I don’t want to get into spoilers, and talk about who shows up, or what, or where, beyond what I’ve already mentioned, but it was fantastic the universe Reynolds has created and invites us back into over and over. From the crumbling remains of Chasm City to the oceans of the Pattern Jugglers to a far distant planet that may hold the key to a weapon against the wolves, the journey is both epic, and intimately personal. Reynolds delivers a sprawling tale that never loses its human touch, we’re always reminded of the cost of the adventure Miguel finds himself on, and what he loses of himself along the way. When he recovers a woman from a ship that has entered the system, she blackmails him and launches him on a journey that he is not prepared for. We join Miguel and his family on a remote, unwelcoming world, where a small cluster of humanity is hiding from the Inhibtors, also known as wolves, who have pushed us back into caves, wiping us out wherever they find us, detecting our technology, and destroying us. And I loved that, you simply buckle in for Reynolds’ tale, and let him weave the story around you. This one took me to a lot of fun places, and it pleasantly surprised me, because the blurb on the back of the book, the tease, or hook, if you will, didn’t venture past anything that happened in the first fifty odd pages.

The novel, though well able to stand on its own, is best enjoyed in the company of the other Revelation Space novels because you recognize places, names, and begin to see how everything all ties together. And once again, he proves himself not only a solid storyteller, but able to constantly meld high space opera with hard-edged sci-fi. Orbit Books was kind enough to invite me back to Revelation Space with Alastair Reynolds’ latest novel set in that far flung universe.

Alastair reynolds inhibitor series