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Eversion

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From the creaky wooden ship, to the twangy metal zeppelin, to the silent reaches of the void, this tale is woven through the eyes of our illustrious doctor.

There was a lot of exposition dumping towards the end, and some of the characters seemed to get lost in the narrative, but I didn't mind because I was too invested in the story.

In Eversion, Reynolds engages with some of the central concerns of science fiction today, and of postmodern fiction generally: the relationship of language to the reality it purports to describe, the reliability of storytelling (especially auto-fiction), the mechanics of forgetting, and identity negotiation. At what point does adherence to a role, however important to the survival of a mission, give way to the human need for connection?

Reynolds made his name as a master of the galaxy- and eons-spanning space opera genre; with Eversion, he turns with equal aplomb to the mysteries of inner space and the tricksy confines of the mind. I'm not sure either works perfectly - but this doesn't stop the mystery being a wonderful experience for the reader, as long as you are prepared to let go and see how things develop, rather than expect to understand everything that's happening before getting near the end. I was definitely invested in them and how they would fare in the challenges that come up throughout the story. This sequence repeats in the mid-19th century along the Patagonian coast, in the 1920s with the Demeter (now a dirigible) descending into an aperture towards the Hollow Earth in Antarctica, then as a space vehicle diving into the ocean of a Jovian moon.Without skipping a beat though, readers next find Silas on a steamship, and next a dirigible, and finally on a spaceship. The surface plot – as exciting as it is – is scaffolding, a misdirection away from the real mystery lying beneath. Doctor Silas Coade wakes from disturbing dreams, on the steamship Demeter , in pursuit of an extraordinary find almost too incredible and too strange to believe, secreted within a lagoon in the icy inlets of Patagonia. I really enjoyed the story and the differing periods but the ending fell a little flat for me overall.

This is a novel that's elegantly plotted, full of surprises and, as first time round, rip-roaring fun. Especially since the vessel's name as well as the crew are always the same and each expedition goes wrong (usually pretty badly too). Think pulpy adventures with a hard SF twist, mysteries that infold in strange but tangible ways, characters who need to face the hard truths about themselves they are desperate to forget.Upon reading the ship’s name, I assumed relation to Dracula, where the ship with the same name is used. Just know you’ll be puzzled throughout this book, but in a good way, as you try to solve the mystery and make sense of whatever it is the good doctor is going through. I can't really say much about Eversion without giving too much away, although I will say you may want to skip even the synopsis and just go in on blind faith that Reynolds knows how to tell a good story.

scenario that occurs in some of the best of Gene Wolfe's fantasies such as Castleview and There Are Doors - but it is less often found in science fiction, and Reynolds makes a great job of dealing it. Needless to say it is a weaving of narrative, a slow coming together of strands to a truer view of what actually going on. His security guard is a Coronel Ramos who receives a head wound, which changes somewhat in each version of the story, but he always survives thanks to Dr. Because Eversion has far fewer pages than his Revelation Space novels, I thought its page count would be appropriate.The final section of Eversion is probably the most rousing and exhilarating, thanks to the buildup of everything that came before.

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