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Chasm City: Alastair Reynolds

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The Prefect (retitled Aurora Rising) (2007) - The first Prefect Dreyfus Emergency novel. Takes place a century before Chasm City when Yellowstone's civilization is at its pre-Melding Plague height. The novellas Diamond Dogs and Turquoise Days can be read at any time, but I recommend reading RS and CC first to establish the scenery. The Mademoiselle's beta-level sim in Ana Khouri's implants and probably Skade's too—not exactly a simple simulation.

Augmented Reality: The advanced human societies use entoptics. Entoptics are a technology that consists of various visual layers interpolated into human sight at some point between the viewer's cornea and visual cortex. This is my first read of an Alastair Reynold novel, and this is the second in the Prefect Tom Dreyfus series. I adored the detailed and imaginative world building of The Glitter Band, with the Panoply running the policing element, the prefects, and overseen primarily by 'Lady' Jane Aumonier. It appears to be the perfect democracy, where decision-making is achieved through everyone voting in polls via their neural implants. However, there is trouble in paradise, with several parts of The Glitter Band opting for independence by leaving, an insurrection led by the demagogue, Devon Garlin, a man with an uncanny sense of knowing what will happen and is targeting Dreyfus with the intent of goading him to overeact. Thalia Ng is promoted to Field Prefect after Sparver informs her of the rising number of disturbing deaths, where neural implants malfunction with a thermal overload and destruction of brain tissue. So far this has been kept secret to ensure people do not panic, but the threat risks instability in the entire region. Ana Khouri is the most ordinary of the trilogy's main cast. Unsurprisingly, she's also technically The Hero. And she's the only major character who survives throughout the entire trilogy. If you don't count the good old Nostalgia for Infinity and captain Brannigan, that is... Boring, but Practical: Spaceflight and space warfare in the series in general. Although the weapons and spacecraft involved are immensely powerful, they still have to deal with the immense distances and timeframes of sub-lightspeed interstellar travel, taking years (at the very least) to travel between stars.

Serial Prostheses: John Brannigan had lived through the ages by gradual replacement his body parts with cybernetics. In Absolution Gap Antoinette Bax was able to see his past appearances in augmented reality on Nostalgia for Infinity. For Ultras in general, this is a common reason for their collective self-tinkering: the life of an Ultra is inherently hazardous, and many of them start down the path after suffering injuries that require replacement of limbs. Also, possibly the origin of the Shadows, as their universe was being eaten by rogue terraformers, and at the end of Absolution Gap, the Greenfly was just starting to consume this universe. Also the insane hospital ship in Nightingale and the galaxy-eating Greenfly robots from Absolution Gap and Galactic North. It also plays an important part of the plot in Chasm City, where Sky Haussmann became one of the first people treated in infancy with the unique longevity treatment that stops the aging on reaching adulthood.

Police Procedural: The spinoff novel series ( Aurora Rising, Elysium Fire) centered on inspector Dreyfus, a Field Prefect of the Panoply, and his team members. threads, all nominally from Tanner's point of view. The first thread takes place over a rather short period in The Atoner: Captain John Brannigan. The only crime mentioned is that he overwrote the brain patterns of his first mate, and replaced them with his own brain patterns, effectively 'killing' the person as he was. It's implied he's done worse.Some 7 years prior to the action of the book, Yellowstone and its orbital habitats were devastated by the Melding decayed city -- especially the conflicts between the "Mulch" (lower class) and the Canopy (where the aristocrats hang out). It felt to me that the science and characterizations were very subordinate to the fantasy/mystery aspects of the story. Characters would do things modestly inconsistent with their character because the story required it. The science seemed incidental, providing whatever was necessary as a framework for the mostly fantasy story. I was born in Wales, but raised in Cornwall, and then spent time in the north of England and Scotland. I moved to the Netherlands to continue my science career and stayed there for a very long time, before eventually returning to Wales.

The ending of Revelation Space does this in the case of the fate of three of the main characters. Though it's at least explained thouroughly. Sapient Ship: Nightingale, the Nostalgia For Infinity after the melding plague takes over, and Antoinette's ship loved. However, that's just the skeleton on which a more complex plot is hung. The story unfolds in three

We all have triggers, certain topics in our beloved genres that instantly make us sit up and pay attention. Artificial intelligence is one such trigger for me; identity is another. (Both touch on philosophy of the mind, a field that fascinates me, and I suspect this is why they intrigue me.) There is scant AI in Chasm City, but there is plenty of reflection on identity and the ramifications of using technology to alter one’s identity. As every other review notes, this book is part of the Revelation Space universe but stands alone; one does not need to read any of the other novels to enjoy it. Tragic Bigot: Captain Van Ness from Weather (in Galactic North) hates Conjoiners because they converted, then supposedly killed, his wife. After it turns out that she lived, and left a message for him in the collective mind about how much she would always love him, his attitude improves a little.

Great Wall of Mars” and “Glacial” precede Redemption Ark both in-story and publication-wise, but you can read RA first. If I haven't missed anything, they're the only two stories that are connected to the plots of the novels, the others are merely set in the same universe. Detonation Moon: In a battle against the Inhibitors in Absolution Gap the Conjoiners accidentally blow a hole in one of Ararat's moons by using one of the cache weapons. Alien Sea: Planets which are inhabited by Pattern Jugglers usually have most of the surface covered by oceans. Their water contains numerous microscopic organisms that give the water an unusual color and density. Deconstruction: A hard sci-fi decon of the Space Opera subgenre, with some liberal applying of Reconstruction here and there. For a start, there's no Casual Interstellar Travel at all and the author goes to great lenghts to examine the ramifications of this simple fact on the setting and personal fates of the characters (Khouri's tale being a prime example). The classic scifi trope of faster-than-light travel is only actually attempted once in the series, and it destroys the ship trying to use it.

Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Quaiche's tragically deceased lover Morwenna. Though bear in mind that Quaiche himself is more of an Anti-Villain. The Prefects try to find connections amidst the victims, but struggle to find any significant leads other than the possibility that they appear to be risk takers. At Shell House, Aliya and Marlon Voi bring up their non identical twin sons, Julius and Cabel. The boys are taught to use extraordinary powers that give them the ability to challenge democracy. However, the boys have dreams that question who they are and hint at horrors from the past. In the meantime, Garlin's machinations raise the stakes as his popularity soars, meaning others are on the brink of choosing to become independent. Garlin's true identity is revealed, and it seems the multiple and disparate threads are all connected, as the looming danger to the Glitter Band and the Prefects becomes transparent. Will they manage to survive and save the lives of thousands? Antimatter: Antimatter weapons are small, hard to get, and extremely destructive; one character has one bomb implanted in his eyes (the eyes are artificial) and could destroy a kilometre long spacecraft with a thought. Small projectile weapons firing shielded antimatter fragments are also known, but seldom used outside of serious conflicts between very well equipped parties. It sets up expectations for a pretty spectacular closing revelation, tying together the three threads, Genius Loci: The Nostalgia for Infinity from the main trilogy, after the Captain's intelligence is spread throughout its systems by the Melding Plague. Also, many enviroments overtaken by the Melding Plague in general. A more unrelated example of this trope is Blood Spire in Diamond Dogs.

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