Revelation Space

by Alastair Reynolds

book data

581 ratings, 3.98 average rating, 65 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		32%
4		43%
3		18%
2		4%
1		2%

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published

May 28th 2002 by Ace

binding

Paperback, 592 pages

isbn

0441009425 (isbn13: 9780441009428)

description

Alastair Reynolds's first novel is "hard" SF on an epic scale, crammed with technological marvels and immensities. Its events take place ove...more

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Luke rated it:

02/11/08

Quite simply the best science fiction series I have ever read. Adventure, mystery, and all the colour that sci-fi enthusiasts look for, without sacrificing any of the quality of writing that we are so often forced to do without in this genre.

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Jon rated it:

(review of isbn 0752843036)

04/05/07

this guy's an astro-physicist for ESA and you can tell by his writing. very similar to arthur c clarks speculitive fiction, but even more technical. great ideas and concepts though.

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Shinynickel rated it:

08/03/08

Read in July, 2008

recommends it for: anyone who likes solidly interesting SF and/or space opera specifically

Oh hell yes.

To me, space opera is often like math. I think the idea of it is beautiful, and it has the potential to be absolutely mind-crunchingly fantastic. But in practice, my experience of it often leaves quite a bit to be desired.

Not so here.

This book manages not only to be epic but to *feel* epic. It has heavily gothic overtones (one of the POV threads follows a group of about seven people on a massive ship large enough to hold tens of thousands, a ship slowly crumbling from d...more

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Elze rated it:

07/08/08

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in May, 2008

recommends it for: Anyone who likes space opera

In short, it's a spectacular space opera. One of the best I've ever read. Actually, it was one of the most exciting SF books I've read in the last few years. Not the deepest or most original, but... exciting. A book that literally makes your heart race as you turn the pages!

Manipulative aliens in your mind...

Still, I believe that to get the most enjoyment out of it you have to be a fan of a particular set of science fictional tropes. If mysterious, super-powerful aliens who set up...more

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Dave rated it:

05/07/08

bookshelves: fiction

Read in May, 2008

[[I'm not sure why, but I have hardly ever read any stand-alone sci-fi/fantasy books. If I go to the bookstore and browse those sections, I always look for a series, not a single book by itself. And I've read lots of sci-fi/fantasy series; everything from Terry Brooks to Robert Jordan and the Ringworld Trilogy.

But the last stand-alone science fiction book I've read....? I can't even remember.

The reason for that is probably that I find these types of book to be a little bit more work...more [[I'm not sure why, but I have hardly ever read any stand-alone sci-fi/fantasy books. If I go to the bookstore and browse those sections, I always look for a series, not a single book by itself. And I've read lots of sci-fi/fantasy series; everything from Terry Brooks to Robert Jordan and the Ringworld Trilogy.

But the last stand-alone science fiction book I've read....? I can't even remember.

The reason for that is probably that I find these types of book to be a little bit more work. The author (especially in more hardcore or futuristic sci-fi) drops you in the middle of some universe he's created and sometimes it takes quite a while to figure out the language/scene/plot. It takes an effort to continue reading when it's hard to figure out what the hell is going on. So when there's a lot of work involved, I frequently feel that if it's a stand-alone book, there's not going to be much of a payoff. It doesn't seem worth it to spend 150 pages figuring out what's happening, then getting about 350 pages of plot development before the end. On the other hand, with a series of fantasy or sci-fi novels, I feel like even if I'm lost in the first few hundred pages of the first book, at least I know that I will eventually figure it out and be able to enjoy the next few books comfortably.

Does that make sense? No, probably not.

In any case, this book is an example of why I don't read stand-alone sci-fi anymore. For the first 100 pages, it was hard to understand what was going on; the author presents the story from 3 characters' perspectives, all of whom are way in the future, separated, and there are a lot of terms and phrases that don't make any sense (...until later). So I was frustrated by that. And then, near the end when all the characters come together and I was able to follow along with the plot easily...well, it just wasn't that exciting. Sure, from an intellectual standpoint I guess it was an interesting idea for a book (if you really want a synopsis, you can check it out at Amazon - I don't want to give a plot outline of every book I read; I'd prefer to just share my thoughts on them), but I didn't find myself looking forward to it, even at the end. I just felt like I needed to finish the book, since I spent so much effort understanding it in the first place.

Well, mission accomplished; I finished it. Hoorah. Back on the shelf it goes. On to the next book!:]]

Later note: Okay, so I wrote the above before I realized that Revelation Space is actually the first book in a series by Alastair Reynolds. Ummmm...so that pretty much undermines everything I've said here. Awesome. So we've leared a few things today:
1) I should check to see if a book is part of a series before writing about it (and before reading it!).
2) I'm an idiot.

In case you were wondering, no, I'm not going to read the rest of the series.
...less

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Joe rated it:

03/25/08

bookshelves: science-fiction

Has a copy to sell/swap

recommends it for: people that like space operas

At first, this book had several cliches that annoyed me. Primarily, the scientist know it all who is always right, and his obedient wife who supports him blah blah blah. All that changes, though when a huge spaceship full of very differently goaled humans (who have been often altered by genetic manipulation) comes into the scene. There's a lot off mystery to this book that would really appeal to people that normally read detective fiction. The only problem is the editing. This book could ha...more

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Adam rated it:

08/27/07

recommends it for: fans of intelligent horror and scifi

If your fan of the wing of scifi represented in the mainstream by movies like Ridley Scott's Alien and John Carpenter's The Thing(or more recently Danny Boyles'Sunshine)than this book will be endless entertainment for for you. Barely human nightmare show characters you wouldn't want to be in a dark alley with, discovering a universe filled with lovecraftian horror. Similiar to Delany's Nova and Swanwick's Vacuum Flowers with identity confusion straight out of Gene Wolfe land plus aliens as weird...more

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Adam rated it:

08/09/07

Read in August, 2007

This second foray for me into a hard scifi trilogy, Reynold's Revelation Space series starts off on a much softer note than Wright's Golden Age saga. Even though the universe depicted is just as fantastical and out-of-this-world as anything else, it is held down by solid, down-to-earth prose.

Sure, it's got space ships with huge frickin weapons that make the Death Star looks like something from the Playskool lineup. It's also got a world that is one big ocean that contains organisms that abs...more

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Martin rated it:

06/16/08

Read in April, 2008

It's hard to believe this is Reynolds first novel. There are some authors that have built an entire universe in their heads, and seem to know it as well as they know the "real" one. Reynolds seems to be one of them. The characters are very believable and have a huge history and a perceived future. They seem real. So, his books are somewhat long and at times a little slow, but like an avalanche, it builds up power and speed. Reynolds has a wonderful idea of a future universe. Complete w...more

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Francisco rated it:

07/02/07

bookshelves: currently-reading

Read in July, 2007

I enjoy hard sci-fi, which may sound like a pornographic version of regular sci-fi, but it is certainly not that at all. I describe hard sci-fi as having some plausible futuristic technological elements.

This book is also a space opera, spawning long timelines with characters that interact and change their state of being. You can read the jacket cover to get a sense of the plot, but if you like novels like Ender's Game or Robert Sawyer's Humans/Hominids/Hybrids series, you'll like this. The ...more

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Tommy is currently reading it

11/25/08

bookshelves: currently-reading

So far it's great hard sci-fi. Kind of above my head scientifically, but I can follow enough of it to find it really fascinating. Lots of large-scale awe and mystery!

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Lawrence rated it:

10/13/08

bookshelves: sci-fi

Read in October, 2008

This book started with great potential; brilliant ideas and enigmatic characters are woven throughout a compelling story in the first half of the novel. However, somewhere in the middle, the book loses it's pace. It wallows along, continually revisiting themes from earlier in the story, without really adding, expanding or bringing anything new to the table.

Recently I have been putting books down before finishing, but I thought I would give this author - and his first work - a complete chance...more

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Matt rated it:

02/21/08

The only way I can characterize this book is by describing it as a movie. It read like watching a movie with fantastic production design, amazing effects, and incredible locations and costumes. The only problem is that there was simply no character development. You never really find yourself caring what happens to any of the main characters, at least I didn't. I kept reading hoping it would make itself worthwhile in the end. However, in the end I just found myself feeling cheated. This was a sto...more

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Michael rated it:

10/20/08

Despite that this was the first book that Alastair Reynolds published - read Chasm City first. In the timeline of his universe most of Chasm City actually takes place before Revelation Space.

It's a good book, but a slow starter. What can make this book hard to get in to is that the universe that Reynolds has created is in it's own right very well developed - and unfortunately you're dumped into it with little introduction into the world he has created.

Once you get into it however it's a pr...more

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Stephen rated it:

05/28/08

Read in May, 2008

Revelation Space is a massive space opera filled with big ideas, sprawling extrapolations, ancient civilizations and age-old mysteries. Alastair Reynolds delivers all of these goods while also seeing that his universe follows the rules of our universe. There is no faster than light travel here and the time differences that result from near relativistic travel add an interesting component to the mix.

Alastair Reynolds is definately an author that I'll be keeping my eye on. Two thumbs up.

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Colin rated it:

05/28/08

bookshelves: sci-fi

Read in May, 2008

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Evlgamer rated it:

04/16/08

bookshelves: epic-or-hard-sci-fi

This book blew my mind, it is without a doubt the most stunning entry into the hard sci-fi setting since Dune. The sheer scope of it, the time scale, the distance, the well thought out nature of what may become of humanity on a galactic scale is astonishing. Contains some of the most interesting cultures I have ever read about, ask yourself the question what would become of mankind if living space was near infinite? How would societies splinter and re-form?

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Beth rated it:

08/04/08

Read in August, 2008

recommends it for: SciFi Fans

So far so good. This is the beginning of a huge space opera trilogy that spans centuries by virtue of the way star travel works in this universe. The last quarter of the book the author does a lot of "telling of theory" than "telling of story". Probably due to the rather heavy handed foreshadowing in the previous quarter of the book.

That said, I do want to find out what happens next and will probably read Redemption Ark.

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Justin rated it:

12/31/07

Read in January, 2006

Great combo of mystery, high-tech, and some cosmology. Also must credit this entire trilogy (Revelation Space being the first book) with telling a Berzerker story. That would be a story about a virtually unstoppable alien machine bent on detecting and destroying intelligent life. It's an old idea intended to explain the lack of nearby alien civilizations, but I rarely see it done well in sci-fi. This trilogy does it VERY well.

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Servius Sextus Heiner rated it:

11/07/07

bookshelves: sci-fi

Read in June, 2007

It was a great story, but the writer’s habits really ruined it for me. There were many times when you could tell he didn't know where it was going, too many short cuts, and glaze over’s. but aside from that it was a really good story, if not a good read, I didn't even bother mentioning the other books in the series because well, it wasn't good enough for me to waste the time to find them and add them to the bookshelf.

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