Alastair Reynolds "Chasm City" and "Revelation Space"
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Enchanting Victorian Fairy Tale Art "Then world behind and home ahead..." |
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Exceptional British Scifi Artwork from the 1950s Space Pulp Art by Ron Turner and other British artists |
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Pulp Pleasures: Eando Binder Great space adventure fiction from the 1930s "Where Eternity Ends" and other rare gems |
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Epic Fantasy: the Start of the Journey Part 2 of our "Best Classic Fantasy" series incl. works by Henry Kuttner, Tolkien, etc. |
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Strange Shadows: Best Classic Fantasy Fantasy "glitches in the matrix", ...lovely baroque magical lands, and more |
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Classic Cyberpunk SF Novels: Reviews Neal Stephenson, William Gibson, K. W. Jeter, et al (awesome must-reads) |
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10 Possible Sources of "Avatar" in Classic Science Fiction Going beyond the obvious "Dances with Smurfs"... (many stories worth reading) |
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"Steampunk" Anthology: Full Review some truly crazed stories in there... (plus artwork by John Coulthart) |
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"Dune", Plus Often-Neglected Other Novels by Frank Herbert "Dune", plus some overlooked gems: "The Santaroga Barrier" and "The Green Brain" |
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Universe at Play: Two Must-Read Novels of the Fantastic "The Yiddish Policemen's Union" by Michael Chabon... and David Mitchell's "Cloud Atlas" |
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Two of the Most Entertaining SF Novels from the 1980s "Vacuum Flowers" by Michael Swanwick... and Tim Power's "The Anubis Gates", of course! |
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"The Body Snatchers" and Other Alien Pods Fiction by Jack Finney, Vance, Simak and Bloch mind impostors and emotion imitators |
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Exploring the Noir and the Grotesque Jack O'Connell "The Resurrectionist" and other newest examples of the bizarre |
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Overpopulation, Sex and Sensibility Robert Silverberg's "The World Inside" and other classic sf blasts |
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H. P. Lovecraft "At the Mountains of Madness" and other masterpieces of terror including original illustrations |
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"Constellations", edited by Peter Crowther original anthology, 2005 full review: mind-bending stories |
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The Ultimate Guide to New Writers of SF&F more than 2,000 writers, 1990-2009 Ratings, awards, web links |
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The Surreal Office "The Situation", "The Cookie Monster" Weird fiction by Jeff VanderMeer and Vernor Vinge |
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Mind-shattering Novels of Philip K. Dick "UBIK", "Now Wait for Last Year", etc. |
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Theodore Sturgeon's "More Than Human" There’s a problem with this new gestalt being: ...it needs a conscience. |
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Jack Williamson's "Legion of Space" Series Classic Space Opera The ultimate weapon, controlled by a gorgeous woman |
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Astounding Stories, August 1934 Jack Williamson, Nat Schachner, "Doc" Smith Epic space opera gems and horror surprises |
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Rare Pulp SF&F, Issue 3 Leigh Brackett, Fritz Leiber, Vic Phillips Rediscovered gems of wonder & adventure |
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William Gibson's Novels "Pattern Recognition", "Neuromancer" A Fractured Delight... |
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Alfred Bester "The Computer Connection" "Bester was the mountain, all the rest of us..." Pyrokinetic writing in one neat package |
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Two Novels by Samuel R. Delany "Nova" and "Babel-17" New Wave Milestones, and then some. |
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Theodore Sturgeon's "The Cosmic Rape" (and more reviews of his fiction) Classic SF at its best and most humane |
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Travel Distant Worlds! Vintage Space Travel Posters, and more. Part 3 of Pulp Sf art series... |
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Alastair Reynolds' Epic Novels "Chasm City" and "Revelation Space" And it's only the beginning... |
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Rare Fantasy Gems by C. L. Moore and Henry Kuttner Hidden Gems of Pulp Fiction When two star writers become husband and wife |
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Grand Old Times... in the Future Overview of Pulp Art A Loudly Lurid Universe of Sci-Fi Illustration |
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Exclusive: Interview with Nancy Kress From High Fantasy to Hard Science Fiction A Spectrum of Wonder |
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Jack Vance "To Live Forever" and other Vance extravaganzas |
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Alastair Reynolds "Pushing Ice" Cosmological "noir" chase across space |
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Charles Stross "Missile Gap" Mind-bending Cold War world-building |
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Hidden Gems of Pulp SF, Part 2 Rare stories from the "Age of Wonder" incl. David Keller, Horace Gold etc. |
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Ultra-Rare Serials from "Fantasy Magazine" "Cosmos" + "Challenge From Beyond" incredible line-up of writers |
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Hidden Gems of Pulp SF, Part 1 Neat & Rare Stories incl. the mad rally story "The Racer" |
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Astounding Stories, June 1935 Full Issue Review incl. Gallun, Schachner, Campbell |
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Astounding Stories, May 1941 Full Issue Review incl. Heinlein, Asimov, Eric Frank Russell |
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Horace Gold; P. Schuyler Miller "Apocalyptic Blockbusters" "Inflexure" and "Spawn": guilty pleasure |
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Exclusive: Interview with John C. Wright Plus his advice to new writers Adventures in Space & Magic |
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Frank Belknap Long "The Horror from the Hills" Great Lovecraftian Weird Novella |
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Exclusive: Interview with Jeff VanderMeer Plus his Recommended Reading List A Triumph of the Bizarre |
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Alastair Reynolds, Part 2 More "Galactic North" Stories A Mixture of Hard Sf, James Bond & Jaws... |
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Alastair Reynolds Review "Galactic North" staring down infinity... |
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Most Shocking Article "Holey Fools" by M. Christian Warning: Gross Subject Matter |
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Alfred Bester Review "The Stars My Destination" "...nail it to the Retro Hugo voting board..." |
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Larry Niven Review "Neutron Star" "better get GP alien ship hull" |
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Poul Anderson Review "Ensign Flandry" "or how to start a sub-genre..." |
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Thomas M. Disch Review "The Squirrel Cage" "...seriously mind-bending stuff..." |
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Henry Kuttner Review "Mimsy Were the Borogoves" (The Last Mimzy) "...great storyline for a pretty average movie..." |
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Robert A. Heinlein Review "The Moon is the Harsh Mistress" "...it caused a tooth ache, and put my brain on freeze..." |
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Frank Herbert Review "Destination: Void" "...a layered cake of ideas and a scientific extrapolation on a genius level..." |
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Harlan Ellison Review "The Abnormals" "...editors slapped the most outrageous titles on his stories..." |
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James White Review "All Judgement Fled" "...the tension is palpable, soon to grow almost unbearable..." |
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Grand Adventure Strikes Again Space Opera Article, by Avi Abrams Based on Arthur Clarke's "Against the Fall of Night" |
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William Gibson Review "Burning Chrome" "...sheer pyrotechnics and exuberance of style..." |
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Ace Double: Murray Leinster "The Pirates of Ersatz /The Mutant Weapon" "...the characters might as well be cats or hamsters..." |
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Astounding Stories, May 1935 Pulp SF Magazine Review with many original illustrations |
Also read recent posts:
Author's Pen Names - Most Complete List Ever
The Wonder Timeline: SF&F Restrospective
Space Adventure Article
"SF&F Reading Experience" is part of "Dark Roasted Blend / Thrilling Wonder" family of sites. We try to highlight the most entertaining and rewarding science fiction and fantasy, with emphasis on memorable reader experience, not necessarily general acceptance by the critics. Have fun, and delve into our extensive ratings and reviews! Most reviews are written by Avi Abrams, unless otherwise noted. Reviews also appear on our unique historical retrospective page Wonder Timeline of Science Fiction. Feel free to submit your own review, if a particular story is not listed here. All major OFFICIAL AWARDS are highlighted in BLUE ("winner" has a letter "W" by it, otherwise it is a runner-up only) Our PERSONAL AWARDS (ratings) are highlighted in RED and PURPLE: --/ first place : --/ second place : --/ third place : --/ fourth place : --/ cool : (equal to fifth place) ALL "BEST OF" LISTS ARE LOCATED HERE These awards are given in the following categories: - novel : - series : - novella : - story : - collection : Also, there are our personal STYLE / GENRE SPECIFIC AWARDS. These reflect the story's content and the lasting impression on the reader: --/ wonder award sense-of-wonder, "visual intensity" and inventiveness --/ idea award originality of idea / concept --/ adventure award exhilarating plot, excitement / action --/ style award outstanding literary qualities, inimitable style --/ romance award intense and beautiful love / relationships --/ humour award funny and cool --/ emotion award touching, lasting impression, sensitivity --/ shock value altogether wild --/ awesome scale mind-boggling; further enhances sense-of-wonder --/ rare find very hard to locate, mostly from old pulps, never reprinted, etc. Again, please feel free to leave your own review or comment under every writer's entry; also recommend us other stories you liked. |
10 Comments:
I just finished the second book....and I'm completely torn by this series.
The mind simultaneously exults and cringes at the scale of this tale.
The ideas and insight into humanity and the universe at large is just incredible…and reminds me of the feelings that I had as a kid reading the Heechee saga long long ago.
However – and it is a big however – the author truly must be getting paid by the word.
Apparently Reynolds never met a paragraph he didn’t like.
As someone who has read 20-30 novels a year for the past 35 years, I have never ever skimmed so much in my life.
If two paragraphs would set the proper mood and space, Reynolds decides that what is really needed is two PAGES to do the same…..and unfortunately, this is my worst personal hell…..mind-bending ideas and fast-paced execution – broken up by ungodly amounts of extraneous fluff that completely break the flow of the novel.
Each 700 page novel could easily have been edited down by 200 pages or more, to make it tighter and improve the pacing. I cannot, for the life of me, figure out why the editors allowed this level of rambling prose…..quite like an erudite, interesting friend who got drunk and couldn’t quite get his point across without vast amounts of irrelevant babbling.
Modern writers should learn from the pulp era masters, where (even though they were paid by the word, and paid peanuts) a typical sf pulp would have a complete novel, two novellas, and 4 short stories in it!!
I've actually read all his books, save The Prefect, which I'm currently reading, and I'll just state now, that the books are fantastic.
In reply to Anonymous, I take another example of an author who rambles on and on in his work, yet has come up with one of the biggest franchises to date. J R R Tolkein, and his habit of taking 4 pages just to describe the dirt under Frodo's nails (Perhaps not true, but just an example).
The Revelation Space universe is epic in its scale, so you have to look at everything in the big picture. Saying a Lighthugger was big, sleek and has lots of guns simply just does not do it justice.
On a technical note, Lighthuggers *cannot* destroy star systems, not even with all those Hell Class weapons aboard the main ship of the story. Yes, a Lighthugger has the potential to depopulate a planet from Orbit, but it's weaponry is not sufficient to fully penetrate the crust and destabilize a planet's core, causing it to tear itself apart or simply blow up like Alderaan Vs Death Star.
On a finishing note, I wouldn't give up on his books. I agree that his first two are a little slow going, but later novels are just amazing and help to explain things that perhaps readers didn't understand from previous books. They happen to have a faster pace also. With these books, the level of detail is necessary for our minds to picture Reynolds' universe in full detail, but think of only the big picture, otherwise you'll get lost in the details and find the book unenjoyable ;)
Wow, can't wait to sink teeth into the last Revelation Space series novels!
I've read just about every word by Reynolds. Didn't skim a bit. Not, like say, Stephenson who I will never read again. By the last quarter of Cryptonomicon I was reading maybe 2 sentences a page. I'd rather read Ayn Rand.
I had the same experience with Stephenson stuff. I have a suspicion that patience in his case is rewarded - just need a lot of time to ease into it.
Ayn Rand is what current world is heading to... weird.
i just finished reading ALL of his books and looking for more of the same type of writing ne suggestions the only scifi stuff ive read is the entire saga of seven suns a cple of weeks ago and all of A.Reynolds stuff this last week or so
@Anonymous (4.35AM) - Try Ian M. Banks. I recommend The Algebraist.
Peter F Hamilton is an epic writer, I recommend Pandora's Star if you wan't similar yet thought provoking writing
Alastair Reynolds is the only author whose books I can read again and again without getting bored. The scale and detail he goes into is incredible. I agree that the first two novels aren't very fast paced but they are still good. Reynolds stand alone novels however are some of the best science fiction I've ever read, particularly terminal world, pushing ice and century rain. If you like these books I recommend Ian M. Banks.- excession and consider phlebas or Michael Cooley-seed of the earth.
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