Book Review: Revelation Space
The main trilogy forming the Revelation Space universe (Revelation Space, Redemption Ark and Absolution Gap) are Alastair Reynolds’ fictional answer to the Fermi Paradox: if, as predicted, the emergence of intelligent life in the universe is very likely, then why are we unable to find any evidence of the existence of these alien civilisations?
The wealthy scientist Dan Sylveste believes he has discovered evidence that the Amarantin, an intelligent alien species, went extinct in a single cataclysmic event almost a million years prior to his archeological excavation on the planet of Resurgam. With a violent dust storm approaching, Sylveste is racing to uncover why the Amarantin civilisation ceased to exist so abruptly.
Light-years away, the crew of the spaceship Nostalgia for Infinity are on the heels of Sylveste. Nostalgia for Infinity’s captain is slowly merging with the ship itself, a nasty symptom the Melding Plague, and Sylveste might be the only person who can slow the progression of the disease. At Yellowstone, the crew picks up a new member by the name of Ana Khouri, an ex-soldier secretly hired to retrieve the stolen weapons of mass destruction the Nostalgia for Infinity is carrying.
With all paths merging on and around Resurgam, the future of humanity as a whole is at stake.
Just like the following two books set in the same universe, Revelation Space is quite a depressing read. The morally ambiguous protagonists have to take solace in Pyrrhic victories, while their universe slowly and quite literally comes undone. But while the odds are stacked against our failed heroes, between the lines Alastair Reynolds does maintain a glimmer of hope. The plot development in the second half of the book relies a bit much on a deus ex machina in the form of alien technologies and exotic theories of physics, but as a whole, Revelation Space is a bleak, tense and well-written start of an epic trilogy.
Audio Book:
The audio book version (Audible) is expertly narrated by John Lee. Unfortunately, no distinct pauses have been edited in between the chapters, which can be very confusing at times.
Preceded by:
Chasm City