Chasm City

By: Alastair Reynolds

Narrated by: John Lee

Length: 23 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

Named one of the best novels of the year by both Locus and Science Fiction Chronicle, Alastair Reynolds's debut Revelation Space redefined the space opera. With Chasm City, Reynolds invites you to reenter the bizarre universe of his imagination as he redefines Hell.

The once-utopian Chasm City - a domed human settlement on an otherwise inhospitable planet - has been overrun by a virus known as the Melding Plague, capable of infecting any body, organic or computerized. Now, with the entire city corrupted---from the people to the very buildings they inhabit---only the most wretched sort of existence remains. For security operative Tanner Mirabel, it is the landscape of nightmares through which he searches for a lowlife postmortal killer. But the stakes are raised when his search brings him face to face with a centuries-old atrocity that history would rather forget.

©2008 Alastair Reynolds (P)2009 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Consistently startling.... Reynolds remains one of the hottest...SF writers around." ( Publishers Weekly)

Convoluted...but...

What did you like best about Chasm City? What did you like least?

I did not enjoy this book, mainly because I prefer a linear story. This one, with it's flashbacks, and converging story lines was confusing to me, and tiring. However, someone with a more agile mind may enjoy it. ;-)

Series just keeps getting better

An elaborate journey, tying in nicely with the first volume. Hard science fiction meets mystery that will amaze you in the intricate details of delightful woven tales. John Lee is my favorite narrator. He skillfully relays the characters with subtle changes in voice that are never strained.

new to Alastair Reynolds

this is a decent introduction to Alastair Reynolds. Good character development, but the story left me a little unsatisfied.

Great Book

This was a great sci-fi book! I will be checking out many more from this author.

Unable to transition to spoken medium

I've previously enjoyed the challenge of reading Reynolds and am disappointed to realise that he hasn't transitioned to the spoken medium. Saddened to besure

Complex Story, Erudite Narration

It’s not easy to pull off a work of this scope. Far future technology, intertwined plotlines, flashbacks, and more, but the author manages to keep it all together while building compelling characters and keeping the story moving. I loved the narrator too, great accent and did the work justice. Highly recommend if you want a sprawling deep space opera.

enthralled by this book

this book was amazing it felt a little predictable at times however it served to rope me into the story more excellent story right up until the end where it felt as though the epilouge and last chapter were rushed. I know there's more in the series so I cannot wait to read more!

Confusing story

unfortunately the narration was somewhat boring as well as the story was somewhat confusing too many switches too quickly

Epic story, I loved it even more the second time.

Loved it, Alistair Reynolds has a wicked mind, John Lee is the natural choice to perform Alistairs works, I listened to all of his books over the years and have started Revelation Space again after finishing them off years ago, what a treat, that was when I discovered John Lee, noteably one of the best preformers out there, to the extent I started following John Lee's performances, going through genres I would ordinarily not have bothered with, He's truely amazing, I counted 11 charaters in the one book, male and female, done with a veriety of accents. don't miss this opportunity to be entertained.

Worth it but sometimes trying

Here’s the deal, I got into this book from reading the previous novel “Revelation Space”, I was a bit disappointed at the beginning to learn these weren’t the same characters but I enjoyed that it was set in the same neighborhood. After settling in I became attached to the characters and the story, although I must admit at time the story dried up a bit but it is worth it to follow through. Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who has already read the previous in series. I look forward to reading the next book in this interesting take on our galaxy!