Revelation Space

By: Alastair Reynolds

Narrated by: John Lee

Length: 22 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

Nine hundred thousand years ago, something annihilated the Amarantin civilization just as it was on the verge of discovering space flight. Now one scientist, Dan Sylveste, will stop at nothing to solve the Amarantin riddle before ancient history repeats itself.

With no other resources at his disposal, Sylveste forges a dangerous alliance with the cyborg crew of the starship Nostalgia for Infinity. But as he closes in on the secret, a killer closes in on him because the Amarantin were destroyed for a reason. And if that reason is uncovered, the universe - and reality itself - could be irrevocably altered.

©2008 Alastair Reynolds (P)2008 Tantor

Critic reviews

"One of the best books of the year." ( Science Fiction Chronicle)
"Ferociously intelligent and imbued with a chilling logic - it may really be like this Out There." (Stephen Baxter, co-author of The Light of Other Days)

Good but complex and sometimes hard to follow

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

Yes

Could you see Revelation Space being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Yes / Unk

Any additional comments?

While the story and reading were both good, it would have been VERY helpful if the scene breaks were actually indicated in some fashion instead of running them together and leaving the listener to figure it out after several lines. I'm sure it was obvious in the printed book, and it really detracts from the story line.

Can't blame the author or reader, guess I'd have to ding the director?

Good story but required extra concentration

Really good story, however had to re-listen to sections to keep track of who/what happens.

interesting story, difficult performance

The concept and gritty sci-fi was unteresting but the performance made it very VERY hard to follow. Especially between scenes. There is a much to short paus between location changes (which where many times per chapter) so I rarely knew where in the galaxy i was and the voice acting had such subtle differences so they were no help to knowing.
The story itself touched deeply on the Fermi paradox and on cybernetic intellectual challenges, both concepts that are very dear to me. This drudgey kind of sci-fi reminded me just a touch about Mass Effect 3.

hard to hear narrator and mediocre story writing

narrator has wide volume range, making many words very hard to hear. story is slow, confusing, and repetitive. the author seems to agree as the characters will often give or explain large portions of exposition via dialogue, especially at the end

A classic in my book

Stands up to Sci Fi classics in my opinion. One of my favorites of all time, and narrated excellently.

Reynolds successfully juggles three storylines

Where does Revelation Space rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Revelation Space is among the better audio books I've listened to. John Lee does a good job bringing each character his/her own voice. He does tend to lean towards the Slavic/Russian accents, but I figure that has more to do with the characters themselves.

What did you like best about this story?

Its complex in that you really are listening to three distinct and separate stories till the very end. Watching the characters collide with all the inevitability and force that's built over the many hours of listening was truly gratifying. It wet my appetite for the next installment.

Which scene was your favorite?

Reynolds does an excellent job adding character to the Lighthugger "Nostalgia for Infinity". I loved the scenes aboard it.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

I don't think it could be filmed.

Worth the second read/ listen!

Understanding Dan Sylveste is critical to the plot lines of the series. He is enigmatic, and here we find why and how he acts to advance his maniacal goals. The writing is top notch, and there are too many story arcs to review about. Dan, Ana, and this other sentience ... is just awesome.

needs more voice actors

Very tough to finish! the story is good but the single monotone narrator for the entire book made it easy to get distracted.

poor narration

couldn't finish due the narration. slurred and sometimes muffled, it was difficult to follow

Not sure why people think the narrator is awful.

 He isn’t perfect, but then again, nobody is. But I was so sucked in by the story that I hardly even noticed any editing issues. Over all it really enjoyed the concepts in the story. I really like how Alistair writes the characters to be unlikable at certain points in the book but then they come around full circle. Really great job on this book. I can’t wait to read the next few books in the series.