Revelation Space
Alastair Reynolds
Picture it: a sunny afternoon in Hyde Park. Joggers abound and just over the trees to the east you can catch a glimpse of the British Eye, and on a bench beside a main thoroughfare a girl is immersed in a space opera, unable to tear her eyes away as the grand plot comes to a close. The command that Reynolds enjoys over vast reaches of space and time is used to excellent effect in his debut novel, an intricately plotted cosmic tale placed in a rich and detailed universe not too far in the future. The universe itself has a good feeling about it- its inventions are consistent and sufficiently advanced to be interesting, but realistic enough to maintain the bounds of credibility. Throughout the book, it is clear that Reynolds put a lot of serious thought into building this universe and, as the book's final mysteries are revealed, its history comes together alongside the plot and the stories of the individual characters. The book also deals consistently with its potentially difficult timeline, in which subsequent chapters happen hundreds of years apart. Everything converges properly, however, and the story remains intact across the centuries.
Though a bit predictable, the plot is nonetheless consistently engaging and the characters firmly developed and intriguing. Reynolds employs an entirely appropriate third-person omniscient voice in Revelation Space that allows for ambiguity that, in turn, rounds out his characters. Readers are left to decide for themselves about Sylveste's character as we see him through his own thoughts and others' thoughts about him. There are almost two different stories converging, with two different sets of characters motivated by their own specific desires to seek offsetting ends. Even the story's minor characters are well-developed and sufficiently three-dimensional to resist stereotyping and continually surprise as the plot twists and turns. Despite the book's excellent characters and setting, however, and despite its consistency, the plot of Revelation Space is a bit hard to grasp in parts. This is not only due to its interesting and fresh ambiguity regarding certain characters and situations; it is mostly the result of the slight mishandling of the book's Big Ideas. It will be fairly obvious to some readers where the book is heading by the final quarter of the plot, and the big revelations at the end of the book are kind of a letdown, though the journeys undertaken towards this finale are still surprising and interesting. The very end, however, is inconsistent and leaves too much to the imagination, offering not even an acceptable inconclusive conclusion.
Overall, the book is an interesting and lively journey through intergalactic space. Reynolds deftly handles many cris-crossing and intersecting characters and plot lines and manages to straighten them all out in the end, even if the reader is lost for a while in the middle. This, then, is the main problem with the book: sometimes it simply takes too much on. Its multiple storylines all come together but with what in mind I'm still not sure. The act of revelation in the book is far too often more confusing than it should be, and the plot is a bit too tangled in parts to do justice to the book's fantastic setting and characters. Reynolds isn't patently obvious with his existential secrets but nor does he clarify them by book's end, leaving readers a bit confused and unfulfilled despite one hell of a setup. Revelation Space is intriguing science fiction that gets to the heart of the genre and attempts to answer some of life's big questions. Unfortunately, the imaginative brilliance behind it is dampened a bit by misplaced focus and technical difficulties in plotting that may be resolved by re-reading the book, an experience in revelation that I wouldn't necessarily rule out after this first journey through Reynolds's vibrant imagination.
Grade: B
Alastair Reynolds
Picture it: a sunny afternoon in Hyde Park. Joggers abound and just over the trees to the east you can catch a glimpse of the British Eye, and on a bench beside a main thoroughfare a girl is immersed in a space opera, unable to tear her eyes away as the grand plot comes to a close. The command that Reynolds enjoys over vast reaches of space and time is used to excellent effect in his debut novel, an intricately plotted cosmic tale placed in a rich and detailed universe not too far in the future. The universe itself has a good feeling about it- its inventions are consistent and sufficiently advanced to be interesting, but realistic enough to maintain the bounds of credibility. Throughout the book, it is clear that Reynolds put a lot of serious thought into building this universe and, as the book's final mysteries are revealed, its history comes together alongside the plot and the stories of the individual characters. The book also deals consistently with its potentially difficult timeline, in which subsequent chapters happen hundreds of years apart. Everything converges properly, however, and the story remains intact across the centuries.
Though a bit predictable, the plot is nonetheless consistently engaging and the characters firmly developed and intriguing. Reynolds employs an entirely appropriate third-person omniscient voice in Revelation Space that allows for ambiguity that, in turn, rounds out his characters. Readers are left to decide for themselves about Sylveste's character as we see him through his own thoughts and others' thoughts about him. There are almost two different stories converging, with two different sets of characters motivated by their own specific desires to seek offsetting ends. Even the story's minor characters are well-developed and sufficiently three-dimensional to resist stereotyping and continually surprise as the plot twists and turns. Despite the book's excellent characters and setting, however, and despite its consistency, the plot of Revelation Space is a bit hard to grasp in parts. This is not only due to its interesting and fresh ambiguity regarding certain characters and situations; it is mostly the result of the slight mishandling of the book's Big Ideas. It will be fairly obvious to some readers where the book is heading by the final quarter of the plot, and the big revelations at the end of the book are kind of a letdown, though the journeys undertaken towards this finale are still surprising and interesting. The very end, however, is inconsistent and leaves too much to the imagination, offering not even an acceptable inconclusive conclusion.
Overall, the book is an interesting and lively journey through intergalactic space. Reynolds deftly handles many cris-crossing and intersecting characters and plot lines and manages to straighten them all out in the end, even if the reader is lost for a while in the middle. This, then, is the main problem with the book: sometimes it simply takes too much on. Its multiple storylines all come together but with what in mind I'm still not sure. The act of revelation in the book is far too often more confusing than it should be, and the plot is a bit too tangled in parts to do justice to the book's fantastic setting and characters. Reynolds isn't patently obvious with his existential secrets but nor does he clarify them by book's end, leaving readers a bit confused and unfulfilled despite one hell of a setup. Revelation Space is intriguing science fiction that gets to the heart of the genre and attempts to answer some of life's big questions. Unfortunately, the imaginative brilliance behind it is dampened a bit by misplaced focus and technical difficulties in plotting that may be resolved by re-reading the book, an experience in revelation that I wouldn't necessarily rule out after this first journey through Reynolds's vibrant imagination.
Grade: B
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