book data
299 ratings, 3.79 average rating, 45 reviews
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published
June 6th 2006
by Ace Hardcover
binding
Hardcover, 464 pages
isbn
0441014011
(isbn13: 9780441014019)
description
2057. Bella Lind and the crew of her nuclearpowered ship, the Rockhopper, push ice. They mine comets. But when Janus, one of Saturn's ice moons...more
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 374)
Read in June, 2008
This is my first Reynolds book I've read since I finished the Revelation Space series, and I was really impressed. Although I don't consider one of Reynolds' strong suits to be characterization, the character interplay in this novel was amazing, and dovetailed nicely with the larger theme of the book. It's definitely hard sci-fi, lots of technological explanation and science, but it moves at a fast pace and kept me interested until the end.
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Read in February, 2007
This was a slightly odd reading experience as it is the first time I've read a book after having heard the author themselves read a passage. This meant that I was vaguely aware of some of the events that would unfold, and of course that section in particular was not going to hold as much suspense as otherwise it might have done.
That aside it is pretty gripping and Reynolds again uses flashback extensively to tell the story, jumping forward decades at a time, and then filling in the gaps. At fi...more
That aside it is pretty gripping and Reynolds again uses flashback extensively to tell the story, jumping forward decades at a time, and then filling in the gaps. At fi...more
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Read in December, 2007
recommends it for:
...well I wouldn't.
I picked this up on the strength of a short story I really enjoyed of Reynolds' in a "Best Sci Fi of the Year" compilation. The short story was so good that I'd even try reading another book of his even though I didn't like this one.
Of course I'd recommend taking this with review with a grain of salt as I'll admit up front, I didn't make it all the way through the book. About 200 pages in I tucked the book into the seat pocket of the person in front of me and told my girlfriend th...more
Of course I'd recommend taking this with review with a grain of salt as I'll admit up front, I didn't make it all the way through the book. About 200 pages in I tucked the book into the seat pocket of the person in front of me and told my girlfriend th...more
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Read in June, 2008
I actually read this book in a rather disjointed way -- the first two hundred pages or so in one chunk, and the last three hundred pages or so in another, more than a month later. So that might well colour my thoughts on it. Overall, I enjoyed it. Alastair Reynolds' writing is always easy to read, in my opinion, and his plots are interesting, without so much technobabble it becomes incomprehensible to me.
Character-wise, though, I'm not sure I really feel for them. They're human, with human ...more
Character-wise, though, I'm not sure I really feel for them. They're human, with human ...more
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Read in May, 2008
recommended to Tad by:
Colum Slevinrecommends it for: folks who like hard sci-fi
In my dismissal of all new science fiction about six years ago, I skipped over Alastair Reynolds. Richard Morgan renewed my faith in contemporary sci-fi and a friend recommended Reynolds as worthy. The first of his books I could get my hands on was Pushing Ice.
By the end of chapter one, I'm totally on board! This is my favorite hard sci-fi sub-genre: crew of spaceship recruited to investigate something that they happen to be in a position to investigate. Rendezvous with Rama, ...more
By the end of chapter one, I'm totally on board! This is my favorite hard sci-fi sub-genre: crew of spaceship recruited to investigate something that they happen to be in a position to investigate. Rendezvous with Rama, ...more
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Read in February, 2008
I really liked this author's collection of short stories, Zima Blue and Other Stories, so I was looking forward to reading one of his novels. Unfortunately, I found myself getting frustrated at the pace. Presumably the slow buildup was intended as time to develop the characters, but I found their actions not always believable.
The alien artifact premise has been done before as another reviewer already noted, but I thought that Reynolds did a decent job of putting his own spin on it. However, ...more
The alien artifact premise has been done before as another reviewer already noted, but I thought that Reynolds did a decent job of putting his own spin on it. However, ...more
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Read in September, 2008
This book is one of the few kinds of hard sci-fi that does not bore me to tears. It isn't set in a distant alien future where the main characters are so far removed from us that it takes a massive effort to understand their world. It is a story set in the near future and deals with what I find the best of good sci-fi literature: the human drive to create, adapt and survive in a ever changing situation using technology to constantly improve their situation.
Still the characters are not anyw...more
Still the characters are not anyw...more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in July, 2007
recommends it for:
fans of epic sci-fi
I'll start by saying that this is a pretty good book. It's very entertaining throughout most of it, but there are some slow and/or annoying parts as well. The characters are well thought-out and mostly likable. There are some interesting twists all along and the rivalry that appears about a third of the way through is great.
I will say that the physics and the biology behind everything is definitely one of the best parts of it. Alistair Reynolds really thought that stuff out.
Some of it dr...more
I will say that the physics and the biology behind everything is definitely one of the best parts of it. Alistair Reynolds really thought that stuff out.
Some of it dr...more
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Read in February, 2008
recommended to Raja99 by:
Ignacio Viglizzo chose it for the SFDG.
This was the SFDG book for February 21 2008.
In my opinion, the book started out extremely well--it depicts a team of comet miners who are the people best positioned to investigate strange happenings on Saturn's moon Janus--but became much less interesting to me as the story progressed. I got particularly annoyed by the interpersonal conflict that drove the story over the course of centuries. Still, it's probably my second-favorite book by Reynolds.
(Finished 18:06 EST 2008-02-21)
In my opinion, the book started out extremely well--it depicts a team of comet miners who are the people best positioned to investigate strange happenings on Saturn's moon Janus--but became much less interesting to me as the story progressed. I got particularly annoyed by the interpersonal conflict that drove the story over the course of centuries. Still, it's probably my second-favorite book by Reynolds.
(Finished 18:06 EST 2008-02-21)
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Read in July, 2007
This book was a complete surprise. I had never read any of Reynolds's work before this. The extreme depth and reality of the characters was amazing. It is not often that you encounter flawed, realistic main characters making poor decisions and dealing with the consequences of them. More than anything else, Pushing Ice was a psychological drama. Rather than being a glaring science fiction story, it was a story that happened to take place in space.
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Read in January, 2008
recommended to Reg by:
Dan
Excellent commentary on the old human problem of factionalism and on the nature of relationships--wrapped inside an exciting, plausible scifi tale that spans space and time. Reynolds again (as he did before in the Revelation Space series) conjures up some very interesting alien species, including one of my favorite species to date: I'll abbreviate their full name as "The M.D." so as not to spoil anything for you.
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Read in January, 2006
This was the first time i'd read any Alistair Reynolds novel, and I have to say i'm impressed. A well thought-out plot, interesting technologies (both alien and human) and the author shows no inclination to let the plot stay 'clean'. The human element is threaded through the story - so a well-rounded book that kept me engrossed 'til the very end.
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I am always hesitant to read stand alone novels, preffering story arcs that span multiple thick volumes. But based on the strength of this author I gave this a try, and was glad I did. It was a new experience to take on some big time hard sci-fi themes from the point of view of a cast of people who are basically blue collar miners.
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Read in January, 2008
recommends it for:
SF buffs
Reynolds finally gets it. He's always had the technology and big ideas but now he finally has some character development and worthwhile interaction. I really liked this book and enjoyed it much more than his Revelation arc. This fulfills the promise of Chasm City as a done-in-one. Good stuff. Enjoy.
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Read in December, 2006
No one does big-concept far-future hard SF quite like Reynolds, and I love him more with every book I read by him. This one has the flavor of court intrigue thrown in, which I greatly enjoyed. Plus there's big alien artifacts, actual aliens, mysterious purposes - how can you go wrong?
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Read in November, 2006
Pretty 'hard' sci-fi but it's the 'wonder' element that really made me love this book. Makes you think about humankind, our planet, and just about everything we think we know about life and how time - however far-reaching - changes us and our thoughts about our own self-importance.
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Read in February, 2008
A so-so book. Some interesting ideas (life at the end of the universe), not too technical, not very entertaining, not too boring. Semi-realistic ideas of human development in the solar system circa 2057, and some fun pretty cool nano tech from the future.
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This was one for the ages. A ship mining a comet is sent a message to stop mining and follow one of Saturn's moons that has broken orbit from the planet and is accelerating out of the solar system. The story that follows is great a really good read.
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Alastair Reynolds has definitely grown as a writer -- his "Revelation Space" series had a number of cheesy elements in it, but those have been polished off, for a nice hard-scifi space opera here. Looks like the beginning of a new series, too.
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Read in February, 2007
A novel of hard-core science-fiction about first conatct with an alien species. It's okay but I did get a bit bored with it as it went on.
Full review here - thejumbledbox.blogspot.com/200...
Full review here - thejumbledbox.blogspot.com/200...
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