Terminal World

By: Alastair Reynolds

Narrated by: John Lee

Length: 19 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

Spearpoint, the last human city, is an atmosphere-piercing spire of vast size. Clinging to its skin are the zones, a series of semi-autonomous city-states, each of which enjoys a different - and rigidly enforced - level of technology. Following an infiltration mission that went tragically wrong, Quillon has been living incognito, working as a pathologist in the district morgue.

But when a near-dead angel drops onto his dissecting table, Quillon's world is wrenched apart one more time. If Quillon is to save his life, he must leave his home and journey into the cold and hostile lands beyond Spearpoint's base, starting an exile that will take him further than he could ever imagine. But there is far more at stake than just Quillon's own survival, for the limiting technologies of the zones are determined not by governments or police but by the very nature of reality---and reality itself is showing worrying signs of instability.

©2010 Alastair Reynolds (P)2010 Tantor

Critic reviews

"A rousing adventure in a widly original setting." ( Guardian, UK)

Another Amazing Book by Reynolds!

I've read almost all of Reynold's books, and this one is among the best. Excellent in every way.

Interesting world, unsatisfying central character

Reynolds always constructs extraordinarily intricate and ultimately logical worlds, and his central characters are usually fully drawn and complex as well. In this instance he nailed the world building but presented us with a leading character who is limp and unsatisfying. Always the thoroughgoing altruist and nearly terminally naive, he wanders along, captive to the plot throughout, functioning primarily as a conduit for information between the various factions with whom he interacts. He is so passive that he is hard to believe as a survivor. It is not the poor sap's fault since the author keeps him restricted and controlled throughout the entire book, but looking back on it I realize just how sick of him I was by the end.

There were secondary characters who were more dynamic and with whom readers would happily throw in their lot if given a chance, but they never emerged from their supporting roles. Did someone say there will be a series? If so, perhaps the interesting world and the situation in which we are left hanging at the end of the book will provide a stage for giving one or more of the other personae the room to strike out on their own and give us someone to relate to and invest in. That could be worth a credit.

Far into the future, the world has a bad day

I keep getting Alastair Reynolds books because I know that even though they take a while to get into, you eventually get sucked in and dragged along for a thrilling adventure.
Somehow the the man reading this does all these different voices and characters, quite convincingly.

A stand alone, shorter book WELL worth the listen

Reynolds wroite one of my favorite SF series -- the Revelation Space Inhibitor books. Those are dark and VERY long. This is somewhat lighter, easier to get into -- but crammed full of fascinating ideas. Almost like he is considering a long series.

It has a little techno-cyber punk-steam punk feel. But it is a solid piece of science fiction and as always has a fascinating mix of hard SF, wild flights of imagination and characterization.

Have you ever read a book and thought to yourself: Oh crap! now I have to wait patiently for the next two in this series -- and really hope that they come.

The construct at the center of the story and the main character are two of Reynolds best -- and this is the best SF I have read this year.

OK...so I'm waiting for more in Hamilton's Pandora's Star/Void series, or Revelation Space, or Hyperion or this.......let's get going folks.

Another good book by Alastair

Where does Terminal World rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

"Terminal world" is a very good book featuring a deep, well thought through story. It's one of the books you want to open again after you closed it couple of minutes back to learn what happens next.

What did you like best about this story?

It has an interesting story with a lot of things to think about. Even in this book the author doesn't leave sci-fi component aside (although I haven't read many books like one).

Which scene was your favorite?

I guess, the last couple of pages of the book (or the last chapter of the audiobook, to be correct), where... well I'd better let potential readers learn for themselves ;-)

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

I'm not the best at this so I skip the question.

Any additional comments?

While I was expecting the book to be one of the space-opera it appeared to be an example of steam-punk. I was never a big fan of steampunk as a genre but I find the story to be very interesting and with time I definitely going to listen to it again (or maybe, read it, for a change)

Hard sci-fi and good story

I have come to expect Alastair Reynolds to give a hard scientific edge to a rousing good story. He has not yet disappointed me. This book is interesting, thought provoking, and could be the beginning of a game series or book saga, but he prefers to let us think those thoughts ourselves.

another wonderful story narrated by the best

One of my favorite sci fi authors showing he cant write a bad story. ive put off reading this for a while. but i regret itso much. such an interesting premise!
Also. John Lee is prblly my favorite narrator. Ever.

Strange (but good) story in steampunkish setting.

Any additional comments?

I like the very slightly steampunkish world Al Reynolds created in this novel. There's lots to chew due to a wide variety of characters and motivations. The plot was well paced and not rushed to tie all loose ends at the end of the novel. Lots of detailed descriptions that make the book about twice as long as it needs to be.

Terminal World should not be the Terminus

I really enjoyed listening to Terminal World and would rate this book much higher if it were the beginning of a series. But Reynolds has written Terminal World as a standalone novel which ends just as a great story is beginning so I found the book a real let down.

Reynolds sets up a great adventure tale that includes a nice mash-up of hard science and fantasy seasoned with steampunk elements. (I really liked the scientific explanations for the variations in technology. Steampunk often just seems to be about cool gadgets and doesn't incorporate enough logic to make me happy and that's not the case in Terminal World.) As we follow the main protagonist, Quillon, and his cohort, Meroka, in their flight to escape assassination attempts on Quillon, we get pieces of the puzzle to explain how their strange world functions, how it came to be, why it is "broken", and how it can be repaired and the great escape slowly evolves into more of a quest. However, just at the point you start to understand the constructs and have an inkling of how this happened, the story ends. It really feels like reading the first of a series and then having no second book available.

These are interesting characters with potential for a lot more development and a totally fascinating world whose history/evolution is only hinted at. There is a universe of room to expand and progress this story and I can only hope that Reynolds considers a sequel to "bring this story home".

Jon Lee does a good turn on narration and the voice he uses for the tough and sassy Meroka is perfect.

On its own, Terminal World is entertaining and, like all of Reynolds work, the story will expand your mind to some very cool new concepts, but it ends on the cusp of something great and may leave you wanting much more.

It was good - a little laborious to read

It was interesting, a good world but there were too many places I couldn't believe. I'll be watching the author for better though.