Paperback, 302 pages
English language
Published Aug. 2, 2022 by Orbit.
From the master of the space opera comes a dark, mind-bending adventure spread across time and space, where Doctor Silas Coade is tasked with keeping his crew safe as they adventure across the galaxy in search of a mysterious artifact.
In the 1800s, a sailing ship crashes off the coast of Norway. In the 1900s, a Zepellin explores an icy canyon in Antarctica. In the far future, a spaceship sets out for an alien artifact. Each excursion goes horribly wrong. And on every journey, Dr. Silas Coade is the physician, but only Silas seems to realize that these events keep repeating themselves. And it's up to him to figure out why and how. And how to stop it all from happening again.
If I described the plot it would sound like a classic SF novelette and barely push 70 pages. It's a credit to Reynolds that the 300 odd pages here feel very short. It starts slow, and each time I start thinking "okay you've made your point" it speeds up the exact right amount. So it repeats, but not in a bad way.
Content warning Mild spoilers coming from discussing novel's structure and some of the foreshadowing
I loved this book from start to finish.
Alastair Reynolds' mastery over atmosphere and style is on display from the outset. As the novel jumps through time with each of Coade's "awakenings" you can almost feel author's enjoyment at the opportunity to capture the style of the era.
While these vivid descriptions and dialog are what drew me in initially, it's the unraveling mystery that made it impossible to put this book down. The foreshadowing was enjoyable over the top, building from subtle hints to overwhelming crescendo. The biggest kick is that as I was slowly piecing together the whole story so was the main protagonist, just from the opposite direction: I was eager to figure it all out and Coade was in active denial of it! Not to mention classic hints such as anagrams and homophones ("I am Coade" quote is pure gold!).
All this intrigue is wrapped into hard core sfi-fi concepts like space exploration, aliens, AI and topology. At the heart of it is the theme of identity which grounds the entire novel. In concert with good character work and proper consequences it gives finale the emotional kick it deserves.
Speaking of finale, Reynolds manages to avoid the pitfalls of rushed endings common in some of his other writing. Pacing here is great, and I had enough space to process the gravity of the story's climax.
All in all, a perfect novel.
Wow. I was totally on the wrong track with this, despite plenty of clues. Intriguingly unfolded from start to finish and with a twist I should have seen coming but delightfully didnt, I gratefully devoured this book in a few short hours thanks to Michael's recommendation. Reynolds isn't a new name to me, but I can't recall reading anything of his before for some reason. IF this is any indication of the standard, I've seriously been missing out.
