoping for more with Pushing Ice.
December 22, 2011
Dear Alastair Reynolds,
Why do I come back to your books? That's the question I kept asking myself, when reading this book.
This is not to say that all of your books are absolute drivel, like this one is. And, it's true, Pushing Ice is not without some interesting ideas and speculation... that could have been explored in about half as many pages and one third the flat dialogue that one can only skim after awhile.
Now, the tech you have down, and you know your science, which I very much appreciate.
No, it's the characters. My god! This reads worse than early Vinge (whom I love!). Unrealistic, flat, contrived, plot-device-necessary characters go on and on, expressing themselves in painful dialogue and pontificating on motivations that just about nobody outside a hamfistedly-written novel would ever have. They're not even robots. They're not even baseless stereo-types. They're just plot constructions.
Not to mention there are plot holes wide enough that a california condor could stretch its wings out fully in, and still have room to glide around for a bit (why would future humanity send out probes looking for the main character, but not, you know, put "For Bella Lind!" (her name), or her face, or DNA, or some kind of identifier for her ALL OVER IT! No, instead they put the Vitruvian Man, which I think translates as "for/of all humanity" on it. Which thus resulted in it being forgotten/hidden for +20 years, which of course is just what Reynolds needed for a plot twist...).
Nice try Reynolds, but, I think you took two steps back with these characters.
Why do I come back to your books? That's the question I kept asking myself, when reading this book.
This is not to say that all of your books are absolute drivel, like this one is. And, it's true, Pushing Ice is not without some interesting ideas and speculation... that could have been explored in about half as many pages and one third the flat dialogue that one can only skim after awhile.
Now, the tech you have down, and you know your science, which I very much appreciate.
No, it's the characters. My god! This reads worse than early Vinge (whom I love!). Unrealistic, flat, contrived, plot-device-necessary characters go on and on, expressing themselves in painful dialogue and pontificating on motivations that just about nobody outside a hamfistedly-written novel would ever have. They're not even robots. They're not even baseless stereo-types. They're just plot constructions.
Not to mention there are plot holes wide enough that a california condor could stretch its wings out fully in, and still have room to glide around for a bit (why would future humanity send out probes looking for the main character, but not, you know, put "For Bella Lind!" (her name), or her face, or DNA, or some kind of identifier for her ALL OVER IT! No, instead they put the Vitruvian Man, which I think translates as "for/of all humanity" on it. Which thus resulted in it being forgotten/hidden for +20 years, which of course is just what Reynolds needed for a plot twist...).
Nice try Reynolds, but, I think you took two steps back with these characters.
May 28, 2016
warning : might contain slight spoilers !
[7/10] this book falls about halfway between "OK" and "really like it" . Well written, but a bit verbose and light on the scientific speculative part. A lot of good ideas are only touched upon or mentioned in passing, leaving the focus of the novel on interpersonal relationships and some space opera fireworks.
Of the three distinctive parts of this epic, the first - dealing with an industrial spaceship chasing after a rogue satelite - reminded me of the movie "Armaggedon" with Bruce Willis. Diamond in the rough miners, dubious mega corporation interests, self sacrifice and mysterious accidents flavor this action thriller part of Pushing Ice. I think I was supposed to care deeply about the fate of Reynold's characters, but while I enjoyed the ride I remained detached. Probably because I didn't find the story all that original.
The second major part of the novel deals with the hardships and struggles of the stranded crew in a melange of "Mysterious Island" and "Rendez-Vous with Rama". This section was better and a faster read for me than the introduction, not surprisingly, since the Jules Verne and the A. C. Clarke are two of my favorite books. Also here I detected the relative shallowness of the narration, skipping over technical and scientific speculation in favor of the human conflict between two alpha females.
The third part is the space opera part, with alien contact and a relatively larger environment. Reynolds shows good control of plot and pacing, likable but stock characters, decent writing that delivers the message without aspiring to poetic heights. The frequents jumps in the timeline helped focusing on important events, but again pulled me out of emotional involvement in the fate of the main actors.
In conclusion, Pushing Ice was for me a good mix of classic science-fiction with modern space opera. I will check out after this the "Revelation Space" books.
[edit for spelling. Also, it's four years later, I still feel no rush to go back to Reynolds]
[7/10] this book falls about halfway between "OK" and "really like it" . Well written, but a bit verbose and light on the scientific speculative part. A lot of good ideas are only touched upon or mentioned in passing, leaving the focus of the novel on interpersonal relationships and some space opera fireworks.
Of the three distinctive parts of this epic, the first - dealing with an industrial spaceship chasing after a rogue satelite - reminded me of the movie "Armaggedon" with Bruce Willis. Diamond in the rough miners, dubious mega corporation interests, self sacrifice and mysterious accidents flavor this action thriller part of Pushing Ice. I think I was supposed to care deeply about the fate of Reynold's characters, but while I enjoyed the ride I remained detached. Probably because I didn't find the story all that original.
The second major part of the novel deals with the hardships and struggles of the stranded crew in a melange of "Mysterious Island" and "Rendez-Vous with Rama". This section was better and a faster read for me than the introduction, not surprisingly, since the Jules Verne and the A. C. Clarke are two of my favorite books. Also here I detected the relative shallowness of the narration, skipping over technical and scientific speculation in favor of the human conflict between two alpha females.
The third part is the space opera part, with alien contact and a relatively larger environment. Reynolds shows good control of plot and pacing, likable but stock characters, decent writing that delivers the message without aspiring to poetic heights. The frequents jumps in the timeline helped focusing on important events, but again pulled me out of emotional involvement in the fate of the main actors.
In conclusion, Pushing Ice was for me a good mix of classic science-fiction with modern space opera. I will check out after this the "Revelation Space" books.
[edit for spelling. Also, it's four years later, I still feel no rush to go back to Reynolds]
November 18, 2020
HOW HAVE I NEVER READ ANYTHING BY THIS AUTHOR BEFORE!?? WOW! What a book! I am so pleased that I have a whole lot of books by Alastair Reynolds to read now. Like finding a fortune under your mattress! I am so excited to have added another 20+ books to my TBR!
It is 2057 and Bella Lind is the captain of a comet-mining vessel The Rockhopper. They get some disturbing news. One of Saturn’s moons Janus has left orbit and is on its way out of the solar system. The Rockhopper is the only ship that has time to intercept this potentially alien ship. But what awaits the ship and crew when they intercept it?
I don’t want to spoil the plot for anyone by saying more. But this book BLEW ME AWAY! It reminded me a lot of Children of Time which was my absolute favourite book of 2017!
The sheer scope of this book, covering TENS OF THOUSANDS of years! Absolutely amazing! I am not sure how he managed to squeeze everything into a stand-alone book too, but I am very grateful because it was just wonderful!
This book is not so much about the space stuff, which it has a lot of (Reynolds is an astrophysicist after all…) – But it is a story about the complexities of human relationships, particularly around the friendship of two women. It caught me by surprise how much I got sucked into the relationships just as much as the MIND-BLOWING space stuff!
Really the ONLY thing it was missing for me, was a good romance. Sure there was a bit put in here and there, but it lacked a tension-building romance which I thought would have gone well in there somewhere. A few relationships were mentioned in passing, and pre-existing couples were tested as the events of the novel transpired, but overall it lacked that bit extra for my personal taste.
But otherwise, almost freaking PERFECT! It had action, MIND-BLOWING SCIENCE-SPACE stuff, violence, emotion, betrayal, and ALIENS, MAN!
I listened to the audio version and the narration was FANTASTIC! He did a great job of portraying all the characters, especially the female ones, and gave them each an individual personality and voice. Exactly the reason that I LOVE so many sci-fi books on audio when they are well done.
Would I recommend this book?
YES! No hesitation. It may be a bit full-on if you are not into sci-fi, but if you are wanting something to blow your mind a bit and just a bloody good story with superb writing – look no further! I have added ALL his other work to my TBR!
I purchased Pushing Ice at my own expense on audible.com
For more reviews check out my:
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It is 2057 and Bella Lind is the captain of a comet-mining vessel The Rockhopper. They get some disturbing news. One of Saturn’s moons Janus has left orbit and is on its way out of the solar system. The Rockhopper is the only ship that has time to intercept this potentially alien ship. But what awaits the ship and crew when they intercept it?
I don’t want to spoil the plot for anyone by saying more. But this book BLEW ME AWAY! It reminded me a lot of Children of Time which was my absolute favourite book of 2017!
The sheer scope of this book, covering TENS OF THOUSANDS of years! Absolutely amazing! I am not sure how he managed to squeeze everything into a stand-alone book too, but I am very grateful because it was just wonderful!
This book is not so much about the space stuff, which it has a lot of (Reynolds is an astrophysicist after all…) – But it is a story about the complexities of human relationships, particularly around the friendship of two women. It caught me by surprise how much I got sucked into the relationships just as much as the MIND-BLOWING space stuff!
Really the ONLY thing it was missing for me, was a good romance. Sure there was a bit put in here and there, but it lacked a tension-building romance which I thought would have gone well in there somewhere. A few relationships were mentioned in passing, and pre-existing couples were tested as the events of the novel transpired, but overall it lacked that bit extra for my personal taste.
But otherwise, almost freaking PERFECT! It had action, MIND-BLOWING SCIENCE-SPACE stuff, violence, emotion, betrayal, and ALIENS, MAN!
I listened to the audio version and the narration was FANTASTIC! He did a great job of portraying all the characters, especially the female ones, and gave them each an individual personality and voice. Exactly the reason that I LOVE so many sci-fi books on audio when they are well done.
Would I recommend this book?
YES! No hesitation. It may be a bit full-on if you are not into sci-fi, but if you are wanting something to blow your mind a bit and just a bloody good story with superb writing – look no further! I have added ALL his other work to my TBR!
I purchased Pushing Ice at my own expense on audible.com
For more reviews check out my:
YouTube
Blog
July 10, 2019
I'm discovering something rather odd about myself. I thought I would never like Reynold's stand-alone novels more than I liked the large-scale history and time books surrounding Revelation Space, but one after another, these books are rather blowing me away.
Pushing Ice, as a title, leaves a lot to be desired. It seems... rather pedestrian for what it actually IS.
Janus, one of Jupiter's moons, happens to be a spaceship. And more than that, forgive my spoilering, it's full of far-future tech (which may not be THAT much of a spoiler since we start out the book FROM that future.) And from there, we're forced into discovering a mystery, or a mystery within a mystery within a mystery couched within a heavily, and delightfully-so, character-driven machine. :)
In fact, we go from near-future asteroid miners to a science mission that then turns into a story of colonization, feuding, massive SFnal discoveries, leading to a ton of awesome alien interactions that remind me of how Europeans bamboozled the Native Americans. I'm not telling you the direction of the bamboozle. :)
The scope is really rather huge, across a lot of space and time and a ton of great tech, belying the rather understated title. :) As an SF of any caliber, it deserves to be WAY up there as some of the very best SF anywhere. I'm saying this even though I've read 2,000 SF titles. Yeah. It's that good. :) I'm reminded fondly and perhaps a bit desiring to push this one ahead of Rama or Eon. :)
Pushing Ice, as a title, leaves a lot to be desired. It seems... rather pedestrian for what it actually IS.
Janus, one of Jupiter's moons, happens to be a spaceship. And more than that, forgive my spoilering, it's full of far-future tech (which may not be THAT much of a spoiler since we start out the book FROM that future.) And from there, we're forced into discovering a mystery, or a mystery within a mystery within a mystery couched within a heavily, and delightfully-so, character-driven machine. :)
In fact, we go from near-future asteroid miners to a science mission that then turns into a story of colonization, feuding, massive SFnal discoveries, leading to a ton of awesome alien interactions that remind me of how Europeans bamboozled the Native Americans. I'm not telling you the direction of the bamboozle. :)
The scope is really rather huge, across a lot of space and time and a ton of great tech, belying the rather understated title. :) As an SF of any caliber, it deserves to be WAY up there as some of the very best SF anywhere. I'm saying this even though I've read 2,000 SF titles. Yeah. It's that good. :) I'm reminded fondly and perhaps a bit desiring to push this one ahead of Rama or Eon. :)
June 16, 2023
The engineers and miners of the Rockhopper find themselves out of their depth, but with potential personal payoffs scaling to the enormous value and danger of the mission thrust upon them - Push their fusion-powered spacecraft to intercept Janus, a moon of Saturn revealed as an alien object now accelerating to leave the Solar system. The Rockhopper is the only ship which can potentially catch up with Janus. The decision to chase the megastructure is put to the crew as a vote. The vote is not unanimous.
Pushing Ice is a lot of Science Fiction for your money.
Pushing Ice is a lot of Science Fiction for your money.
August 19, 2012
I've just tried picking this up again after a long hiatus but I'm going to have to give up and call this one unfinished. This doesn't happen to me often but I can't face reading any more.
The main problem for me is the characterisation. It's all so cardboard cut-out, thrown-together stereotypes, as if stereotypes are somehow okay as long as you mix them up a bit; everyone's reasons for doing things are either underexamined or just make no sense. The only person who feels vaguely non-cardboard is Jim Chisholm, and as a result he feels like the hero, which given the state he spends most of the book in, doesn't really work. Oh, but what of the two main protagonists, you ask? Shouldn't I like those? Two strong women! I'm not quite sure how they're meant to qualify, though. One does everything for her long-dead husband and the other spends a decade maintaining a temper tantrum. Er, yeah.
The second problem is the writing. The pacing is off; we skate too fast past the things that ought to be important, like why anyone is doing anything, and simultaneously have to slow to a crawl when there's any impending action. One moment it's 'one day, several months later,' and the next it's a ten-page description of some little technical thing that's going to lead to an accident. Given that what happens in the accident is that a cardboard character I don't care about is going to die, I don't care about the scene-setting for it, and since none of the scenes are working for me, the prose itself then starts to look clunky too. It doesn't lead to the suspension of disbelief, so as a story, it just doesn't work all round for me.
The reason this gets two stars is because of the sci in the sci-fi; here is a writer who can think a long way, think things through, take a scientific concept and really work out its implications. That's great, and I'd love to see how the ideas turn out, but in this case I can't stand the process of getting there.
The main problem for me is the characterisation. It's all so cardboard cut-out, thrown-together stereotypes, as if stereotypes are somehow okay as long as you mix them up a bit; everyone's reasons for doing things are either underexamined or just make no sense. The only person who feels vaguely non-cardboard is Jim Chisholm, and as a result he feels like the hero, which given the state he spends most of the book in, doesn't really work. Oh, but what of the two main protagonists, you ask? Shouldn't I like those? Two strong women! I'm not quite sure how they're meant to qualify, though. One does everything for her long-dead husband and the other spends a decade maintaining a temper tantrum. Er, yeah.
The second problem is the writing. The pacing is off; we skate too fast past the things that ought to be important, like why anyone is doing anything, and simultaneously have to slow to a crawl when there's any impending action. One moment it's 'one day, several months later,' and the next it's a ten-page description of some little technical thing that's going to lead to an accident. Given that what happens in the accident is that a cardboard character I don't care about is going to die, I don't care about the scene-setting for it, and since none of the scenes are working for me, the prose itself then starts to look clunky too. It doesn't lead to the suspension of disbelief, so as a story, it just doesn't work all round for me.
The reason this gets two stars is because of the sci in the sci-fi; here is a writer who can think a long way, think things through, take a scientific concept and really work out its implications. That's great, and I'd love to see how the ideas turn out, but in this case I can't stand the process of getting there.
January 28, 2023
I received “Pushing Ice” as a Christmas present, it was on a list of books I wanted. I enjoyed Reynolds’ “Revelation Space” as a teen or a young adult, although I can’t remember much about it anymore (I should reread it!). In addition, for some reason, Reynolds’ “Diamond Dogs” short story is one that blew me away and firmly lodged itself in my long-term memory, so I’ve been wanting to read some more Alastair Reynolds for a while now.
I would classify the book as hard science fiction. Due to the title, I assumed this book was going to be set in our solar system and focus on space mining. I was right about the initial setting, but to my surprise, it’s really a first contact story. That’s not a problem, I like my SF filled with mystery, wonder, and big ideas and first contact books typically fit that bill. I found it an easy read with plenty of intrigue and high SF concepts. On the downside, there were some nagging things that limited my complete enjoyment, but certainly didn’t stop me from finishing the story.
I appreciated going into this book blindly and I want to avoid spoilers, so I’m not going to describe much of the plot. I’ll go this far, as these plot points are on the back of the book: A crew from the ship ‘Rockhopper’ are mining a comet, when a call comes in -- the ice moon Janus, has unnaturally exited it’s orbit of Saturn, and is accelerating out of the solar system. It appears to be under it’s own power, and the ‘Rockhopper’ is in the best position to intercept it before it becomes unreachable.
There is a great deal to love about this book – alien artifacts, high stakes, strange alien species, space opera politics, space megastructures, and plenty of adventure. It maintains a rapid pace, skipping ahead to the good parts on a regular basis. We get four or five well-developed characters who face complicated challenges and tough decisions.
So what were the nagging issues, well, I can’t describe them all without spoiling the plot. But I will say the emotional intelligence of the two main characters was disappointing and frustrating for me. These are leaders hardened by danger and rigor of space mining, but they occasional show the relationship skills and self-control of a first grader. I get that the high stakes and life/death decisions create stress that can impair decision making, but these are long-term grudges and resentment that goes well beyond the heat of the moment. This drives one of them to make a decision with an alien race that had me pounding my head against the wall in exasperation. In addition, there are some minor plot holes, actually probably not holes, just very unlikely circumstances that are very convenient for the plot. Ultimately, the wonder outweighs the frustration and I never thought about abandoning this story. And finally, while the primary questions are answered, there are several tangential questions that are never answered. I’m assuming this is intentional, leaving the door open for sequels.
Four sinewy, gristly stars for this highly entertaining first contact story that pulls you through nearly unimaginable time and distance with surprise and wonder.
I would classify the book as hard science fiction. Due to the title, I assumed this book was going to be set in our solar system and focus on space mining. I was right about the initial setting, but to my surprise, it’s really a first contact story. That’s not a problem, I like my SF filled with mystery, wonder, and big ideas and first contact books typically fit that bill. I found it an easy read with plenty of intrigue and high SF concepts. On the downside, there were some nagging things that limited my complete enjoyment, but certainly didn’t stop me from finishing the story.
I appreciated going into this book blindly and I want to avoid spoilers, so I’m not going to describe much of the plot. I’ll go this far, as these plot points are on the back of the book: A crew from the ship ‘Rockhopper’ are mining a comet, when a call comes in -- the ice moon Janus, has unnaturally exited it’s orbit of Saturn, and is accelerating out of the solar system. It appears to be under it’s own power, and the ‘Rockhopper’ is in the best position to intercept it before it becomes unreachable.
There is a great deal to love about this book – alien artifacts, high stakes, strange alien species, space opera politics, space megastructures, and plenty of adventure. It maintains a rapid pace, skipping ahead to the good parts on a regular basis. We get four or five well-developed characters who face complicated challenges and tough decisions.
So what were the nagging issues, well, I can’t describe them all without spoiling the plot. But I will say the emotional intelligence of the two main characters was disappointing and frustrating for me. These are leaders hardened by danger and rigor of space mining, but they occasional show the relationship skills and self-control of a first grader. I get that the high stakes and life/death decisions create stress that can impair decision making, but these are long-term grudges and resentment that goes well beyond the heat of the moment. This drives one of them to make a decision with an alien race that had me pounding my head against the wall in exasperation. In addition, there are some minor plot holes, actually probably not holes, just very unlikely circumstances that are very convenient for the plot. Ultimately, the wonder outweighs the frustration and I never thought about abandoning this story. And finally, while the primary questions are answered, there are several tangential questions that are never answered. I’m assuming this is intentional, leaving the door open for sequels.
Four sinewy, gristly stars for this highly entertaining first contact story that pulls you through nearly unimaginable time and distance with surprise and wonder.
March 2, 2024
3.5 stars
By the year 2057 worldwide corporations, under the aegis of the United Earth Entities, are mining the outer solar system. One mining ship called Rockhopper.....
.....captained by Bella Lind, extracts ice from comets.
Rockhopper is going about its business when Janus, an ice moon circling Saturn, abandons its orbit and heads for outer space.
As the ice sloughs off Janus's surface it's clear the 'moon' is an alien craft, perhaps put in place to spy on our solar system.
Rockhopper's corporate owners instruct Captain Lind to follow Janus as far as is practicable, sending back reports along the way. To accomplish this Bella must determine how much fuel Rockhopper has, so she knows when to terminate surveillance and return home.
There's a fly in the ointment however. Chief Engineer Svetlana Barseghian thinks the corporation is digitally finagling the fuel data, so Rockhopper will follow Janus for a longer time and send back more valuable data.
Rockhopper would then be stranded in outer space, with insufficient fuel to get back to Earth.
This situation turns into a major conflict between Bella - who wants to continue the mission, and Svetlana - who wants Rockhopper to turn back immediately.
Bella and Svetlana have a HUGE falling out over this, and the women - who were once good friends - become bitter enemies. The resulting conflict is threaded through the remainder of the novel.
As things play out Rockhopper gets caught in Janus's 'slipstream' and CAN'T turn around. The mining ship therefore lands on Janus, and the crew tucks in for the long haul as Janus heads for the star Spica.
I don't want to say more about the plot because it's fun to see the story unfold bit by bit.
Skirting spoilers, there are still some things I can divulge.
♦ A Chinese spaceship also sets out to follow Janus.
♦ A large black cube inscribed with Leonardo DaVinci's 'Vetruvian Man' is found in outer space.
♦ Various alien species make an appearance, including 'Fountainheads' - who can rejuvenate living creatures and make them younger; 'Whisperers' - invisible creatures who make their presence known by manipulating objects; the 'Uncontained' - malevolent beings who cause chaos and death; and 'Musk Dogs' - creatures that look like assemblages of misshapen canines. They urinate and slobber everywhere they go.
The novel is essentially about establishing a society in hostile surroundings with no advance preparation and minimal supplies.
The book contains an array of interesting, but somewhat two-dimensional characters.
Reynolds does better with depictions of technology, and the narrative contains imaginative descriptions of spaceships; ice mining; alien habitats; exotic machinery; light speed space travel; cryostasis; and more.
On the downside, the story has abrupt shifts in time, which are confusing, and a murky finale that doesn't quite satisfy. Still it's a good tale, recommended to fans of hard science fiction.
You can follow my reviews at https://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot....
April 5, 2024
3.0 Stars
Video Review https://youtu.be/sCk5I9fP7Z0
I enjoyed the setup of this one quite a bit but the later section didn't work as well for me. I think my biggest issue is that the story focused so narrowly on the small day to day lives of these individuals when I'd much prefer a wider scope. I think this author has great ideas but I wish the narrative had be written differently.
Video Review https://youtu.be/sCk5I9fP7Z0
I enjoyed the setup of this one quite a bit but the later section didn't work as well for me. I think my biggest issue is that the story focused so narrowly on the small day to day lives of these individuals when I'd much prefer a wider scope. I think this author has great ideas but I wish the narrative had be written differently.
May 19, 2021
This is my favorite book by Reynolds so far. This novel demonstrates the full genius of his plotting. The main storyline focuses on a moon that has been orbiting Saturn for a very long time which suddenly disengages and heads on a destination for parts unknown. Only one ship has the chance of following and catching it and that ship is the Rockhopper- an ice mining ship. The crew is, of course, offered a generous salary and they decide to pursue the alien looking craft. This looks a lot like it will be first contact with an alien race.
The story moves quickly and is deftly plotted. Even as mysteries untangle new ones emerge, each even more compelling than the last. Reynolds has always been known for big ideas and he certainly doesn't hold back here. This novel in not in the Revelation Space universe which is his most popular (and hitherto my favorite) setting. The real genius in the plot is in his ability to tie up loose ends and make things come full circle. It is impossible to go into details without spoiling the plot, but I can safely say that the characters grow, develop, and prove to be thoroughly as rounded and dynamic as any real human being. Their foibles and conquests entwine with the plot to move this story along at mind boggling speed creating a series of Roads Not Taken. I read somewhere that Reynolds has said he won't write a sequel. That's probably a good decision.
Five full stars
The story moves quickly and is deftly plotted. Even as mysteries untangle new ones emerge, each even more compelling than the last. Reynolds has always been known for big ideas and he certainly doesn't hold back here. This novel in not in the Revelation Space universe which is his most popular (and hitherto my favorite) setting. The real genius in the plot is in his ability to tie up loose ends and make things come full circle. It is impossible to go into details without spoiling the plot, but I can safely say that the characters grow, develop, and prove to be thoroughly as rounded and dynamic as any real human being. Their foibles and conquests entwine with the plot to move this story along at mind boggling speed creating a series of Roads Not Taken. I read somewhere that Reynolds has said he won't write a sequel. That's probably a good decision.
Five full stars
February 20, 2025
I fell in love with Reynold's work after reading his Chasm City and went on to read much of his later work. I first read this 15 years or so ago and on reread, it still packs a punch. After a somewhat heady prologue, with a far in the future human congress planning on some memorial to Bella Lind (a human living in the mid 21st century), the story starts in 2059 or so with the ship Rockhopper. Bella Lind commands the ship, which collects comets in the solar system and sends them where they are needed (Mars, orbitals, etc.).
A surprise message arrives from Earth one day while they are finalizing work on a comet. It seems a moon of Saturn, Janus, suddenly broke orbit under its own power and is heading out of the solar system; only Rockhopper can hope to catch up to it before it leaves. Well, the 'ice pushers' aboard the ship, some 150 souls, decide to chase it. At first, this seems like a BDO story. What is Janus? Obviously some alien artifact/ship/robot, but why it decided to head out no one knows. The problem is RockHopper exists as a mining ship, and only possesses so much fuel. They calculate they can reach Janus, stay for 5 days or so, then break off and head home. Once they get to Janus, however, things turn strange. First, an accident aboard the ship may have damaged their engines or fuel supply; second, the crew discerns that they somehow are caught in the 'slipstream' of Janus and are actually accelerating at 5gs. Should they stay with Janus or make an effort to leave the slipstream and hope for rescue...
Reynolds, in my book a hard science fiction author, does a nice job with characters (unlike most in this genre). A core theme of the tale consists of the friendship/acrimony between Bella Lind and Svetlana, her chief engineer. The two women came up the ranks the hard way in a man's world, but had a falling out over Janus. Bella thought it would be best to stick with Janus, land on it perhaps, and make do the best they can; she thought trying to escape the slipstream would be futile and probably deadly. Svetlana, on the other hand, wanted to try to escape; she won the crew's vote, but Bella outflanked her. Shortly thereafter, they are stuck on Janus, and who knows what the future will bring. Thoughtful science fiction by a giant in the field. 4 strong stars!!
A surprise message arrives from Earth one day while they are finalizing work on a comet. It seems a moon of Saturn, Janus, suddenly broke orbit under its own power and is heading out of the solar system; only Rockhopper can hope to catch up to it before it leaves. Well, the 'ice pushers' aboard the ship, some 150 souls, decide to chase it. At first, this seems like a BDO story. What is Janus? Obviously some alien artifact/ship/robot, but why it decided to head out no one knows. The problem is RockHopper exists as a mining ship, and only possesses so much fuel. They calculate they can reach Janus, stay for 5 days or so, then break off and head home. Once they get to Janus, however, things turn strange. First, an accident aboard the ship may have damaged their engines or fuel supply; second, the crew discerns that they somehow are caught in the 'slipstream' of Janus and are actually accelerating at 5gs. Should they stay with Janus or make an effort to leave the slipstream and hope for rescue...
Reynolds, in my book a hard science fiction author, does a nice job with characters (unlike most in this genre). A core theme of the tale consists of the friendship/acrimony between Bella Lind and Svetlana, her chief engineer. The two women came up the ranks the hard way in a man's world, but had a falling out over Janus. Bella thought it would be best to stick with Janus, land on it perhaps, and make do the best they can; she thought trying to escape the slipstream would be futile and probably deadly. Svetlana, on the other hand, wanted to try to escape; she won the crew's vote, but Bella outflanked her. Shortly thereafter, they are stuck on Janus, and who knows what the future will bring. Thoughtful science fiction by a giant in the field. 4 strong stars!!
December 15, 2016
Very dark, claustrophobic to the limits, but one of Reynolds’ best.
Although it’s pretty static in action, its scope is as colossal as we got used to. And we get some really interesting alien species as well.
There is also a change in the way the story is told: in bits and pieces, with gaps between the events, on which eventually we get some answers, but mostly the reader is let to draw its own scenario; I really liked that – it put my imagination to work. Also, it is not focused on technology or action itself but on the relationship between people who are totally stranded from anything known to them: families, home, world, even time.
The conflict between the two main characters (both women) is the highlight of these human interrelations; a bit to the extreme (I’m still ruminating in my head whether I like or hate Svetlana), but those are no ordinary circumstances they are dealing with.
Thinking now on the story as whole, I think the main message here is that although we do have a very strong instinct of survival, we have at least as strong instinct of self-destruction, triggered by our own ego, pride and greed.
I really hope that Al Reynolds would return someday day to this universe and let us know what happened further. Yes, I can imagine a lot of things but he imagines them way better.
Although it’s pretty static in action, its scope is as colossal as we got used to. And we get some really interesting alien species as well.
There is also a change in the way the story is told: in bits and pieces, with gaps between the events, on which eventually we get some answers, but mostly the reader is let to draw its own scenario; I really liked that – it put my imagination to work. Also, it is not focused on technology or action itself but on the relationship between people who are totally stranded from anything known to them: families, home, world, even time.
The conflict between the two main characters (both women) is the highlight of these human interrelations; a bit to the extreme (I’m still ruminating in my head whether I like or hate Svetlana), but those are no ordinary circumstances they are dealing with.
Thinking now on the story as whole, I think the main message here is that although we do have a very strong instinct of survival, we have at least as strong instinct of self-destruction, triggered by our own ego, pride and greed.
I really hope that Al Reynolds would return someday day to this universe and let us know what happened further. Yes, I can imagine a lot of things but he imagines them way better.
February 26, 2020
In 2057, Bella Lind and her crew of comet-miner 'Rockhopper', are working when they are given a sudden mission: to trail for a few days the path of Janus, a Saturn moon that has turned out to be an alien machine,
- "that's no moon!"-
now moving towards the star system of Spica, 260 light years away, and it's pipe-like giant thing (that turns out to be something surpising, too). But destiny has more in mind, surprises that are all not pleasant (but we see from prologue and epilogue some benefits for those left behind, already).
Yeah, the prologue and epilogue are connected to what happens on Janus, 18 000 years after *and* before. What Chromis wants to do does both commemorate what has happened, and bring .
I did have to make a list of all the people named in the book, just to figure out who were the main movers and such here. Including the one who arrived . Some bits of the book were funny to me: the reaction to Finding Nemo film watching, what to do with the slightly-hostile looking penguin mascot on the side of the ship, Schrope the company guy reading "The Firm".
The alien presence arrives properly only after midpoint, the first probably being the Whisperers, since the first figures were so hard to see (even the other aliens have a hard time seeing them sometimes). The Spicans themselves ... there are many other species on this system on Janus, some of which are friendly, some of which are hostile or only after their own benefit, like the Uncontained and the Musk Dogs (who are the ones who ). The Fountainheads are the ones we get to see the most, since they .
It's also about the leadership battle with Bella Lind and her friend, Svetlana 'Svieta' Barseghian (she is a very stubborn one, and can hold a grudge, like, forever). The latter's husband, Parry, should also get a mention for his infinite patience (except in the moment that comes up). Some of the other people that I think stood out in this book were: the former ship boss Jim Chisholm, Ryan Axford the ship doctor, Mike Takahashi the EVA guy who turned out to be very helpful on Janus, Thom Crabtree the loner taphead who got a city named after him (twice)... and plenty of other people were also quite entertaining to read about, though in lesser roles.
This is so much about knowing and not-knowing (and when to know), about time and the lack of it, this book. I shook my head so much at Svetlana's blindnesses, but didn't hate her so much as one could have. The revelations about Janus, the aliens that created it, and the truth about the destination and the pipe-like thing were so much a thing why I enjoyed the book. I made many notes to make sense of the book, but the book turned out to be a much easier read than I thought, and turned also to be about something I didn't expect; a good, enjoyable experience.
- "that's no moon!"-
now moving towards the star system of Spica, 260 light years away, and it's pipe-like giant thing (that turns out to be something surpising, too). But destiny has more in mind, surprises that are all not pleasant (but we see from prologue and epilogue some benefits for those left behind, already).
Yeah, the prologue and epilogue are connected to what happens on Janus, 18 000 years after *and* before. What Chromis wants to do does both commemorate what has happened, and bring .
I did have to make a list of all the people named in the book, just to figure out who were the main movers and such here. Including the one who arrived . Some bits of the book were funny to me: the reaction to Finding Nemo film watching, what to do with the slightly-hostile looking penguin mascot on the side of the ship, Schrope the company guy reading "The Firm".
The alien presence arrives properly only after midpoint, the first probably being the Whisperers, since the first figures were so hard to see (even the other aliens have a hard time seeing them sometimes). The Spicans themselves ... there are many other species on this system on Janus, some of which are friendly, some of which are hostile or only after their own benefit, like the Uncontained and the Musk Dogs (who are the ones who ). The Fountainheads are the ones we get to see the most, since they .
It's also about the leadership battle with Bella Lind and her friend, Svetlana 'Svieta' Barseghian (she is a very stubborn one, and can hold a grudge, like, forever). The latter's husband, Parry, should also get a mention for his infinite patience (except in the moment that comes up). Some of the other people that I think stood out in this book were: the former ship boss Jim Chisholm, Ryan Axford the ship doctor, Mike Takahashi the EVA guy who turned out to be very helpful on Janus, Thom Crabtree the loner taphead who got a city named after him (twice)... and plenty of other people were also quite entertaining to read about, though in lesser roles.
This is so much about knowing and not-knowing (and when to know), about time and the lack of it, this book. I shook my head so much at Svetlana's blindnesses, but didn't hate her so much as one could have. The revelations about Janus, the aliens that created it, and the truth about the destination and the pipe-like thing were so much a thing why I enjoyed the book. I made many notes to make sense of the book, but the book turned out to be a much easier read than I thought, and turned also to be about something I didn't expect; a good, enjoyable experience.
dnf
October 10, 2017DNF at 20%
I was intending to keep reading until the point that some said "they really got hooked," but I don't care about this book enough to slog through another 50-60 pages. Someone dying was the highlight of my reading experience in the first 86 pages, and that doesn't seem like a great recommendation for it.
I bounced hard off this. Part of it might be mood, but I think most of it is just my personal pet peeves.
Here is a list:
-The prologue angered me. It's about an interplanetary parliament choosing an appropriate commemoration for their 10,000th year governing. And the big, dramatic gesture is to make billions of time capsules, basically, and send them out in all directions in the hopes they'll somehow stumble upon the parliament's creator or her progeny. I am sure at some point this becomes interesting, but as a prologue, it was both uninteresting and so extremely wasteful to think about that I was pissed for citizens of planets I hadn't learned anything about yet. I shouldn't hate an entire societal element within the first 9 pages of something.
-The dialogue. It's terrible. The "repeated line" that is supposed to be so inspirational? "We push ice. It's what we do." ...As they're sent on a global research and first contact mission, not some sort of high stakes zamboni tournament. That's the highlight. The rest is even more wooden, full of crude segues and devoid of all character, except for the misogyny.
-The misogyny. Ach. This is that brand of casual sexism we see often in the Boomer/early Gen-X folks. They don't mean anything by it. By all means, let the girls run the show. But make sure the entire time they should be grateful for your "support" and no, you will not stop calling them little lady. In a way this was worse for me than some of the older stuff, because it pretends to be so modern, and yet is not. I liked that the author tried to bring in real dynamics (although interesting choice as this is clearly pretty far into the future, with commercial space mining) but woof. Missed the mark by a mile for me. Like, for example the captain, Bella, gathers everyone together, makes an announcement that might change human history forever, and then the author thinks she would go back and talk about boys with her bff, the brilliant, sexy Olympian engineer(eye roll) who is working on a commercial space mining ship. And, as they both discuss their romantic futures, they both are wondering if they'll have to "give up" their passion to be with the people they love. Why? Why does Parry get to decide something and his girlfriend just has to roll with it? Compromise, people. Like humans.
-The weird times to forget science. The space mining, distance-measuring, dealing with disasters...all that seemed pretty logical. And then there was the smoking on a ship (with real cigarettes!), a found object fish tank where "only" the fish were added weight (how do they get water in this ship? How would 50+ gallons being taken out not be noticed?) and a doctor hellbent on killing people, it seems.
-Weird times to forget reason. This is where I tapped out. The captain has to make a huge decision, and ignores all reason and the lives of her people to chase this thing, Ahab style, even though she's made it very clear that she is doing this by democracy. And the weirdest part is, the thing they're following? They know where it's going! So why chase it when a better equipped team can meet up with it later?
-The name. Can we talk about this for a second? I realize this is probably me now hating everything about it, but it's a title full of sibilants and soft vowels, and a gerund. It's not pleasant to say, it's not pleasant to hear, and it tells me f*** all about what this book really is about. ETA How could I forget! Also the name given the aliens! Of all possible words to be associated with them, we went with Spican? I get how it's pronounced, but every time I see it is a jolt of discomfort. Sure, let's just add "an" to any old slur and expect no one will associate the two.
I don't buy it, and I won't force feed myself something that makes me this unhappy. I hope the damn parliament bankrupts everyone, and then there's a revolt and they all get pushed into a forming space glacier, and then it's pushed into the sun, and that's where the hideous title comes from.
I was intending to keep reading until the point that some said "they really got hooked," but I don't care about this book enough to slog through another 50-60 pages. Someone dying was the highlight of my reading experience in the first 86 pages, and that doesn't seem like a great recommendation for it.
I bounced hard off this. Part of it might be mood, but I think most of it is just my personal pet peeves.
Here is a list:
-The prologue angered me. It's about an interplanetary parliament choosing an appropriate commemoration for their 10,000th year governing. And the big, dramatic gesture is to make billions of time capsules, basically, and send them out in all directions in the hopes they'll somehow stumble upon the parliament's creator or her progeny. I am sure at some point this becomes interesting, but as a prologue, it was both uninteresting and so extremely wasteful to think about that I was pissed for citizens of planets I hadn't learned anything about yet. I shouldn't hate an entire societal element within the first 9 pages of something.
-The dialogue. It's terrible. The "repeated line" that is supposed to be so inspirational? "We push ice. It's what we do." ...As they're sent on a global research and first contact mission, not some sort of high stakes zamboni tournament. That's the highlight. The rest is even more wooden, full of crude segues and devoid of all character, except for the misogyny.
-The misogyny. Ach. This is that brand of casual sexism we see often in the Boomer/early Gen-X folks. They don't mean anything by it. By all means, let the girls run the show. But make sure the entire time they should be grateful for your "support" and no, you will not stop calling them little lady. In a way this was worse for me than some of the older stuff, because it pretends to be so modern, and yet is not. I liked that the author tried to bring in real dynamics (although interesting choice as this is clearly pretty far into the future, with commercial space mining) but woof. Missed the mark by a mile for me. Like, for example the captain, Bella, gathers everyone together, makes an announcement that might change human history forever, and then the author thinks she would go back and talk about boys with her bff, the brilliant, sexy Olympian engineer(eye roll) who is working on a commercial space mining ship. And, as they both discuss their romantic futures, they both are wondering if they'll have to "give up" their passion to be with the people they love. Why? Why does Parry get to decide something and his girlfriend just has to roll with it? Compromise, people. Like humans.
-The weird times to forget science. The space mining, distance-measuring, dealing with disasters...all that seemed pretty logical. And then there was the smoking on a ship (with real cigarettes!), a found object fish tank where "only" the fish were added weight (how do they get water in this ship? How would 50+ gallons being taken out not be noticed?) and a doctor hellbent on killing people, it seems.
-Weird times to forget reason. This is where I tapped out. The captain has to make a huge decision, and ignores all reason and the lives of her people to chase this thing, Ahab style, even though she's made it very clear that she is doing this by democracy. And the weirdest part is, the thing they're following? They know where it's going! So why chase it when a better equipped team can meet up with it later?
-The name. Can we talk about this for a second? I realize this is probably me now hating everything about it, but it's a title full of sibilants and soft vowels, and a gerund. It's not pleasant to say, it's not pleasant to hear, and it tells me f*** all about what this book really is about. ETA How could I forget! Also the name given the aliens! Of all possible words to be associated with them, we went with Spican? I get how it's pronounced, but every time I see it is a jolt of discomfort. Sure, let's just add "an" to any old slur and expect no one will associate the two.
I don't buy it, and I won't force feed myself something that makes me this unhappy. I hope the damn parliament bankrupts everyone, and then there's a revolt and they all get pushed into a forming space glacier, and then it's pushed into the sun, and that's where the hideous title comes from.
November 2, 2017
Za početak da čestitamo gosn Alasteru na knjizi di pola vremena nisam zna šta da očekujem sledeće. U današnje vreme i posle puno pročitanih knjiga nije ni malo lak posao.
Kao drugo svidjaju mi se likovi kako su razradjeni ovde, mada možda ne svi kakvi su kao osobe. Što je normalno. Većina ih je pametna, kompetentna i sposobna u svom poslu a sa druge strane opet pate od raznih ljudskih mana kao što su zavist, bes, nerazumevanje što ume da dovede do loših odluka. U suštini svi su ljudi :)
Isti tako priča koja je ispričana je vrlo interesantna sa idejama koje daju fin materijal za razmišljanje ali tempo i preskoci vremena umeju nekada da pokvare fluidnost priče i (barem meni) da u konfuziji pokušavam da sklopim šta se desilo. Plus par debilnih odluka jedne od glavnih junakinja me je dovela do ludila. Al valjda je to sve u ljudskoj prirodi :P
Sve u svemu dobra knjiga i lepo štivo za fanove SF-a.
Kao drugo svidjaju mi se likovi kako su razradjeni ovde, mada možda ne svi kakvi su kao osobe. Što je normalno. Većina ih je pametna, kompetentna i sposobna u svom poslu a sa druge strane opet pate od raznih ljudskih mana kao što su zavist, bes, nerazumevanje što ume da dovede do loših odluka. U suštini svi su ljudi :)
Isti tako priča koja je ispričana je vrlo interesantna sa idejama koje daju fin materijal za razmišljanje ali tempo i preskoci vremena umeju nekada da pokvare fluidnost priče i (barem meni) da u konfuziji pokušavam da sklopim šta se desilo. Plus par debilnih odluka jedne od glavnih junakinja me je dovela do ludila. Al valjda je to sve u ljudskoj prirodi :P
Sve u svemu dobra knjiga i lepo štivo za fanove SF-a.
November 3, 2012
I think this might be a good book. I just hated it.
The characters are unlikeable. I can think of only one minor character in the book that didn't need a lobotomy. The rest irritated me with either their lack of depth, ridiculous pettiness, or inexplicable decision making.
Beyond that, the plot was pretty boring. There is actually very little true plot. The vast majority of the wordcount describes a 100 year long grudgematch between the two main characters. That's right. An interstellar catfight consisting of mainly political maneuvering. Thrilling stuff.
We don't get any real glimpse of "first contact" until the book has exhausted 2/3 of its interminable life. The entire first half of the book is used to hammer into the reader that the crew may never see Earth again, and that this is really tough for them to deal with.
I can't think of anything nice to say, so I'll say nothing further at all.
The characters are unlikeable. I can think of only one minor character in the book that didn't need a lobotomy. The rest irritated me with either their lack of depth, ridiculous pettiness, or inexplicable decision making.
Beyond that, the plot was pretty boring. There is actually very little true plot. The vast majority of the wordcount describes a 100 year long grudgematch between the two main characters. That's right. An interstellar catfight consisting of mainly political maneuvering. Thrilling stuff.
We don't get any real glimpse of "first contact" until the book has exhausted 2/3 of its interminable life. The entire first half of the book is used to hammer into the reader that the crew may never see Earth again, and that this is really tough for them to deal with.
I can't think of anything nice to say, so I'll say nothing further at all.
September 27, 2024
When Reynolds is on, he is freaking on. This was a fabulous novel from end to end that is sort of a mashup of Rendezvous with Rama and Project Hail Mary with echoes of Abaddon’s Gate as well. The idea of these "ice pushers" being sent on a possibly one-way journey to follow a moon out of the Solar System was brilliant, but where Reynolds excels is the human drama between the two female protagonists and Parry who is the go-between after their friendship implodes. I loved everything about this book and almost want a sequel. The aliens were very cool and the whole The Dark Forest vibe of the latter half of the book really works well. If someone hadn't read any Reynolds yet, I would easily propose this one or House of Suns and an introduction to how well he writes and how massive and expansive his vision is perhaps before diving into the depths of the many, many books of his Revelation Space universe that I adore.
December 31, 2019
My other half kept telling me to pick this one up, but I was hesitant, simply because I don't usually read hard SF. It's her favourite Reynolds book, so I finally decided to give it a go.
Pushing Ice is gripping from the very first page. Janus, one of Saturn's moons, suddenly zooms away, and of course, we give it chase. (Who wouldn't?)
Janus turns out to be a spaceship in disguise, and the people giving it chase are the unfortunate souls on board of a ice miner who just happened to be the nearest when Janus took off.
Janus moves extremely fast, and this might just turn into a one-way mission.
This is a space opera mixed with hard SF, filled with plenty of drama and the character development is terrific. The book is almost bursting with its cast and the feuds that develop.
I loved and hated these characters and they had me glued to the book.
I can imagine that this has too much drama for an outright hard SF fan and perhaps too much hard SF for a space opera fan, but I couldn't put it down.
I'll definitely read more Reynolds. Next up: Revelation Space
Pushing Ice is gripping from the very first page. Janus, one of Saturn's moons, suddenly zooms away, and of course, we give it chase. (Who wouldn't?)
Janus turns out to be a spaceship in disguise, and the people giving it chase are the unfortunate souls on board of a ice miner who just happened to be the nearest when Janus took off.
Janus moves extremely fast, and this might just turn into a one-way mission.
This is a space opera mixed with hard SF, filled with plenty of drama and the character development is terrific. The book is almost bursting with its cast and the feuds that develop.
I loved and hated these characters and they had me glued to the book.
I can imagine that this has too much drama for an outright hard SF fan and perhaps too much hard SF for a space opera fan, but I couldn't put it down.
I'll definitely read more Reynolds. Next up: Revelation Space
July 9, 2022
Very, very good. I see why this one has such wide appeal, starting out in the near future with people who look and sound like us, who make cultural references readers will recognize. Plus, Pushing Ice has the added bonus of being a standalone novel unrelated to the mindbogglingly expansive Revelation Space or Poseidon's Childen serieses. Yes, I know that's not a word.
Only 30 years from now, humans are living and working across the solar system. The Rockhopper, a comet mining vessel with about 150 souls on board, gets a message from Earth: One of Saturn's moons has left orbit and is heading toward interstellar space... and it's accelerating. The only ship close enough to catch Janus is theirs.
What I liked about this book is that the characters acted as I would expect. When the ship is told to give chase, the crew becomes divided and one-time best friends, Captain Bella Lind and Chief Engineer Svetlana Barseghian, find themselves at odds. Bella wants to catch up to the moon and discover its secrets, while Svetlana desperately wants to go home. The two women become leaders of opposing factions and the rest of the plot stems from this fracture, with incredibly far-reaching ramifications.
As expected, I loved this story. I thought it struck the right balance between accessible and sciencey, adventurous and fantastical. The reveals about Janus were huge and completely unexpected! Alastair Reynolds' imagination truly knows no limits. The guy's amazing.
Only 30 years from now, humans are living and working across the solar system. The Rockhopper, a comet mining vessel with about 150 souls on board, gets a message from Earth: One of Saturn's moons has left orbit and is heading toward interstellar space... and it's accelerating. The only ship close enough to catch Janus is theirs.
What I liked about this book is that the characters acted as I would expect. When the ship is told to give chase, the crew becomes divided and one-time best friends, Captain Bella Lind and Chief Engineer Svetlana Barseghian, find themselves at odds. Bella wants to catch up to the moon and discover its secrets, while Svetlana desperately wants to go home. The two women become leaders of opposing factions and the rest of the plot stems from this fracture, with incredibly far-reaching ramifications.
As expected, I loved this story. I thought it struck the right balance between accessible and sciencey, adventurous and fantastical. The reveals about Janus were huge and completely unexpected! Alastair Reynolds' imagination truly knows no limits. The guy's amazing.
August 25, 2017
24% done. This was chugging along pretty well, hard sci-fi, adequate writing and characters and then WHAM plot error. I really hate investing in a book and then being slapped with a crappy plot device involving a beloved character acting STUPIDLY STUPID.
Then more and more blatant manipulation by STUPID means. Ugh
Thankfully, many of his other books are fantastic.
Then more and more blatant manipulation by STUPID means. Ugh
Thankfully, many of his other books are fantastic.
March 9, 2017
This book starts 18,000 years in the future with a woman who's wanting to arrange for something to get in the hands of "the progenitor". It goes back to 2059 on the comet mining ship Rock Hopper hearing that Saturn's moon, Janus, has broken orbit and turned around, heading off into interstellar space. After polling the crew, Rock Hopper, partially at the behest of the corporation that owns them, heads after it. They hope to catch up to Janus and stay ahead of the Chinese in the process.
Reynolds absolutely amazes me as a writer. He's an astrophysicist who worked for the European Space Agency so he writes hard sci-fi, with exceptions made for the story, but his writing is also absolutely excellent. He keeps the story evolving throughout the book in a way that means it could easily have been split into three less suspenseful stories, which is much more typical these days. There's not only an ongoing mystery of what Janus is and who the aliens are, there are also multiple situations along the way, each with their own resolution. The suspense just never let up in this one. I ended up not being able to read it before bed because I would go to bed too tense. I ended the book feeling like events that happened in the first third of the book were distant memories.
Reynolds also does an excellent job on the women in his books. In this case I give him additional major bonus points for the two women getting all the way through the book without using the word "bitch". Bella and Svetlana are the primary characters in the story, although there are plenty of men as well. They were frequently in an antagonistic relationship that left me completely frustrated with one or the other. I was more successful with liking his men, especially Perry and Jim.
I was Team Bella.
Reynolds absolutely amazes me as a writer. He's an astrophysicist who worked for the European Space Agency so he writes hard sci-fi, with exceptions made for the story, but his writing is also absolutely excellent. He keeps the story evolving throughout the book in a way that means it could easily have been split into three less suspenseful stories, which is much more typical these days. There's not only an ongoing mystery of what Janus is and who the aliens are, there are also multiple situations along the way, each with their own resolution. The suspense just never let up in this one. I ended up not being able to read it before bed because I would go to bed too tense. I ended the book feeling like events that happened in the first third of the book were distant memories.
Reynolds also does an excellent job on the women in his books. In this case I give him additional major bonus points for the two women getting all the way through the book without using the word "bitch". Bella and Svetlana are the primary characters in the story, although there are plenty of men as well. They were frequently in an antagonistic relationship that left me completely frustrated with one or the other. I was more successful with liking his men, especially Perry and Jim.
I was Team Bella.
July 14, 2021
Damn! This started really promising. After a prologue that read quite staged to get a certain plot going, the first chapters got my interest. The crew of an ice pushing spaceship is the only one available to chase after a moon that suddenly stopped being a moon and got a life of it's own. The crew and the character set up is interesting, the inner-crew struggles and political agendas in light of this situation is well handled. The two main protagonists are women who feel quite realistic and flawed. So I was onboard.
Yet in the second half the interaction of said women turns into nothing less than a catfight, with the soothing roles assigned to apparently more balanced male characters. That leaves a bitter aftertaste. Plus the clunky dialogues, lengthy explanations and sometimes staged events to stir the story into a certain direction that I often complain about in space opera novels come into full bloom here.
This could have been good, but it missed the point for my taste in the second half.
Yet in the second half the interaction of said women turns into nothing less than a catfight, with the soothing roles assigned to apparently more balanced male characters. That leaves a bitter aftertaste. Plus the clunky dialogues, lengthy explanations and sometimes staged events to stir the story into a certain direction that I often complain about in space opera novels come into full bloom here.
This could have been good, but it missed the point for my taste in the second half.
January 19, 2016
I picked it up at a car boot sale for £1!
December 1, 2013
This is the second
Non
Revelation Space universe book I've read - the first being Century Rain. I liked it more than Century Rain (Review) but not as much as the Revelation Space books.
In some ways it reminds me of Absolution Gap because it involves a group of humans trying to survive in an alien environment and it was hard not make a superficial comparison between the main ship Rockhopper and Nostalgia for Infinity as far as there relegated role in both books went.
The book covers mellennia with the prologue starting some 18000 years in the future before the main story kicks off in 2057. The crew of the Ice Comet miner Rockhopper are busy attaching mass drivers to a chunk of comet so they can "push" the ice when they receive a call to abandon the comet and make for the Jovian moon Janus. Janus has decided to leave Jupiter's orbit under it's own steam and head out into deep space and the Company that owns Rockhopper want the crew to get to the moon first so they can establish a proprietary claim on any data sent back to Earth.
There's a very Company vs blue collar worker vibe in the beginning and for a moment it seems that this would make the major premise of the book. What we get instead is a story of human survival, alien contact, time dilation, a staple Reynold Nanotechnology, along with a very personal story about two women whose conflict with each other shapes the face of a future spanning vast expanses of time and space.
I've heard it said that this book is Reynolds take on Arthur C Clarke's Rendezvous with Rama - I haven't read it but a quick look at Wikipedia's plot summary and the similarities with the initial plot elements in this story are too striking to say it wasn't deliberate - but I can also see that Reynolds has pushed the envelope even further than Clarke.
The thing I enjoyed about Reynold's Rev Space books was they had that dark gothic edge bordering on horror, where the bizarre was really bizarre without being cheesy. This book wasn't that nor was it trying to be. It was more a chronicle of human survival in space and often gaps decades of Janus time. I liked it well enough to keep engaged with the story but I'm really missing more of what I loved in the Revelation Space books.
3.5 stars
In some ways it reminds me of Absolution Gap because it involves a group of humans trying to survive in an alien environment and it was hard not make a superficial comparison between the main ship Rockhopper and Nostalgia for Infinity as far as there relegated role in both books went.
The book covers mellennia with the prologue starting some 18000 years in the future before the main story kicks off in 2057. The crew of the Ice Comet miner Rockhopper are busy attaching mass drivers to a chunk of comet so they can "push" the ice when they receive a call to abandon the comet and make for the Jovian moon Janus. Janus has decided to leave Jupiter's orbit under it's own steam and head out into deep space and the Company that owns Rockhopper want the crew to get to the moon first so they can establish a proprietary claim on any data sent back to Earth.
There's a very Company vs blue collar worker vibe in the beginning and for a moment it seems that this would make the major premise of the book. What we get instead is a story of human survival, alien contact, time dilation, a staple Reynold Nanotechnology, along with a very personal story about two women whose conflict with each other shapes the face of a future spanning vast expanses of time and space.
I've heard it said that this book is Reynolds take on Arthur C Clarke's Rendezvous with Rama - I haven't read it but a quick look at Wikipedia's plot summary and the similarities with the initial plot elements in this story are too striking to say it wasn't deliberate - but I can also see that Reynolds has pushed the envelope even further than Clarke.
The thing I enjoyed about Reynold's Rev Space books was they had that dark gothic edge bordering on horror, where the bizarre was really bizarre without being cheesy. This book wasn't that nor was it trying to be. It was more a chronicle of human survival in space and often gaps decades of Janus time. I liked it well enough to keep engaged with the story but I'm really missing more of what I loved in the Revelation Space books.
3.5 stars
February 24, 2012
So Janus, one of Saturn’s ice moons abruptly takes off out of the solar system, shedding ice and rock as it goes to reveal the alien spaceship underneath. Fortunate choice, and in every sense, since Janus is the two-faced Roman god of gates and doorways. I could ramble on like the most anal of SF reviewers about how this was an ongoing theme throughout the whole book, but such themes can be found in any book.
Then, after Bella Lind puts it to a crew vote, the mining ship Rockhopper sets off in pursuit. A human story aboard that ship, friendships tested, broken, healed, life and death decisions to be made and sometimes not made too well.
I had a little problem with some of the characters, not because they weren’t well-drawn or weak as some reviewers seem to think, but because they were annoying. I constantly felt that they needed a kick up the behind, whilst one of them could have done with a rock chisel through the back of her head quite early on. Also there was what I’ll describe as a black box MacGuffin that fizzled a bit. Minor points, really.
All this was set against a backdrop of the immensity of space and deep time lovingly illustrated by Reynolds’ knowledge of astronomy and relativity, vast and ancient alien technology, human technology taken to the limit too, and aliens. Yup, sensawunda here, and Pushing Ice pushed all my buttons in that respect. I enjoyed this and I’m glad I bought it.
Then, after Bella Lind puts it to a crew vote, the mining ship Rockhopper sets off in pursuit. A human story aboard that ship, friendships tested, broken, healed, life and death decisions to be made and sometimes not made too well.
I had a little problem with some of the characters, not because they weren’t well-drawn or weak as some reviewers seem to think, but because they were annoying. I constantly felt that they needed a kick up the behind, whilst one of them could have done with a rock chisel through the back of her head quite early on. Also there was what I’ll describe as a black box MacGuffin that fizzled a bit. Minor points, really.
All this was set against a backdrop of the immensity of space and deep time lovingly illustrated by Reynolds’ knowledge of astronomy and relativity, vast and ancient alien technology, human technology taken to the limit too, and aliens. Yup, sensawunda here, and Pushing Ice pushed all my buttons in that respect. I enjoyed this and I’m glad I bought it.
January 31, 2018
Yet again I am picking myself up from where I was blown away by a hard-science novel this month!
; )
'Pushing Ice' will be one of the most unusual generation sagas most readers have ever encountered. Hint: Einstein's Theory of Relativity is involved...
Bella Lind is Captain of the Rockhopper, a mining space ship which is equipped with nuclear devices and other heavy machines for mining ice. The year is 2057. Jim Chisholm, Bella's second-in-command, is in sickbay with a newly discovered brain cancer. The crew, numbering about 150 people, likes Jim very much, but they are not sure Bella is worthy of their support; a commander whose gender is female still causes some reduction of respect among people because of her gender. Most of the crew have families back home, whether that is the Moon, Mars, the orbitals or Earth. Bella lost her husband when he crashed his ship on Mars, so she has devoted her life to her job of the last twelve years.
While mining ice on a comet they intercepted near Saturn, they get a message to disengage and leave the mining of the comet unfinished. Powell Cagan, CEO of DeepShaft, the company they work for, is offering a new assignment instead, an important one. Adding to the pressure to vote for the new job, Cagan pulled strings to put the Rockhopper under the authority of the UEE with full diplomatic sanction.
One of Saturn's moons, Janus, has suddenly taken off towards the sun Alpha Virginis. Yes, gentle reader, this is as surprising to the people of 2057 as it would be to us! Closer examination by long-range satellite cameras reveals machines are under the ice flaking off of the runaway moon; Janus is a sophisticated, high-tech space ship! It had been decided to assign a classical nickname to the sun Alpha Virginis, calling it by the alternative name of Spica. Spica is two hundred and sixty light-years from Earth. If the crew votes to accept the assignment of following Janus, catching up to it before it leaves too far beyond the solar system and landing the Cosmic Avenger, a small planet hopper, on it to conduct a brief exploration and possibly mining it for scientific purposes, they will not only make more money, they will be famous.
If they reach Janus, calculations show they will be thirteen light-hours from Earth, and they will be moving at three percent of light speed. Gulp. Can Rockhopper and it's nuclear-fueled engines handle it? However, the amount of fuel for shipboard power and Chisholm's cancer is also definitely a concern. Calculations show that maybe they could send Chisholm back to Earth by shuttle in six or seven weeks as Janus is heading in the direction of doing a flyby of Earth.
Svetlana Barseghian, chief of flight systems, and Bella's best friend, determines after an accident on board the Rockhopper during the chase of Janus there might not be enough fuel to get back to Earth beyond a point much earlier than they had originally calculated. There are TWO different readings - one from the ship's computers, another from a computer buffer which caches the raw data from the engines and the fuel tanks before the ship's computer analyzes it. Is DeepShaft shafting the crew by altering the computer's analysis? Svetlana demands they immediately abort the mission. Bella investigates - but when she looks at the buffer of raw data hours later, the information it contains matches the computer's analysis. Svetlana is frantic and outraged Bella doesn't believe her. Bella imprisons Svetlana in her room. Svetlana seethes, fearing she will never see Earth again.
Thus begins an epic journey and an epic personal conflict of two women.
This is a story including actual hard science and speculative physics, and of personal crew conflicts and leadership, and yes, of aliens! Alastair Reynolds, the author, is an astrophysicist in real life, so the book may be too much science explanation and speculative space travelogue narrative for those readers looking for a quick-and-easy three-minute thriller-action science fiction novel. The story also is a generational saga. The book reminded me a bit of James Michener's Centennial, to be frank, as well as Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars.
I liked it very much, but I am a nerd, and I read non-fiction science books. So. I highly recommend it, but maybe only to science nerds who also like procedural mysteries.
; )
'Pushing Ice' will be one of the most unusual generation sagas most readers have ever encountered. Hint: Einstein's Theory of Relativity is involved...
Bella Lind is Captain of the Rockhopper, a mining space ship which is equipped with nuclear devices and other heavy machines for mining ice. The year is 2057. Jim Chisholm, Bella's second-in-command, is in sickbay with a newly discovered brain cancer. The crew, numbering about 150 people, likes Jim very much, but they are not sure Bella is worthy of their support; a commander whose gender is female still causes some reduction of respect among people because of her gender. Most of the crew have families back home, whether that is the Moon, Mars, the orbitals or Earth. Bella lost her husband when he crashed his ship on Mars, so she has devoted her life to her job of the last twelve years.
While mining ice on a comet they intercepted near Saturn, they get a message to disengage and leave the mining of the comet unfinished. Powell Cagan, CEO of DeepShaft, the company they work for, is offering a new assignment instead, an important one. Adding to the pressure to vote for the new job, Cagan pulled strings to put the Rockhopper under the authority of the UEE with full diplomatic sanction.
One of Saturn's moons, Janus, has suddenly taken off towards the sun Alpha Virginis. Yes, gentle reader, this is as surprising to the people of 2057 as it would be to us! Closer examination by long-range satellite cameras reveals machines are under the ice flaking off of the runaway moon; Janus is a sophisticated, high-tech space ship! It had been decided to assign a classical nickname to the sun Alpha Virginis, calling it by the alternative name of Spica. Spica is two hundred and sixty light-years from Earth. If the crew votes to accept the assignment of following Janus, catching up to it before it leaves too far beyond the solar system and landing the Cosmic Avenger, a small planet hopper, on it to conduct a brief exploration and possibly mining it for scientific purposes, they will not only make more money, they will be famous.
If they reach Janus, calculations show they will be thirteen light-hours from Earth, and they will be moving at three percent of light speed. Gulp. Can Rockhopper and it's nuclear-fueled engines handle it? However, the amount of fuel for shipboard power and Chisholm's cancer is also definitely a concern. Calculations show that maybe they could send Chisholm back to Earth by shuttle in six or seven weeks as Janus is heading in the direction of doing a flyby of Earth.
Svetlana Barseghian, chief of flight systems, and Bella's best friend, determines after an accident on board the Rockhopper during the chase of Janus there might not be enough fuel to get back to Earth beyond a point much earlier than they had originally calculated. There are TWO different readings - one from the ship's computers, another from a computer buffer which caches the raw data from the engines and the fuel tanks before the ship's computer analyzes it. Is DeepShaft shafting the crew by altering the computer's analysis? Svetlana demands they immediately abort the mission. Bella investigates - but when she looks at the buffer of raw data hours later, the information it contains matches the computer's analysis. Svetlana is frantic and outraged Bella doesn't believe her. Bella imprisons Svetlana in her room. Svetlana seethes, fearing she will never see Earth again.
Thus begins an epic journey and an epic personal conflict of two women.
This is a story including actual hard science and speculative physics, and of personal crew conflicts and leadership, and yes, of aliens! Alastair Reynolds, the author, is an astrophysicist in real life, so the book may be too much science explanation and speculative space travelogue narrative for those readers looking for a quick-and-easy three-minute thriller-action science fiction novel. The story also is a generational saga. The book reminded me a bit of James Michener's Centennial, to be frank, as well as Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars.
I liked it very much, but I am a nerd, and I read non-fiction science books. So. I highly recommend it, but maybe only to science nerds who also like procedural mysteries.
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