I have been cruising along with this series, pretty much sitting on the fence on whether I really liked it. Then a third of the way through this book it all clicked together and I was hooked. There is no defining moment or change in the writing style, it really just starts to bring the whole epic story together and you suddenly become aware of the sheer scale of story.Redemption Ark is brilliant writing. The technical sci-fi stuff is still there, but didn't seem as grandiose as in book one, but

This was a hugely satisfying read for me. Every thread was brought to it's logical conclusion and there were just enough new nuggets dropped to make me want to read the next one. I don't know if I like this or Chasm City more, I like them both for different reasons, but one thing that is cool about this series is that I'm three books in and while there is a overall larger story being told each one is totally self-contained. For the last week this has been the kind of book that talks to me while

Number two in the Revelation Space trilogy; you could read it as a standalone story, but it's better to read in sequence, and it helps if you've also read Chasm City (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...). This is a long treasure hunt for super weapons, conducted by two competing factions (though both have the same intention), with a life-or-death deadline. Although that is true, it does it an injustice because there is far more complexity and intrigue than that implies. Reynolds has really

Caveat: this is not really a review, but rather a plaintive cry and is based on having read the previous book set in this universe in full (Revelation Space), an abortive attempt to read the non-series Reynolds book House of Suns, and finally the book in question up to page 236 (out of 694!)…hence no star rating.Why won’t you let me love you Alastair Reynolds? I *need* some high quality space opera, preferably with various factions of humanity living on planets, in orbital habitats, and on space...

Better and even darker than the previous one. And so realistic written that it gives you shivers. The action may take place in 27th century but the time scale references spans over 3 billion years. There are concepts which are simply too big to comprehend:"The grand story of life in the Milky Way - across the entire local group - might just be one thread in something humblingly vast."Can't wait to see how it will end...PS: and here you have Nostalgia for Infinity (isn't she beautiful?) :)

This is a very frustrating book to evaluate. There is a *great* 400 page novel sitting inside this flabby 700 page slug. Reynolds has a great imagination and is extremely thoughtful. This is fantastic hard sci-fi told on an epic scale. Well, almost hard sci-fi, he flirts (needlessly) with breaking the laws of physics, but for the most part we're sitting square in the "real world" here. He does an excellent job of thinking about the *consequences* of his technologies and the way they would shape

Revelation Space was the first Reynolds book I read, I imagine it is the starting point for most Reynolds readers as it is his best known and breakthrough book. While I quite like some of Revelation Space I was not exactly won over by it. I found some of it quite hard to follow and the pace flagged from time to time. However, I understood and liked enough of it to try another Reynolds book. Happily that turned out to be House of Suns, a book now firmly ensconced in my SF Top 20 bookshelf, it is

I usually judge science fiction novels by the new ideas, technologies and concepts that are depicted. But this story just has too many. It felt to me that just about "anything goes". People are capable of just about anything, so there seem to be no limits.In this story, people's memories can be erased, or transferred to an inanimate object. "True death" occurs when someone dies without their minds being transferred into storage. Weapons are conscious, and sometimes require reasoning with, before...

If you're into stuff like this, you can read the full review.Religion-in-SF: "Redemption Ark" by Alastair ReynoldsThe threat of the inhibitors reappears with all its danger in “Redemption Ark”, leading to the total extinction of humanity as it happened in the remote past with the rest of the intelligent cultures that tried to spread across the galaxy. The weapons contained in “Nostalgia for infinity", the ship of the ultras that already appeared in “Revelation Space”, continues to orbit the plan...

The human race has finally ended up triggering the release of the Inhibitors on them: ancient killing machines designed to kill any developed-enough intelligent life. The only hope lies in recovering a secret cache of Conjoiner doomsday weapons – and many want to find it, for different purposes, including a renegade named Nevil Clavain. And the weapons themselves have their own agenda…Once again, here might be spoilers for other books included… I think one might benefit or enjoy the book more if...

The plague ship Nostalgia for Infinity is back. 4 kilometres of machine melded into a cathedral of the grotesque that is part spaceship, part alien virus, part man, more than a bit creepy and 100% Awesome.Nuff said...but wait, there's moreAs if taking the concept of cyborg to the extreme isn't enough, Nostalgia for Infinity comes packing heat. Hell-class weapons. And they aren't call hell-class for nothing - each of them capable of unleashing Armageddon with a thought. And is the mind behind tha...

Redemption Ark: Promising ideas ruined by excessive page-countOriginally posted at Fantasy LiteratureRedemption Ark (2002) is the follow-up to Revelation Space, Alastair Reynolds’ debut novel and the second book in his REVELATION SPACE series of hard SF space opera in which highly-augmented human factions encounter implacable killer machines bent on exterminating sentient life. The first entry had elements of Bruce Sterling’s Schismatrix, Frank Herbert’s Dune, Arthur C. Clarke’s 2001: A Space Od...

Redemption Ark is a much-improved sequel to Revelation Space, addressing many of the aspects I had issues with the first novel while maintaining all the qualities that I enjoyed. It deals with a lot of fascinating scientific concepts and ideas, and these were once again my favourite parts of the book. “It’s the people who don’t worry—those who never have any doubts that what they’re doing is good and right—they’re the ones that cause the problems.” Character motivations and actions were someth...

Alastair Reynolds's sequel to "Revelation Space" and "Chasm City", "Redemption Ark" takes the reader into the far far future, where mankind has inadvertently awakened an ancient race of machines called Inhibitors, whose job it is to literally "inhibit" the evolution of any species before they become too technologically advanced. Mankind doesn't have a chance against the Inhibitors, who can destroy moons, planets, and stars, which leaves only one alternative for mankind: get the hell out of the g...

In Redemption Ark, we return to the universe of Revelation Space in the second book of Alastair Reynolds' science fiction series. Some of the characters readers will recognize, others are new. As usual, we are treated to Reynolds' prodigious talent when it comes to heaping helpings of the science part of science fiction.Those are the best parts of this book: the futuristic space battles and the mysterious machinations of the Inhibitors, machines designed by an alien intelligence to wipe out civi...

Trying to break free from potential extinction by quarreling about the right use of alternative, time travel induced, defense options.The philosophical implications of what good leadership could look like are immense. Would it be right to limit the civil liberties of some groups to avoid disadvantages for all the others in the long term? That´s seen as followed:(view spoiler)[The Inhibitors are killing anything too intelligent with expansionary mentalities that could form larger empires and cont...

i'm just going to copy and paste this from a group, because i'm lazy that way. okay maybe i'll edit it a little bit too. for kicks.it was a good book overall, and i enjoyed it as much as its predecessor. lots of great concepts to digest and i'm still digging the basic idea behind the enemy threat of the Inhibitors. i also really liked reading about the Conjoiners, but then i'm a sucker for anything having to do with melding minds etc.Reynolds still has his primary weakness: characterization. in

The characters felt so much better in this one than in Revelation Space. That should lend the story more urgency (since the characters are trying to avert disaster, because they obviously care about people and humanity...), but gosh this is long. I love the plot, I love the tech, I love all the things about the worldbuilding, but I had to take a star off for how bloated this began to feel. At 80% I was still waiting for that convergence of all the plotlines that happened about 50% through Revela...

this is my second Alastair Reynolds novel and the second of the trilogy. I am blown away by the level of realism, depth, and structure of this series. Throw in some incredible characterizations and you have a premium sci-fi series. It also does not hurt the science when the author is a rocket scientist. There are strong protagonists here that make you believe in them. The antagonist is your typical science fiction type of "Grey Goo", mass of tiny robots that are threatening life as we know it. E...

Redemption Ark is a fantastic sequel that begins where Revelation Space left off. In addition to characters carried forward from the original, we have some new recruits:Alistair Reynolds raised the bar in all respects with this sequel. Very much adheres to "The Al Reynolds Formula," in that it's a well-written mix of sci-fi, horror, suspense, and mystery. Redemption Ark is in the same setting as many stories from "Beyond The Aquila Rift," which I had fun referencing. In terms of readability, it