that no one can hear the whispers
they’ve lit the world so bright
that no one can see in the dark
they’ve told so many lies
that no one knows the truth now
they’ve ruined all of nature
and told us to play in the park
Monkey Suit — Alastair Reynolds
The Ultras are running away from Yellowstone and the Glitter Band after a virus, The Melding Plague, has destroyed everything by attacking all nano-machinery and implants. In this story we join a ship of Ultras and their hull-monkeys who are having some issues.
A short little story, but plenty good enough, giving us a bit more insight into the lives of the Ultras on their light-hugging ships.
Available in the collection, Deep Navigation.
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Diamond Dogs — Alastair Reynolds
This is brilliant, yet so gruesome and twisted, you just have no idea how it’s going to end until you get to the end.
One imagines that Alastair really enjoyed watching The Cube and decided to shoe horn something similar — but alien and way more fucked up — into the Revelation Space Universe. And what a great job he did of it too.
This book is available in the collections, Diamond Dogs, Turquoise Days and Beyond the Aquila Rift.
Enjoy! 
Next in line is Monkey Suit.
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Elysium Fire — Alastair Reynolds
What’s odd about this book is that it starts with an explanation of Yellowstone and the Glitter Band which would have been much better placed before Aurora Rising — which the lack thereof was my one and only absolute criticism of that book. It’s a bit late to put the info dump that one needs in the first Prefect Dreyfus book at the front of the second Prefect Dreyfus book. 
Anyway, that aside, this is a superb book that totally builds on Aurora Rising, with all our favourite characters, good and bad, and some new ones too. And it’s huge too, so huge but so unputdownable that i kept skipping my evening meditation session to keep reading this for a while longer and then staying awake a little past sleepy time too.
Excellently written, excellent characters, just excellent all round.
And up next it’s Machine Vendetta.
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Open and Shut — Alastair Reynolds
A quick little short, bridging the gap between Aurora Rising and Elysium Fire.
Dreyfus is called in by Jane concerning some recent behaviour. Although this doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the main story, it’s good in that it gives us a bit more depth to both Dreyfus and Jane, and also their relationship.
Best of all it’s free (click on the rusty book cover) and it’s also a nice little relaxing break before you go deep diving into the next huge novel in the series, Elysium Fire.
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Aurora Rising — Alastair Reynolds
Ok, if i’m feeling like being a bit picky — and i am feeling like that — then Alastair should have written a few more short stories and novellas to give a bit/lot more info about everything Glitter Band: and not the Gary type. One begins this story with not much background to go on and we seem to muddle through quite a bit until things get to be a lot clearer. I just think that background/info-dump things could have been laid out previously and given the reader a much more enjoyable time of it.
However, it’s still an amazing story with a huge depth and width to it and when i say huge, i mean huge. And this is just the first Prefect Dreyfus book. Yes folks, after days and days of reading, just when you thought it would all come to an end, do you realise that you’ve only just gotten to know Dreyfus and things have only just begun. And the best part about it is that i’m really looking forward to reading more.
So yeah, bring it on. A quick in betweenie short, Open and Shut, is next on the list before piling into the next biggy. One feels like a positively spoilt book worm.
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Weather — Alastair Reynolds
The fifth book in the Revelation Space series, and it’s a rather good one too.
So far, book by book, we’re being slowly introduced to the various factions of the Universe and how things work. This time it’s time to be introduced to the space ship engines: the C-drives that are made and supplied by the Conjoiners and are completely sealed and non user serviceable.
Fans of Aliette de Bodard’s Xuya stories will soon guess what the Conjoiners have done and enjoy this story just as much as they did Aliette’s stories.
This story also introduces us to the Ultras. The Ultras are the ones who crew these ships that get as close to light-speed as possible, living a very different life to normal people with many synthetically augmented body parts.
This book is available in the collections, Galactic North and Beyond the Aquila Rift.
Next up, it’s Aurora Rising.
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A Spy in Europa — Alastair Reynolds
The tension against the Demarchists is building and a spy is sent to Europa to retrieve a thing from a sleeper agent. But, as with Night Passage, things aren’t quite as they seem.
I don’t think this story is up to the same standards as the previous ones in that it just doesn’t seem to work in my head. Like, how did Cholok know where Vargovic’s extraction point would be? Cholok had no need to know what Vargovic’s plans were after the operation especially considering the fact that no one was sure if Cholok was even trustworthy.
The Denizen made clear that Cholok was no longer working for Vargovic’s handlers and they seem to make it clear that they weren’t in on the plot to help the Denizen — or were they?
It just all ends in a muddle that could have been tidied up a lot better, me thinks. Or maybe i’m missing something?
Anyway, if you’re reading the whole Revelation Space Universe saga then you got to read this one too, so you might as well get on with it and stop moaning. 
Available in the collection, Galactic North.
And now straight into Weather.
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Night Passage — Alastair Reynolds
The third book in the Revelation Space Universe.
This time a Demarchist sleeper ship, with thousands of passengers on board, has apparently been taken over by the Conjoiners among the passengers and is now drifting in space near an large unknown object. Time is running out as, without any engines, the ship is slowly drifting towards the object and won’t survive the encounter.
I really enjoyed this short story which has quite a depth to it, it begins with the following . . .
If you were really born on Fand then you will know the old saying we had on that world.
Shame is a mask that becomes the face.
The implication of which being, that if you wear the mask long enough, it grafts itself to your skin, becomes and indelible part of you — even a kind of comfort.
. . . and ends with . . .
But there’s another saying we used to have on Fand. You’ll know it well, i think.
A late gift is worse than no gift at all.
Would you mind leaving me now?
Available in the anthology, Infinite Stars.
And for my sins of thoroughly enjoying this i now head straight into A Spy in Europa.
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Glacial — Alastair Reynolds
Some years after the events of Great Wall of Mars, the Conjoiners have escaped the solar system and are busy trying to find a new home.
Enter planet Diadem, which the Conjoiners discover has already had human visitors and a settlement. But something went wrong and they’re all dead — or maybe not quite all of them.
And then there’s the worms.
Another great story from Alastair as he feeds us more info on the abilities of Conjoiner minds and we get to know our protagonist, Clavain, a little bit more too.
Available in the collection, Galactic North.
And now, without hesitation, it’s straight into Night Passage, the third book in the Revelation Space Universe.
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Great Wall of Mars — Alastair Reynolds
And so begins the super long binge read of the Revelation Space Universe. Yippee, all being well we’re going through the whole lot in chronological order.
Well it started off well, even excusing it for being one of those worn-out sci-fi tropes of Earthers v Mars. But this has an interesting twist in it, in that the Martians have become conjoined by the nano things that they’ve infested themselves with and now think with a hive mind. Of course, the conservatives from Earth won’t accept this new spin on Humanity.
Superbly well written and non-stop fast paced action all the way through.
Really looking forward to getting straight into Glacial.
This book is available in the collections, Galactic North and Beyond the Aquila Rift.
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