Revelation Space (Revelation Space, #1) in Beyond Reality

Aug 29, 2011 mark monday rated it liked it

Shelves: scifi-modern

i suppose you could call Alastair Reynolds the Bad Twin of Peter Hamilton. both write space operas that come complete with mind-boggling concepts, galaxy-spanning adventures, bizarre aliens, space politics, love stories, and eons-old mysteries. but Hamilton writes about a future that despite having its ups, downs, and various inequities, is mainly Bright & Shiny, full of possibility. on the other hand, Reynolds' interests arise from the basic idea that the universe is a cold, scary place, full o i suppose you could call Alastair Reynolds the Bad Twin of Peter Hamilton. both write space operas that come complete with mind-boggling concepts, galaxy-spanning adventures, bizarre aliens, space politics, love stories, and eons-old mysteries. but Hamilton writes about a future that despite having its ups, downs, and various inequities, is mainly Bright & Shiny, full of possibility. on the other hand, Reynolds' interests arise from the basic idea that the universe is a cold, scary place, full of dead things and barely-understood terrors. Hamilton's characters run the gamut of loveable to outright villainous; Reynolds prefers to write mainly about self-absorbed killers and assholes. one writes about factions of humanity trying to come together to fight off threats; the other depicts humans turning on each other and how things fall apart. so i guess it depends on your perspective: do you want your space opera glass to be half-full or half-empty?

overall, i think this is a pretty good first novel. it is certainly an elephantine one; fortunately, the size didn't seem unecessary and i was aborbed by the ideas and narrative from beginning to end. Reynolds' background as a scientist is evident in spades, and i'm happy to report that my right-brained self didn't suffer at all when reading this - concepts were explained carefully and clearly, in a way that didn't make me feel particularly stupid and never felt didactic or condescending. characterization is certainly striking - if you are looking for characters that are charming or sympathetic or likeable, look away! you will not find that here. instead prepare to read about insanely arrogant scientists, vicious politicians, cold-blooded killers, and even more cold-blooded spaceship crews. it can get a bit oppresive at times.

there is an interesting theme that slowly rises up through the narrative: the obsessive-compulsive nature of humanity. this is depicted within a military mind-set that views all outsiders as potential threats and a scientific mind-set that views exploring even the most awful and potentially threatening of things as the only option. characters in this novel don't just live with their obsessions, they are defined by them. characters don't make decisions based on anything resembling empathy or humanism - they are compelled to continually repeat and expand upon their compulsions, no matter what the cost. it is certainly a dark perspective on the nature of mankind.

but that darkness, that oppressiveness, is really at the heart of this novel's appeal. the back cover quaintly describes this novel as "CyberGoth", which of course is a pretty stupid moniker... but it also makes some sense. imagine a gigantic spaceship crewed by five misanthropes, haunted by voices from outside of time, full of enslaved rats and unimaginably deadly weapons, captained by an unconscious individual whose plague symptoms include the transformation of all materials around him into a vaguely disgusting, tendril-y mess. imagine two planets: one whose decadent citizens while away the time playing assassination games and another whose berserk citizens seem to be engaging in relentlessly bloody revolution every couple years. imagine a culture where marriage includes a "wedding gun" that shoots dna of your spouse directly into your forehead. imagine a horrific version of the end of 2001: A Space Odyssey, one where the unknowable enigma wants to kill you and all of your stupid little species. imagine Lovecraft in Space. there, now put that all together and you've imagined Revelation Space. ...more

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Aug 07, 2009 bsc rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2009, fiction, science-fiction, from-library

This book should have been much better than it was. I thought I was going to love it after a very strong start but ultimately it was mediocre. I enjoyed the science and technology and thought the universe he created was very smart and well done but the slow pacing made me want to skim large chunks in the middle.

I will say that it was a much better book than some of the other modern space opera I've read recently from the likes of Scalzi and Stross, but still not quite good enough to make me rush ...more

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Jul 10, 2024 Natalie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

Rating 4.5. Though the first entry into the Inhibitor series had a few rough edges, it still displays Reynolds ability to weave complex technology with a very human story. The beginning was a bit of an info dump, and a couple key points were not explained well, but otherwise Reynolds imagination and strong prose really shine.
This story starts with essentially three POVs but they all come together a little over halfway through, joined on a vast and old but technologically advanced ship. Most of t Rating 4.5. Though the first entry into the Inhibitor series had a few rough edges, it still displays Reynolds ability to weave complex technology with a very human story. The beginning was a bit of an info dump, and a couple key points were not explained well, but otherwise Reynolds imagination and strong prose really shine.
This story starts with essentially three POVs but they all come together a little over halfway through, joined on a vast and old but technologically advanced ship. Most of the characters are very driven to attain knowledge, are skilled in their field, and often eschew matters of the heart for finding answers to their questions.
We follow Dan Sylveste, an archaeologist who's father Calvin, is able to live in his head for part of the time, as a separate entity. Sylveste has traveled to a distant and mysterious planet where he encountered Lascaille's shroud, a reservoir of knowledge created by aliens. Sylveste also has eyes designed by a complex technology because his own were damaged so must deal with their abilities or lack thereof. He is seeking to understand what happened to the bird like aliens of Amarantin, whose civilization was wiped out. He also marries a fellow archaeologist, Pascale, who is willing to support him through all his wild decisions.
Another viewpoint is that of Ilia Volyova, a smart and skilled crew member of the Nostalgia for Infinity. She is caretaker of the ship's captain, who lies frozen in the ship while they search for a cure for the Melding Plague, which infected him. She also has redesigned many of the ship's functions, including weapons, so that the ship functions at top capability. Volyova wants to bring Sylveste and Calvin aboard to hopefully cure the captain, and threatens destruction if the people of Resurgam don't turn him over. Once they have Slyveste, Volyova finds herself at odds with the others of the skeleton crew: Sajaki and Hegazi.
The third POV experiences the most change of the three. Ana Khouri, an assassin, is hired by the mysterious Mademoiselle to kill Sylveste. She is put aboard Volyova's ship to be in charge of weapons, and find a way to kill Sylveste. But she is taken under Volyova's wing and soon sees her point of view. A ghost like entity called Sun Stealer is discovered aboard the Infinity and soon Volyova and Khouri have to defend themselves.
As the group journeys through space, they come upon an intriguing neutron star, Hades, and a strange planet, Cerberus. Sylveste becomes driven to explore the planet. Meanwhile, various people on the ship vye for power so Volyova, Khouri, and Pascale find themselves fighting to stay alive. Sylveste makes his way down to Cerberus and finds remains of the Amarantin people, as well as the design of an advanced, but very ancient alien group known as the Inhibitors.
Somehow, Volyova knows the back story of the Inhibitors and recounts it to the other two women while Slyveste and Calvin discover the history through explores kilometers deep inside the alien structure. (view spoiler).
In the end, some of the characters are able to survive while others reach a new plane of existence which takes the story from one grounded in theoretically possible technology to the supernal. But the transition seems fairly natural. My favorite character was Volyova, who even though was sometimes cold and calculating, was intelligent and quick, as well as quite insightful.
This is not my first Reynolds book and will not be my last. His storytelling is imaginative and intriguing while being mostly well grounded in serious science. His prose is strong and his characters full. ...more

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Jul 17, 2009 Nick rated it liked it

Shelves: science-fiction

My only problem with this book was that the storyteller spent too much time on what I thought was a subplot. It turned out to be a major portion of the main thread; but the getting there was slow, and the most interesting mpart of the story was the archaeologist who started things off. Much too little time was spent on his research into the ages dead civilization he studied.

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