Absolution Gap

By: Alastair Reynolds

Narrated by: John Lee

Length: 27 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

The Inhibitors were designed to eliminate any life-form reaching a certain level of intelligence - and they've targeted humanity. War veteran Clavain and a ragtag group of refugees have fled into hiding. Their leadership is faltering, and their situation is growing more desperate.

But their little colony has just received an unexpected visitor: an avenging angel with the power to lead mankind to safety - or draw down its darkest enemy. And as she leads them to an apparently insignificant moon light-years away, it begins to dawn on Clavain and his companions that to beat one enemy, it may be necessary to forge an alliance with something much worse.

©2008 Alastair Reynolds (P)2009 Tantor

Bittersweet ending

Religious zealots ruined the ending. Throughout all 7 books in Revelation Space religion was never prominently displayed. Absolution Gap introduced religion as the backdrop and never fully explored religion.

Totally confused throughout the novel and disappointed with the use Aura as McGuffin.

Absolution Gap - Review

I really expected to like this book, but as it turns out, this book crawls at a slow pace, to many plots and characters. With this many characters, John Lee has problem with the voice of each, John Lee is the one the saves this novel.

I'm a hardcore SiFi fan and I just could not listen to it more than a hour at a time, I would just drift off, especially during the very vebose discription of equipment or gadgets. I guess some readers like those details, but I like a good plot that moves me and keeps me sitting in the car in the drive way awaiting the next turn of the plot.

Engaging, strongly recommend to sci-fi fans

Another excellent sic-fi novel by Alastair Raynolds and magnificent performance by John Lee. I've read most of Alastair Raynolds books and always enjoyed his realistic depiction of near future underlined with scientific facts.

Absolution gap picks up after Redemption Ark, continues with the story of human survival against the inhabiters. You can still read this book without the previous book but I recommend to read redemption ark first which is also a fantastic book if you can't wait till all the characters background are covered later in this book.

I had a mix feeling about the ending but right till the very last chapter the story continues on the right expectation path. If you are familiar with Alastrair Reynaldo then you definitely enjoy the ride and accept the twisted endings. Absolution Gap introduces many concepts that on their own right can be a good sic-fi stories. If you like this series then I also recommend Revelation space which is the part one foundation for other standalone books form AR.

Silly

Would you try another book from Alastair Reynolds and/or John Lee?

I would try another book by this author, I think this was a hiccup in otherwise good sci fi. But pigs in space, seriously? add to that some guy who founds a religion requiring giant cathedral/tank cities to slowly plod over the planet in sync with a moon so it can be witnessed to dissapear now and then is just all kinds of silly.

A good conclusion

A conclusion to the main plot line of the series - a good one, not a perfect one. I recommend to everyone in the series already.

Another great story

I love these stories, they are just so good and capture the scale of it all so well

Don’t believe the hype. Just kinda stupid.

Totally engaged. Good stuff. Missed a little hear and there but pretty good all around. That said... the ending is a joke. After 20 hours, seriously? WTF

Descent towards fan-fiction

The story kept disappointing me. The events and decisions around and of certain characters have began to feel like fanfiction. Their justifications shallow and without much apparent larger picture in mind. Worst is the continuing relegation of Inhibitors from a menacing existential thread in the previous books, to a mild nuisance.

Strongest yet in the series

I'm going straight through the series all at once and I found this the most compelling book yet. I love the way he methodically peels the onion of his imagined deep galactic history as a backdrop to the shorter stories of the human characters. Reynolds is a master world-builder and I look forward to hearing the rest of this series in the near future.

Very good but lame ending

Here's the thing, it's almost as if Alastair Reynolds got tired of writing this series. He pretty much wraps up the series with a brief epilogue. Alastair could have easily written a whole book which covers the just the epilogue.