Book 35: "Absolution Gap" by Alastair Reynolds
Tuesday, August 10th, 2010 19:52![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kittiwakeOver the last century, the reality of the Inhibitors had come to be accepted. But for much of that time the threat had remained comfortably distant: a problem for some other generation to worry about.
Recently, however, things had changed. There had long been unconfirmed reports of strange activity in the Resurgam system: rumours of worlds being ripped apart and remade into perplexing engines of alien design. There were stories that the entire system had been evacuated; that Resurgam was now an uninhabitable cinder; that something unspeakable had been done to the system’s sun.
But even Resurgam could be ignored for a while. The system was an archaeological colony, isolated from the main web of interstellar commerce, its government a totalitarian regime with a taste for disinformation. The reports of what had happened there could not be verified. And so for several more decades, life in the other systems of human-settled space continued more or less unaffected.
But now the Inhibitors had arrived around other stars.
The crew of the Nostalgia for Infinity and the refugees from the destruction of Resurgam have been living on the Pattern Juggler planet of Ararat for twenty years, long enough for a new generation to have been born and grown to adulthood, even though they never planned on staying there permanently. But Ararat may no longer be a safe refuge, as the wolves are heading their way .so it may be time to leave. Far away and fifty years later, a teenage girl ruins away from home in search of the brother who left to work on the mobile Cathedrals that circle the equator of Hela.
This book did drag quite a bit. I don't think it really needed to be 662 pages long and there was one really annoying character, who spoiled it for me. Vasko "Mr Tactless" Malinin has a real talent for stating the obvious and putting people's backs up every time he opens his month. For some reason a couple of the other characters seemed to think of him as a potential future leader of the Ararat colony - which I found frankly unbelievable.
The ending of the main plot was again quite abrupt, but it was followed by a final chapter that hinted at some intriguing possibilities for further stories. I was also left wondering who the amnesiac refugee from Yellowstone recognised by Scorpio (who was my favourite character in this book) might turn out to be.
"Revelation Space" is a good series. I just wish the books were a bit shorter.
Recently, however, things had changed. There had long been unconfirmed reports of strange activity in the Resurgam system: rumours of worlds being ripped apart and remade into perplexing engines of alien design. There were stories that the entire system had been evacuated; that Resurgam was now an uninhabitable cinder; that something unspeakable had been done to the system’s sun.
But even Resurgam could be ignored for a while. The system was an archaeological colony, isolated from the main web of interstellar commerce, its government a totalitarian regime with a taste for disinformation. The reports of what had happened there could not be verified. And so for several more decades, life in the other systems of human-settled space continued more or less unaffected.
But now the Inhibitors had arrived around other stars.
The crew of the Nostalgia for Infinity and the refugees from the destruction of Resurgam have been living on the Pattern Juggler planet of Ararat for twenty years, long enough for a new generation to have been born and grown to adulthood, even though they never planned on staying there permanently. But Ararat may no longer be a safe refuge, as the wolves are heading their way .so it may be time to leave. Far away and fifty years later, a teenage girl ruins away from home in search of the brother who left to work on the mobile Cathedrals that circle the equator of Hela.
This book did drag quite a bit. I don't think it really needed to be 662 pages long and there was one really annoying character, who spoiled it for me. Vasko "Mr Tactless" Malinin has a real talent for stating the obvious and putting people's backs up every time he opens his month. For some reason a couple of the other characters seemed to think of him as a potential future leader of the Ararat colony - which I found frankly unbelievable.
The ending of the main plot was again quite abrupt, but it was followed by a final chapter that hinted at some intriguing possibilities for further stories. I was also left wondering who the amnesiac refugee from Yellowstone recognised by Scorpio (who was my favourite character in this book) might turn out to be.
"Revelation Space" is a good series. I just wish the books were a bit shorter.
