Eversion

By: Alastair Reynolds

Narrated by: Harry Myers

Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

Eversion is a superb original gothic SF novel. A small group of intrepid explorers are in search of a remote and mysterious artefact. It's a well-funded expedition, well organised, which is lucky as they're sailing north of Bergen on the schooner Demeter, searching for a narrow inlet which will lead them to a vast uncharted lake—and their goal­­­—

Until disaster strikes.

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. But as they come in sight of their prize, he and the crew see they are not the first to come so far: there is a wreck ahead, and whatever ruined it may threaten them as well.

Shaking off his nightmares, Doctor Silas Coade joins his fellow exploders on the deck of the zeppelin Demeter and realises something has already gone dangerously wrong with their mission. If any of them are to survive, then he will have to take the exploration—and their lives—into his own hands....

©2022 Alastair Reynolds (P)2022 Gollancz

Not his best

If you're looking for something like Reynolds' other novels, this isn't going to do much for you. I didn't really like the horror aspects, that's not my thing, and overall the story would've been better as a novella/short story. It was easily twice as long as it needed to be. The narration was fine, and I ended up listening to the whole thing, but felt like I was forcing myself to finish the 2nd half.

great

It started strange, not like the old Reynolds at all... But later! Great story!

A clever and meaningful mystery

I’m a fan of Alastair Reynolds, and familiar with his favoured tropes - mannered gothic anachronisms, cosmic threats, hard science bent to widescreen SF, unreliable narrators slowly realising their way through unreliable narratives, heroism - but had kinda been expecting this to be a minor effort.

I think that was because the blurb was so mysterious, and I’m very glad to be wrong. This may be gist best use of an unreliable narrator since Chasm City, and the mystery isn’t just a game, but a setup for something meaningful. It’s a very satisfying game, leaving more to be discovered each time you think you’ve worked out what’s going on; and with an excellent close focus on protagonist’s experience, cosmic horror kept at just enough distance.

My only misgiving is that the iteration in which the character Ada is a Lois Lane-style gal reporter requires an American accent the narrator just couldn’t pull off.

Quite Reynolds, but lacking his usual depth and details

The plot has a nice twist, but the story is quite flat and unfulfilled
Narrator is good

brilliant

brilliant story, brilliantly performed.
Alastair Reynold's best work in years. Quite different to other works.

Outstanding performance.

Harry Myers knocked this outta the park. there were moments that I thought I was listening to Jeff Wayne's War Of The World's. the accents were great without being pastiches and the pacing was spot on. Reynolds also did a great job, his last few outings have left me cold, but this is a clever stand alone story with a great pay-off. it'd be hard to describe what I loved about the story without spoilers but I think it was a great premise. Reynolds even managed to dial back his usual melodrama to a bare minimum by his standards. I thoroughly enjoyed this story and reading.

An different Reynolds book

Simple enough in it's complexity. Having read the Revelation Space books a couple of times, this was a refreshing story by the author. The clues were nicely tied into and solved towards the end of the book.
Harry Myers' (Narrator) reading was immaculate and added to the enjoyment tremendously.

loved it

A book that require a certain amount of concentration. I had to re-listen to certain chapters as I often listen while taking a walk and outside noise made me miss important details.

A strange tale

At its heart it is still Science Fiction but with hints of Cosmic Horror. To me occupies a similar space to Century Rain and Terminal World in its blurring of genre boundaries. If you are looking for more Revelation Space this isn't it but I strongly urge you to experience it.

Absolutely brilliant!

Don' t miss this one.
An absolute gem in all aspects. Treat yourself with this book, you will not regret it