Revenger

Published March 27, 2016 by Gollancz.

ISBN:
978-0-575-09054-5
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4 stars (7 reviews)

"The galaxy has seen great empires rise and fall. Planets have shattered and been remade. Amongst the ruins of alien civilizations, building our own from the rubble, humanity still thrives. And there are vast fortunes to be made, if you know where to find them ... Captain Rackamore and his crew do. It's their business to find the tiny, enigmatic worlds which have been hidden away, booby-trapped, surrounded with layers of protection - and to crack them open for the ancient relics and barely-remembered technologies inside. But while they ply their risky trade with integrity, not everyone is so scrupulous. Adrana and Fura Ness are the newest members of Rackamore's crew, signed on to save their family from bankruptcy. Only Rackamore has enemies, and there might be more waiting for them in space than adventure and fortune: the fabled and feared Bosa Sennen in particular. Revenger is a science fiction …

5 editions

Review of 'Revenger' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Fundamentally you'll either believe in the idea of a new Solar System in the future of the correct scale, and a post-fall society with exactly the right technology to allow for "Space Pirates, Yar!" or you won't. And they pretty much say "yar" and get booty and double cross each other. It's pretty tenuous.

My greater problem is it's also pretty gruesome. On a re-read when I know who's going to survive it's not so bad but I struggled the first time. I've seen some describe this as YA, but I think it'd have given me nightmares. I thought Jurassic Park (book) was pretty visceral.

Review of 'Revenger' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Reynolds reverts to form in many respects with this tale of the distant future where humans plunder dangerous abandoned facilities for forgotten technologies and artefacts using solar wind powered spacecraft.

Gothic horror, morally questionable characters and body modification all make a come-back. Mysteries galore never went away, of course; most of them are explained and the inevitable revelation of deeper ones at the end is all present and correct. The story itself becomes gripping much faster than is usual with Reynolds, where one can normally expect the first third to travel along with very little momentum. In this case a dramatic and unexpected event kicks things into high gear pretty early on and the pace never really lets up from there. Unfortunately some of the revelations are telegraphed although others are total surprises.

One fine aspect of the novel is that the situation humanity finds itself in is not explicated …

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