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Revelation Space #3
Absolution Gap
In the third book of the legendary Revelation Space trilogy, the last remnants of humanity realize that forging an alliance with a greater and even more mysterious alien force may be their only chance for survival.The Inhibitors were designed to eliminate any life form reaching a certain level of intelligence -- and they've targeted Humanity. War veteran Clavain and a ragtag group of refugees have fled into hiding. Their leadership is faltering, and their situation is growing more desperate. But their little colony has just received an unexpected an avenging angel with the power to lead mankind to safety -- or draw down its darkest enemy.And as she leads them to an apparently insignificant moon light-years away, it begins to dawn on Clavain and his companions that to beat one enemy, it may be necessary to forge an alliance with something much worse . . ."Absolution Gap is a good as it gets, and should solidify Alastair Reynolds' reputation as one of the best hard SF writers in the field." -- SF Site
756 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
About the author
Alastair Reynolds
279 books8,398 followersI'm Al, I used to be a space scientist, and now I'm a writer, although for a time the two careers ran in parallel. I started off publishing short stories in the British SF magazine Interzone in the early 90s, then eventually branched into novels. I write about a novel a year and try to write a few short stories as well. Some of my books and stories are set in a consistent future named after Revelation Space, the first novel, but I've done a lot of other things as well and I like to keep things fresh between books.
I was born in Wales, but raised in Cornwall, and then spent time in the north of England and Scotland. I moved to the Netherlands to continue my science career and stayed there for a very long time, before eventually returning to Wales.
In my spare time I am a very keen runner, and I also enjoying hill-walking, birdwatching, horse-riding, guitar and model-making. I also dabble with paints now and then. I met my wife in the Netherlands through a mutual interest in climbing and we married back in Wales. We live surrounded by hills, woods and wildlife, and not too much excitement.
I was born in Wales, but raised in Cornwall, and then spent time in the north of England and Scotland. I moved to the Netherlands to continue my science career and stayed there for a very long time, before eventually returning to Wales.
In my spare time I am a very keen runner, and I also enjoying hill-walking, birdwatching, horse-riding, guitar and model-making. I also dabble with paints now and then. I met my wife in the Netherlands through a mutual interest in climbing and we married back in Wales. We live surrounded by hills, woods and wildlife, and not too much excitement.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 826 reviews
March 27, 2022
The final stages of an epic journey filled with goodies for fans, sci fa elements, a big WTF plot moment, more indoctrination virus and melding plague fun, and tons of goodies, innuendos, and connotations for fans of the series.
Melding Plague, hyperpigs, inhibitors, and psi babies
The melding plague infection moves towards its final stages, Scorpio gets an important role, the inhibitors are busy kind of gray gooing around and a science fantasy telepathy element gets big. All mixed together make it one of Reynolds easier to follow and consume works, purists and hardcore fans might even deem it too soft and easygoing for his standards.
Indoctrination virus
Notice that this idea is big in Simmons epic Hyperion series too and how much potential it has. I´m not sure how often I´ve seen pure nano technical, biological psi, or mixed variants of it in both sci fi and fantasy, but its possibilities are sheer as endless as real life virus evolution. Depending on the technological level, ideology, and biology of a human or alien species, the mind, computer, nano, etc virus can be used for all good or bad, maybe even for medical applications instead of breeding the ultimate evil mind control brainwashing empire around a wacky, immortal god emperor.
Even greater when one is a fan of the series
It could be read as first book of the series too, of course, especially because it´s as mentioned not so hardcore, but the biggest pleasure comes from getting the overkill of elements from the whole series, including the standalone books of the series. This outstanding interconnectedness over very long periods of in universe time must have taken Reynolds pretty much psi power and finetuning effort to get this whole thing rolling to a culmination even gigantic for a genre known for its huge scales. With its darkness, grim humor, and awakening a feeling for the vastness of space and time in comparison to the unimportance of humankind, Reynolds has created a unique universe and a new standard for all dark hard sci works of the future before they finally become reality.
Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...
Melding Plague, hyperpigs, inhibitors, and psi babies
The melding plague infection moves towards its final stages, Scorpio gets an important role, the inhibitors are busy kind of gray gooing around and a science fantasy telepathy element gets big. All mixed together make it one of Reynolds easier to follow and consume works, purists and hardcore fans might even deem it too soft and easygoing for his standards.
Indoctrination virus
Notice that this idea is big in Simmons epic Hyperion series too and how much potential it has. I´m not sure how often I´ve seen pure nano technical, biological psi, or mixed variants of it in both sci fi and fantasy, but its possibilities are sheer as endless as real life virus evolution. Depending on the technological level, ideology, and biology of a human or alien species, the mind, computer, nano, etc virus can be used for all good or bad, maybe even for medical applications instead of breeding the ultimate evil mind control brainwashing empire around a wacky, immortal god emperor.
Even greater when one is a fan of the series
It could be read as first book of the series too, of course, especially because it´s as mentioned not so hardcore, but the biggest pleasure comes from getting the overkill of elements from the whole series, including the standalone books of the series. This outstanding interconnectedness over very long periods of in universe time must have taken Reynolds pretty much psi power and finetuning effort to get this whole thing rolling to a culmination even gigantic for a genre known for its huge scales. With its darkness, grim humor, and awakening a feeling for the vastness of space and time in comparison to the unimportance of humankind, Reynolds has created a unique universe and a new standard for all dark hard sci works of the future before they finally become reality.
Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...
May 24, 2010
What a disappointment! This last book alone adds 662 pages to the series. It continues the brilliant weaving of complex and advanced ideas, but even early in the book I started thinking, "This is getting a little silly now". It built to what promised to be a stunning conclusion, then ends with a great big "PFFFFBBBLLLLLT". What a load of bollocks!
The ending is so bad that it bursts the suspension of disbelief that carried us so far. It makes us look back and see how flimsy some of the plotlines were, how implausible some of the characters and actions.
Key characters and storylines are just dropped or killed off in a sentence. The so-called ending/epilogue waves a magic wand, brings new players unexpectedly on stage, and just crashes and burns.
So much work, so much complexity, wasted.
A great example of "it's not the destination, it's the journey." We crossed America, visiting all the national parks, and we ended up in a ruined cement warehouse in Hackensack, New Jersey. In the rain. With wet socks.
Pfui.
The ending is so bad that it bursts the suspension of disbelief that carried us so far. It makes us look back and see how flimsy some of the plotlines were, how implausible some of the characters and actions.
Key characters and storylines are just dropped or killed off in a sentence. The so-called ending/epilogue waves a magic wand, brings new players unexpectedly on stage, and just crashes and burns.
So much work, so much complexity, wasted.
A great example of "it's not the destination, it's the journey." We crossed America, visiting all the national parks, and we ended up in a ruined cement warehouse in Hackensack, New Jersey. In the rain. With wet socks.
Pfui.
October 8, 2016
imagine a gigantic gothic spacecraft, a Lovecraft in space, a horrifying monster of a ship captained by a man who is the ship itself. Captain John Brannigan! the oldest human in the galaxy; or rather, "human" ... the old captain fell prey to both a terrible melding plague and his own tortured thoughts. the captain and the ship came together, transformed into the stuff of nightmares. the ship is called Nostalgia for Infinity. it is the best part of the book, and the trilogy as well.
Reynolds completes his Revelation Space series in a rousing, bang-filled fashion. galaxies taken over by bizarre threats, planets ripped apart, civilizations wiped out, billions of people slaughtered, insane weapons deployed, insane characters forcing others to do their bidding, sympathetic lead characters killed off-page and with barely a shrug, the odd and unnecessary moments of cruelty... classic Reynolds! the book certainly doesn't disappoint when it comes to darkness. it is a trifle long though.
the author's debits are highlighted by that length. as always, his interest in sociopathic or at least very, very, very stubborn characters is front and center. this can be fascinating but it also can be very frustrating. continually reading about stubborn characters forcing their viewpoints on others is super frustrating. it certainly creates a lack of engagement and empathy with certain central characters that the author wants the reader to be interested in. well, Reynolds will clearly always do Reynolds, so that's that. why even complain when it is just a part of who he is as an author. he prefers writing about monsters, or heroes that inevitably have a monstrous side to them. he tries something a bit different in this one - at least at first. Rashmika and Vasko are two forthright and positively portrayed POV characters; my guess is that the experience of writing about people who aren't assholes or sociopaths must have felt to Reynolds like having his teeth slowly pulled out. and it shows. Rashmika turns out to be completely compelling, but unfortunately the twist that makes her interesting doesn't happen until the last pages of the novel. she's quite limp until then. Vasko would be the protagonist of any other standard space opera, but Reynolds completely loses interest in him about two-thirds of the way through, and his POV just vanishes - even though he is still a central character and audience stand-in! oh, Reynolds. still, critiquing that tendency in the author is like critiquing a leopard for its spots. and the typical misanthropy on display does lead to one completely delightful bit of black humor as a primary antagonist gets too excited and just accidentally falls to his death. ha, so much for his evil plans! that was awesome.
Reynolds loves his darkety dark dark darkness and a lot of that comes out in various displays of unnecessary sadism and bad attitudes and weirdly used adjectives. we have an entire cast of characters who don't know how to speak to each other without being complete jerks. we have a ludicrous torture-murder of a beloved central character (thankfully off-page) for reasons that make little sense. we have an increasing use of the word "vile" to describe standard pieces of equipment. oh and a cute little creature gets one of its paws torn off, just to prove that a character who has been portrayed as a sociopathic asshole is indeed, definitely, a sociopathic asshole. oh, Reynolds. still, I'll deal with all of that bullshit because this series is just a really original spin on space operas. there's always been an odd, arbitrary quality to the quasi-religious titles he gives the books in this trilogy, but at least in Absolution Gap, religion is front and center. spoiler: Reynolds is not a fan of organized religion. religion is amusingly eviscerated via things like an "indoctrinal virus" and a panoply of cathedrals on wheels forever circling each other on an icy moon. and man, he is fantastic with the concepts! I love all of his aliens and weapons and weird human factions... such creativity! I have such a good time just thinking about all of the fun, strange ideas he crams into his books.
hard to unreservedly love an author or a series that so clearly can't stand humanity or the things we build or the places we live, and this is the third 3 stars I've given his books... but that means nothing in the long run. overall I liked and enjoyed this book and definitely plan on reading the standalone novels set in this universe.
Reynolds completes his Revelation Space series in a rousing, bang-filled fashion. galaxies taken over by bizarre threats, planets ripped apart, civilizations wiped out, billions of people slaughtered, insane weapons deployed, insane characters forcing others to do their bidding, sympathetic lead characters killed off-page and with barely a shrug, the odd and unnecessary moments of cruelty... classic Reynolds! the book certainly doesn't disappoint when it comes to darkness. it is a trifle long though.
the author's debits are highlighted by that length. as always, his interest in sociopathic or at least very, very, very stubborn characters is front and center. this can be fascinating but it also can be very frustrating. continually reading about stubborn characters forcing their viewpoints on others is super frustrating. it certainly creates a lack of engagement and empathy with certain central characters that the author wants the reader to be interested in. well, Reynolds will clearly always do Reynolds, so that's that. why even complain when it is just a part of who he is as an author. he prefers writing about monsters, or heroes that inevitably have a monstrous side to them. he tries something a bit different in this one - at least at first. Rashmika and Vasko are two forthright and positively portrayed POV characters; my guess is that the experience of writing about people who aren't assholes or sociopaths must have felt to Reynolds like having his teeth slowly pulled out. and it shows. Rashmika turns out to be completely compelling, but unfortunately the twist that makes her interesting doesn't happen until the last pages of the novel. she's quite limp until then. Vasko would be the protagonist of any other standard space opera, but Reynolds completely loses interest in him about two-thirds of the way through, and his POV just vanishes - even though he is still a central character and audience stand-in! oh, Reynolds. still, critiquing that tendency in the author is like critiquing a leopard for its spots. and the typical misanthropy on display does lead to one completely delightful bit of black humor as a primary antagonist gets too excited and just accidentally falls to his death. ha, so much for his evil plans! that was awesome.
Reynolds loves his darkety dark dark darkness and a lot of that comes out in various displays of unnecessary sadism and bad attitudes and weirdly used adjectives. we have an entire cast of characters who don't know how to speak to each other without being complete jerks. we have a ludicrous torture-murder of a beloved central character (thankfully off-page) for reasons that make little sense. we have an increasing use of the word "vile" to describe standard pieces of equipment. oh and a cute little creature gets one of its paws torn off, just to prove that a character who has been portrayed as a sociopathic asshole is indeed, definitely, a sociopathic asshole. oh, Reynolds. still, I'll deal with all of that bullshit because this series is just a really original spin on space operas. there's always been an odd, arbitrary quality to the quasi-religious titles he gives the books in this trilogy, but at least in Absolution Gap, religion is front and center. spoiler: Reynolds is not a fan of organized religion. religion is amusingly eviscerated via things like an "indoctrinal virus" and a panoply of cathedrals on wheels forever circling each other on an icy moon. and man, he is fantastic with the concepts! I love all of his aliens and weapons and weird human factions... such creativity! I have such a good time just thinking about all of the fun, strange ideas he crams into his books.
hard to unreservedly love an author or a series that so clearly can't stand humanity or the things we build or the places we live, and this is the third 3 stars I've given his books... but that means nothing in the long run. overall I liked and enjoyed this book and definitely plan on reading the standalone novels set in this universe.
November 8, 2014
What a terrible, terrible ending to what started out as a very promising series. I really wanted to like this book, but it became an utter slog fairly early on, and I had to force myself over the finish line (more out of stubborness than anything; this is very rare that I feel this way but I hate to abandon books that I've started). If I hadn't read this on a Kindle, I would have been tempted to throw the book across the room in frustration upon finishing it. I still might.
First, some context about the series as a whole, spoiler-hidden for those that want to skip ahead to my thoughts on this particular book.
So, where to start with this mess? SPOILERS AHOY as we go down the checklist of woe; I'm not hiding 'em because if you've read this far into a one-star review, then I assume you want it with both barrels.
Among the many, many problems:
- Important characters from the earlier books are killed off fairly early on, and replaced with much less interesting ones. Clavian and Skade both die together about a third of the way in (the actual deaths happen, again, offscreen). Skade, in particular, suffered from an increasingly muddy set of motivations which basically reduced her to a caricature of moustace-twirling villiany. Scorpio essentially becomes a much less compelling Clavian-Lite. Oh, by the way, Thorn, from the last novel, dies in between books, and it happened, you guessed it, off-screen.
- There are a bunch of new characters added here. The third book in a series (not counting Chasm City in this) is a bit late to bring major players on board unless handled expertly, something which Reynolds...does not do.
- Worse, with the new characters and settings given so much emphasis, there are some major plot threads and characters that were much more interesting that are just abandoned and left unresolved. The Mother Nest/Closed Council intrigue and the character of Felka from Redemption Ark come to mind here. The Conjoiner political intrigue was a major part of the first half of the second book, and here that whole plot doesn't even get to fizzle out so much as it's just ignored.
- The story draaaaaaaaaags, on not one but two fronts. The Hela and Ararat plotlines really spin their wheels here for hundreds of pages. There are many, many pointless excursions with minor characters and setting details that pad the page count (a lot) but add nothing to a compelling, forward-moving narrative.
- The antagonists this book introduces, Quaiche and Grelier, die pointless, anticlimactic deaths. Quaiche's in particular was ridiculous.
- Plothole alert: If the Nostalgia for Infinity has been in orbit around Hela for nine years, and has sensors which can detect a mosquito fart from light years away, you're going to tell me they didn't notice Quaiche building his holdfast down there right below them? Presumably that whole endeavor took quite a bit of time and energy.
And then, the ending. Dear gods above, the ending. Where to start? Again SPOILERS AHEAD:
- Okay, I get that the idea that the temptation to bargain with the shadows was a test. If that's the case, Quaiche was going to destroy the scrimshaw suit anyway, choosing to not deal with the shadows, even if the heroes had never come to Hela. Does this then render the ENTIRE COURSE OF ACTION the heroes undertook since leaving Ararat more or less meaningless?
- Reynolds pulls one of the most blatant deus ex machina endings I've ever seen with the 11th hour revelation of the Nestbuilders, yet another ancient, all-powerful race, entering the story. Yes, there were some VERY minor hints in retrospect, but it's basically as if they came out of nowhere.
- The deus ex machina gets worse. After a couple thousand pages of series, the entire human-Inhibitor conflict, the ostensible conflict driving the last two books and forming the backdrop of the first, comes to an end....as it's basically GLOSSED OVER, occurring offscreen (sonofabitch!), described after the fact in a freakin' EPILOGUE! "And so this happened..."
My gods, why did I spend so much time reading this? It has been a long, long time since I've been so, so thoroughly annoyed and disappointed with a book, a long time since I've invested so much time in a series which crashed and burned so craptacurlary. is that a word? It is now. To paraphrase Roger Ebert, I hated, hated, hated this book.
So, ratings:
- Revelation Space: 4 stars. Great ideas, matched by a compelling story. Read this, then pretend the rest never happened.
- Redepmtion Ark: 3 stars. The cracks are starting to show.
- Absolution Gap: 1 stars (really, should be zero stars, but the series started out so well), retroactively ruined the series, and causes me to swear to never, ever read anything by this author again.
First, some context about the series as a whole, spoiler-hidden for those that want to skip ahead to my thoughts on this particular book.
So, where to start with this mess? SPOILERS AHOY as we go down the checklist of woe; I'm not hiding 'em because if you've read this far into a one-star review, then I assume you want it with both barrels.
Among the many, many problems:
- Important characters from the earlier books are killed off fairly early on, and replaced with much less interesting ones. Clavian and Skade both die together about a third of the way in (the actual deaths happen, again, offscreen). Skade, in particular, suffered from an increasingly muddy set of motivations which basically reduced her to a caricature of moustace-twirling villiany. Scorpio essentially becomes a much less compelling Clavian-Lite. Oh, by the way, Thorn, from the last novel, dies in between books, and it happened, you guessed it, off-screen.
- There are a bunch of new characters added here. The third book in a series (not counting Chasm City in this) is a bit late to bring major players on board unless handled expertly, something which Reynolds...does not do.
- Worse, with the new characters and settings given so much emphasis, there are some major plot threads and characters that were much more interesting that are just abandoned and left unresolved. The Mother Nest/Closed Council intrigue and the character of Felka from Redemption Ark come to mind here. The Conjoiner political intrigue was a major part of the first half of the second book, and here that whole plot doesn't even get to fizzle out so much as it's just ignored.
- The story draaaaaaaaaags, on not one but two fronts. The Hela and Ararat plotlines really spin their wheels here for hundreds of pages. There are many, many pointless excursions with minor characters and setting details that pad the page count (a lot) but add nothing to a compelling, forward-moving narrative.
- The antagonists this book introduces, Quaiche and Grelier, die pointless, anticlimactic deaths. Quaiche's in particular was ridiculous.
- Plothole alert: If the Nostalgia for Infinity has been in orbit around Hela for nine years, and has sensors which can detect a mosquito fart from light years away, you're going to tell me they didn't notice Quaiche building his holdfast down there right below them? Presumably that whole endeavor took quite a bit of time and energy.
And then, the ending. Dear gods above, the ending. Where to start? Again SPOILERS AHEAD:
- Okay, I get that the idea that the temptation to bargain with the shadows was a test. If that's the case, Quaiche was going to destroy the scrimshaw suit anyway, choosing to not deal with the shadows, even if the heroes had never come to Hela. Does this then render the ENTIRE COURSE OF ACTION the heroes undertook since leaving Ararat more or less meaningless?
- Reynolds pulls one of the most blatant deus ex machina endings I've ever seen with the 11th hour revelation of the Nestbuilders, yet another ancient, all-powerful race, entering the story. Yes, there were some VERY minor hints in retrospect, but it's basically as if they came out of nowhere.
- The deus ex machina gets worse. After a couple thousand pages of series, the entire human-Inhibitor conflict, the ostensible conflict driving the last two books and forming the backdrop of the first, comes to an end....as it's basically GLOSSED OVER, occurring offscreen (sonofabitch!), described after the fact in a freakin' EPILOGUE! "And so this happened..."
My gods, why did I spend so much time reading this? It has been a long, long time since I've been so, so thoroughly annoyed and disappointed with a book, a long time since I've invested so much time in a series which crashed and burned so craptacurlary. is that a word? It is now. To paraphrase Roger Ebert, I hated, hated, hated this book.
So, ratings:
- Revelation Space: 4 stars. Great ideas, matched by a compelling story. Read this, then pretend the rest never happened.
- Redepmtion Ark: 3 stars. The cracks are starting to show.
- Absolution Gap: 1 stars (really, should be zero stars, but the series started out so well), retroactively ruined the series, and causes me to swear to never, ever read anything by this author again.
September 11, 2021
This is the fourth novel I've read by Alastair Reynolds, and I have to admit that while it took me a bit of time to get into the writing, the effort is never wasted. The build-up is slow but very steady, and I can honestly say that the final explosions are quite good. There's always something else to look forward to, on the other hand, and I suppose my only wish would be to have a prolific amount of works to support each one. A universe this detailed ought to at least be a lot more full than a handful of systems. For the third novel in the trilogy, I thought it was quite interesting but not quite as satisfying as Revelation Space. I have been catching myself thinking about possible twists that never quite got pulled off, and I found myself feeling great sorrow for all of the characters I'd grown to love and see die.
Still, it's a testament to a good tale that I still think about them all fondly. I'll pick up my fifth novel shortly. :)
Still, it's a testament to a good tale that I still think about them all fondly. I'll pick up my fifth novel shortly. :)
November 6, 2016
Absolution Gap: Overlong, tedious and frustrating conclusion
Originally posted at Fantasy Literature
Absolution Gap (2003) is the third book in Alastair Reynolds’ REVELATION SPACE series of large-canvas hard SF in which post-human factions battle each other and implacable machines bent on exterminating sentient life. The series has elements of Bruce Sterling’s Schismatrix, Frank Herbert’s Dune, Arthur C. Clarke’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, Iain M. Banks’ CULTURE novels, Peter Watt’s Blindsight, Richard Morgan’s Altered Carbon, and even Lovecraft, but is nowhere near as good.
I’ve held off on final judgement till I finished this book, but have to conclude that while Reynolds can do credible world-building and post-humans, his storytelling technique is like nails on chalkboard for me — cold and unappealing characters, glacial pacing, and a dreadful habit of keeping the most interesting events offstage and filling the main narrative with hundreds of pages of interminable talk and exposition.
Hardly anything interesting happens, and when it does, it never gets proper treatment. The series is like a drawn-out strip-tease that lures you in with implacable aliens, gothic spaceships, nano plagues and obsessive post-humans, but turns into a series of pointless intrigues among different human factions while the implacable alien machines inexorably close in for the kill. By the end I was rooting for them to win.
Absolution Gap is set among several overlapping time periods and locales. One storyline takes up after the end of Redemption Ark, on the water planet of Ararat, where Clavain and the human-pig hybrid Scorpio landed with the Nostalgia for Infinity to escape the encroaching Inhibitors. When a space pod arrives, carrying Ana Khouri, their quiet life of exile is forever. This is soon followed by the discovery of Skade, a Conjoiner from the previous books, who has done something extraordinarily cruel in order to secure a living link to alien technology from the Hades Matrix computer from Revelation Space.
In a separate narrative, we are introduced to Rashmika Els, a 17-year-old girl who lives on the planet Hela, which is dominated by a strange theocracy of Adventists whose main belief is that they must continually observe a star called Haldora. They do this by building moving Cathedrals that trek across the planet along the Way, in a bizarre conflation of the moving city of Christopher Priest’s Inverted World and the complex religious factions of Neal Stephenson’s Anathem. The Adventists have been established by Quaische, and they use “indoctrinal viruses” to keep the faithful in line.
It’s a strange story to fold into the larger narrative — I spent the entire book wondering what the relevance of Hela was to the fight against the Inhibitors, and Reynolds does not reveal this until the last 100 pages. In fact, despite learning what Haldora really is and how it holds the key to a danger even greater than the Inhibitors as well as a possible salvation for humanity, I just wish the entire storyline was removed from Absolution Gap. It didn’t interest me, the characters’ motivations were murky, and story could have been much better without it.
I won’t describe all the myriad plot details of this 756-page doorstopper. Instead, without straying too far into spoiler territory, let me just say that despite all those pages to work with, the story basically refused to satisfy any of the following questions:
1) More details on the origins of the “hell-class” cache weapons — Yes, there was some explanation in Redemption Ark, but that only raised much bigger questions that were then completely left hanging. If humanity can create such weapons, why only 40? And what about other measures?
2) What is the origin of the Hades Matrix computer — an alien creation, yes, but how does it connect with the Inhibitors or any of the other super-powerful alien races in the galaxy? Its role is surprisingly minor.
3) What happened to the Shrouders, who just disappear stage-left without even a farewell? We learn who they were in Revelation Space, and that was it.
4) The motivation behind the Inhibitors’ destruction of star-faring races was revealed in Redemption Ark, but once again this raises much bigger questions, so the reader is left sitting at the dinner table, stuck with the bill and no answers.
5) Though we finally, after hundreds of pointless pages of intrigue among various factions, discover the significance of Haldora, Reynolds almost immediately tells us it’s a gas giant-sized Red Herring and we’re not going in that narrative direction. Instead, he reveals an entirely new player that has been quietly lurking in the shadows and keeping tabs on humans. And for good measure, with just an epilogue left, we learn of yet another implacable threat to the galaxy! Good grief, talk about badly-timed revelations.
Overall, my experience with the REVELATION SPACE trilogy, despite high expectations fueled by many positive reviews, has been one mostly of frustration and disappointment. Each author and reader establish a unique relationship, and this one has not been positive so far. However, despite all that, I still plan to read Chasm City, The Prefect, and House of Suns, because you never know, we might still hit it off eventually.
Of note, John Lee narrates this and most of Alastair Reynolds’ other books, and he has a dignified but dry British delivery, a bit like a Shakespearean actor who has been asked to man the cosmetics counter at Harrods, but certainly very competent. I make sure not to blame the content on the narrator.
Originally posted at Fantasy Literature
Absolution Gap (2003) is the third book in Alastair Reynolds’ REVELATION SPACE series of large-canvas hard SF in which post-human factions battle each other and implacable machines bent on exterminating sentient life. The series has elements of Bruce Sterling’s Schismatrix, Frank Herbert’s Dune, Arthur C. Clarke’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, Iain M. Banks’ CULTURE novels, Peter Watt’s Blindsight, Richard Morgan’s Altered Carbon, and even Lovecraft, but is nowhere near as good.
I’ve held off on final judgement till I finished this book, but have to conclude that while Reynolds can do credible world-building and post-humans, his storytelling technique is like nails on chalkboard for me — cold and unappealing characters, glacial pacing, and a dreadful habit of keeping the most interesting events offstage and filling the main narrative with hundreds of pages of interminable talk and exposition.
Hardly anything interesting happens, and when it does, it never gets proper treatment. The series is like a drawn-out strip-tease that lures you in with implacable aliens, gothic spaceships, nano plagues and obsessive post-humans, but turns into a series of pointless intrigues among different human factions while the implacable alien machines inexorably close in for the kill. By the end I was rooting for them to win.
Absolution Gap is set among several overlapping time periods and locales. One storyline takes up after the end of Redemption Ark, on the water planet of Ararat, where Clavain and the human-pig hybrid Scorpio landed with the Nostalgia for Infinity to escape the encroaching Inhibitors. When a space pod arrives, carrying Ana Khouri, their quiet life of exile is forever. This is soon followed by the discovery of Skade, a Conjoiner from the previous books, who has done something extraordinarily cruel in order to secure a living link to alien technology from the Hades Matrix computer from Revelation Space.
In a separate narrative, we are introduced to Rashmika Els, a 17-year-old girl who lives on the planet Hela, which is dominated by a strange theocracy of Adventists whose main belief is that they must continually observe a star called Haldora. They do this by building moving Cathedrals that trek across the planet along the Way, in a bizarre conflation of the moving city of Christopher Priest’s Inverted World and the complex religious factions of Neal Stephenson’s Anathem. The Adventists have been established by Quaische, and they use “indoctrinal viruses” to keep the faithful in line.
It’s a strange story to fold into the larger narrative — I spent the entire book wondering what the relevance of Hela was to the fight against the Inhibitors, and Reynolds does not reveal this until the last 100 pages. In fact, despite learning what Haldora really is and how it holds the key to a danger even greater than the Inhibitors as well as a possible salvation for humanity, I just wish the entire storyline was removed from Absolution Gap. It didn’t interest me, the characters’ motivations were murky, and story could have been much better without it.
I won’t describe all the myriad plot details of this 756-page doorstopper. Instead, without straying too far into spoiler territory, let me just say that despite all those pages to work with, the story basically refused to satisfy any of the following questions:
1) More details on the origins of the “hell-class” cache weapons — Yes, there was some explanation in Redemption Ark, but that only raised much bigger questions that were then completely left hanging. If humanity can create such weapons, why only 40? And what about other measures?
2) What is the origin of the Hades Matrix computer — an alien creation, yes, but how does it connect with the Inhibitors or any of the other super-powerful alien races in the galaxy? Its role is surprisingly minor.
3) What happened to the Shrouders, who just disappear stage-left without even a farewell? We learn who they were in Revelation Space, and that was it.
4) The motivation behind the Inhibitors’ destruction of star-faring races was revealed in Redemption Ark, but once again this raises much bigger questions, so the reader is left sitting at the dinner table, stuck with the bill and no answers.
5) Though we finally, after hundreds of pointless pages of intrigue among various factions, discover the significance of Haldora, Reynolds almost immediately tells us it’s a gas giant-sized Red Herring and we’re not going in that narrative direction. Instead, he reveals an entirely new player that has been quietly lurking in the shadows and keeping tabs on humans. And for good measure, with just an epilogue left, we learn of yet another implacable threat to the galaxy! Good grief, talk about badly-timed revelations.
Overall, my experience with the REVELATION SPACE trilogy, despite high expectations fueled by many positive reviews, has been one mostly of frustration and disappointment. Each author and reader establish a unique relationship, and this one has not been positive so far. However, despite all that, I still plan to read Chasm City, The Prefect, and House of Suns, because you never know, we might still hit it off eventually.
Of note, John Lee narrates this and most of Alastair Reynolds’ other books, and he has a dignified but dry British delivery, a bit like a Shakespearean actor who has been asked to man the cosmetics counter at Harrods, but certainly very competent. I make sure not to blame the content on the narrator.
March 18, 2020
Alastair Reynolds ends his space opera trilogy with Absolution Gap. Many of the characters from the last book are desperately fighting the Inhibitors, but humankind seems to be losing the war. In a final hail Mary, the Conjoiners and a new member of their race seek a distant star system where a planet seems to disappear and the phenomena is worshiped by a group of fanatics led by a prophet with religious fervor literally in his bloodstream.
For a fraction of a second something inexplicable had occurred. A sensor anomaly. A simultaneous hiccup in every sensor that happened to be observing Haldora as the ship made its approach. A hiccup that made it appear as if the gas giant had simply vanished. Leaving, in its place, something equally inexplicable." pg 54
Reynolds weaves two main story lines together to create an adequate, but perhaps not entirely satisfying, ending. The science in his books is impeccable. But, like in my previous reviews, I wanted a bit more from the characters.
"Are you all right, sir?" he had asked. Clavain had looked at him sharply. "I'm an old man," he had replied. "You mustn't expect the world of me." pg 77
Readers have come to care about Clavain, Anoinette Bax, Scorpio, and the myriad others characters in this world. The endings given to them are, in my opinion, abrupt and almost given as an aside.
But some of Reynolds writing is simply beautiful and it makes up for a variety of quibbles I had with the story telling.
"It was quiet now, but coming nearer, and he knew that when it reached its awesome crescendo it would fill his soul with joy and terror. And though the bridge looked much the way it had before, he could see the beginnings of stained-glass glories in the black sky beyond it, squares and rectangles and lozenges of pastel light starting to shine through the darkness, like windows into something vaster and more glorious." pg 100
The broader themes are worth considering as well. What would happen to the human mind if the body becomes essentially immortal? Why does it seem like we're so alone in the universe when there are so many inhabitable planets? What would advanced technological warfare look like? How would technology and its awesome capabilities change society, our modes of transport, and us?
"Brane theory suggested that the universe the senses spoke of was but one sliver of something vaster, one laminate layer in a stacked ply of adjacent realities. There was, Quaiche thought, something alluringly theological in that model, the idea of heavens above and hells below, with the mundane substrate of perceived reality squeezed between them. As above, so below." pg 286
Recommended for science fiction readers who want to ponder those types of questions.
For a fraction of a second something inexplicable had occurred. A sensor anomaly. A simultaneous hiccup in every sensor that happened to be observing Haldora as the ship made its approach. A hiccup that made it appear as if the gas giant had simply vanished. Leaving, in its place, something equally inexplicable." pg 54
Reynolds weaves two main story lines together to create an adequate, but perhaps not entirely satisfying, ending. The science in his books is impeccable. But, like in my previous reviews, I wanted a bit more from the characters.
"Are you all right, sir?" he had asked. Clavain had looked at him sharply. "I'm an old man," he had replied. "You mustn't expect the world of me." pg 77
Readers have come to care about Clavain, Anoinette Bax, Scorpio, and the myriad others characters in this world. The endings given to them are, in my opinion, abrupt and almost given as an aside.
But some of Reynolds writing is simply beautiful and it makes up for a variety of quibbles I had with the story telling.
"It was quiet now, but coming nearer, and he knew that when it reached its awesome crescendo it would fill his soul with joy and terror. And though the bridge looked much the way it had before, he could see the beginnings of stained-glass glories in the black sky beyond it, squares and rectangles and lozenges of pastel light starting to shine through the darkness, like windows into something vaster and more glorious." pg 100
The broader themes are worth considering as well. What would happen to the human mind if the body becomes essentially immortal? Why does it seem like we're so alone in the universe when there are so many inhabitable planets? What would advanced technological warfare look like? How would technology and its awesome capabilities change society, our modes of transport, and us?
"Brane theory suggested that the universe the senses spoke of was but one sliver of something vaster, one laminate layer in a stacked ply of adjacent realities. There was, Quaiche thought, something alluringly theological in that model, the idea of heavens above and hells below, with the mundane substrate of perceived reality squeezed between them. As above, so below." pg 286
Recommended for science fiction readers who want to ponder those types of questions.
October 13, 2019
Re-Read 2019.
I don't think I will change my star rating. If anything. I preferred the second time around as I was reading it, instead of listening to audio. I think some of Reynolds hard scifi can be difficult to listen to, as it can get so technical and detailed, that apparently I used to zone out to on my first read whilst driving or on the train. There were huge parts of the book where I had absolutely not recollection of the story.
Overall though, this is a huge story and I have enjoyed being back in this series.
Story: 4/5
Book three of the Revelation Space story puts in a familiar place with our standard cast of characters fleeing the inhibitors and trying to find a solution to the impending annihilation of humankind. There are three main branches to this story in two different time zones and of all the three books this one was the lightest in hard SciFi as it focuses more on the ending of the story than explaining how interstellar space travel should work. There are some really interesting concepts on the use of technology and Reynolds starts to show us that living for 400 years or the impact of cryogenic sleep to skip years of ship time has on your body.
With about a quarter of the book left to go, I was wondering how Reynolds was going to package up the story in such a short space of time. I had to hop back onto Goodreads to see if there was book 4, but apparently no the books was going to end in another 150 pages. Those last pages had me completely enthralled. I felt the hundreds of pages previously read pressing down for a resolution to the inhibitors/wolves. When I got to the end I sat back and stared out the window. I still a couple of days later, do not know how to explain how I feel about the ending. I love how real it is, and so un-hollywood, but parts of me want an ending, but I understand that the story is bigger than just a trilogy and some things can’t be ended in a nicely wrapped parcel, so actually, had there been a happy ending, a push of a button or a flu virus that saves humanity, I would have probably been disappointed.
I have many unanswered questions, who was really directing Skade, who was and what is the story with the Mademoiselle? When can we hear about the melding plague?
So where do I sit? In awe, in shock and in wanting more.
Characters: 5/5
Book one had me thinking that the characters were pretty flat, I could see no character development really worth discussing and had no empathy for any of them. By the time this book came to an end, I had some characters that I already miss and want to read more about. I enjoyed Scorpio, Clavain, Annette Banks and I like how Vasko’s character developed, it was obvious what that development would be, but it was done very well. And there is the love/hate relationship with Skade. Brilliant. Oh how I hated her.
Read Weight: Solid
Book one I found a bit of a struggle with the hard scifi. Book three is a solid weighting.
Engagement: 4/5
The last half of the story was engagement city. I could not wait for the next page and I could not believe it was all about to end.
Recommend: 4/5
I started off luke warm on Reynolds. I finished a fan. This is hard scifi. Make no mistake, Reynolds is an intelligent man who can completely turn your brain to mush with technical explanations. But what he does well, is build an epic without three hundred story branches. I would recommend this series to anyone who loved Peter F Hamilton but wants something more direct and a much tighter storyline.
I don't think I will change my star rating. If anything. I preferred the second time around as I was reading it, instead of listening to audio. I think some of Reynolds hard scifi can be difficult to listen to, as it can get so technical and detailed, that apparently I used to zone out to on my first read whilst driving or on the train. There were huge parts of the book where I had absolutely not recollection of the story.
Overall though, this is a huge story and I have enjoyed being back in this series.
Story: 4/5
1: Being Vague, rambling plot with no little believable storyline
5: Ripping yarn, clever, thought provoking
Book three of the Revelation Space story puts in a familiar place with our standard cast of characters fleeing the inhibitors and trying to find a solution to the impending annihilation of humankind. There are three main branches to this story in two different time zones and of all the three books this one was the lightest in hard SciFi as it focuses more on the ending of the story than explaining how interstellar space travel should work. There are some really interesting concepts on the use of technology and Reynolds starts to show us that living for 400 years or the impact of cryogenic sleep to skip years of ship time has on your body.
With about a quarter of the book left to go, I was wondering how Reynolds was going to package up the story in such a short space of time. I had to hop back onto Goodreads to see if there was book 4, but apparently no the books was going to end in another 150 pages. Those last pages had me completely enthralled. I felt the hundreds of pages previously read pressing down for a resolution to the inhibitors/wolves. When I got to the end I sat back and stared out the window. I still a couple of days later, do not know how to explain how I feel about the ending. I love how real it is, and so un-hollywood, but parts of me want an ending, but I understand that the story is bigger than just a trilogy and some things can’t be ended in a nicely wrapped parcel, so actually, had there been a happy ending, a push of a button or a flu virus that saves humanity, I would have probably been disappointed.
I have many unanswered questions, who was really directing Skade, who was and what is the story with the Mademoiselle? When can we hear about the melding plague?
So where do I sit? In awe, in shock and in wanting more.
Characters: 5/5
1: Unrealistic/unbelievable. Feel nothing for these characters
5: Fully engaged with the characters, believable. Researched.
Book one had me thinking that the characters were pretty flat, I could see no character development really worth discussing and had no empathy for any of them. By the time this book came to an end, I had some characters that I already miss and want to read more about. I enjoyed Scorpio, Clavain, Annette Banks and I like how Vasko’s character developed, it was obvious what that development would be, but it was done very well. And there is the love/hate relationship with Skade. Brilliant. Oh how I hated her.
Read Weight: Solid
Fluffy, Light, Solid, Heavy, Struggle
Book one I found a bit of a struggle with the hard scifi. Book three is a solid weighting.
Engagement: 4/5
1: Not fussed about finishing
5: Could stay up all night
The last half of the story was engagement city. I could not wait for the next page and I could not believe it was all about to end.
Recommend: 4/5
1: Would advise you to read something else
5: Go read it now. It is THAT good
I started off luke warm on Reynolds. I finished a fan. This is hard scifi. Make no mistake, Reynolds is an intelligent man who can completely turn your brain to mush with technical explanations. But what he does well, is build an epic without three hundred story branches. I would recommend this series to anyone who loved Peter F Hamilton but wants something more direct and a much tighter storyline.
June 7, 2023
Aș fi vrut acțiunea să se focuseze pe inhibitori dar poate la următoarea carte din serie. Asta am simțit că nu este sfârșitul seriei. Și am înțeles că autorul va scoate o nouă carte în serie.
January 15, 2016
Recalled to life! That is a slogan from Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities which applies here. I accidentally—or it could be gremlins—deleted my original review of Absolution Gap (or AbGap as I call it) and normally I can retrieve it from pasting the URL of the lost review at Cachedpages.com but this time it did not work, perhaps it has been lost too long. However, Google is still my friend and if you are at all interested just click here too see a screencap of the process. OK, the review—which you may deem not worth retrieving—goes like this:
_______________________
“I know you have the strength to do it. You’ve already shown me that a thousand times. Do it, friend, and end this.”
“I can’t.”
*Sniff* You stop that Alastair Reynolds! I read you for cool tech, quantum science, posthumans, and weird aliens. Tugging at my heartstrings is not within your purview!
Absolution Gap is the third — and final — volume of the Revelation Space trilogy. No no, not the final book in the Revelation Space series, which span five novels (as of today) and some short stories. This book should, therefore, be read after Revelation Space and Redemption Ark. If you want to dip your toes into the Revelation Space universe without committing to a series you may want to read one of the two standalones: Chasm City or The Prefect.
I read the previous volume of this trilogy: Redemption Ark, in August 2013 and I just read this third volume in October 2015! Redemption Ark is a great book, possibly my favorite of his, but I left it so long to read its sequel because Absolution Gap gets so many negative reviews* on Goodreads and elsewhere that they put me off reading it and I left it on the backburner for over a year. Still, it is like an itch that needed to be scratched, and here we are! As it turned out, I am too easily swayed, Absolution Gap is pretty cool, perhaps not as cool as a cucumber but that is only a question of refrigeration. Besides, a 3.99 Goodreads average rating is not too shabby.
I had to look up the Wikipedia’s summary of Redemption Ark, and Cecily’s review to refresh my memory a bit. It worked like a charm, though Reynolds does make it fairly easy by making the story arc self-contained within this book. Anyway, Absolution Gap follows directly on from the amazing Redemption Ark. As with most of his longer novels, AbGap contains several plot strands which the author gradually weaves together into a unified climax and denouement.
One storyline follows Scorpio the hyperpig* and the crew of “Nostalgia for Infinity”, an almost FTL spaceship with a soul (the ship’s captain became fused with his ship in the previous book). Their mission is to rescue a baby called Aura, a kind of “Chosen One”, from the clutches of the evil woman called Skade. The hair-raising rescue involves a tragic sacrifice by one of the characters.
Another plot strand follows the antagonist Quaiche, a legendary religious figure and Grelier and his sadistic surgeon-general and henchman, on a moon called Hela. They too are on a quest aboard a very slowly moving cathedral moving toward a mysterious bridge which crosses the eponymous Absolution Gap. Yet another plot strand follows a teenage girl called Rashmika who runs away from home to find out the fate of her brother who joined the staff of Quaiche’s religious organization and soon mysteriously lost contact with his family.
This book is something of a slow burner compared to the previous books in the trilogy. I personally find Rashmika’s trek towards the Quaicheist church’s cathedral a little turgid; and the girl makes for quite a dull protagonist during the first half of the book until she meets up with Quaiche and discovers a much more interesting side of herself (no, she does not become another Ellen Ripley-esq ass kicker, which makes a nice change).
The overall plot of the entire book is quite complex but easy enough to follow thanks to Reynolds' narrative skills. The author also helpfully indicates the year number and location of the setting at the beginning of each chapter, I really appreciate this because it keeps the timelines untangled. The climax is not bad but not as epic as I had hoped. The main characters are generally well-drawn, especially Scorpio, who I cannot help but visualize like this:
He is no muppet though, you would not want to get on the wrong side of him, and he also has a nice line in sarcasm. One of Reynold’s greatest strengths is the cool sci-fi ideas, and this book does not disappoint in that department. From the Inverted World-like moving cathedral to the unstoppable Inhibitors** (AKA Wolves), the living ship “Nostalgia for Infinity”, the different classes of humans (baseline, Ultra, and conjoiner).
There is an element of a religious theme to this book, which appears to be a portrayal of zealotry and the trouble it can lead to. The "absolution" in the title is also something of a motif, Quaiche's idea of absolution is very costly to those who comes into contact with him, whereas several of the heroes are willing to sacrifice themselves for others, and for their absolution from their past misdeeds. In fact, the Revelation Space series as a whole, as the name implies, does have an element of religious theme to it, but that is a discussion for another day (or how about never?).
I can see why Absolution Gap is less popular than the previous two books but I regret not having read it when my memory of Redemption Ark was still fresh because I have forgotten some of the nuances of the characters who appear in them. Also, the fate of the heroic Clavain seems unkind and unfair. The book by itself is easy to follow though. If you have already read the previous two books I certainly recommend that you read this one. There is a good chance you will dig it, the negative reviews are in a minority after all.
_________________________
* Genetically modified sentient pig.
** Alien robots, yes, alien and robot because just one or the other is not sci-fi enough.
Special thanks to my friend Forrest for alerting me to the loss of the original AbGap review! He has—of course—done a much better job of reviewing the thing.
_______________________
“I know you have the strength to do it. You’ve already shown me that a thousand times. Do it, friend, and end this.”
“I can’t.”
*Sniff* You stop that Alastair Reynolds! I read you for cool tech, quantum science, posthumans, and weird aliens. Tugging at my heartstrings is not within your purview!
Absolution Gap is the third — and final — volume of the Revelation Space trilogy. No no, not the final book in the Revelation Space series, which span five novels (as of today) and some short stories. This book should, therefore, be read after Revelation Space and Redemption Ark. If you want to dip your toes into the Revelation Space universe without committing to a series you may want to read one of the two standalones: Chasm City or The Prefect.
I read the previous volume of this trilogy: Redemption Ark, in August 2013 and I just read this third volume in October 2015! Redemption Ark is a great book, possibly my favorite of his, but I left it so long to read its sequel because Absolution Gap gets so many negative reviews* on Goodreads and elsewhere that they put me off reading it and I left it on the backburner for over a year. Still, it is like an itch that needed to be scratched, and here we are! As it turned out, I am too easily swayed, Absolution Gap is pretty cool, perhaps not as cool as a cucumber but that is only a question of refrigeration. Besides, a 3.99 Goodreads average rating is not too shabby.
I had to look up the Wikipedia’s summary of Redemption Ark, and Cecily’s review to refresh my memory a bit. It worked like a charm, though Reynolds does make it fairly easy by making the story arc self-contained within this book. Anyway, Absolution Gap follows directly on from the amazing Redemption Ark. As with most of his longer novels, AbGap contains several plot strands which the author gradually weaves together into a unified climax and denouement.
One storyline follows Scorpio the hyperpig* and the crew of “Nostalgia for Infinity”, an almost FTL spaceship with a soul (the ship’s captain became fused with his ship in the previous book). Their mission is to rescue a baby called Aura, a kind of “Chosen One”, from the clutches of the evil woman called Skade. The hair-raising rescue involves a tragic sacrifice by one of the characters.
Another plot strand follows the antagonist Quaiche, a legendary religious figure and Grelier and his sadistic surgeon-general and henchman, on a moon called Hela. They too are on a quest aboard a very slowly moving cathedral moving toward a mysterious bridge which crosses the eponymous Absolution Gap. Yet another plot strand follows a teenage girl called Rashmika who runs away from home to find out the fate of her brother who joined the staff of Quaiche’s religious organization and soon mysteriously lost contact with his family.
This book is something of a slow burner compared to the previous books in the trilogy. I personally find Rashmika’s trek towards the Quaicheist church’s cathedral a little turgid; and the girl makes for quite a dull protagonist during the first half of the book until she meets up with Quaiche and discovers a much more interesting side of herself (no, she does not become another Ellen Ripley-esq ass kicker, which makes a nice change).
The overall plot of the entire book is quite complex but easy enough to follow thanks to Reynolds' narrative skills. The author also helpfully indicates the year number and location of the setting at the beginning of each chapter, I really appreciate this because it keeps the timelines untangled. The climax is not bad but not as epic as I had hoped. The main characters are generally well-drawn, especially Scorpio, who I cannot help but visualize like this:
He is no muppet though, you would not want to get on the wrong side of him, and he also has a nice line in sarcasm. One of Reynold’s greatest strengths is the cool sci-fi ideas, and this book does not disappoint in that department. From the Inverted World-like moving cathedral to the unstoppable Inhibitors** (AKA Wolves), the living ship “Nostalgia for Infinity”, the different classes of humans (baseline, Ultra, and conjoiner).
There is an element of a religious theme to this book, which appears to be a portrayal of zealotry and the trouble it can lead to. The "absolution" in the title is also something of a motif, Quaiche's idea of absolution is very costly to those who comes into contact with him, whereas several of the heroes are willing to sacrifice themselves for others, and for their absolution from their past misdeeds. In fact, the Revelation Space series as a whole, as the name implies, does have an element of religious theme to it, but that is a discussion for another day (or how about never?).
I can see why Absolution Gap is less popular than the previous two books but I regret not having read it when my memory of Redemption Ark was still fresh because I have forgotten some of the nuances of the characters who appear in them. Also, the fate of the heroic Clavain seems unkind and unfair. The book by itself is easy to follow though. If you have already read the previous two books I certainly recommend that you read this one. There is a good chance you will dig it, the negative reviews are in a minority after all.
_________________________
* Genetically modified sentient pig.
** Alien robots, yes, alien and robot because just one or the other is not sci-fi enough.
Special thanks to my friend Forrest for alerting me to the loss of the original AbGap review! He has—of course—done a much better job of reviewing the thing.
February 24, 2016
What a journey this trilogy was!
Although unexpected, the events in this last part have a deeper meaning when ruminate upon, one which cannot be glimpsed by reading the first two.
Even the ending was kinda unexpected (I guessed half of it, but the other not a bit).
As I said in my point of view for the first part, this story's key points are unpredictable, which makes it even more interesting - if that can be - taking into consideration the amount of mind blowing concepts and immensity.
And even as it reached an end, I still have tens of questions and my mind drifts on many possible answers. It's that kind of story that leaves you wondering upon it for a long time...
About the characters: I don't think I ever hated one as much as I hate Skade here. And never felt the kind of sympathy I feel for Scorp and the Captain. It's just not me. I usually enjoy the stories with good and bad and acknowledge their behavior as part of the flow. But here... damn... I would have ripped Skade's head with my bare hands, lol!
Cannot possibly recommend it more, but if you're not a big fan of introspection, large descriptions/explanations and hard physics concepts, no matter how gripping I think they are presented here, you'd better give it another thought before you start it.
Although unexpected, the events in this last part have a deeper meaning when ruminate upon, one which cannot be glimpsed by reading the first two.
Even the ending was kinda unexpected (I guessed half of it, but the other not a bit).
As I said in my point of view for the first part, this story's key points are unpredictable, which makes it even more interesting - if that can be - taking into consideration the amount of mind blowing concepts and immensity.
And even as it reached an end, I still have tens of questions and my mind drifts on many possible answers. It's that kind of story that leaves you wondering upon it for a long time...
About the characters: I don't think I ever hated one as much as I hate Skade here. And never felt the kind of sympathy I feel for Scorp and the Captain. It's just not me. I usually enjoy the stories with good and bad and acknowledge their behavior as part of the flow. But here... damn... I would have ripped Skade's head with my bare hands, lol!
Cannot possibly recommend it more, but if you're not a big fan of introspection, large descriptions/explanations and hard physics concepts, no matter how gripping I think they are presented here, you'd better give it another thought before you start it.
August 4, 2013
Have you ever wondered what it would be like for a mostly unaugmented human to make love to a cyborg who was more machinery than biology? Of course you have! Who hasn't right? For GRRM fans it's easy. Just think Joffrey plus Iron Throne.
Or perhaps you've wondered what it would be like to never blink or even close your eyes in sleep so you could watch reruns of your favourite cable shows non stop. How would you achieve such a state? Well one of the Ultras in this book goes there. Lets just say it involves some nasty looking clamps and hooks. And instead of watching cable he's watching the planet he's orbiting and he just doesn't want to miss the split half second when it briefly vanishes from existence. He's gotta be crazy right? He is infected with an indoctrination virus after all.
And you know what the biggest issue Masochists have to contend with? Their bodies can only take so much abuse before being irreparably damaged. Not a problem for one particular Ultra in this book. Just clone replacement body parts and you can knock yourself out. Or maybe if you're a bit lonely grow a full body. Sure, it may not be sentient but all the bits are still in the right place.
The moral of the story is that there are some freaking weird out there out of their mind spacers in this book. And why not if your an anarchistic Ultra where your ship is your kingdom and you are queen of the world!
There are two main story arcs in this instalment of the Revelation Space series. One of those picks up where Redemption Ark left off some twenty odd years later. The ship Nostaligia for Infinity, the redemption ark, has found rest on its Ararat - the Pattern Juggler world where the refugees from Resurgum are hiding out from The Inhibitors. The ship has been asleep for twenty years, but now the Captain is waking up - and he's as creepy and cool as ever.
With Clavain in self imposed exile for most of that twenty years it has fallen to the hyperpig Scorpio to run things while waiting for the arrival of Remontoire and the Zodiacal Light. Scorpio, who doesn't like humans much, has ironically found himself in the position of having to be a statesman in charge of the welfare of a human colony. That means taking control of a temper that is continually simmering beneath the surface, threatening to overflow into brutal violence, and instead practice diplomacy and good grace. But a pig is still a pig, and a pig can only be pushed so far before he starts taking things personally. There will be violence - oh yes there will.
The other story arc, told in parallel, takes place in a totally different system and some fifty years in the future on Hela, a moon orbiting a gas giant. Our main protagonist is a 17 year old girl, Rashmika, who is fascinated with the mystery of the scuttlers, an extinct race whose relics are the moon's most valuable export. She is also obsessed with the greater mystery of Haldora - the gas giant that Hela orbits. A planet that on occasion, temporarily ceases to exist.
The way Reynolds connects these two stories in the end is just so cool. It was clever and the last 15% of this book had one of the best ship boarding action sequence I've read for a while.
So why only 3 stars? Well it's really 3.5 stars but it is probably my least favourite book in the series so far. The plot pacing dragged a fair bit till about the last 15% of the book. It was painful at times. And while the last 15% was unputdownable, the book finished flat with very little resolution. I suppose it leaves things open for more stories from this character set...but still.
Having said that this book has some of the most memorable snapshot moments and plot elements of the series. For that reason I suspect, like Chasm City, over time, those memorable moments will stay with me while my memory of the negatives will fade.
But for now it's 3.5 stars
Or perhaps you've wondered what it would be like to never blink or even close your eyes in sleep so you could watch reruns of your favourite cable shows non stop. How would you achieve such a state? Well one of the Ultras in this book goes there. Lets just say it involves some nasty looking clamps and hooks. And instead of watching cable he's watching the planet he's orbiting and he just doesn't want to miss the split half second when it briefly vanishes from existence. He's gotta be crazy right? He is infected with an indoctrination virus after all.
And you know what the biggest issue Masochists have to contend with? Their bodies can only take so much abuse before being irreparably damaged. Not a problem for one particular Ultra in this book. Just clone replacement body parts and you can knock yourself out. Or maybe if you're a bit lonely grow a full body. Sure, it may not be sentient but all the bits are still in the right place.
The moral of the story is that there are some freaking weird out there out of their mind spacers in this book. And why not if your an anarchistic Ultra where your ship is your kingdom and you are queen of the world!
There are two main story arcs in this instalment of the Revelation Space series. One of those picks up where Redemption Ark left off some twenty odd years later. The ship Nostaligia for Infinity, the redemption ark, has found rest on its Ararat - the Pattern Juggler world where the refugees from Resurgum are hiding out from The Inhibitors. The ship has been asleep for twenty years, but now the Captain is waking up - and he's as creepy and cool as ever.
With Clavain in self imposed exile for most of that twenty years it has fallen to the hyperpig Scorpio to run things while waiting for the arrival of Remontoire and the Zodiacal Light. Scorpio, who doesn't like humans much, has ironically found himself in the position of having to be a statesman in charge of the welfare of a human colony. That means taking control of a temper that is continually simmering beneath the surface, threatening to overflow into brutal violence, and instead practice diplomacy and good grace. But a pig is still a pig, and a pig can only be pushed so far before he starts taking things personally. There will be violence - oh yes there will.
The other story arc, told in parallel, takes place in a totally different system and some fifty years in the future on Hela, a moon orbiting a gas giant. Our main protagonist is a 17 year old girl, Rashmika, who is fascinated with the mystery of the scuttlers, an extinct race whose relics are the moon's most valuable export. She is also obsessed with the greater mystery of Haldora - the gas giant that Hela orbits. A planet that on occasion, temporarily ceases to exist.
The way Reynolds connects these two stories in the end is just so cool. It was clever and the last 15% of this book had one of the best ship boarding action sequence I've read for a while.
So why only 3 stars? Well it's really 3.5 stars but it is probably my least favourite book in the series so far. The plot pacing dragged a fair bit till about the last 15% of the book. It was painful at times. And while the last 15% was unputdownable, the book finished flat with very little resolution. I suppose it leaves things open for more stories from this character set...but still.
Having said that this book has some of the most memorable snapshot moments and plot elements of the series. For that reason I suspect, like Chasm City, over time, those memorable moments will stay with me while my memory of the negatives will fade.
But for now it's 3.5 stars
April 7, 2017
Please don't start with this book as it's number three (sort of) in the series, and the book IMHO is perhaps not the best way to introduce yourself to Mr.Reynolds. "Absolution Gap" though being a marvelous addition to the series is not as outright amazing as it's predictors, though a book you will want to read if you read the others.
November 28, 2016
Dok se roman vukao poput ledenjaka misli su mi letjele posvuda. Razmišljao sam i o tome da li da Raynoldsa maknem sa liste omiljenih autora. Tamo sam ga stavio odmah nakon pročitanog prvog romana - Revelation Space. Kod Reynoldsa mi se najviše sviđa komplesknost i uvjerljivost njegovog svijeta; ne samo da ima nekoliko ljudskih frakcija koje su pronašle različite načine razvitka nego i dugu povijest.
Također neki likovi su stari i po nekoliko stoljeća, a prilikom putovanja svemirom neophodno je zamrzavanje tijela putnika dok se ne dođe do odredišta tako da likovi imaju odmak od standardnog tijeka vremena i uobičajenog proživljavanja života. To se odražava na njihovim osobnostima; vjerojatno su zbog toga neki pisali da su likovi hladni, ali meni je to uvjerljivo. Likovi imaju i zanimljiva razmišljanja o tome, a pretpostavio je i neke zanimljive psihološke posljedice takvog odmaka od stvarnosti.
Također mi se sviđa kako je osmislio vanzemaljce, i čini mi se da sam od rijetkih kojemu se sviđa to što ne saznajemo detalje o njima, te nam ostaju misterija. Osim toga, uspije mi izazvati sense of wonder, što mi je također bitno u znanstvenoj fantastici.
Ipak, čitanje ovog romana je za mene bila muka. Čitao sam ga usporedo s Chasm City i doslovno sam se tjerao jer sam znao da ako ga sad ne dovršim, nikad i neću. Nije mi problem ostaviti nešto nedovršeno, ali ovdje je bilo toliko toga što je obećavalo, pa ga jednostavno nisam mogao ostaviti.
U čemu je problem? Raynoldsu treba čvršća urednička ruka jer jednostavno ne zna što ne treba detaljno opisivati. Već sam u osvrtu za prvi roman napisao da je imao par stranica viška, a ovdje je riječ o par stotina stranica viška.
Imam osjećaj da bi ovo bio odličan roman da je upola kraći. Također, priča nikako da krene, a dio o pokretnim katedralama na planetu Hela je trebalo svesti na par rečenica kada je to postalo bitno za glavni zaplet.
Uz to, gotovo 700 stranica se vučemo prema nekakvom glavnom sukobu, a onda u tih zadnjih pedesetak stranica kao da se Raynolds zaželio pisati akciju, pa imamo jedan neočekivan dodatni zaplet koji je nezanimljiv, a na kraju smo ostali bez zadovoljavajućeg zaključka ove trilogije koja ima gotovo 2000 stranica. Nekakav oblik završetka dobiva se tek u epilogu!
Morao sam malo razmisliti o ocjeni, skoro da mi je za dvojku, ali ipak nije toliko loš. Kako rekoh, ima toliko toga dobrog, pa jako frustrira što se tako zanimljiva trilogija ovako završila.
Raynoldse, evo ti trojka i ne želim da te vidim neko vrijeme.
Također neki likovi su stari i po nekoliko stoljeća, a prilikom putovanja svemirom neophodno je zamrzavanje tijela putnika dok se ne dođe do odredišta tako da likovi imaju odmak od standardnog tijeka vremena i uobičajenog proživljavanja života. To se odražava na njihovim osobnostima; vjerojatno su zbog toga neki pisali da su likovi hladni, ali meni je to uvjerljivo. Likovi imaju i zanimljiva razmišljanja o tome, a pretpostavio je i neke zanimljive psihološke posljedice takvog odmaka od stvarnosti.
Također mi se sviđa kako je osmislio vanzemaljce, i čini mi se da sam od rijetkih kojemu se sviđa to što ne saznajemo detalje o njima, te nam ostaju misterija. Osim toga, uspije mi izazvati sense of wonder, što mi je također bitno u znanstvenoj fantastici.
Ipak, čitanje ovog romana je za mene bila muka. Čitao sam ga usporedo s Chasm City i doslovno sam se tjerao jer sam znao da ako ga sad ne dovršim, nikad i neću. Nije mi problem ostaviti nešto nedovršeno, ali ovdje je bilo toliko toga što je obećavalo, pa ga jednostavno nisam mogao ostaviti.
U čemu je problem? Raynoldsu treba čvršća urednička ruka jer jednostavno ne zna što ne treba detaljno opisivati. Već sam u osvrtu za prvi roman napisao da je imao par stranica viška, a ovdje je riječ o par stotina stranica viška.
Imam osjećaj da bi ovo bio odličan roman da je upola kraći. Također, priča nikako da krene, a dio o pokretnim katedralama na planetu Hela je trebalo svesti na par rečenica kada je to postalo bitno za glavni zaplet.
Uz to, gotovo 700 stranica se vučemo prema nekakvom glavnom sukobu, a onda u tih zadnjih pedesetak stranica kao da se Raynolds zaželio pisati akciju, pa imamo jedan neočekivan dodatni zaplet koji je nezanimljiv, a na kraju smo ostali bez zadovoljavajućeg zaključka ove trilogije koja ima gotovo 2000 stranica. Nekakav oblik završetka dobiva se tek u epilogu!
Morao sam malo razmisliti o ocjeni, skoro da mi je za dvojku, ali ipak nije toliko loš. Kako rekoh, ima toliko toga dobrog, pa jako frustrira što se tako zanimljiva trilogija ovako završila.
Raynoldse, evo ti trojka i ne želim da te vidim neko vrijeme.
September 2, 2022
3.5 stars
A hard one to review. It was long. And I got a little tired of it by the end if I'm honest. This story didn't grab me nearly as much as the others, but there was some genuine emotion in this one that i didn't expect. ESP .
I'm glad I've finished the original story arc now, and i will read Inhibitor Space sometime soon, But i need a break.
I have to admit that I did not like the ending much.
Spoilers Ahead!: It felt like he'd written himself into a corner with the Inhibitors and didn't know how to get rid if them. It felt a little like magical hand waving introducing a whole new species that had conveniently been hiding in the shadows that will sort it all out. And then leaves a little Greenfly at the end just in case he wants to write some more one day. It left me a little cold and wishing for more. Esp after the many thousands of pages I'd read. I had expected a little more detail about how we defeat the Inhibitors.
So it goes, plots are hard I guess
A hard one to review. It was long. And I got a little tired of it by the end if I'm honest. This story didn't grab me nearly as much as the others, but there was some genuine emotion in this one that i didn't expect. ESP .
I'm glad I've finished the original story arc now, and i will read Inhibitor Space sometime soon, But i need a break.
I have to admit that I did not like the ending much.
Spoilers Ahead!: It felt like he'd written himself into a corner with the Inhibitors and didn't know how to get rid if them. It felt a little like magical hand waving introducing a whole new species that had conveniently been hiding in the shadows that will sort it all out. And then leaves a little Greenfly at the end just in case he wants to write some more one day. It left me a little cold and wishing for more. Esp after the many thousands of pages I'd read. I had expected a little more detail about how we defeat the Inhibitors.
So it goes, plots are hard I guess
January 25, 2018
One of the very best aspects of the Revelation Space series is that each of the four books in this series (Chasm City must be read as #2 ... in my rarely humble opinion ...) is significantly different from the previous - new planets, new characters, new situations, new mysteries - but with enough overlap to be very satisfying. See my reviews of the previous 3 books.
Absolution Gap is fascinating and clever in so many ways, with empathetic characters and good pacing and action (mostly). The prominence of "Redemption" for many of the characters is handled both interestingly and with care.
I found it wonderful that perhaps the least intelligent of the main characters (but still pretty sharp) seems to have the most profound philosophical questions of them all.
The end of this book drags though, like the first book. Perhaps it's "separation anxiety" as the author has spent so long writing the book, as he nears the end he just can help but stretch it out. It's also the least satisfying ending, with a prologue and epilogue seemingly tacked on, instead of providing a full fifth book to complete the tale.
I did enjoy 90% of the book though, very much.
NOTE: Please, please also read Turquoise Days, a novella, and short stories Enloa, Weather, and Zima Blue. Surely his finest works, along with House of Suns.
Absolution Gap is fascinating and clever in so many ways, with empathetic characters and good pacing and action (mostly). The prominence of "Redemption" for many of the characters is handled both interestingly and with care.
I found it wonderful that perhaps the least intelligent of the main characters (but still pretty sharp) seems to have the most profound philosophical questions of them all.
The end of this book drags though, like the first book. Perhaps it's "separation anxiety" as the author has spent so long writing the book, as he nears the end he just can help but stretch it out. It's also the least satisfying ending, with a prologue and epilogue seemingly tacked on, instead of providing a full fifth book to complete the tale.
I did enjoy 90% of the book though, very much.
NOTE: Please, please also read Turquoise Days, a novella, and short stories Enloa, Weather, and Zima Blue. Surely his finest works, along with House of Suns.
December 4, 2021
Absolution: A freeing from blame or guilt.
Clavain is staring across an ocean on planet Ararat. He is sitting alone in meditation, struggling with feelings of remorse and guilt. Does he take the swim that would allow the Juggler marine mass to absorb his mind/soul with their own?
Scorpio arrives. He finds Clavain in his place of solitude and self imposed exile. A small craft has landed and Scorpio feels this may mark the local resumption of humanities war against the Inhibitors. Or maybe this is a return of an old Conjoiner enemy/friend. Two plus decades have passed since the light hugger Nostalgia for Infinity fled Resurgam and delivered it's human cargo to this Juggler world. Clavain grudgingly agrees to return for an investigation. He brings a knife, reliable and useful.
Reynolds should have brought one as well.
I enjoy Reynolds writing style so he gets an extra half star for that. But Absolution Gap has has a very dissatisfying 'out-of-the-blue' surprise ending.
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Unless you just love the journey (or Reynolds writing craft), read the spoiler for the plot reveal and spare yourself the reading hours.
I'm sure he feels fine with his cop out ending. I guess the difference of opinion is our Absolution Gap.
The one seeking absolution should be Reynolds.
I would add. The second paragraph of the Goodreads book description is really bad. Clavain never learns of this other 'something much worse' potential ally. Also, Clavain and his allies are seeking refuge on the Juggler Planet Ararat and not on an 'insignificant moon light-years away.' That would be planet Hela which is circling a gas giant and has little atmosphere and is populated by religious fanatics. Just saying. Ohh yes, in paragraph one of the MMPB description, it is an 'avenging' angel NOT an 'averaging' angel. Though it is amusing to ponder what an averaging angel might do.
April 9, 2015
What the?!
The final in a rather involved trilogy that is neither the same story as the previous two/nor the characters and in no way final. So many tantalising threads from the the previous two books are left to hang. The first two in this series showed great promise and I was very much looking forward to this one - I can't think of the last time I was so disappointed in an author.
The thing that became most apparent to me after finishing this one is that the author was using his characters as tools to further his strange and convoluted and ultimately lazy plot. Good books are character driven - this one is not.It's a mess.
It seemed, upon reflection, that Reynolds really struggled with expressing any kind of emotional content throughout the series. Characters and groups of peoples were either peaceful or warlike with no subtle variations of motivation to colour them. Characters were brutal and violent with no apparent reason and that disturbed me deeply. It showed a real lack of insight into feelings and psychological states and lead to me to wonder just how many hard science fiction authors have Aspergers?
Reynolds also used the one plot device that makes me furious - the 'magic wand' or 'God principle' where a crisis is reached but rather than getting the characters to resolve it through their own personal growth an outside force comes and makes it better. voila!
Lazy, lazy, lazy!
Reynolds wrote one of my favourite novels, Pushing Ice, this is nowhere near as clean or pure of concept.
The final in a rather involved trilogy that is neither the same story as the previous two/nor the characters and in no way final. So many tantalising threads from the the previous two books are left to hang. The first two in this series showed great promise and I was very much looking forward to this one - I can't think of the last time I was so disappointed in an author.
The thing that became most apparent to me after finishing this one is that the author was using his characters as tools to further his strange and convoluted and ultimately lazy plot. Good books are character driven - this one is not.It's a mess.
It seemed, upon reflection, that Reynolds really struggled with expressing any kind of emotional content throughout the series. Characters and groups of peoples were either peaceful or warlike with no subtle variations of motivation to colour them. Characters were brutal and violent with no apparent reason and that disturbed me deeply. It showed a real lack of insight into feelings and psychological states and lead to me to wonder just how many hard science fiction authors have Aspergers?
Reynolds also used the one plot device that makes me furious - the 'magic wand' or 'God principle' where a crisis is reached but rather than getting the characters to resolve it through their own personal growth an outside force comes and makes it better. voila!
Lazy, lazy, lazy!
Reynolds wrote one of my favourite novels, Pushing Ice, this is nowhere near as clean or pure of concept.
April 19, 2023
I liked it a lot and it could have been five stars but in the end I think it bit too long and overstayed it's welcome.
December 13, 2017
A long, meandering, and ultimately boring conclusion to the fantastic premise of Revelation Space. Instead of roaring to a conclusion, it sloooowly crosses the finish line of a completely different race.
Quality-wise I think Absolution Gap is on par with Redemption Ark, but with the original cast gone, my favorite characters pointlessly dead, and zero focus on the promised purpose of the series, I was bored. I did not care about the new characters. I did not care about their storylines.
I'm moving on to some standalones by Reynolds, and hope they're tighter and more focused, because his ideas are amazing.
Quality-wise I think Absolution Gap is on par with Redemption Ark, but with the original cast gone, my favorite characters pointlessly dead, and zero focus on the promised purpose of the series, I was bored. I did not care about the new characters. I did not care about their storylines.
I'm moving on to some standalones by Reynolds, and hope they're tighter and more focused, because his ideas are amazing.
April 20, 2012
Impressive and interesting conclusion to the Revelation Space trilogy. At first I was a little disappointed by the low key ending, but after a couple of days I find this perfectly human ending, very appropriate and satisfying.
September 2, 2012
With his
Revelation Space
trilogy and the spinoff books
Chasm City
and
The Prefect
, Alastair Reynolds has accomplished the best world-building outside of Iain M. Banks' Culture novels. Truly, I can't understate how impressed I am with what Reynolds has put together.
Over the last ten weeks or so I have fallen in love with the Revelation Space universe and I simply can't get enough of the stories or characters that occupy it. I started with The Prefect, not realizing it was part of a bigger picture, and what I found was a a thoughtful and creative story, subtly complex, which was precisely and expertly executed. I then learned that there was a greater universe out there and thought I'd give Revelation Space a shot … and I was hooked. Before I knew it I had gobbled up the trilogy. I'm now reading Chasm City and am similarly engrossed. I also have the short-story and novella collections set in the same universe waiting on my kindle and anticipate wolfing them down pretty soon.
Absolution Gap, which I give three stars, is the nowhere near the best of the books set in the Revelation Space universe, nor of the original trilogy. But that's not to say that it's bad at all—I still give it three stars, which for me means I thoroughly enjoyed the book and would recommend it to other people. And if the worst book of a series is three stars, the author is doing pretty well. Oh, I know there's lots of people on GR (especially the youngsters) who throw around five-star ratings like candy at the state fair. That's not me—I'm stingier with my stars. Not too long ago I even went through all my ratings and downgraded numerous books, not because I didn't like them, but out of a commitment to reserve my stars for the best. On my shelf, four stars go to books I thought were really very good, and five stars to books I thought were truly exceptional. My average rating of all the books on my "read" shelf is 3.64, so I think I'm doing pretty well at reserving stars for works that deserve them. Absolution Gap would default at five stars for me because I like the Revelation Space universe so much, but it loses a star because it's not a self-contained novel (you really need to read the first two books to grasp the fullness) and it loses another star because it has its flaws, mostly in the ending.
I don't want to say too much about the ending because I don't want to hide behind the spoiler function in this review, but in essence I agree with other reviewers' cries of "deus ex machina!" and "huh?!" I got the impression Alastair Reynolds was setting us up for a fourth book in the series, and maybe he'll still get around to it, but I find it more likely that after years of writing these books he just wanted it to end. It's a disappointment, yes, but one I can live with, especially since there are other books, short stories, and novellas set in the Revelation Space universe for me to have for dessert.
Other than the ending though, I found Absolution Gap to be just as well executed as the rest of the Revelation Space novels. There is plenty of suspense and thrilling moments, while still having time to relax and enjoy the scenery; in other words, I think Reynolds has mastered the art of pacing. And I love love love his use of language. It's not the shower of softball-sized ten-dollar words you'd find in a China Miéville novel, but Reynolds clearly has a knack for finding the right word and isn't afraid to spice up his prose. At the same time I found nothing hard to follow. It may not be for everybody, I'll admit, but Reynolds' prose seems to fit perfectly in my head; it's exactly how I want things to sound.
Some of my love of Reynolds' prose undoubtedly comes from the perfect match of audiobook narrator to author. I've so far listened to all of the Revelation Space books on audio, and all of them have been narrated by John Lee. Audible members likely will recognize the name as he's a prolific narrator (his other notable work is the China Miéville novels). If Peter Kenny and Iain Banks are a match made in heaven, then John Lee and Alastair Reynolds are soul mates. Lee's voice and Reynolds' prose are like Bing Crosby's voice in White Christmas … that is to say, like buttuh.
I will probably go back and read all the Revelation Space books in hardcopy (or, more likely, on my kindle) once sufficient time has passed for the details to bleed away together. Re-reading books is something I enjoy only if I can still have some sense of discovery or suspense the second or third time around. But for now I'm happy to hear Reynolds' words gliding through my head on John Lee's smooth voice.
So what is the Revelation Space series? Is it hard sci-fi? Space opera? It certainly has elements of both, I think. Somewhere I saw these books described as sci-fi noir, and I like that description. The Revelation Space books are not all dark, not totally lacking in happy moments or good characters, but there is a certain noir undercurrent to the whole thing. I don't know that "sci-fi noir" has yet risen to the level of a genre, but that's where Reynolds' work fits. Certainly if you're a fan of hard sci-fi and space opera, the Revelation Space books are well worth your time.
Over the last ten weeks or so I have fallen in love with the Revelation Space universe and I simply can't get enough of the stories or characters that occupy it. I started with The Prefect, not realizing it was part of a bigger picture, and what I found was a a thoughtful and creative story, subtly complex, which was precisely and expertly executed. I then learned that there was a greater universe out there and thought I'd give Revelation Space a shot … and I was hooked. Before I knew it I had gobbled up the trilogy. I'm now reading Chasm City and am similarly engrossed. I also have the short-story and novella collections set in the same universe waiting on my kindle and anticipate wolfing them down pretty soon.
Absolution Gap, which I give three stars, is the nowhere near the best of the books set in the Revelation Space universe, nor of the original trilogy. But that's not to say that it's bad at all—I still give it three stars, which for me means I thoroughly enjoyed the book and would recommend it to other people. And if the worst book of a series is three stars, the author is doing pretty well. Oh, I know there's lots of people on GR (especially the youngsters) who throw around five-star ratings like candy at the state fair. That's not me—I'm stingier with my stars. Not too long ago I even went through all my ratings and downgraded numerous books, not because I didn't like them, but out of a commitment to reserve my stars for the best. On my shelf, four stars go to books I thought were really very good, and five stars to books I thought were truly exceptional. My average rating of all the books on my "read" shelf is 3.64, so I think I'm doing pretty well at reserving stars for works that deserve them. Absolution Gap would default at five stars for me because I like the Revelation Space universe so much, but it loses a star because it's not a self-contained novel (you really need to read the first two books to grasp the fullness) and it loses another star because it has its flaws, mostly in the ending.
I don't want to say too much about the ending because I don't want to hide behind the spoiler function in this review, but in essence I agree with other reviewers' cries of "deus ex machina!" and "huh?!" I got the impression Alastair Reynolds was setting us up for a fourth book in the series, and maybe he'll still get around to it, but I find it more likely that after years of writing these books he just wanted it to end. It's a disappointment, yes, but one I can live with, especially since there are other books, short stories, and novellas set in the Revelation Space universe for me to have for dessert.
Other than the ending though, I found Absolution Gap to be just as well executed as the rest of the Revelation Space novels. There is plenty of suspense and thrilling moments, while still having time to relax and enjoy the scenery; in other words, I think Reynolds has mastered the art of pacing. And I love love love his use of language. It's not the shower of softball-sized ten-dollar words you'd find in a China Miéville novel, but Reynolds clearly has a knack for finding the right word and isn't afraid to spice up his prose. At the same time I found nothing hard to follow. It may not be for everybody, I'll admit, but Reynolds' prose seems to fit perfectly in my head; it's exactly how I want things to sound.
Some of my love of Reynolds' prose undoubtedly comes from the perfect match of audiobook narrator to author. I've so far listened to all of the Revelation Space books on audio, and all of them have been narrated by John Lee. Audible members likely will recognize the name as he's a prolific narrator (his other notable work is the China Miéville novels). If Peter Kenny and Iain Banks are a match made in heaven, then John Lee and Alastair Reynolds are soul mates. Lee's voice and Reynolds' prose are like Bing Crosby's voice in White Christmas … that is to say, like buttuh.
I will probably go back and read all the Revelation Space books in hardcopy (or, more likely, on my kindle) once sufficient time has passed for the details to bleed away together. Re-reading books is something I enjoy only if I can still have some sense of discovery or suspense the second or third time around. But for now I'm happy to hear Reynolds' words gliding through my head on John Lee's smooth voice.
So what is the Revelation Space series? Is it hard sci-fi? Space opera? It certainly has elements of both, I think. Somewhere I saw these books described as sci-fi noir, and I like that description. The Revelation Space books are not all dark, not totally lacking in happy moments or good characters, but there is a certain noir undercurrent to the whole thing. I don't know that "sci-fi noir" has yet risen to the level of a genre, but that's where Reynolds' work fits. Certainly if you're a fan of hard sci-fi and space opera, the Revelation Space books are well worth your time.
March 21, 2020
I have been dreading this. While there are more prequels in the Revelation Space series I have yet to read; the main series has come to an end, and I am thankful for the opportunity to enjoy it.
Amidst the chaotic tendrils of Covid-19, fortune has provided me an opportunity, a place to hide and enjoy my new favorite series. That's the power of books, I think, and Revelation Space is a story of surviving chaos. The crazy, unknowable universe can rage and burn around us, but we can still go somewhere and enjoy a good old book. When the plagues and violent psychopaths who wage war finally take that away, there will indeed be nothing left.
First, I'd like to comment on Alistair Reynolds' writing. Some very smart people on Goodreads whose opinion I highly value don't care much for it. That's ok though, the beauty of books is that they will mean different things to different people. I appreciate these opinions as much as my own. My view, though, is that Al is a fantastic writer. He winds and weaves his stories along winding paths of misdirection, plot twists, and surprises. Just when I feel lulled into the usual sense that I have "figured it out," the entire landscape pivots, similar to "Mode 7" graphics on the old Nintendo Entertainment System. Even more, the surprises always seem organic, not contrived. "How could I not have figured that out?" Al has that rare gift of constructing fun and exciting stories while also being a top-shelf world builder.
Revelation Space is a tour-de-force of world-building stew, anchoring sleek modern sci-fi images with odd, sometimes amusing dashes of the present. Bold, exotic flavors for almost any mind to savor, while also providing a satisfying gestalt. In the chili cook-off of wild creativity, Al Reynolds is the chef-du-jour.
Character building in this series is impressive in terms of quality and quantity. There are so many unique and intriguing personalities realistically painted in full color, not bound to black and white. While the series is truly fantastic, I never felt characters were contrived, or one dimensional, even the clinically insane ones.
In closing, I would recommend reading "Beyond The Aquila Rift: The Best of Alistair Reynolds" first. While this is not completely necessary to understand Revelation Space, it provides a lot of colorful enhancement, as well as being my favorite short story collection.
Thank you for a beautiful series Al. I loved it.
Amidst the chaotic tendrils of Covid-19, fortune has provided me an opportunity, a place to hide and enjoy my new favorite series. That's the power of books, I think, and Revelation Space is a story of surviving chaos. The crazy, unknowable universe can rage and burn around us, but we can still go somewhere and enjoy a good old book. When the plagues and violent psychopaths who wage war finally take that away, there will indeed be nothing left.
First, I'd like to comment on Alistair Reynolds' writing. Some very smart people on Goodreads whose opinion I highly value don't care much for it. That's ok though, the beauty of books is that they will mean different things to different people. I appreciate these opinions as much as my own. My view, though, is that Al is a fantastic writer. He winds and weaves his stories along winding paths of misdirection, plot twists, and surprises. Just when I feel lulled into the usual sense that I have "figured it out," the entire landscape pivots, similar to "Mode 7" graphics on the old Nintendo Entertainment System. Even more, the surprises always seem organic, not contrived. "How could I not have figured that out?" Al has that rare gift of constructing fun and exciting stories while also being a top-shelf world builder.
Revelation Space is a tour-de-force of world-building stew, anchoring sleek modern sci-fi images with odd, sometimes amusing dashes of the present. Bold, exotic flavors for almost any mind to savor, while also providing a satisfying gestalt. In the chili cook-off of wild creativity, Al Reynolds is the chef-du-jour.
Character building in this series is impressive in terms of quality and quantity. There are so many unique and intriguing personalities realistically painted in full color, not bound to black and white. While the series is truly fantastic, I never felt characters were contrived, or one dimensional, even the clinically insane ones.
In closing, I would recommend reading "Beyond The Aquila Rift: The Best of Alistair Reynolds" first. While this is not completely necessary to understand Revelation Space, it provides a lot of colorful enhancement, as well as being my favorite short story collection.
Thank you for a beautiful series Al. I loved it.
April 27, 2024
The final novel in the Revelation Space Trilogy concludes one of the great space operas of the modern era. Though not the best book of the trilogy (I reserve that spot for Revelation Space itself), Absolution Gap brings the vast, centuries-spanning epic to a satisfactory conclusion.
That one qualm aside, this trilogy is probably the best series of Science Fiction novels I've read since Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun and Book of the Long Sun, though comparisons between Wolfe's works and Reynold's trilogy would be an apple-to-oranges comparison; unfair to both authors.
Despite its one weakness, which is minor in the grand scheme of things, but could have made the book near-perfect, I give my highest regard to this work. This is one of those books that I, as a writer, had wished I had written. I'm sorry to see the end of the trilogy, but it will be with me, in my mind, for some time to come. Here's to hoping that a movie version is never made. This is too good to be spoiled by Hollywood!
That one qualm aside, this trilogy is probably the best series of Science Fiction novels I've read since Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun and Book of the Long Sun, though comparisons between Wolfe's works and Reynold's trilogy would be an apple-to-oranges comparison; unfair to both authors.
Despite its one weakness, which is minor in the grand scheme of things, but could have made the book near-perfect, I give my highest regard to this work. This is one of those books that I, as a writer, had wished I had written. I'm sorry to see the end of the trilogy, but it will be with me, in my mind, for some time to come. Here's to hoping that a movie version is never made. This is too good to be spoiled by Hollywood!
July 16, 2018
I liked this one but there were some long drawn out parts that almost bored me. The story was smaller and more personal than previous installments but the tech and the action were definitely on par. There were some fantasy elements in this one that had not been in any of the other books and for technically being the fourth, including Chasm City, it seemed like a weird time to intoduce something so different in style and feel. This was my fourth and least favorite book by this author but still four stars.
June 24, 2023
This is the third volume of the main storyline of Revelation Space Series. I’ve heard that the series is great years ago but only this year (2023) started it and yes, so far it is one of the best space operas I’ve read not only of the last 20 years but of all time! I reviewed the first book, Revelation Space, here and the second, Redemption Ark, here. I definitely plan to continue.
Just like in the earlier novels, there are several plot lines that slowly converge. The characters are a mix of old and new and both groups are great.
One of the lines starts at Ararat, p Eridani A System, in the year 2675. This is the system to which lighthugger the Nostalgia for Infinity, a four-kilometer-long sentient spaceship, evacuated people from the system attacked by the Inhibitors in the second book. Ten years passed, but there are still Clavain, a general, the Butcher of Tharsis, who was one of the leaders of the exodus from the doomed system; a former soldier Ana Khouri; a former pilot from the Rust Belt, the ramshackle procession of degrading orbital habitats, Antoinette Bax; a pig (genetically engineered species to be used in human organ transplantation. As a byproduct of human genes they got roughly human form, a bit childlike, and with elongated trotters instead of fingers, a human-comparable intelligence, which allowed them to understand their de facto slavery) Scorpio. The latter was a minor character in the second book, here he shines supreme.
The second line starts on the previously unmentioned lighthugger Gnostic Ascension, in 2615, where the leader is Queen Jasmina, a sadomasochistic transhuman in search of new delights and her servants – her former favorite Surgeon-General Grelier and her present fading star – Quaiche. The latter failed in the last few quests and is currently on his last chance to find something worthy of Queen’s attraction. And he does – on a satellite of a gas giant there is an enormous arc-bridge…
Finally, there is a planetoid Hela, in 2727, where 17-years old Rashmika runs away from her family for she wants to know the larger world. Hela is a stellar body with giant slowly moving cathedrals and a religion based on a mind-affecting virus. Here readers meet several characters from the previous lines.
Both old and new characters are great as is the story, definitely a worthy continuation of the series. The prose is enchanting with depictions like:
Even in the parts of the cathedral where the engines and traction mechanisms were audible, they heard him coming long before he arrived. His footsteps were as measured and regular as the beats of a metronome, the tap of his cane punctuating the rhythm, iron against iron. He moved with a deliberate arachnoid slowness, giving the nosy and the idle time to disperse. Occasionally he was aware of watchers secreted behind metal pillars or grilles, spying on him, thinking themselves discreet. More often than not he knew with certainty that he went about his errands unobserved.
Just like in the earlier novels, there are several plot lines that slowly converge. The characters are a mix of old and new and both groups are great.
One of the lines starts at Ararat, p Eridani A System, in the year 2675. This is the system to which lighthugger the Nostalgia for Infinity, a four-kilometer-long sentient spaceship, evacuated people from the system attacked by the Inhibitors in the second book. Ten years passed, but there are still Clavain, a general, the Butcher of Tharsis, who was one of the leaders of the exodus from the doomed system; a former soldier Ana Khouri; a former pilot from the Rust Belt, the ramshackle procession of degrading orbital habitats, Antoinette Bax; a pig (genetically engineered species to be used in human organ transplantation. As a byproduct of human genes they got roughly human form, a bit childlike, and with elongated trotters instead of fingers, a human-comparable intelligence, which allowed them to understand their de facto slavery) Scorpio. The latter was a minor character in the second book, here he shines supreme.
The second line starts on the previously unmentioned lighthugger Gnostic Ascension, in 2615, where the leader is Queen Jasmina, a sadomasochistic transhuman in search of new delights and her servants – her former favorite Surgeon-General Grelier and her present fading star – Quaiche. The latter failed in the last few quests and is currently on his last chance to find something worthy of Queen’s attraction. And he does – on a satellite of a gas giant there is an enormous arc-bridge…
Finally, there is a planetoid Hela, in 2727, where 17-years old Rashmika runs away from her family for she wants to know the larger world. Hela is a stellar body with giant slowly moving cathedrals and a religion based on a mind-affecting virus. Here readers meet several characters from the previous lines.
Both old and new characters are great as is the story, definitely a worthy continuation of the series. The prose is enchanting with depictions like:
Even in the parts of the cathedral where the engines and traction mechanisms were audible, they heard him coming long before he arrived. His footsteps were as measured and regular as the beats of a metronome, the tap of his cane punctuating the rhythm, iron against iron. He moved with a deliberate arachnoid slowness, giving the nosy and the idle time to disperse. Occasionally he was aware of watchers secreted behind metal pillars or grilles, spying on him, thinking themselves discreet. More often than not he knew with certainty that he went about his errands unobserved.
August 8, 2007
This is the conclusion of the three part series, and while I thought it was the weakest of the series, I still get insane pleasure out of this man's writing. I think the main problem this book has is that it is missing what would seem to be a very vital sense of urgency concerning the Inhibitors. Now, the nature of this galaxy he has created reminds us that our perception of the passage of time is quite different from the galaxy's perception, but even so, there is a race of machines out there destroying mankind, and there is only one real moment in the book where that threat feels real and immediate. Granted, that one moment is one HELL of a moment, one that I as a writer who knows how much the characters and worlds you create mean to you might not have had the courage or willpower to write, but overall the Inhibitors themselves are surprisingly absent from the book, and when they do appear they just do not seem as terrible and threatening as they should be. I feel the same way about how the author treats the cache weapons, weapons so terrible that they were only made once, and the technology used to make them was then destroyed. They are called hell class weapons, and we are made to fear them utterly in the first book, but in the second and third, while they are used and coveted, we never really see or feel their devastation, which to me is a real missed opportunity.
Characters that I thought were slightly underdeveloped or unnecessary in Absolution Gap tended to be weeded out, which I suppose justified my previous opinion. The author's main fascination seemed to be with the character Scorpio, which I admit is a fascinating character, and Reynolds thoroughly addresses all of the things that make him interesting. We skulk in Scorpio's head more intimately than perhaps any other character in the series, though sometimes I think I am more interested in Reynold's fascination with the character than my own. The problem I think, is that in the second book there was a crucial transformation in Scorpio's character that we were told about but never really saw, and as such when the character reflects on that transformation, I have to take his word for it rather than understand it myself. Show not tell, yo. And on the note of characters, I think there were two HUGE missed opportunities in Grelier and whats-her-name torture lady from the very beginning, who were possibly THE most interesting characters he's ever created, and they end up playing a rather minuscule, undeveloped part, which is disappointing. Oh, and hey, whatever happened to the Mademoiselle? Rarely does Reynolds leave a thread like that unadressed, but the story never came back to that like I thought it would.
This book also ended more vaguely than the other books do, and if there is one thing I can generally count on Reynolds for, it's an ending that lives up to its promise. If I read the ending right, and it was a little hard to sort out, at least for me, it doesn't exactly leave you with warm, squishy thoughts. Which is fine, but it was so vague and out there that I felt a little let down. Those things said, there is no end to the fascinating creativity this man possesses. The nature of Haldora, the Cathedrals, the characters of Quaiche and Aura are all pretty brilliant if you ask me. I've been dwelling on the negative, but there is so, so, so much to like about this book, and Alastair Reynolds on his worst day is far better than most of the sci-fi junk that's out there. Read this. Really. Read everything this guy has written if you're into this genre.
Characters that I thought were slightly underdeveloped or unnecessary in Absolution Gap tended to be weeded out, which I suppose justified my previous opinion. The author's main fascination seemed to be with the character Scorpio, which I admit is a fascinating character, and Reynolds thoroughly addresses all of the things that make him interesting. We skulk in Scorpio's head more intimately than perhaps any other character in the series, though sometimes I think I am more interested in Reynold's fascination with the character than my own. The problem I think, is that in the second book there was a crucial transformation in Scorpio's character that we were told about but never really saw, and as such when the character reflects on that transformation, I have to take his word for it rather than understand it myself. Show not tell, yo. And on the note of characters, I think there were two HUGE missed opportunities in Grelier and whats-her-name torture lady from the very beginning, who were possibly THE most interesting characters he's ever created, and they end up playing a rather minuscule, undeveloped part, which is disappointing. Oh, and hey, whatever happened to the Mademoiselle? Rarely does Reynolds leave a thread like that unadressed, but the story never came back to that like I thought it would.
This book also ended more vaguely than the other books do, and if there is one thing I can generally count on Reynolds for, it's an ending that lives up to its promise. If I read the ending right, and it was a little hard to sort out, at least for me, it doesn't exactly leave you with warm, squishy thoughts. Which is fine, but it was so vague and out there that I felt a little let down. Those things said, there is no end to the fascinating creativity this man possesses. The nature of Haldora, the Cathedrals, the characters of Quaiche and Aura are all pretty brilliant if you ask me. I've been dwelling on the negative, but there is so, so, so much to like about this book, and Alastair Reynolds on his worst day is far better than most of the sci-fi junk that's out there. Read this. Really. Read everything this guy has written if you're into this genre.
April 10, 2010
I was extremely disappointed with this 3rd concluding book of the series. Where the first 2 excelled, character development, this book was really missing. The main characters of the first 2 books were pretty much finished with their stories after 2 books. Some were even ruined in this book and they acted quite out of character. The overall theme of man versus machine was not really brought to conclusion, it contained nothing new. I would have stopped reading this book 100 pages in, but I pushed through it because I loved the first 2 so much. I will read more of Alastair Reynolds books but this one I cannot recommend.
September 27, 2021
3.5.
I will start saying it`s one of the best Science Fiction series of all time.
I just think this 3rd book didn't focus on the best characters and storylines (with the exception of Scorpion). Instead, the final part brig new players with no (great) reasons.
Another thing that was better used in the first and second books were the several overlapping time periods and locales - they took too long to fold into the larger narrative and, in the end, it was a little removed from the Scope and themes of the whole series.
But, as i said, the series, as a whole, was a MASTERPIECE and turned me into a Reynolds fan!
I will start saying it`s one of the best Science Fiction series of all time.
I just think this 3rd book didn't focus on the best characters and storylines (with the exception of Scorpion). Instead, the final part brig new players with no (great) reasons.
Another thing that was better used in the first and second books were the several overlapping time periods and locales - they took too long to fold into the larger narrative and, in the end, it was a little removed from the Scope and themes of the whole series.
But, as i said, the series, as a whole, was a MASTERPIECE and turned me into a Reynolds fan!
June 12, 2022
The third and final volume of the Revelation Space trilogy. As usual with my series reviews, the star rating of this, the final book, reflect my enjoyment of the trilogy as a whole.
Overall the story arc here is bit of a nod to Larry Niven, but Reynolds does some amazing, detailed and imaginative worldbuilding. His characters are also more complex than the average. There are several shades of grey with character development resulting in heroes some becoming villains and villains becoming heroes. In this book it took me a bit of time to puzzle out how exactly how the two main POV's and timelines related to each other, but I did figure it out before it was explained. As with most of Reynolds work, time dilation and relativity play a big part in the story (he has no FTL drives) and to me this seems to be a hallmark of his work. At least, the ones I've read so far.
As a space opera this one end up near the top of the ones I've read. It's long, but also deep with lots going on and things that stretch the imagination, but not that far beyond the bounds of known science. The references to brane theory may seem a little out there, but are within what is currently postulated for multi-verse theory.
There are several other books set in this universe but it's not necessary to read them. Chasm City is the only one that has some slight character crossover.
Highly recommended for Space Opera and Hard SF fans.
Overall the story arc here is bit of a nod to Larry Niven, but Reynolds does some amazing, detailed and imaginative worldbuilding. His characters are also more complex than the average. There are several shades of grey with character development resulting in heroes some becoming villains and villains becoming heroes. In this book it took me a bit of time to puzzle out how exactly how the two main POV's and timelines related to each other, but I did figure it out before it was explained. As with most of Reynolds work, time dilation and relativity play a big part in the story (he has no FTL drives) and to me this seems to be a hallmark of his work. At least, the ones I've read so far.
As a space opera this one end up near the top of the ones I've read. It's long, but also deep with lots going on and things that stretch the imagination, but not that far beyond the bounds of known science. The references to brane theory may seem a little out there, but are within what is currently postulated for multi-verse theory.
There are several other books set in this universe but it's not necessary to read them. Chasm City is the only one that has some slight character crossover.
Highly recommended for Space Opera and Hard SF fans.
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