Chasm City (Revelation Space Book 2)

Chasm City is the main city of the planet Yellowstone, which orbits Epsilon Eridani. Some 7 years prior to the action of the book, Yellowstone and its orbital habitats were devastated by the Melding Plague, which destroyed the nanomachines upon which much of the high-tech infrastructure depended, and which effected horrible alterations in anything (and anyone) dependent on that sort of technology.
The central thread of the this novel is brutally simple: Tanner Mirabel comes to Yellowstone from Sky's Edge looking to kill Argent Reivich, who had killed the woman Tanner loved. However, that's just the skeleton on which a more complex plot is hung. The story unfolds in three threads, all nominally from Tanner's point of view. The first thread takes place over a rather short period in Chasm City as Tanner looks for Reivich, in the process learning a lot about the curious nature of the decayed city -- especially the conflicts between the "Mulch" (lower class) and the Canopy (where the aristocrats hang out). Tanner becomes involved in a dangerous "Game," in which bored Canopy residents kidnap people from the Mulch and hunt them to their death. He also hears of the illicit trade in "Dream Fuel," which seems to give users immunity from the Melding Plague.
Another thread tells, in flashbacks, of Tanner's association with the arms dealer Cahuella back on Sky's Edge, and Cahuella's wife Gitta (with whom he falls in love), and Reivich's attempt on Cahuella's life (in revenge for Cahuella supplying the weapons that killed Reivich's family), which led to Gitta's death. Finally, Tanner has apparently been infected with an "indoctrination virus," which implants memories of Sky Haussmann, the sometimes revered, sometimes hated, last Captain of the first ship to reach Sky's Edge. As those memories return to Tanner, at first in dreams, later more insistently, he learns a somewhat different, much stranger, story of the journey of the colonizing generation starships from Earth to 61 Cygni.
As the reader expects, these threads converge, leading to revelations about Tanner's past, the truth about Sky Haussmann, the real nature of the Yellowstone colony, the place of humans in the universe, and the emptiness of the revenge motive. To a pretty impressive extent, Reynolds manages to deliver on some of the rather large implicit promises he has made the reader: for one, these threads dovetail pretty well; for another, some of the big revelations are pretty neat. On the other hand, the whole revenge motif seems forced from the beginning, and the resolution to that aspect, while twisty enough to be interesting, doesn't quite convince.
This novel is full of neat SFnal ideas, not necessarily brilliantly new, but very well-realized: the generation ships (treated rather differently than usual in SF), some genetic technology, some alien ecosystem stuff, even a hint of a communication system reminiscent of the Dirac Communicator in James Blish's "Beep." It sets up expectations for a pretty spectacular closing revelation, tying together the three threads, and as I've said, it pretty much delivers on those expectations. The resolution had elements that I expected, and which were nicely foreshadowed, plus elements that were a great surprise, but which still worked for me. Thus, I'd say, that in terms of large-scale plot and setting, the book works very well. The novel's faults, then, lie in some small-scale plot elements, and characterization.
The plot, particularly Tanner's attempts to find Reivich, depends on a lot of implausible coincidence and luck, super-powerful characters who still don't kill their rivals when reasonably they should, and secret organizations suddenly being penetrated by little more than brandishing a gun in the face of underlings. More tellingly, the characters are a bit under-motivated, and they are pretty much all evil and violent, but not really presented in such a way. More than several times, we are told that such and such a character, single-mindedly bent on killing several other characters, is really not bad and is justified in so doing. This seems to represent an awfully cynical view of humanity: everyone is purely out for number one, and is pretty much ready to kill anyone in their way.
On balance, this is a pretty impressive book. The faults are the faults of much SF, especially hard SF, and the virtues are the virtues of the same sort of SF. It doesn't, then, transcend its subgenre at all, although it does do very well within those boundaries. And for a long book, it reads smoothly enough, and keeps the interest. It's another step towards what could become a very significant 21st century hard SF career.

There are writers who are good at writing but lousy on the science: they write average books. There are writers who are superb at the science but not very good at the writing: they write average books. This one falls in the latter category. Reynolds is indeed extremely good at the science, but he does not add enough of it into this book to sustain his few moments of brilliant thought. The book will end up being forgettable and exert little influence on the genre itself. In the end, it will be derivative of Revelation Space and interesting only to fans that read and enjoyed that work.

WHY YOU SHOULD READ THIS:

If you were very intrigued by Revelation Space and want to hear more about Sky's Edge, Yellowstone, and some the effects of the melding plague, then you will be delighted by this book and should not pass it up. Other readers who deeply enjoy mystery novels and would like to read one done passably well that is set in space will enjoy this book as well.

WHY YOU SHOULD PASS:

While the novel can be read independently, it should not be. If you haven't read Revelation Space first, then you should probably pass. For those of you who were not terribly interested in the science of Reynolds' earlier novel and were irritated by the lack of characterization, you will find some advancement in Chasm City, but not enough to warrant you picking up and reading this book. This sort of book has been done and done better by other authors.

READ THE ENTIRE REVIEW AT INCHOATUS.COM

I like Alastair Reynolds, but this book was a confused mess, wayyy too long, and boring. So far the first two Revelation Space books are the weakest of his I've read. I much preferred House of Suns, Pushing Tin, and The Prefect.

Plot Summary: Tanner Mirabel is trying to avenge his former boss and his wife by hunting down and killing Argent Reivich. The story starts on Sky's Edge and the chase goes to Chasm City, the largest and most prosperous city in the largest and most prosperous colony world of Yellowstone. What is unexpected is that the city has been hit by a mysterious 'Melding Plague' that has deformed all the machinery and buildings in the city, including implants and the people who had them. The chase brings Mirabel through the new social structures of the city, the Mulch and the Canopy, both dangerous to newcomers. Interweaving this chase are flashbacks to Mirabel's former job protecting Cahuella and Gitta on Sky's edge as well as some disturbing dreams from a virus that force him to see the memories of Sky Haussmann, the crucified founder of the first colony on Sky's Edge.

Opinion: I liked it. The interweaving stories come together by the end of the book in a way that is possibly predictable because it is telegraphed. I don't think that this deterred from the story though because while the main gist is foreshadowed, the specifics are well concluded. Tanner is an interesting character as is Sky. In fact I was very interested in Sky's story and was not dissappointed. This is a prequel to the Revelation Space trilogy and is really just a story set in the same universe. There was only a tangential connection to Reynolds' series and that was the origins of the Shadowplay game and the founding of Sky's Edge. The overall flow of the story was better than Revelation Space. It was more on par with Redemption Ark in the way the 3 pronged plot came together. There was plenty of action throughout which meshed well with plot advancement and dialog and such. I thought the book was well paced overall. Unlike a few of the other reviews I have seen, I didn't have a problem with any of the characters. There were some humorous moments in this book as well and that is always a good thing.

Recommendation: I would recommend this to any fans of Reynolds. It is set in his Revelation Space universe so especially if you enjoy that series. It is really a companion book and not a proper sequel or prequel. In fact, if you have not read any of Reynolds books, this would be a good introduction because it can stand alone and is comparable in pacing and writing style to his series. I liked the story and would rate it 4 out of 5 stars.

I have definitely discovered Alistair Reynolds (a former professional astronomer) as a great SF writer. And this book takes the biscuit - absolutely amazing. Reynolds' gift is to lead us slowly and logically into a place which is surreal almost beyond imagination - as in "I know this is absolutely looney but I know exactly how I got here!". Chasm City is even more intense for being a single volume story including many concepts parallel to "revelation space" which took 3 books to explain.

With his second novel Reynolds shows us that he is capable of creating a realistic and diverse multi-planet society -- something that has always been rare. Chasm City is set in the same imaginary future as Revelation Space and his Conjoiner stories, but is highly unique. Reynold's has displayed an ability for recognizing that all societies are complex and diverse, and that societies that have larger populations, cover more territory, and have tougher barriers between different sections must be more so. So, Chasm City is an entirely different type of story that Revelation Space was, and can easily be read by itself. Whereas Revelation Space mixed archaelogical fiction, space opera, and technological science fiction Chasm City is an effective blend of space opera and detective story (with some odder elements also thrown in).
Reynolds is able to tell a primary story while also using flashbacks and dreams that may or may not be actual memories in a way that does not impede the progression of the plot. One detractor to the story's progression is that there is simply one too many surprises. Although every surprise and plot twist Reynold's used was crucial to the story, the book would be significantly better if he had found a way to work without some of them. Perhaps the difficulty was simply that the last surprise came too close to the end to be as shocking as it was significant; in the future Reynolds may want to make some of these revelations more gradual and subtle.
Chasm City is definitely the best SF novel of the year so far, and is a definite Hugo candidate. Alastair Reynolds is proving to be one of the freshest authors to come into SF in the last decade, as well as an ability to master contemporary space opera. The SF community in particular, and the literature community in general are better off for having published his work.

Chasm City is a dangerous place, infected with The Melding Plague that destroys techno-organic implants and augmentation.

The failed mercenary Tanner Mirabel arrives here after a long space voyage, and the death of his previous charges.

Mirabel is following the man that killed his wife and his charge, and is after revenge. He has to work his way up through the society of the City. He comes to the attention of the rich and long lived and ends up working there, further complicating things. They like to play bizarre games to try and relieve their ennui.

On his long voyage he had been infected with a bizarre type of religious memory virus about the founder of the planet Skys Edge, his original home. This causes Mirabel to question what is going on, and his own memory, to finally get to the heart of the mystery.

After reading Revelation Space, Reynolds' first novel, I was hoping to enjoy Chasm City just as much. In fact, I tried - really, really hard - to enjoy this book more than I did. But if I'm honest, it fell far short of my expectations.
As in Revelation Space, Reynolds interweaves multiple storylines in this book, each of them occurring in a different time frame. However, he doesn't handle them nearly as deftly as he did in his first novel, making Chasm City a rather uneven read. I agree with the other reviewers who felt that the Sky Hausmann storyline is the best part of the book. By contrast, the Chasm City storyline, which is ostensibly the main plotline of this novel, is very shaky. The characters behave unbelievably, the environment (Chasm City itself) is not nearly as interesting as it could have been, and the author ruins most of the plot twists by dropping numerous obvious hints along the way. In the end, I couldn't even forgive Tanner Mirabel his erratic behavior, even though Reynolds tries to justify it through one of his plot twists.
Don't get me wrong - this is not a terrible book. In fact, parts of it are great. In addition to the Sky Hausmann story, I thought that the first couple of chapters with Tanner Mirabel were riveting. It's just that the novel as a whole does not live up to this auspicious beginning.
So, while I can't enthusiastically recommend this book, I can make a qualified recommendation: If you loved Revelation Space and want to experience a different part of that universe, consider Chasm City. Just don't set your expecatations too high.

First things first: Chasm City is NOT Revelation Space number two, unless the information on Alastair Reynolds' personal website is wrong. That seems unlikely. Chasm City is stand-alone and can be read at any time. You'll hear various opinions, but I can only speak to one of them -- Chasm City is my second Reynolds, after Revelation Space, and I enjoyed reading City with the context Space gave me. I'm very much looking forward to the next book in the series.

Not that Chasm City is perfect, and in fact it is, overall, not as well-written as Revelation Space. Very little occurred in Revelation Space that didn't make sense, that didn't seem well-founded in the various agendas and quirks of each of the characters. It all fit very well together.

On the other hand, City feels a bit rushed in parts, more telling than showing, some of the dialogue clunky and unbelievable and quite naive for such street-wise characters, and some parts, especially toward the end game, after a shot down a long tube in particular, seemed far too easy for the protagonist to accomplish, and too anti-climactic to be believable.

Regarding the dialogue in particular, I absolutely do not like it when characters that barely know each other start addressing one another on a first-name basis. Such premature familiarity is cringe-inducing. I'm unhappy to report that, a few dozen pages into Redemption Ark, I've encountered it yet again. Alastair, if you're reading, Clevain should NOT be addressing Antoinette as Bax -- even as he's trying to help her. These people aren't friends.

But Mr. Reynolds, YOU can call me Michael, not that such conventions wouldn't seem out of place in hard science fiction. But as a professional writer, is it really that hard to develop a feel for when it's appropriate for two characters to address each other withs such familiarity?

Back to City:

It all became a little Scooby-Doo-ish, with the "you stay here/no I'm coming with you/no you're not/yes I am." Part of me thinks Chasm City, published second, yet feels more rough, might have been written before Revelation Space.

I would have liked to learn more about the mysteries as well, and I would have liked one detail in particular to be wrapped up -- which is explained away, unsatisfactorily, in the novel's closing pages.

The novel accomplishes some clever stuff -- not the least of which is a charmingly noirish and dark, engaging and often page-turning story. I also enjoyed the shifting perspectives. While too abrupt at times, the shifts in time/place/character worked to keep me very much engaged. In many novels I often find these shifts expose one tedious, less engaging perspective that I typically dread to read through -- not so here.

Overall, City is probably a 3.5 that I'm rounding up to a 4. Space was a solid 4. This is an intelligent, well-written, dark and compelling space opera detective story. Tanner Mirabel is your Sam Spade. Think Blade Runner.

Recommended!

Since the other reviews have already said what this book is, I'll tell you what it isn't. This is not a follow-up or a sequel to Revelation Space, but in fact a standalone story with totally different characters set in a time just before the main events of Revelation Space. It is not a prequel though, but this story serves to flesh out the worlds of Yellowstone and Sky's Edge, which were hardly touched upon before, in great detail going back to the war-torn history of Sky's Edge and the events that twisted Chasm City into it's current form.
This story follows one man from his perspective, although it appears to drift at times into the memories of others who may or may not be the same person. The characters are very well done and feature depth, although not as much is revealed about the supporting characters in thos story as we don't get to often see from their point of view.
While this story does not feature any of the characters from Revelation Space (although I do believe that the unnamed woman Tanner speaks to at the end is Anna Khouri), a few familiar names are mentioned at times, mainly those of the Sylveste family. I would recommend reading Revelation Space first however, as a few mysteries are somewhat solved in this book that could dampen the effect of those in the first book.
I thank Reynolds again for his second masterpiece, although I will not be truly satiated until we get a sequel to Revelation Space.

I liked this book much better than I liked Revelation Space: the story is tighter, less convoluted, and less cluttered with subplots.

Here we follow one person, Tanner, and one plotline, even though fhis lashbacks and hallucinations give us hints of events in the past. I think that Mr Reynolds pulls that off pretty well, albeit barely. It could be a very cumbersome story, but it flows quite well. Only the cause of the machine plague does not ring believable, and could be better incorporated into the story: for example as a failed weapon against the grub-eaters. The story did hold my full attention to the end. Reynolds tries to emulate Ian Banks in this story, but does not quite make it. However, even a near success is a success when you compare with Banks Culture stories.

The degenerate society of Chasm City upper levels and the calculated evil of Hausmann are, in my opinion, very well developed.

Alastair Reynolds' sophmore effort disappointingly doesn't come close to Revelation Space. The first 40 pages are fantastic, gripping the reader and pulling him in, but the book declines soon after and never quite recovers. The dialogue is especially juvenile and grating in places, almost unbelievably so after such a strong opening. Reynolds is prone to Bronte-esque turns of plot contrivance, my one complaint with Revelation Space, but Chasm City takes it to new levels, with lots of dangling incongruities. The back stories are far more interesting than the main sequence and could have served a different kind of novel in their own right. As it stands, the novel reads like 2 or 3 patched together to make a longer book to satisfy the publisher. Finally, the book has little to offer above modern SF cliches -- space elevators and orbitals -- the building and stigmata viri being the two welcome exceptions. Having said all that, the book is good for a laugh in a B-movie kind of way. I'd place it on par with the last two books in Hamilton's Night's Dawn trilogy -- worth a read for serious sci-fi heads only.

In the twenty-sixth century, mankind may have conquered the stars and found the secret to immortality but it hasn't been able to eliminate war. Since humanity colonized Sky's Edge there has always been war and arm merchants like Cahuella, who sell munitions to both sides have become rich men. Tanner Mirabel, former soldier and mercenary, is now a security consultant to Cahuella. When an ambush in the jungle kills his employer's wife, Tanner vows to avenge their death.

He knows the man who was behind the killing is a rich aristocrat whose family was killed by ammunition Cahuella sold to the enemy. Tanner's search leads him across the galaxy to CHASM CITY on the planet Yellowstone, a place decimated by the nano-technological Melding Plague that changed the political and social structure of that world. In the course of hunting down his prey, Tanner has many life-threatening adventures and discovers things about himself that are extremely shocking to him.

CHASM CITY is a space opera at its fantastic best. The story line is so intriguing that the audience will want to read all 528 pages in one sitting. Tanner, the flawed anti-hero, is likable despite the fact that when he gets into mercenary mode, he has no compunction about killing people. If this novel is any indication of his talent, Alastair Reynolds will attain the skies of Robert Heinlein and Andre Norton.

Harriet Klausner

If you like a book that traverses the dark recesses of the human soul then you will like "Chasm City". That said, despite me being a fan of the "dark" aesthetic I found parts of this book to be too much so to the point where it ruined my mood, especially the parts that imply the long-term sadistic, heartless torture of someone. I won't be continuing reading this series mainly because of this; it's too grim and leaves the heart hollow. Another con is that the written language was too coarse for my taste for a sci-fi novel--like something you might find in a popular action bestseller. I found "Revelation Space" to be superior.

Despite that, as always, Reynolds comes up with some very creative sci-fi ideas, and he writes gripping action scenes.

The stars I give are a result of a critical assessment, rather than a purely personal one.

Good story and all, but the the character-to-character meetings in the plot becomes tedious. I don't know how to explain it, but new characters just pop into new scenes again and again. The meeting of these new characters is the tedious part because of the frequency and predictablity. Some aren't even dredged up later in the book, as usually happens in Revelation Space. If the cast could be improved, then the book would get a solid 4 stars because the exploration of Chasm City itself is immense and captivating. A smathering of interesting ideas, an OK ending... not up to par along with the Revelation Space series.

Chasm City, and the Revelation Space books, bring to life a universe, that is as rich, dark, and weird as the early Greg Bear novels. If you like your science fiction hard and fast, with rich characters, these books are for you. Reynolds somehow brings the tremendously long distances and time spans between stars up to the speed of heat in his "lighthuggers" (relativistic starships) in Revelation Space, and describes a culture that had great wealth in technology, and lost it in Chasm City. So, go find yourself an intelligent weapon of planetary destruction in your lighthugger weapons bay, get your mods implants, and get ready for some kick-ass gunnery training. Sci-Fi doesn't get much better than this.

I enjoyed reading Revelation Space all the way through until the end. I felt the climax didn't sufficiently bring the story lines together. But this review is for Chasm City!

One major difference is the book being written in 1st person. The sub plots aren't as tangential in this book and they are brought together nicely at the end. At the same time I found the ancient historical sub plot about Haussman more interesting than the main story line. Over all I liked the book better than the first and will be starting in on Redemption Ark soon.

Alastair reynolds first book, Revelation Space is also quite good. Continuing to write in the same continuity but about different characters (and on his way to fleshing out a compelling, living universe), Chasm City is really cool. It's about a settled planet where the civilization's extensive use of medical and mechanical nanotechnology goes bad when a virus called the Melding Plague corrupts both building and through the medical nanos, people. A lot of umm political/class inequality stuff in here, a lot of cool scientific considerations handled quite well, and a good read. If you like hard SciFi (ie Benford, Brin, Egan) you'll like this. I'm not sure if I like it as much as Revelation Space, but they're books with different intent. I hope he keeps at it, and am waiting for free time to start reading the sequel to Revelation Space, Redemption Ark. Recommended.

Any fans of Reynolds series will enjoy a chance to get a book-length visit to Chasm City, the exotic center of human culture in his Revelation Space series. They'll also be glad to get some of the backstory for the events that occur in other books. There's also a lot here for newcomers, too, as the sequence of plot twists and revelations keeps the pages turning.

There are, however, numerous flaws in this book. Although most of the details fit together, there are a few plot inconsistencies. The characters are, on occasion a bit unrealistically dense, and you'll probably figure out a few of the plot developments before they do. The characterizations are a bit more cardboardy than is typical for Reynolds, and there's little effort to explain motivations for major changes in their allegiance. Finally, once the mystery is solved and the central conflict resolved, the book sort of peters out.

At the end, I recommend this book because the plot hums along nicely, and my desire to know what was going to happen next kept me engaged. But don't expect to care about the characters.

Truthfully, I was only reading this one for completeness after finishing the RS trilogy. I never expected to like some sort of "cloak and dagger" story set on another planet. But this was surprisingly an engaging, good read. It sheds some light on this universe that I wish I had when I began Revelation Space, and for this reason I might recommend starting with Chasm City before the trilogy.
One problem I have with Reynolds is that sometimes a character is just too diabolical and has too many layers of twisted flaws. This is one thing that pushes past the usual realism you feel in his stories.

Revelation Space was Alastair Reynolds's first novel and this one, Chasm City, is his second. Both novels are set in the same universe. However, most reviewers somehow create the impression that Chasm City is a sequel to Revelation Space. Only two reviews I have read of all the available reviews at the time I write this actually explicitly or implicity mention that the story in this novel, Chasm City, pre-dates the story in the first novel, Revelation Space.

I agree with one of those reviewers that the person interviewed by Tanner Maribel in the epilogue of this book might very well be Ana Khouri. The facts we have been given in the these two novels support this:

In this novel, Chasm City, shortly after Tanner Maribel has met Chanterelle Sammartini, she tells him that she was born in 2339 and that she is 178 years old. This means that during the few days that the main story takes place, the year is either 2517 or 2518 (which, by the way, also shows that the main story in Chasm City pre-dates the main story of Revelation Space, since Revelation Space starts its main story in 2551). In the epilogue, we learn that Tanner Maribel has been in Chasm City for 6 years when he interviews the unnamed woman. This makes the year in which that took place either 2523 or 2524. In Revelation Space, we learn that Ana Khouri was (1) offered her job by Tanner Maribel, and that (2) it happened in 2524.

In the epilogue of Chasm City, we also learn that the unnamed woman is from Sky's Edge, and in Revelation Space we learn that Ana Khouri is from Sky's Edge.

Comparing Chasm City to Revelation Space, there is no character that plays a main role in both novels. Some of the main characters of Chasm City are mentioned briefly in Revelation Space and vice versa. And all the events that are mentioned in both novels are mentioned in such a way that these two novels can be read in any order.

However, despite the fact that Chasm City was written after Revelation Space, I recommend reading Chasm City BEFORE Revelation Space for two reasons: (1) The main events in Chasm City take place before the main events in Revelation Space. (2) Chasm City is a standalone novel, while Revelation Space is the first part of a trilogy (parts 2 and 3 are Redemption Ark and Absolution Gap, respectively). So it makes more sense to me to read Chasm City first, instead of having it interrupt reading the trilogy.

The only argument I have against reading Chasm City first is a subjective one: I liked Chasm City better than Revelation Space, so if I had read Chasm City before Revelation Space, the latter would have disappointed me a little.

I thoroughly enjoyed Revelation Space and was excited when this book, set in the same universe, came out. The book started out incredibly slow. I understand that it takes time to set up the plot, but come on. If it wasn't for the fact that I loved his first book I might have stopped reading this one after the first 200 pages. I was beginning to wonder if Mr. Reynolds was going to be a one hit wonder. Well the final 200 pages made up for the first 200. The action/plot moved much quicker which made for easy reading. I stayed up late to finish the last 50 pages, which the sign of a good ending. I gave this book 3 stars and the strong finish will probably convince me to read the next offering in this series. RFM

Gets increasingly weird as you proceed. The last quarter of the book could be described as "wacky," but the majorly weird twists are pretty telegraphed ahead of time. Very enjoyable setting and characters. Reynolds' "sci-fi noir" schtick plays out really beautifully in this story.

Like many of the reviewers, I really enjoyed Revelation Space and wanted to like this book a lot more than I ultimately did.

The problem was that the story does not really hold together well. The interesting details and backstory keep you reading, but I found that in the end I had rather forgotten what it was actually about and didn't have the sense that it held together very well at all.

Reynolds remains a talented and interesting writer, and this will not dissuade me from reading another of his books, but I certainly wouldn't *begin* here if I had not read Revelation Space yet.

Well, after being impressed with Revelation Space, and the even better Pushing Ice, it seemed like Alastair Reynolds could do no wrong. But having read Chasm City - to get a better sense of the Revelation Space universe before tackling the sequels - I have to say I was disappointed.

Like others have said, the interstellar flotilla plot works well, and is the strong point of the book. In fact, it is on par with Reynold's best work. But the Chasm City bits take us out of the realm of hard science fiction into a more pulp science fiction setting: a chase through a slum, a marketplace, and the rarefied heights of the elite class community with comic-book characters aplenty. I kept thinking of the Schwarzenegger movie "Total Recall", with a bit of "Running Man" thrown in - that's how bad it was. The cardinal SF sin is to throw advanced technologies into a story without updating the social, political and economic setting that would also inevitably ensue. Here, this results in a flat storyline that could just have well have been set in any Third World metropolis in our era.

I recommend skipping this one and reading the aforementioned books. I also liked "The Prefect" better - like Chasm City it is set in the RS universe, but before the Yellowstone plague. I lso enjoyed "House of Suns". In fact Chasm City is the 1st AR book I didn't like - not a bad batting average.

Well, after being impressed with Revelation Space, and the even better Pushing Ice, it seemed like Alastair Reynolds could do no wrong. But having read Chasm City - to get a better sense of the Revelation Space universe before tackling the sequels - I have to say I was disappointed.

Like others have said, the interstellar flotilla plot works well, and is the strong point of the book. In fact, it is on par with Reynold's best work. But the Chasm City bits take us out of the realm of hard science fiction into a more pulp science fiction setting: a chase through a slum, a marketplace, and the rarefied heights of the elite class community with comic-book characters aplenty. I kept thinking of the Schwarzenegger movie "Total Recall", with a bit of "Running Man" thrown in - that's how bad it was. The cardinal SF sin is to throw advanced technologies into a story without updating the social, political and economic setting that would also inevitably ensue. Here, this results in a flat storyline that could just have well have been set in any Third World metropolis in our era.

I recommend skipping this one and reading the aforementioned books. I also liked "The Prefect" better - like Chasm City it is set in the RS universe, but before the Yellowstone plague. I lso enjoyed "House of Suns". In fact Chasm City is the 1st AR book I didn't like - not a bad batting average.

Reynolds truly is a master of his art. This novel in one of the most beautifully written I have ever experienced. He ties characters together (literally in this case) with seamless ease and paints a beautiful description of the dark noir setting of the revelation space universe.

If you want action, realism, twists of fate, and unknown endings, come and worship in this man's temple. The entire book makes the thin and sparse books out there seem like ants. After the first three chapters, you are left completely in the dark with the ,often wrong, match of assumption to guide you.

Sky? tanner? who? crazy people? zebra? sky's edge? Things flash before your eyes, and you sit going: huh? Until the riviting conclusion in which you realise that everything you beleived was gone. And in place, comes the final truth. I was shaken up by ...(gives evil glare) find out. ^_~ *
sci-fi has reached a new beginning. This man has a unwasted talent. Thank god he is using it correctly.
Raven~

I catalog thousands of fiction titles every year, but I don't read SF, so it was only by chance that I picked up this book and started reading it. What a stunning book; it almost turned me into a fan of SF, but alas, after sampling a few other contemporary SF titles, I have come to the realization that this book may be unique. Even Mr. Reynolds's other titles don't compare.

I found this a somewhat more accessible book than Revelation Space. The focus is less on redemption and more on survival, with an intriguing backstory, exciting action, and a fascinating cast of characters. Despite some comments by other reviewers that they found the climax a confusing letdown, I thought it was actually well-conceived, well-plotted, and well-written. I won't spoil the surprise though...

Thank you, Alastair, for an exciting voyage with original ideas. As a novelist of Christian adventure fiction, I was often on the edge of my seat, cheering for Tanner Mirabel. I loved your POV presentations, being drawn into each one, as all three came together for a galactic climax! It was an inspiring journey through space. Keep up the great work!

This book has everything I am looking for in science fiction - interesting setting, three-dimensional characters (although most of them were not fully developed, but the main one was really well done), lack of ridiculous scientific concepts -it is obvious the author knows what he is writing about, a complex plot that makes the books very hard to put down, some interesting ideas. The only downside was the ending but nevertheless the book deserves a lot of praise.

I read Revelation Space, the author's first book, and although it was interesting, it seemed to take for ever to read, and when it was finished, I wasn't at all sure what I had read. This new book is easier to read and moves along much better, but still jumps around too much between different characters. I though it was billed as a sequel, but it actually has pratically nothing similar to the first book. I think this writer will eventually make the grade, but not yet.

The story unfolds with both patience and appropriate pacing to keep me engaged. The feel of the book is different from Revelation Space, and still fits nicely into the same larger background plot developments. You will want to be in the mood for a slightly gritty, first person narrative with a focus on character development.

Chasm City embodies the stereotypes most people have about space opera to an almost embarrassing degree. There are Big Sweeping Vistas and Millenia-Old MacGuffins; there's also an entire cast of characters crafted from the finest cardboard. Every one of them, including the main character, behaves like a James Bond villain. This makes it really rather difficult to give a damn what happens to them, so in the end this was a chore to finish.

This novel has the 'tech noir' flavor of William Gibson's "Neuromancer". The plot is compelling and the prose is sturdy enough to keep you interested until the very end. Yes, the denoument is telegraphed, but it doesn't matter. The story is worthwhile and the pacing is wonderful. Buy it.

Reynolds is a writer to watch, his reputation and novels are fast joining the ranks of classic Baxter, Clarke, Brin, and Benford, but wildly original. A wholly new and exciting voice in SF. Gary S. Potter Author/Poet

I really enjoyed Revelation Space and was excited to start this one but as the story progressed I found myself less and less interested in the plot and less and less convinced by the main character.

The ideas were intriguing enough to get me to finish the book, but just barely.

books like contact make sense to me. but this book. it made no sense to me. i can point out a couple:

1.) no structure of the society it describes made sense. the only things in detail which made sense are genetic body change and boredom with long life (and honestly that still made less sense to me, why people would not spend time to learn more, that's what i would expect someone with long life would do, and long life come with no retirement age, you do have to earn a living you as long as you live)
2.)why sky wants to be good now. and why he became bad. made no sense at all.
3) the magot, its behaviour made no sense,

this is hardly a SF, it is more like a thriller. with bad science plot or imagination.

would not recommend it.