Alistair Reynolds

[Bugg]

Absolution Gap is making me hungry. Every time I read 'Quaiche' it comes out as 'Quiche'

 

[adomol]

Absolution Gap is making me hungry. Every time I read 'Quaiche' it comes out as 'Quiche'

The hamadryads in Chasm City made me hungry!

 

[adomol]

Is it just me, or was Thorn in Redemption Ark one of the most annoying characters ever?

 

[Bugg]

I finished Diamond Dogs, Turquoise Days yesterday. Thoroughly enjoyed that. I did have a chuckle at the references to Cube and Raiders of the Lost Ark, among others.

 

[adomol]

I finished Diamond Dogs, Turquoise Days yesterday. Thoroughly enjoyed that. I did have a chuckle at the references to Cube and Raiders of the Lost Ark, among others.

Speaking of Diamond Dogs, I'd like to read a novel based on Dr. Trintignant. Sci-fi/horror set in the Glitter Band detailing his cybernetics experiment on humans. Human Centipede meets Revelation Space! Throw in a little Hostel too.

 

[Wendigo]

I'd love to see a bit more on what happened after Absolution Gap and Galactic North. It would be a shame for the RS universe to end on such a cliffhanger.

Started a re-read of RS. It's been years since I read it, but I'm pretty sure I'm enjoying it even more this time around.

 

[Rodders]

I remember reading somewhere that AR plans to return to the RS universe once he finishes the BRE trilogy.

I, for one, can't wait.

 

[Wendigo]

Saw a video interview recently where he mentions a new RS short story is in the works. So there's that at least.

 

[adomol]

That's great news. At the same time, I just finished the whole series... read in chronological order. A little breathing space before I head back to the RS universe seems just right.

 

[Wendigo]

I've re-read a few of them over the years but never in the right order . One day I'll do it properly.

It would be good to see another RS novel though. While the rest is still good, I didn't really find any of the other novels to be on the same level, except perhaps House of Suns.

 

[AndrewT]

I just started my first Reynolds, Chasm City. Should I read RS first?

 

[J-Sun]

I just started my first Reynolds, Chasm City. Should I read RS first?

I don't think it's too critical. Chasm City is not part of the main trilogy started by RS. I can't remember exactly where it fit in the timeline but it may even come before. Either way, it's basically "apart". I'd just note that I didn't care for CC, so it would have been a bad place to start for me, but a lot of people love it so it may work great for you. (And even RS wasn't the smoothest start - the short fiction would have been a better place for me.)

 

[ralphkern]

The Chronology of AR is a bit different from the pub dates: confused even more by the fact that they can overlap one another. However the closest to a true chronological order would be -

The Prefect
Chasm City
Revelation Space
Redemption Ark
Absolution Gap

With various short stories and novellas overlapping the whole lot. So for Example 'Galactic North' which is generally accepted as being part of the universe (despite some noticable differences eg. Light-huggers are Ram-liners) starts before 'The Prefect' and ends after 'Absolution Gap'.

Chasm City is pretty much completely stand-alone, the events and characters are only alluded to in the others. The Prefect is a little more bound, but not closely. The main trilogy is RS, RA and AG with Galactic North providing a little more closure than AG.

 

[Rodders]

Don't forget Diamond Dogs and Turquoise Days. Where do they come in the series?

I'm hoping that Alistair will return to the Revelation Space universe soon.

 

[J-Sun]

Incidentally, anyone know why Reynolds has had a collection (Deep Navigation) published in the US for 26 bucks that isn't much cheaper used and hasn't been reprinted in a good ol' UK mass market paperback - or at all? This isn't some weird pamphlet of odd stories but a major collection of a bunch of his major short works since Zima Blue and I'd buy it in a heartbeat if it was in the ten buck ballpark.

(Apologies if I've asked this before - I know it's been bugging me for awhile and I've thought about saying something but can't remember if I actually have.)

 

[Bugg]

I just started my first Reynolds, Chasm City. Should I read RS first?

Chasm City was the second of his books that I read and the one that really hooked me and made me read more of his books. I'd read Revelation Space before it but it hadn't done that much for me. I went back and re-read RS earlier this year, having read a few of his other books since Chasm City, and enjoyed it a hell of a lot more. I'd say read CC, then - if you like it - move on to RS, Redemption Ark and Absolution Gap.

At present, I'd say Chasm City ranks as my favourite of his alongside House of Suns. Hope you enjoy it, whatever you decide.

 

[Venusian Broon]

The main trilogy is RS, RA and AG with Galactic North providing a little more closure than AG.

WARNING - for those that are going/or want to read the main trilogy, some of my comments may be deemed spoiling. So stop reading at this point!

What the hell, I'll encase it in these snazzy new spoiler thingys:

Spoiler: response to RK's post

I can only speak as someone who has read the 'mainline' trilogy and did not realise that Galactic North was required (and I've still not read that). So I'd have to disagree with you about the 'closure' at the the end of AG - I found it pretty poor in a major sense and almost a cheat - thus GN had better supply something better! For such an excellent universe it came across to me as a pretty wimpy deus ex machina, just to make a tidy ending.

Don't get me wrong I loved the books and his imagination, (ok, there were some flaws - I might make a new thread to discuss those, as I'd have to litter my thoughts with spoilers), just that AG seems to get lost and sidetracked from the issue that he builds up excellently in RS and RA, the threat of the inhibitors. Either he just doesn't have the big novel story that took in what happened to the inhibitors, or he does and we should expect a fourth book at some point that dives in and gives a proper ending. If it is the latter, my view of the Revelation Space works might go from 'Excellent with some flaws' to 'Excellent' .