Alastair Reynolds

**Silver47** · November 8th, 2009, 11:11 PM

Hey guys, I'm about 50 pages into Revelation Space, and my head is starting to hurt! I love what I'm reading so far, but it's so in depth and detailed that I can only read a few pages before setting the book down for a bit. Does this happen for anyone else, or does it get any easier?

**Ropie** · November 9th, 2009, 03:58 AM

Hi, There are already threads on Alastair Reynolds if you search. Some posters say the same thing. I too have tried RS & Chasm City but didn't get very far through either. What makes my head hurt is his Schwarzenegger style prose

**psikeyhackr** · November 9th, 2009, 07:51 AM

I eventually finished Revelation Space because I told someone I would but it was an aggravating waste of time.

Search here:

http://www.sffworld.com/forums/showp...41&postcount=3

psik

**suciul** · November 9th, 2009, 09:32 AM

I am a big Reynolds fan though I agree that his style is uneven - though RS is probably the choppiest of all his novels and he gets much better in other novels - but overall it comes down to what you want in your sff; for me Reynolds ideas and scope are the top of modern sf and i can take a little choppy prose for that; as large scale sf based on the latest in our understanding of the universe nobody beats Reynolds

Compare with fantasy where any choppiness in the prose and I cannot take it however much the author is acclaimed (eg Malazan and quite a few others which leave me absolutely cold since I could care less about their subject when the prose does not enchant me - I read quite a lot of fantasy but I want different things from it as opposed to sf and that includes great writing while detailed world building and complicated plot are of much less importance)

**cyberpunkdreams** · November 11th, 2009, 06:26 PM

I actually found the Revelation Space series a real page turner, couldn't really put them down (although I must admit that I thought they got better as they went on).

I do have a degree in physics though... perhaps that helps?

**petitsourice** · November 11th, 2009, 07:54 PM

Originally Posted by Silver47

Hey guys, I'm about 50 pages into Revelation Space, and my head is starting to hurt! I love what I'm reading so far, but it's so in depth and detailed that I can only read a few pages before setting the book down for a bit. Does this happen for anyone else, or does it get any easier?

From what I have read, he is a brilliant author.

From what I have read of Revelation space (I read it twice just to be sure it really sucked), I can say it sucked the first read and it sucked even more the second read.

Get another one of his books I guess. However Revelation Space fizzles out at the end and left me wishing I had used the novel more constructively. Like for firewood starting material or to use for personal hygiene needs.

The detail and depth are why i read it twice. I read it the second time thinking that I had missed something the first time.

Reynolds does a good job of tying together a lot of separate plot lines. And he does the worst job of anyone I have ever read at character development. I had no empathy for any of the characters.

**Michigan** · November 11th, 2009, 09:24 PM

While I like the first three Revelation Space books I do agree that his other books are easier to read, not as choppy. Pushing Ice might be a good place to start with him.

**psikeyhackr** · November 11th, 2009, 09:36 PM

Originally Posted by petitsourice

Get another one of his books I guess. However Revelation Space fizzles out at the end and left me wishing I had used the novel more constructively. Like for firewood starting material or to use for personal hygiene needs.

ROFL

I did actually resort to leaving it in the bathroom and reading it when I had to go.

psik

**hawkeyye** · November 11th, 2009, 11:03 PM

Read Chasm City. One of the best books ive ever read.

**Silver47** · November 12th, 2009, 12:43 AM

Originally Posted by cyberpunkdreams

I actually found the Revelation Space series a real page turner, couldn't really put them down (although I must admit that I thought they got better as they went on).

I do have a degree in physics though... perhaps that helps?

I don't have a PhD in smart ass or anything, but I'm pretty sure a degree in physics has nothing to do with enjoying a novel! Thanks for the thoughtful insight.

**Michigan** · November 12th, 2009, 09:55 PM

Originally Posted by hawkeyye

Read Chasm City. One of the best books ive ever read.

I will agree with this. Though it may have helped that I had already read the Revelation Space books and some of the characters appear in both books so it was fun to piece together the connections.

**UB313** · December 4th, 2009, 12:58 PM

I loved Revelation Space, but hated the sequel Redemption Arck. After that I swore not to purchase any more of his books.

I wonder if it is worth continuing with that universe. I did not find RS overly detailed. I loved the apparently amoral Ultras and the atmosphere. I also really enjoyed the Clarkesque conclusion.

My main problem with AR is his complete reliance on cinematic type scenes to move the plot (if there is any) forward. RS had the mystery at its heart to keep me reading. The problem is that he will not just get to the point of two people sitting down and having a conversation, but instead describes a character approaching the building, walking along the corridor, what they were thinking at the time, entering the room, sitting down, observing the other person, what they are thinking...

That's why I thought RA was the biggest load of rubbish. One of the multiple story lines (circum Yellowstone) really was pointless and tedious. In fact most of the book was just grinding through predictable or arbitrary action, or long winded scenes with no character development or plot surprises. RA was a good chance for him to apply the descriptiveness of RS to other aspects of his world, like the different political systems. I still want to know how the Demarchists operate. But Yellowstone is just the familiar Western Capitalism in Space thing.

Pushing Ice is good though, mainly the end.

**livens** · December 4th, 2009, 01:44 PM

I say keep going, its a good story. Ive only read Redemption Ark, and it was hard to get through. I think it could have been shortened up a little making it easier to read and keep the story going strong. If the actual novels read as well as Glactic North, his collection of shorts realating to RS, they would be some of the best. But as soon as I get around to picking them up I want to read RS and AG.

But if you do give up on RS, his other books are great. Century Rain and Pushing Ice were both superb. CR was set mostly in a 1950's version of earth, and usually I avoid books the do this(I never liked star trek eps were they did this too much either), but it turned out to be a great scifi/mystery/horror.

**Werthead** · December 4th, 2009, 03:14 PM

Redemption Ark may be his weakest novel. I think Reynolds works best in self-contained books, and whilst RA and Absolution Gap are both pretty self-contained compared to most trilogy instalments, the fact that you need to read Revelation Space first does weaken his writing in those books a little.

Chasm City and Pushing Ice are hands-down his best works, and Century Rain and The Prefect are very good as well. I still need to read House of Suns, but an ARC of his new book, Terminal World, arrived today, so I'll be tucking into that one soon.

**TimaruJourno** · December 5th, 2009, 07:02 PM

Alastair Reynolds has improved hugely as a writer; I didn't like Revelation Space and gave up on him for a while, but I recently read House of Suns and Pushing Ice and found them excellent, particularly the former. I want to read Chasm City next,and I'd recommend anyone who struggled to like RS to try his later books.