476 pages
English language
Published Nov. 21, 2001 by Ace Books.
Alastair Reynolds's critically acclaimed debut has redefined the space opera with a staggering journey across vast gulfs of time and space to confront the very nature of reality itself.
Exactly what I was promised, epic sci-fi with so many fascinating ideas, I'm really looking forward to reading the other books of the cycle!
Having read the previous novel and the novella, I quite enjoyed this one. It feels as though the Universe it is set in, is beginning to expand to bring in new species and systems as well as a new enemy. Hinting that this might also connect to the incidents in the first novel is a nice touch too. I'm looking forward to seeing where things go next.
If you enjoyed the first novel then this one's even better.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Does Reynolds get a lot of inspiration from films? Chasm City's Mulch is reminiscent of Blade Runner. John Brannigan's Nostalgia for Infinity ends up looking like the Alien queen did the decor. Eraserheads delete back-ups (of your mind). Reynolds openly admits that much of the inspiration for his finest work, Diamond Dogs, comes from gorno movies.
Some writers slowly develop into good novelists over a span of several, even a dozen, books. Others burst into print with a debut novel that shows a full grasp of the technicalities of writing. Reynolds is one of the latter, his only mistake in this debut novel being that none of the main protagonists is sympathetic. In fact, most of them are completely nutso in one way or another and some of them are dangerous psychos - and there are 40 Really Big Guns and a Swarm of Genocidal Machines in the vicinity, too...
