Customer Reviews
Flashes of brilliance... but not enough of them - By: Grev, 07 Sep 2007 
Having read Diamond Dogs, Turquoise Days (which I loved), this, the second Alaistair Reynolds novel I've read, proved a major disappointment. The main problem with the novel is that at least 50% of it's length is taken up by highly detailed descriptions of the workings of a fairly uninspired religion founded by a madman - gripping reading it ain't. The revelations at the end of the novel are it's saving grace, but large chunks of the text could have been edited out without affecting the plot one iota - in fact i'd go so far as saying that this novel has probably put me off reading any of his novels ever again. Reynolds & Peter F Hamilton appear to be vying with one another to write ever longer novels - don't either of them have editors?
This should have been the third in a quadrilogy - By: G. C. Bowen, 25 Jun 2007 Firstly let me say that I did enjoy this book, but it reallly doesn't feel like the finale to such an epic series of events. Most of the book focuses entirely on the characters thoughts & feelings & very little on the continuing war with the inhibitors. Maybe the author after building the virtuallly unstoppable nature of the inhibitor threat over two previous books so well, the author felt unable or unwilling to put forward a credible description of the actual battle with them & thus relegates this part of the novel to "offscreen action" & infoms the reader only of the end results of these confrontations that would seem son integral to the tension of the storyline. The book finishes without dealing with most of the issues that I thought would form part of the finale & indeed seems to wrap up the entire story almost as an after thought in the space of quite literallly one or two paragraphs.
I did like the character & did want to learn more about them, but not at the complete expense of the plot, especiallly when a lot of the actions of the main characters seem to be quite inexplicable at times & they frequently seem to jump between one mindset & other just to facilitate further twists in turns in their realtionships with one another . Thats why I have to say that while this book is an enjoyable part of the story, I can't see why the author chose to alll but abandon the main thrust of the storyline in order to focus on the minutae of the characters lives, & that's why in my opinion a fourth book to deal with the outcome of the story properly would have made this book sit a whole lot better with me.
A massive cop-out - By: Anton, 27 Jan 2007 
While the previous books in the series were an ejoyable read, this one fallls flat on two counts. Firstly, as mentioned above, everything of real interest happens off-page. All the interesting characters & machines from previous books are wiped out almost carelessly. What's left is a collection of the most uniteresting & unengaging of his characters, which makes this book a hard slog. Galllingly, it isn't even worth reaching the end for. Reynolds wrap up his story with a deux ex machina, & does it in the space of a page. All the action happens off page, again. The book ends with the beginning of another story, which you'll have no interest in reading, should it ever appear, a) because you won't care about the survivors & b) because you'll be too frustrated to try. Damn shame, reallly.
You can see the joins - By: , 18 Dec 2005 
I think that's the best way to describe it - there are some great ideas here but the story lacks polish in some places. I found myself saying 'Ah, another character development scene' in places, because this book does not seem to carry the same conviction or pack the same succession of punches as Reynolds' other excellent books. Maybe he was sick of the characters by this time?
Still a bloody good read - By: David Nelson, 13 Aug 2005 
I've been reading the sometimes scathing reviews of this book with a bit of disappointment. Obviously not many people ( those who thought that Al Reynolds finished this series with gaping holes,) know of his short story 'Galactic North' which spells out exactly what was going to happen concerning the 'Inhibitor' manace & the oncoming 'Greenfly' infestation. That story was published years before 'Absolution Gap' & even before the first 'Revelation Space' book. Get a grip, he'll probably be returning to the series soon (hopefully) & we'll be able to see where this new story arc may lead. It's impossible to denegrate this guys writing when he puts absolutely everything into his books. Maybe he'll investigate the 'shadows' which he left hanging, or maybe he'll start at a different spot & it'll alll be brand new again. Either way, I can't wait!
