Late in the twenty-sixth century, the human race has advanced enough to accidentally trigger the Inhibitors -alien-killing machines designed to det...
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Feb 05, 2009
Gabriel
rated it: 
This is a very frustrating book to evaluate. There is a *great* 400 page novel sitting inside this flabby 700 page slug.
Reynolds has a great imagination and is extremely thoughtful. This is fantastic hard sci-fi told on an epic scale. Well, almost hard sci-fi, he flirts (needlessly) with breaking the laws of physics, but for the most part we're sitting square in the "real world" here. He does an excellent job of thinking about the *consequences* of his technologies an More...
Reynolds has a great imagination and is extremely thoughtful. This is fantastic hard sci-fi told on an epic scale. Well, almost hard sci-fi, he flirts (needlessly) with breaking the laws of physics, but for the most part we're sitting square in the "real world" here. He does an excellent job of thinking about the *consequences* of his technologies an More...
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Jan 02, 2011
Michael
rated it: 
This is my third Revelation Space book, after Revelation Space and Chasm City, and I *do* wish Goodreads would fix their mistake.
This is Book 2, not Book 3. Chasm City is NOT part of the series, merely set in the same universe, and can be read at any time.
This is all according to the author's website -- the author's own words. You'd think details like that would matter. Evidently not!
Onward.
The book itself, like the first two, is excellent, but h More...
This is Book 2, not Book 3. Chasm City is NOT part of the series, merely set in the same universe, and can be read at any time.
This is all according to the author's website -- the author's own words. You'd think details like that would matter. Evidently not!
Onward.
The book itself, like the first two, is excellent, but h More...
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Nov 11, 2010
Oscar
rated it: 
¿Cuál es la misión de un escritor? Pues sumergirnos es su mundo, que durante algunas horas vivamos las historias y aventuras de unos personajes que se convierten en carne y hueso, descubrirnos mundos y universos desconocidos. Y a fe mía que Alastair Reynolds lo consigue con 'El arca de la redención'.
Mientras leía este libro, había momentos en que levantaba la cabeza para cerciorarme realmente de en qué "mundo" estaba. Reynolds tiene un imaginario propio muy original y atrac More...
Mientras leía este libro, había momentos en que levantaba la cabeza para cerciorarme realmente de en qué "mundo" estaba. Reynolds tiene un imaginario propio muy original y atrac More...
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Aug 09, 2011
I really enjoyed this book despite its super length.
In many ways it was as good as the first one in the series (I skipped Chasm City since I'd read it before and wanted to find out what happened to the characters from the first one).
Ultimately it was a bit too long. This made me feel like I would never reach the end. This wasn't entirely helped by having a large number of characters and a lot of chapters going off on a bit of a tangent.
I did feel the inhibitors were not very convincingly explain More...
In many ways it was as good as the first one in the series (I skipped Chasm City since I'd read it before and wanted to find out what happened to the characters from the first one).
Ultimately it was a bit too long. This made me feel like I would never reach the end. This wasn't entirely helped by having a large number of characters and a lot of chapters going off on a bit of a tangent.
I did feel the inhibitors were not very convincingly explain More...
Mar 13, 2011
Good sequel, but it missed the best bits out!: .
This is a direct follow on from Revelation Space and involves storylines from Chasm City, so you do need to have read those before this.
Technically this book is superior to the other two in almost every respect - the depth of characters is better, the plot line has less holes, the move from story thread to thread is smoother..............and yet Reynolds has still muffed the writing in two important areas - the end is a quick, neat wrap up indicat More...
This is a direct follow on from Revelation Space and involves storylines from Chasm City, so you do need to have read those before this.
Technically this book is superior to the other two in almost every respect - the depth of characters is better, the plot line has less holes, the move from story thread to thread is smoother..............and yet Reynolds has still muffed the writing in two important areas - the end is a quick, neat wrap up indicat More...
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Dec 29, 2008
Lightreads
rated it:
Sequel to the impressive but flawed Revelation Space. Another 550 pages of interstellar plotting – one of those rotating POV books tracking multiple factions all located somewhere along the sympathy-repulsion spectrum while they maneuver against each other for advantage while an external danger closes in. The external danger being the Wolves, ancient alien machines whose job it is to prune life from the galaxy for reasons not as evil as you might think.
The best part is still the worl More...
The best part is still the worl More...
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(4 people liked it)
Mar 27, 2011
Andreas
rated it:
Scary in it’s placing of humanity firmly at the bottom of the Universe’s pecking order, this series of books contains some pretty big concepts. Worth reading just for the descriptions of cultures and aliens. Watch out though, Reynolds is not afraid of making the Universe a scary place. I refused to read Redemption Ark close to bedtime. I would just lay awake and shiver at the thought of how huge the universe is, and how short-lived and fragile we are.
* Revelation Space – Cool, pure More...
* Revelation Space – Cool, pure More...
Mar 15, 2011
Lori L
rated it:
Redemption Ark by Alastair Reynolds is the sequel to Revelation Space and the second book in the Revelation Space space-opera trilogy. The main focus of Redemption Ark is the retrieval of the "hell-class" weapons that are aboard the ship Nostalgia for Infinity in order to stop the Inhibitors, a race of killing machines whose purpose seems to be to detect and exterminate intelligent life.
As the Inhibitors, seen as black cubes, systematically take apart a gas giant planet and s More...
As the Inhibitors, seen as black cubes, systematically take apart a gas giant planet and s More...
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Sep 11, 2010
Adrian
rated it:
Redemption Ark is another excellent book in the Revelation Space series. The book brings to pass an excellent culmination of the events of the other two books, and prepares for a sort of next phase in the universe's history. As always it is well written, and is well worth the read. The only thing that this book suffers from is an unusually high number of interesting characters--each one very well written on there own, but the group together tending to subdue each others' uniqueness and force a s
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Sep 04, 2009
Brent
rated it:
Another fine entry by Reynolds in the Revelation Space universe. I didn't enjoy this quite as much as Revelation Space but it was still pretty great. I find his books to be page turners in the sense that I stay up too late reading b/c I always want to know what happens next. I also think his characterization is pretty good, particularly for hard SF where this is generally not a virtue.
One specific point I want to make is in response to some other reviews. Several have faulted Reyno More...
One specific point I want to make is in response to some other reviews. Several have faulted Reyno More...
Aug 10, 2009
Matthew
rated it:
Sequel to Revelation Space and continues on in Reynold's signature space opera style with a hard sci-fi edge. This is a good book that could have been great but for weird editing decisions in some places and an apparent lack of editing in others.
Chief among these is the build-up on several occasions to what appear to be climactic set-pieces ... which are then inexplicably skipped over with a perfunctory "Once the battle had passed ..." or "Once the ship was captured . More...
Chief among these is the build-up on several occasions to what appear to be climactic set-pieces ... which are then inexplicably skipped over with a perfunctory "Once the battle had passed ..." or "Once the ship was captured . More...
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May 03, 2009
Paul
rated it:
Part of the author's Revelation Space series, this book is set approximately 600 years from now, after mankind has started to spread throughout the galaxy.
Human activities have attracted the attention of the Inhibitors, alien machines whose mission seems to be the elimination of all intelligent life. They have come to the star Delta Pavonis, home to the planet Resurgam, populated by over 200,000 people. The Inhibitors start to systematically take apart the system's gas giant, plus se More...
Human activities have attracted the attention of the Inhibitors, alien machines whose mission seems to be the elimination of all intelligent life. They have come to the star Delta Pavonis, home to the planet Resurgam, populated by over 200,000 people. The Inhibitors start to systematically take apart the system's gas giant, plus se More...
Dec 05, 2008
Andreas
rated it:
After loving the first one in this series (Revelation Space), I was kind of underwhelmed with #2. There are some great setpieces and battlescenes, and tons of cool sci-fi stuff along the way, but everything takes waaaay long to set up. I guess I'm always unhappy when I find myself wishing for a book to be over already, rather than being sad when approaching the last pages. Obviously, this being the middle in a trilogy makes it the dreaded "transitional" novel, so I know there would
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Jan 13, 2010
Michael
rated it:
SO SO SO much better than the first one, which had major pacing problems and whose gee-whiz stuff just felt already-done. The first book made me just want to go play Mass Effect instead.
In this one, however, Reynolds becomes one of the few hard SF authors with enough command over his material that you feel his vision of the future viscerally. I never thought it POSSIBLE to be creeped the hell out by the possible implications of messing with inertia. Or by a plague of menacing flat More...
In this one, however, Reynolds becomes one of the few hard SF authors with enough command over his material that you feel his vision of the future viscerally. I never thought it POSSIBLE to be creeped the hell out by the possible implications of messing with inertia. Or by a plague of menacing flat More...
Aug 15, 2011
Alex
rated it:
This one was a bit of a slog to get through compared to its predecessor REVELATION SPACE. The new characters are compelling, but the structure doesn't work as well. In the first book in the trilogy, several storylines happening at different times all come together when several of the characters travel close to lightspeed. In this book, everything is pretty much linear. While this makes things easier to understand, it also necessitates a huge slowdown in the storytelling. Fairly often, weeks
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May 10, 2010
Brie
rated it:
This is one sequel that lived up to its predecessor, and better yet excedeeded it. Reynolds writing was noticeably better in this book than his first book, Revelation Space, and not nearly so many dramatic one liners (which personally annoyed me to no end in the first book).
The story is quite engrossing, and moved right along. I really enjoy the idea of The Inhibitors, its a very interesting premise. I also liked his method for refreshing the reader on what happened in the first book More...
The story is quite engrossing, and moved right along. I really enjoy the idea of The Inhibitors, its a very interesting premise. I also liked his method for refreshing the reader on what happened in the first book More...
Jun 19, 2010
Rob
rated it:
...I liked Revelation Space, I like Redemption Ark even more. Better written and faster paced than the previous book this novel will please the fans of uncut space opera. If you've come this far in the series reading Absolution Gap is simply not optional. The author leaves his characters with some serious problems to solve in the next part of the series. I suppose it is a bit of a middle book in that respect but there is a clear promise of a spectacular finish in the final book. Reynolds is one
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Jul 25, 2011
Toby
rated it:
As other reviewers have stated, Reynolds' story-telling can be addictive when one is actually reading it. However, as with Chasm City and Revelation Space I found that at times I had to push myself to carry on reading. Perhaps it is that whilst the ideas are gripping the deployment can be a little slow at times.
I get the feeling that Reynolds is desperate to demonstrate his physicist roots to the detriment of the pacing. For example, there is a sketch about two-thirds through the book More...
I get the feeling that Reynolds is desperate to demonstrate his physicist roots to the detriment of the pacing. For example, there is a sketch about two-thirds through the book More...
Dec 17, 2009
Adam
rated it:
The surreal hyjinks continue in Reynold's apocalyptic epic. Adding propaganda dreams, fetus cops, hyperpigs, orwellian governments, and the terrifying inertia engines(trust me this is true horror), and a doomy cosmic scope. Some how five hundred pages is riddled with tension. Don't compare with pieces of crap like Orson Scott Card, rather Mieville,M.John Harrison, or Swanwick
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Jan 12, 2010
Mike
rated it:
First line: The dead ship was a thing of beauty.
Redemption Ark is the third book in Reynolds Revelation Space series. I inadvertently skipped the second novel Chasm City but thankfully Reynolds’ fiction, despite being part of a larger overarching story, manages to stand well enough on its own and I never felt like I was really missing anything major. As when I read Revelation Space the first thing that strikes me about Reynolds’ writing is the staid, deliberate pace. I can’t quali More...
Redemption Ark is the third book in Reynolds Revelation Space series. I inadvertently skipped the second novel Chasm City but thankfully Reynolds’ fiction, despite being part of a larger overarching story, manages to stand well enough on its own and I never felt like I was really missing anything major. As when I read Revelation Space the first thing that strikes me about Reynolds’ writing is the staid, deliberate pace. I can’t quali More...
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May 30, 2011
Bronwyn
rated it:
Coming after Chasm City, Redemption Ark wasn't as amazing as I might have hoped, but I enjoyed it quite a bit and I can safely say that I'm still going to be reading books in this series. It is dubbed as "Space Opera" and I guess I never really imagined myself being someone who would end up liking that type of genre, but really, I'm hooked! I don't really have much else to say- if you liked the previous books in the series, you'll like this one.
I will add that there was an More...
I will add that there was an More...
Mar 29, 2011
Alexandra
rated it:
Look, it's a Revelation Space novel. Seriously. This is not going to be a bad review.
Redemption Ark sort of takes up where Revelation Space leaves off, but uses quite a number of different characters to present the narrative. Where the Conjoiners were just another group of weirdos in the first book, here two of the main points of view are from Conjoiners - who end up having quite different takes on the events. There are a couple of familiar characters, happily - who have changed in som More...
Redemption Ark sort of takes up where Revelation Space leaves off, but uses quite a number of different characters to present the narrative. Where the Conjoiners were just another group of weirdos in the first book, here two of the main points of view are from Conjoiners - who end up having quite different takes on the events. There are a couple of familiar characters, happily - who have changed in som More...
Mar 31, 2010
Jason
rated it:
this is my second Alastair Reynolds novel and the second of the trilogy. I am blown away by the level of realism, depth, and structure of this series. Throw in some incredible characterizations and you have a premium sci-fi series. It also does not hurt the science when the author is a rocket scientist. There are strong protagonists here that make you believe in them. The antagonist is your typical science fiction type of "Grey Goo", mass of tiny robots that are threatening life as
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Oct 12, 2011
Grant
rated it:
This is book two in the Revelation Space series. It takes around 100 pages to realize how this book connects with the first book, but it does carry the series well.
I would label this book as sci-fi noir. It is a dark and many times, depressing universe. The characters are all horribly flawed and have extremely questionable histories. What makes the characters interesting is that the reader roots for them to do the right thing for once. This is much different from other novels where usu More...
I would label this book as sci-fi noir. It is a dark and many times, depressing universe. The characters are all horribly flawed and have extremely questionable histories. What makes the characters interesting is that the reader roots for them to do the right thing for once. This is much different from other novels where usu More...
Sep 12, 2011
Cecily
rated it:
Number two in the Revelation Space trilogy; you could read it as a standalone story, but it's better to read in sequence, and it helps if you've also read Chasm City.
This is a long treasure hunt for super weapons, conducted by two competing factions (though both have the same intention), with a life-or-death deadline. Although that is true, it does it an injustice because there is far more complexity and intrigue than that implies. Reynolds has really thought out his technology, world More...
This is a long treasure hunt for super weapons, conducted by two competing factions (though both have the same intention), with a life-or-death deadline. Although that is true, it does it an injustice because there is far more complexity and intrigue than that implies. Reynolds has really thought out his technology, world More...
Nov 18, 2011
Ian
rated it:
In Revelation Space, Alastair Reynolds set up the framework of a creative, somewhat unique, and entirely believable future universe in which humanity is a star-faring civilization over the local portion of our galaxy spanning maybe a few dozen light years. As I explained in my review of that book, he set up a framework with rules and limits, but still sufficiently flexible to allow for creativity and imagination. Reynolds' book The Prefect, a stand-alone novel set in one corner of the Revelati
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Dec 15, 2008
Zen
rated it: 
This is the second book I've read by Alastair Reynolds, the first being Chasm City. Both were OK but in a very weird way. When I read them for hours at a time, I enjoy them very much... but as soon as I put them down, the characters, plots and storylines start fading away into space. And if I let the book sit around for more than 24 hours, I practically have to MAKE myself go back and read it. At which point I enjoy it again. Very weird. After two such experiences, I don't know if I'll pic
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Aug 19, 2011
Sahil
rated it:
This book was good enough, I guess. I agree with another commenter in that it was just too long. I also think that the author got a little choppy with the book near the end (chapter 40 in particular seems to be decades after the rest of the book). Other than that, it's okay. I think the notion that life and, with it, intelligence moves outward from a galaxy center is sort of reasonable, if rarely thought about.
In sum, just a standard space opera. Not sure I am going to read the next More...
In sum, just a standard space opera. Not sure I am going to read the next More...
Aug 10, 2011
Adam
rated it:
Reynolds cements his status as one of the best sci-fi writers working today with this book. And his writing has tangibly improved since his first novel – “Revelation Space,” the first book in this trilogy.
This epic survives not merely on action, nor on clever ideas, but on a visceral connection with all of the elements that make a great story. The closing scene, which I won’t spoil for any potential reader, struck me as one of the most surreal atmospheres I’ve ever been immersed in.
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This epic survives not merely on action, nor on clever ideas, but on a visceral connection with all of the elements that make a great story. The closing scene, which I won’t spoil for any potential reader, struck me as one of the most surreal atmospheres I’ve ever been immersed in.
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Jun 07, 2010
Mick
rated it:
Revelation Space is the only book of his I like. I read both the sequels to it and wish I hadn't. Long stretches of nothing happening, with a poor ear for dialogue and characterization. I even tried Chasm City, a novel set in the same universe, and couldn't get past page 200, despite tons of action and stuff. The writing just isn't there. Compare this to Iain M. Banks, whose "Matter" has long stretches of nothing happening, but whose writing is so damn beautiful and interesting and his
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