Galactic North

I found the first stories (Great Wall of Mars, etc) to be the most enjoyable, because they present you with the events mentioned in passing in several of the Revelation Space stories. So it was nice to read how the events unfolded.

Other than the last story (which I found very weak & shallow, with the weakest characterizations), all of them had many memorable moments that will stick with you. Reynolds universe is a fascinating place - almost all of these stories visit places we've seen before in his novels, and they do lean on you having that background.

If you've got the background of the worlds Reynolds has invented, these are very enjoyable. If you don't, then you might be a bit lost as some of these can not stand fully on their own.

I'm used to Alastair Reynolds' books being LONG. I'm used to following his Characters non-stop for 20+ hours at a time. But this series of shorter stories, set in the same Universe, is AWESOME! Reynolds seems to assume that readers will have already read his other books, and therefore doesn't go into nearly the set-up of the characters that he does in his other books... If you already know the Universe, you'll love how this series of stories expands upon events and places alluded to in the Main Series. Since you already know the characters, Reynolds is able to get straight to the action in each of the stories!
Loved It!

If you like to travel far in time and space you will like these stories. The hive mind concept and humanities reaction to it are intriguingly expored in a hard SF envoirnment with space pirates and interstellar travel.

The narator gives you no warning of the end of one story and the beginning of the next. Don't get lost during these transitions.

Can't get enough of this author A. Reynolds. Absolution Gap (as well as Redemption Ark) were daring in brushstrokes, but this last book helps imagine areas that were missing or not clear in the whole Revelation Space scenery. The Greenfly entity makes you think farther than you thought the Inhibitors would go. Just being able to hear more about Clavain is worth it. The different stories fit in nice and actually are gripping with drama and action. To me the whole series is a classic along with the side books like The Prefect and "Chasm City" (which is a must). If you CAN -- get into this whole space opera burrito. I hear he is making a Doctor Who story. wow

This collection of short stories from Reynolds' RS universe adds some terrific background color to the other novels. Uncharacteristically, only one of the stories has quite the scale or galactic import of his usual work, though.

Yes, this book tied allot Alastairs stories up very nicely!

It's a bit short story feel but fills in the details very well in Alastairs world!

All the stories were great, I enjoyed the Mars wall, a lot because itwas been referred to by so many of Alastairs books!

Getting some of the back-story on Revelation Space characters, even if it wasn't always totally consistent with the main series.

The climax of Nightingale. If I say more, I'll spoil the fun.

Not the whole book, but I did want to listen to each story in one sitting.

I loved how some of the stories fleshed out things that were just mentioned in passing in the Revelation Space series.

Really great series of short stories. I'll have to read more of this author.