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Posted By: Hyperion Jan 16, 2003 - 10:42 am

Hey all
That excelant space opera author has done it again with a new book in his Revelation Universe series.
The book titled :- Diamond Dogs - Turquoise Days, is out now and has great reviews.
I bought it today so will place my own personal review of it towards the end of the weekend, but I am really looking forward to it as all the other Revelation Universe books have been great reads full of Nano tech Viruses that warp buildings, dare devil thrill seekers, ancient races and superior technology hunts, to people who attach robotic arms to themselves and have huge holes in there stomachs purely for cosmetic reasons heheh.
His world is truly amazing.
Regards
Hyperion

Posted By: Hyperion Jan 19, 2003 - 05:30 am

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**Warning - slight spoiler*********************
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Hello all
Well to say the little Novella was a treat to read is an understatement lol.
The shear scope of technological marvel and detail that Reynolds uses is literally breathtaking. I can definitely say that Reynolds is without doubt the master of writing Nanotech into his work. His scope with regards to the way nanotech is used within his Universe is quite extraordinary.
When readers get to the point in the book were part of the title for the book, 'Diamond Dogs', is explained in it's fullest, it literally takes your breath away lol.
The story centres around an alien artefact found on a far away planet, and the lengths at which the characters in the Novella will go to, to solve all it's puzzles and reach the top of it.
Inside the alien artefact are set rooms which the characters must climb in order to reach the top, and in each room there is a puzzle to solve. If the puzzles are solved wrongly, then the alien artefact, in ever more gruesome ways lol, punishes the characters.
Anyway I won't go into any more detail about the book, suffice to say it's well worth the read and another notch on Reynolds belt of genius
Regards
Hyperion

Posted By: scooter13 Apr 10, 2003 - 03:08 am

I am new to the forum, and I am glad to see that there are others that appreciate Alastair Reynolds' writing. I just purchased DD/TD a week ago, though it will be a while before I read it.

I picked up "Revelation Space" totally by fluke. Obviously I never heard of him, but found the write up on the flap interesting enough to buy it. Since then I have also read "Chasm City", and look VERY forward to reading "Redemption Ark" and "Absolution Gap". But I am waiting for the US hardcover releases of those. And I will probably wait until after reading those (or at least Redemption Ark) before reading these novellas.

Posted By: Zac Jun 24, 2003 - 09:44 am

I am also new here and very pleased to see that you are into British sci/fi (although judging by your e-mail Hyperion you must be British/living in Britain).Reynolds is a great writer.Scooter13 if you are into Reynolds you should try reading some Stephen Baxter.I think his Xeelee Sequence books are the best he has done,but thats just my opinion.

Posted By: scooter13 Jun 25, 2003 - 08:43 am

Thanks Zac! Actually I have heard Reynolds mention Baxter's name quite often saying how good he is. I read "Voyage" a couple of months ago and really enjoyed it. And it's funny that you brought up the Xeelee Squence. I am having a hard time finding copies of those books here in the States.

To get back to Reynolds, I am currenly about 40% through "Redemption Ark". Very engrossing like his first two novels.

Posted By: Troy Sep 20, 2003 - 10:06 pm

I just completed reading Redemption Ark by Alastair Reynolds.
I found it to be a vary interesting read with many Lairs that kept my attention and interest peaked.

The Story I would say is really character driven, but Alastair has done a great job at leading most readers to believe that it is actually plot driven series.

Most of the posting and comments I've read prior to and after reading the book/series, Lead me to believe that a lot of people will be disappointed with what ever he comes up with to conclude the Revelation Universe series space opera "if indeed you believe this is a plot driven series".

After all Opera's are all about Character, keep that in mind and maybe you'll discover some more layers to this series that you didn’t recognize before.

P.S. Try garbing a book by another author your not aquinted with, it's just like treasure hunting.

Thanks, Troy

Posted By: Lifereaper7 Dec 13, 2003 - 03:04 pm

I'm new here also, I'd like to take you up on your recomendation of the Revelation Universe series, so which one should I start with??

Posted By: Hyperion Dec 13, 2003 - 04:55 pm

I just finished Absolution Gap and I must say it didn't disappoint me in the slightest Troy, in fact it did more to harden my opinion that Reynolds is pure genius when it comes to getting sci-fi -at its true core- into his revelation series

His plots never falter, different species make appearances at just the right time to bring a sub plot into a new avenue of exploration, and ultimately back into the fold of the MAIN plot

Incidentally I do have a science fiction author cubbyhole that is well stocked

I am an avid reader of Iain M Banks, Peter F Hamilton, John Meany, Dan Simmons, Richard Morgan, Paul Cornell, Walter Jon Williams and Kevin J Anderson to name a list that immediately springs to mind.

I suppose its just that over these past few years, Alastair Reynolds has been the only author that has truly knocked my socks of when it comes to shear scope in his Universes

Dan Simmons for the Hyperion Cantos used to be my all time favourite work, but Alastair Reynolds is slowly over taking old Dan heh

Absolution Gap was just so exciting to read, and I simply CANNOT GET ENOUGH of the ULTRAS
They are simply a wonderful creation cruising around the Revelation Universe in their Light Huggers

Well Lifereaper7 if it were up to me to reckon on a book for you start of on your trek through the Revelation Universe I would say get Revelation Space then Chasm City, followed By Redemption Ark, Diamond Dogs Turquoise Days and finally Absolution Gap

Reading them in that order is the order they were written in

You are really in for a treat let me tell you Reynolds is phenomenal in his writing when it comes to the detail in the technology and the exciting ways that that technology enhances the lives of his Characters

Read On I say

Hyperion out


PS Zav yes I am from England

Posted By: Nomad Dec 13, 2003 - 07:17 pm

youve gotten me interested.

Posted By: Lifereaper7 Dec 15, 2003 - 11:32 am

Alright thanks for the advice I'll keep you updated....

Posted By: Blod Jan 08, 2004 - 06:12 am

DON'T EVER STOP WRITING SCI-FI
B.C. OLD SOUTH WALES

Posted By: SoulThief Jan 01, 2005 - 02:44 pm

Sorry, I love the work of Alastair Reynolds but was disappointed in the conclusion of Absolution Gap. It felt forced. I won't give away the plot, butI felt that Mr Reynolds was jumping through hoops to get it to work. Considering the nature of the technology available to the characters I felt that there were much better solutions available. Sure, the other solutions would not have made for a good story, but suspension of disbelief demands that characters that are supposedly intelligent make a better group decision.

Up until the conclusion I absolutely loved the entire series - and still do. I just feel a bit let down by the ending (though not as badly as when I read Peter Hamilton's series' conclusion).

And also, yep - the Hyperion Cantos were superb and rate as my fave series too.

I hope more books come out in this universe.

ST

Posted By: Lifereaper7 Jan 10, 2005 - 09:11 am

Thanks for not giving away the conclusion... So far I'm really enjoying the series.

I'm also reading John Ringo's March to series.
I'm waiting for the next book in the series. Its a bit heavy on the technical aspects of warfare but I just realized that I enjoyed reading Miitary Scifi...

Hyperion was a must for great series.

Lifereaper7

Posted By: remimartin Jan 13, 2005 - 05:46 pm

I'm halfway through Revelation Space and feel very disappointed with this book. There are so many inconsistencies with the way the characters act and what they say it's driving me crazy. Please tell me this book gets better.
The backstory is well crafted and had me totally hooked, but now that all of the characters have met aboard the ship, the dialog is just awful. I'm sure I'm missing something here - everyone raves over this book.

One other gripe - why in the digital age are paperback books so full of poorly edited text - duped words etc. It's really annoying.

I agree about Dan Simmons' Hyperion series - absolutely amazing.
Remi

Posted By: Hyperion Jan 15, 2005 - 06:27 am

Reynolds has just released a new scifi book called Century Rain.

It's not in the Revelation Universe, but is set in two time zones, one in early 1940's and the other way into the future.

It's got a strange aspect of time travel in it, that doesn't set it's self as the normal thing for time travel.

Anyway just thought I would let people know, its not a bad read, but it's not in the same league as the revelation universe books.

Hyperion