In his latest sf novel, reynolds absolution gap creates yet another quirky, noirish vision of humanitys future. Clarkes rendezvous with rama and larry nivens ringworld will love this novel. The only nearby ship chases the errant moon and watches as huge chunks of ice fall off its surface to reveal a gigantic machine underneath. He studied at newcastle and st andrews universities and has a ph.
He talks to richard lea about his plans for a space opera trilogy and the tricky business of. Since 1991 he has lived in the netherlands, near leiden, wh. The guardian called alastair reynolds work a turbulent, wildly entertaining ride and the times acclaimed him as the mastersinger of space opera. This gives reynolds the freedom of a new history and new ideas, but he keeps the high speed but not ftl travel that is a hallmark of much of his space opera. Pushing ice is a 2005 science fiction novel by welsh author alastair reynolds. Books by alastair reynolds author of revelation space. Im thrilled you like my blog pushing ice is one of the only three reynolds books i havent read. Pushing ice in the early days of exploring our solar system, bella lind is in the business of mining ice from comets. In 1991, he moved to noordwijk in the netherlands where he met his wife josette.
I really need to get around to reading them all soon. He stopped working as an astrophysicist for the european space agency to become a fulltime writer. Alastair reynolds is the author of the poseidons children series and the revelation space series. He specialises in dark hard science fiction and space opera. Alastair preston reynolds born march 1966 is a british science fiction author. But when janus, one of saturns ice moons, inexplicably leaves its natural orbit and heads out of the solar system at high speed, bella is ordered. Born in barry, south wales, he studied at newcastle university and the university of st. The other two are century rain and harvest of time. Jan 30, 2020 pushing ice 10dec2009 by alastair reynolds 217. Aug 19, 2015 im thrilled you like my blog pushing ice is one of the only three reynolds books i havent read. Humanity has raised exploiting the solar system to an art form. He specialises in hard science fiction and space opera. I am now working on a planned sequel to the prefect. While that first third of the book is in many ways fairly routine nearfuture space exploration, its crucial to set up the.
Pushing ice is often cited as one of reynolds best books after reading six books by him i now feel like i can always come back to him a reliable author for a good reading experience. Revenger by alastair reynolds books hachette australia. Not everyone on the ship wants to keep chasing this object. Alastair reynolds is the author of the revelation space series, which includes the novels revelation space, chasm city, redemption ark, absolution gap, and the prefect.
His books include revelation space shortlisted for the bsfa and arthur c. Revenger is my thirteenth published novel, not including harvest of time, my doctor who book, or the medusa chronicles, the novel i wrote with stephen baxter. Given than, i would say that agent cormac would be a good place. Both books are about the ethics of humanmachine interaction. Afterwards, he earned a phd in astrophysics from the university of st andrews. That huge canvas, the ideas, concepts, vision and science, are as brilliant as ever, but his characters, never one of reynolds strongest points, are here quite dire. Bella lind and the crew of her nuclearpowered ship, the rockhopp. An absolute mustread for all hard science fiction fans, though perhaps a little dry for those who like more conventional science fiction.
While i have some complaints i can understand the enthusiasm. Still grim as teeth being pulled but bloody masterful. Revenger is a science fiction adventure story set in the rubble of our solar system in the dark, distant future a tale of space pirates, buried treasure and phantom weapons, of unspeakable hazards and singleminded heroism. Alastair reynolds is a creator that has work published by titan books. According to reynolds web site, the story takes place in a different universe from. Century rain, pushing ice, house of suns and terminal world are all unrelated standalone novels. With a career stretching back more than 25 years and across fourteen novels, including the classic revelation space series, the bestselling poseidons children series, century rain, pushing ice, and most recently the. Alastair preston reynolds is a british science fiction author. Alastair reynolds was born in barry, south wales, in 1966. Alastair reynolds wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. I have vague intentions to return to the universes of pi and hos, but nothing firm, and i dont intend to return to the worlds of cr or tw, much as im fond of those books. His latest novel is blue remembered earth, the first in the poseidons children trilogy this interview first appeared on s the. Pushing ice by alastair reynolds read online on bookmate.
Also because he references many things in his books in nonsequential manner. May 16, 2017 revenger is a science fiction adventure story set in the rubble of our solar system in the dark, distant future a tale of space pirates, buried treasure and phantom weapons, of unspeakable hazards and singleminded heroism. Bella lind and the crew of her nuclearpowered ship, the rockhopper, push ice. Pushing ice is classic reynolds at his paintitonahugecanvas best and yet it falls well short of his best books. Pushing ice is also a standalone story, with characters from much less distant in the future than in any of his other novels, set into a framework storyline that extends much further into the future of humanity than any of his previous novels. Pushing ice starts off very strongly, creating an extremely interesting if slightly derivative from other works scenario. My most recent solo novel is revenger, published in september 2016 in the uk and february 2017 in the united states.
Unlike most of his space opera novels, pushing ice is set in a different universe than the one of the inhibitors. But as the story goes along, things sort of peter out a bit, and the plot gets a bit far fetched and the. Clark awards, chasm city winner of the bsfa award, house of suns shortlisted for the. Other novels include century rain, terminal world, pushing ice, and house of suns. Reynolds has a genius for bigconcept sf and fans of arthur c. This is a novel of big ideas occurring over cosmic timescales. I have read some of alastair reynolds other books, but this one stands out for its concise, fastpaced style. Pushing ice by alastair reynolds fantastic fiction. Which convinced me to read his revelation space trilogy now a quintet, revelation space, redemption ark, and absolution gap. Afterwards, he earned a phd from st andrews, scotland.
One of these days he will probably let me down badly because that always happens when i become complacent about an author but i see no sign of that so far. Alastair reynolds reads a new short story, scales books. I had written a lot of science fiction over the years thats very i suppose you could say is quite. Click and collect from your local waterstones or get free uk delivery on orders over. Alastair reynolds books list of books by author alastair. The 2016 alastair reynolds forecast two new novels and. One the face of it the plot seems like a bdo themed story made popular by the likes of clarkes rendezvous with rama and greg bears eon. Alastair reynolds is currently considered a single author. Pushing ice is the brilliant tale of extraordinary aliens, glittering technologies, and sweeping space opera from awardwinning science fiction author alastair reynolds. Suddenly, saturns moon janus begins to move and linds ship is the only one in a position to intercept and investigate. His books do really well standalone and when read in a sequence. Reynolds also does well to create an interesting cast of characters and at first, its a real page turner. He spent his early years in cornwall, moved back to wales before going to newcastle, where he read physics and astronomy. Thriftbooks sells millions of used books at the lowest everyday prices.
A former astrophysicist for the european space agency, he now writes fulltime. We personally assess every book s quality and offer rare, outofprint treasures. Alastair reynolds primary author only author division. He gained a phd in astronomy and worked as an astrophysicist for the european space agency before becoming a fulltime writer. Its fictional history follows the human species through various conflicts from the relatively near future roughly 2200 to approximately 40,000 ad all the novels to date are set between 2427 and 2727, although certain stories extend. In pushing ice, one of saturns moons suddenly departs from its orbit and shoots off into deep space. This is perhaps one of the best living scifi authors out there. According to reynolds web site, the story takes place in a different universe from his revelation space stories. Jul 05, 2018 pushing ice is classic reynolds at his paintitonahugecanvas best and yet it falls well short of his best books. Ive heard so much good stuff about pushing ice in particular, so i might try to get to it before the end of this year. Redemption ark is the direct sequel to revelation space, galactic north is the ending of the series, and the prefect is an indirect prequel. Buy a cheap copy of terminal world book by alastair reynolds. Revenger is my 14th or 15th novel, depending on how you count them.
The revelation space universe is a fictional universe which was created by alastair reynolds and used as the setting for a number of his novels and stories. In the distant future, enforcement agent quillion is living incognito in the last human city of spearpoint, working in the district morgue. To read more about whats in store from reynolds in 2016, check out the roundup i did last year first up, on may 19th, is the medusa chronicles by alastair reynolds and stephen baxter. Theres been very little news worth reporting since the last entry. I thought id take a few hours to update the site as we go into the new year. Vast and brooding ziggurat of thrills alastair reynolds is one of the leading writers of modern space adventure, equally adept at epic novels and short fiction. Pushing ice is often cited as one of reynolds best books by the printsf online reading community. Redemption ark, the prefect and galactic north are my favourites in the revelation space universe, but you need to read revelation space before any of these.
If one or more works are by a distinct, homonymous authors, go ahead and split the author. Sep 14, 2017 this is perhaps one of the best living scifi authors out there. Jun 23, 2009 sfs rising star alastair reynolds has just signed a. Which do you think is the best book by alastair reynolds. Emerald city where this transcends the average hohum space opera is the ubertext that contemplates the incomprehensible immensity of the universe and the relative insignificant presenceyet nevertheless unique factof human existence. Hard sf doesnt come much harder than alastair reynolds. Pushing ice is at once a grand and a claustrophobic novel, with a vast cast that ultimately boils down to a study of the longterm conflict between the two women both natural leaders in a highpressure environment. I took a long break after pushing ice before giving him another whirl with slow bullets. Time for a quick update on those alastair reynolds release dates for this year. Pushing ice begins in the distant future, where the elected rulers of the congress of the. It is essentially an oldschool adventure story, akin to the likes of pirates of the caribbean, but in space.
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