Paperback, 302 pages
English language
Published Aug. 2, 2022 by Orbit.
From the master of the space opera comes a dark, mind-bending adventure spread across time and space, where Doctor Silas Coade is tasked with keeping his crew safe as they adventure across the galaxy in search of a mysterious artifact.
In the 1800s, a sailing ship crashes off the coast of Norway. In the 1900s, a Zepellin explores an icy canyon in Antarctica. In the far future, a spaceship sets out for an alien artifact. Each excursion goes horribly wrong. And on every journey, Dr. Silas Coade is the physician, but only Silas seems to realize that these events keep repeating themselves. And it's up to him to figure out why and how. And how to stop it all from happening again.
From the master of the space opera comes a dark, mind-bending adventure spread across time and space, where Doctor Silas Coade is tasked with keeping his crew safe as they adventure across the galaxy in search of a mysterious artifact.
In the 1800s, a sailing ship crashes off the coast of Norway. In the 1900s, a Zepellin explores an icy canyon in Antarctica. In the far future, a spaceship sets out for an alien artifact. Each excursion goes horribly wrong. And on every journey, Dr. Silas Coade is the physician, but only Silas seems to realize that these events keep repeating themselves. And it's up to him to figure out why and how. And how to stop it all from happening again.
A little Verne, "The Matrix" and Gibson, all rolled together in a story I read straight through
Best thing I've read in quite a while
A little Verne, "The Matrix" and Gibson, all rolled together in a story I read straight through
Best thing I've read in quite a while
👍
Content warning What I took to be "bad" writing, was actually Alastair writing in the voice of Silas as a novelist. This is both brilliant and technically challenging, so kudos to him. I'm very impressed with the structure of this narrative and how well he pulled it off.
I thought I wasn't going to like this one, and actually set it aside early on. I came back to it, though, and I'm really glad I did. Smart and unexpectedly tender.
Content warning Mild spoilers coming from discussing novel's structure and some of the foreshadowing
I loved this book from start to finish.
Alastair Reynolds' mastery over atmosphere and style is on display from the outset. As the novel jumps through time with each of Coade's "awakenings" you can almost feel author's enjoyment at the opportunity to capture the style of the era.
While these vivid descriptions and dialog are what drew me in initially, it's the unraveling mystery that made it impossible to put this book down. The foreshadowing was enjoyable over the top, building from subtle hints to overwhelming crescendo. The biggest kick is that as I was slowly piecing together the whole story so was the main protagonist, just from the opposite direction: I was eager to figure it all out and Coade was in active denial of it! Not to mention classic hints such as anagrams and homophones ("I am Coade" quote is pure gold!).
All this intrigue is wrapped into hard core sfi-fi concepts like space exploration, aliens, AI and topology. At the heart of it is the theme of identity which grounds the entire novel. In concert with good character work and proper consequences it gives finale the emotional kick it deserves.
Speaking of finale, Reynolds manages to avoid the pitfalls of rushed endings common in some of his other writing. Pacing here is great, and I had enough space to process the gravity of the story's climax.
All in all, a perfect novel.
Loved every minute of this. Especially the audiobook, where the voices were exquisite.
As a long time fan of Reynolds’ work, I’m always delighted when he releases a new book. I immensely enjoyed his earlier work where he explored far futures full of high-tech and transhumanist as well as posthumanist themes.
His more recent take a different direction in time, though, diving into the past. Not that Reynolds is new to blending historic themes with more futuristic ideas. Take for example Century Rain, a brilliant novel ostensibly set in mid-twentieth-century Paris, only to reveal more alien influences along the way.
Eversion is a bit like that in that not all is what it seems to be. The novel starts out strong with the protagonist, a sixteenth, seventeenth or eighteenth century surgeon, on a sailing ship going north along the Norwegian coast in search of a mysterious artefact. We get a good glimpse of his character and what motivates the man through his interaction …
As a long time fan of Reynolds’ work, I’m always delighted when he releases a new book. I immensely enjoyed his earlier work where he explored far futures full of high-tech and transhumanist as well as posthumanist themes.
His more recent take a different direction in time, though, diving into the past. Not that Reynolds is new to blending historic themes with more futuristic ideas. Take for example Century Rain, a brilliant novel ostensibly set in mid-twentieth-century Paris, only to reveal more alien influences along the way.
Eversion is a bit like that in that not all is what it seems to be. The novel starts out strong with the protagonist, a sixteenth, seventeenth or eighteenth century surgeon, on a sailing ship going north along the Norwegian coast in search of a mysterious artefact. We get a good glimpse of his character and what motivates the man through his interaction with the crew and his environment.
The writing is good, and I was transported into the fictional world quite effectively. It’s a sure page turner, with relatively short chapters, making it an addictive read. “Just one more chapter to see what’s happening now.”
However, I did feel it slowed down a bit and maybe became a bit repetitive near the end. While the finale was satisfying in that it tied things together quite neatly, it felt a bit anti-climactic. All in all, this work lacked the truly epic proportions of Reynolds’ earlier work.
Having said that, I would still recommend this book and thoroughly enjoyed it front to back.
Different, yet treading familiar ground.
