Any other Alastair Reynolds fans here?

[bluespider100]

Ah the great Mr Banks - you seem to be ticking off all my favourite contemporary SF authors Spider, if you like them you should also check out Neal Asher; another slightly complex timeline there but Mr Asher himself gives some guidlines here: http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/525773-wheres-the-best-place-to-start.html

we must have the same taste then.. thanks!! I'm gonna look into Neal Asher...

 

[Rodders]

I still need to pick up some Asher, but he's definately on my "To Read" list.

 

[Vertigo]

I've only just got into Asher (I've read three of his) but from I've read I would say that if you like Reynolds, Hamilton and Banks then you are likely to like Asher. Not quite such vast complex world building as the others but other than that they have a similar feel. It seems to me he only focuses on one particular aspect of his universe in any one book whereas Reynolds and Hamilton in particular tend to throw the whole lot at you I have no problem with that (in fact I love it) but it can get confusing when you are just getting into a new world.

 

[clovis-man]

I may be overstating the obvious, but it seems to me that Nancy Kress has done some good work in the space opera realm. I'm thinking in particular of the Crossfire/Crucible pair of novels. Her tales are certainly more character driven than Banks, Reynolds or Hamilton. But the scenarios within which they are created are quite interesting also.

While I've read pretty much everything that Reynolds has to offer, I'm still getting up to speed with Kress.

 

[Vertigo]

Oh no here I go again - Nancy Kress is another author I've not come across before which means my TBR pile is about get even bigger!

I notice on fantasticfiction.co.uk both Asher and Reynolds books are listed as "similar books by other authors" against those two Kress books.

 

[bluespider100]

Finishing up AR's Galactic North, the short stories were gripping.. and I like that.. the stories that I really liked were, Great Wall of Mars, Glacial, Dilation Sleep , and Grafenwalder's Bestiary.

is this how AR writes in his Revelation Space series? if yes, then I'd buy the rest of the books, I already have Revelation Space.

 

[Vertigo]

To some extent, yes, I would say so, except that of course you are going to get a lot more detail (and I mean a lot) in his full length novels. I would recommend reading Chasm City first however. It actually takes place before Revelation Space though it is pretty much stand alone. And it builds your understanding of the different human factions and the technology much better than Revelation Space. I would say that the Revelation Space "series" is really a trilogy; Revelation Space, Redemption Ark, and Absolution Gap. Chasm City and The Prefect are both really stand alone. At least I believe The Prefect is; I haven't actually read it yet .

 

[bluespider100]

To some extent, yes, I would say so, except that of course you are going to get a lot more detail (and I mean a lot) in his full length novels. I would recommend reading Chasm City first however. It actually takes place before Revelation Space though it is pretty much stand alone. And it builds your understanding of the different human factions and the technology much better than Revelation Space. I would say that the Revelation Space "series" is really a trilogy; Revelation Space, Redemption Ark, and Absolution Gap. Chasm City and The Prefect are both really stand alone. At least I believe The Prefect is; I haven't actually read it yet .

Excellent! then I'd have to hold off reading Revelation Space then.

so i'll read the series in the following order?

Chasm City
Redemption Ark
Revelation Space
Absolution Gap

 

[Vertigo]

No it should be

Chasm City
Revelation Space
Redemption Ark
Absolution Gap

The latter three must be read in order. Chasm City is not critical I would just advise reading it first. I have seen others make the same recommendation but some may disagree.

 

[clovis-man]

No it should be

Chasm City
Revelation Space
Redemption Ark
Absolution Gap

The latter three must be read in order. Chasm City is not critical I would just advise reading it first. I have seen others make the same recommendation but some may disagree.

If we're looking for a reading order, I'd suggest The Prefect as the one to read first. The scenario predates the Chasm City milieu. But, of course, he didn't write them in order, so do what you like. My first was Chasm City. Then I read the Revelation Space series in chronological order. But it's not hard to get up to speed, irrespective of how you approach it.

 

[J-Sun]

If we're looking for a reading order, I'd suggest The Prefect as the one to read first. The scenario predates the Chasm City milieu. But, of course, he didn't write them in order, so do what you like. My first was Chasm City. Then I read the Revelation Space series in chronological order. But it's not hard to get up to speed, irrespective of how you approach it.

If you (bluespider100) have read and liked Galactic North, maybe Revelation Space would be okay now but I wouldn't recommend it as a first Reynolds book, myself. It ends up being pretty good but is quite an uphill climb for awhile. I haven't read either of the more stand-alone novels yet (I have Chasm CIty in the TBR) so I can't say, but it seems likely that one of them would be better.

 

[Tansy]

I found Chasm City a good start but not got round to reading any of his others

 

[bluespider100]

Great advice guys, I'd be following them then.

 

[Jojo999]

Just finished Terminal World.

There are plenty of logical inconsistencies and loose ends left untied. The book rambles on a bit and the ending, as I find is all too common with AR's books, leaves one hanging.

The book drops you into the middle of a long post-apocalyptic era at some time far in the future of a planet that may or may not be Earth, but doesn't give us any background or preamble as to what occurred to get us to that point in the historical record. There are relics and hints that civilization was much more advanced in the past but no one alive appears to really know what happened to leave them where they are now.

Most of the people alive on this planet live in a massive city called Spearpoint. He paints the city as noir, dingy & dirty. He doesn't really explain where the energy or food comes from to run/feed the city. I've seen reviews where people call this depiction of the city as an attempt at "steampunk" but I don't really have a good handle as to what that really is.

AR introduces something called zones that have a significant effect on everyone in this world without ever explaining how they operate as they do. It takes to the end of the book to get an explanation as to how they might have been created but there is little detail. Beings range from actual angles (yes, with wings and who fly) to barbarians and even biological machines. Again, no hint of how a sub-species with wings came about or why they might have been created.

Quillion, a "fallen angel" is the main character in the book. His character is developed well. However, annoyingly and to no good effect, he makes this character a smoker! AR has done this with other characters in some of his other books. It appears that he has some fascination with smoking.

I've tried not to write too much and spoil the book for others. Overall, AR fans should read this book just to stay up-to-date with his writings, but it will not go down as one of his better books. It certainly cannot hold a light to books like Chasm City or House of Suns.

 

[Vertigo]

Interesting JoJo I've not read that one yet and have heard that it is not one of his best. However I will probably still get around to reading it eventually! Also interesting about the smoking, he certainly had Ilia Volyova in the Revelation Space series chain smoking much of the time. Another author who seems to do this is Richard Morgan in his Takeshi Kovacs books. Strange...

 

[MrBobbles]

I read Century Rain just recently, and very much enjoyed it, except parts of the ending were too 'nice' I felt. As JoJo999 mentioned, the concept of how things came to be the way they are was pretty much glossed over, but it was a very good story nonetheless.

Was just wondering how would people say this book stacks up with his other books? I am interested to read some other of his novels now and am curious as to peoples thoughts.

 

[nixie]

75 pages into Redeemption Ark, struggling slightly but that could be due to this being my first real foray into science fiction.

 

[AE35Unit]

I really think its about time AR had his own sub-forum in the Authors section!

 

[clovis-man]

75 pages into Redeemption Ark, struggling slightly but that could be due to this being my first real foray into science fiction.

I'm not surprised. You are starting with the second of a three book series. If you're only 75 pages in, you might consider setting it aside and reading Revelation Space first. I think things might make more sense for you that way.

 

[bluespider100]

75 pages into Redeemption Ark, struggling slightly but that could be due to this being my first real foray into science fiction.

As mentioned in the previous comments in this thread, it is said that you could well likely read into Galactic North or Chasm City which will allow you to grasp the universe the said novels set in and in turn would allow you to breeze through the novels.

I really think its about time AR had his own sub-forum in the Authors section!

Hmm, me thinks its too early for that... People who discussed AR here in the thread can be counted using your fingers.. I think the admins will wait for an additional 20 or more contributors.