Revelation Space

By: Alastair Reynolds

Narrated by: John Lee

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)

Enjoyed the story but difficult to listen

Any additional comments?

I see others like John Lee's performance but I found it to be the most annoying I've ever experienced. I must follow up that he does improve with the subsequent books. I suspect that he read Redemption Ark after Revelation Space and made Chasm City his third reading. This is because I noticed a great improvement in Chasm City, which I read second and then noticed Redemption Ark was as poor as the first. I'm speaking of his tendency to drop off at the end of every sentence. I listen primarily on the road and found it nearly impossible to follow the story. I'd turn the volume to maximum and have the first of every line blast out but still the end of the sentences were mostly unintelligible. And I've heard much better voice diversity in most other performances. He started the series with only three or four voices and I have yet to hear gender differences. Plus, the lack of pause between sections. He was one or two paragraphs into a section before I realized difference characters were speaking in a completely different environment.
BUT, I do notice great improvement with each subsequent book. I hate criticizing someone who has a talent that I don't have. I am amazed at anyone of the narrators of all audio books as they are mostly gifted speakers. But I've grown used to much better performances.

Nastalgia for Infinity

What did you love best about Revelation Space?

The world building. Reynolds gives a good feel for the Revelation Space universe while not diverting from an entertaining plot.

What did you like best about this story?

I like the convergence of the characters' stories. They initially seemed quite unconnected.

Which scene was your favorite?

The little skirmish on the surface of Resurgam with Khouri and Volyova

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Reynolds is yet to make me cry, but this book has a lot of suspense and excitement.

Not bad

The reader isnt bad, not realy good but he's consistent, amagantive and the he makes the time go past quickly. Wich is usefull as its SO LONG! Good ideas but could do with about 30% being edited out.

Enjoyed it but editing was difficult

Great story in a very interesting universe, but the performance suffered because the producer left no space between sections.

Technically brilliant, but hollow

Intrigued by this book, as I'd read Chasm City not too long ago and liked it. However this story's characters seemed so wooden that they almost lacked any relatable humanity. It's as though we got a robot's retelling of events, missing out on key points of emotion and doubt. The events in the story are so preordained that any choices the characters make don't matter or were never really their choices to begin with.
On a directing note, I don't understand why they didn't put pauses between characters' narratives, unless the intention was to deliberately disoriented the listeners.