Pushing Ice

By: Alastair Reynolds

Narrated by: John Lee

Length: 19 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

2057. Humanity has raised exploiting the solar system to an art form. Bella Lind and the crew of her nuclear-powered ship, the Rockhopper, push ice. They mine comets. And they're good at it.

The Rockhopper is nearing the end of its current mission cycle, and everyone is desperate for some much-needed R & R, when startling news arrives from Saturn: Janus, one of Saturn's ice moons, has inexplicably left its natural orbit and is now heading out of the solar system at high speed. As layers of camouflage fall away, it becomes clear that Janus was never a moon in the first place. It's some kind of machine - and it is now headed toward a fuzzily glimpsed artifact 260 light-years away. The Rockhopper is the only ship anywhere near Janus, and Bella Lind is ordered to shadow it for the few vital days before it falls forever out of reach. In accepting this mission, she sets her ship and her crew on a collision course with destiny - for Janus has more surprises in store, and not all of them are welcome.

©2008 Alastair Reynolds (P)2010 Tantor

Critic reviews

"[Reynolds is] a genius for big-concept SF and fans of Arthur C. Clarke's Rendezvous with Rama and Larry Niven's Ringworld will love this novel." ( Publishers Weekly

Amazing Story with terrible narrator

Would you listen to Pushing Ice again? Why?

No. I would turn it off and read the book. Much like I did the first time around.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of John Lee?

Tom Weiner did a great job with Red November and think he'd perform well here.

OK, but not great

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

This book was so mediocre that I will try to stay away from these authors' other works. Strange how the story just skip major parts of the story arc.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

The advanced hardware and aliens was the most interesting aspect, yet the author didn't really go into much detail.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

This story was mostly just a bad soap opera featuring two women who dislike each other. The enmity just doesn't make sense with the characters and the situation.

Do you think Pushing Ice needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

I would not be at all interested in Any follow-up book.

Space Opera+++

Pushing Ice is beautifully narrated by John Lee. This story follows the crew of the Rockhopper. This nuclear powered ship usually mines comets. In the midst of this latest work, two major issues arise. A crew member is terminally ill and Janus, the moon around Saturn leaves its orbit.

The mixture of hard science in this space opera was well crafted. I wished I had read this author years ago. It tackles political rivalry, alien contact and dumb object trope. Just be prepared for jumps in time continuity. But you will never guess many of the twists and turns.

Sense of Wonder.

The classic Sci-Fi Sense of Wonder feeling is sadly hard to come by in today's fantasy riddled offerings. Here is a hard core Sci-Fi novel which has it in abundance. The thought provoking ideas in this book brought to mind some of some books by The Big Three (Asimov, Heinlein and Clarke). Mind you it's not just hard Sci-Fi. It's got a lot of human emotions as well. And yes, a GREAT story.

One of a very few audio books that I've listened to twice.

Characters Lacking

The narration could have benefited from an actual woman's voice despite the best efforts of this very good voice actor. Characters dim cardboard. Regrettably sexist rendering undermined intriguing technology.

Proof that a good story doesn't require a trilogy

I was led to Pushing Ice on the recommended reading list in another book I own. I had a few credits to spare and decided to try it out. I was happy to see that John Lee was narrating, as I've enjoyed his other work (Count of Monte Cristo particularly). But this was my first exposure to Alastair Reynolds.

Right out of the gate I was engaged. The depiction of life aboard a comet mining ship was really first rate with very little in the way of "space magic" thrown in. The characters were interesting and the events of the first portion of the book were so gripping I found myself pulled into the slip stream (wink).

The development of the plot from beginning to end is quite broad in scope, and Mr. Reynolds doesn't slow down to spoon feed every portion of the the plot which I enjoyed. There are a couple of lulls in the story when new events are being set up that dragged by comparison to other parts, but they were by no means boring.

In the end, the quality of Pushing Ice is a result of the whole story rather than any one character or plot arc. It's a great experience that I'd recommend to any fan of science fiction.

Aliens, castaways, relativistic quandries, mortality, betrayal, vengeance, love, sacrifice, cosmic insignificance and perserverance...all delivered to your ears by the smooth-as-butter voice of John Lee.

Interesting, but poorly executed

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Interesting enough that I don't begrudge the time, but annoying enough that I'm not completely absorbed and often find my mind wandering to mundane things like work.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

The least - The interactions of the people are very petty and one dimensional with poorly written dialogue. They just never grow on you - not even like fungus.

The most - The story of the Janus artifact. It's pretty slow and drawn out, but interesting with lots of breadcrumbs along the way. On the other hand the book is basically just a re-imaging of the Arthur C Clarke 'Rama' novels so Reynolds is treading a well worn path.

Would you be willing to try another one of John Lee’s performances?

Not if I can avoid it. He often sounds very stilted and delivers dramatic pauses and grave voices at times that feel completely out of place. Also his characterisations are generally more like caricatures and often distract from, rather than enhance, the story.

Any additional comments?

I generally hear good things about Reynolds but I'm not getting it from this book (my first Reynolds book). I'll probably give him the benefit of the doubt and try another... probably.

Alastair does another great story

so if you are a fan of the other works you will like this one also - it one of the "stand alone novels" that he has wrote

this is sorta like a "First Contact" story but is a little stranger then that - Janus one of Saturn's moons has decided to start accelerating out of orbit and into interstellar space, there is only 1 ship in the correct place at the correct time to follow it for as long as it can and "observe it" before turning back

there are 2 major characters that go from best friends to worst enemies and back to sorta friends, and then something else entirely in the very end of the book - wont give it away but they become closer then any 2 people could ever be and I am not talking about hooking up

its Bella Lind and Svetlana Barseghian - Bella is in charge but Svetlana wants to turn back because she is convinced that the ship doesent have enough fuel to make it back so they must do it now and hope for the best, maybe have to abandon ship because there is no fuel to decelerate

it gets stranger and stranger with the readings they get from sensors and stuff like that, and it soon becomes clear that they will never make it back home again - so they settle in for the long stay and hope that they can one day get a message back home to tell them what happened

after years of time pass, there are 145 people on the ship at the time of leaving and some die and some are killed and some are born - others are born again but that is a matter for latter in the book

like all of Reynolds stuff this is a great story with an ending that is concluded but also leaves something for the imagination

only reason it gets 4 not 5 stars is because the 2 main characters Bella Lind and Svetlana Barseghian go at things that makes no sense at all - 1 of them Bella is all non-hostile about everything, and Svetlana is all about making an example out of someone - maybe its because they are women and thats how they would act but like most things women do in arguments it makes no sense

Rollrcoastr plot was long & stressful but worth it

This was so beautifully written and such an incredible experience getting through. At times though it was a bit dry, even a bit drawn out and sometimes felt a bit aimless.

All those aimless feelings I had though really still tied into the overall plot.

The situation this crew finds themselves involved in is obviously unprecedented and with no guide how to find an aim other then to survive the aimless tone makes sense.

This often reminded me of how books like Seveneves was portioned out in seperate 'Acts'. You get a very character focused act at the start that starts setting the stage for the plot, the main characters that will be involved and a lot of character building so as a reader I was able to easily pick the important people out from the crowd. You also get a whole lot of politics and tension happening with the start of the situation that sends everyone into the Rollercoaster of a plot.

Every act felt so well paced with giving a good amount of world building, character and plot at good moments to keep things interesting and still managed to give every act a unique feel to it and what it contributed overall to the story.

The 2nd act I felt was very focused on world building and it did a great job at describing surroundings. The tone set was very clear and I honestly could feel the stress radiating out of these characters in trying to figure out what to do with their escalating situation.

By the 3rd act it was just pure plot that felt incredibly satisfying to see all this build up from the book escalate into. The conclusion also felt very satisfying albeit still left a lot up for your imagination to fill in the blanks.

I absolutely adored this book and so glad i stuck with it. Honestly I did sometimes get anxious because just how long it was. The build up was very slow but never felt like wasted breath. Everything felt meaningful, well thought up and important to the big picture.

The high concept with this kind of story would take a ton of creatively mapping out to make this work. The author I think did such an amazing job at making it work. I was just blown away with where this book took me and fell in love with the crew.

I see a lot of comments about wishing there was a sequal. Honestly, I don't think this book needs a sequal. It's so good as a stand alone and I feel like it wrapped up so much plot by the end that I was completly satisfied. I'm ok with not knowing what's next and leaving it to imagination.

Alistair Reynolds and John Lee: An Unbeatable Duo

The beginning of Pushing Ice is utterly tantalizing. The characters are real, flawed, and complex.
The plot is intriguing and merged to physical law.
But, the end fell flat for me.

Regardless, absolutely worth the time and I still recommend it, for the brilliant writing of Alistair Reynolds and the regal charisma of John Lee.