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

Very unsympathetic characters

The book really held my attention. But I can't say I liked the main characters at all. I found myself getting angry with the two main antagonist, and wishing they would just die. In fact, I became so negative, I realized I had to give the book a high rating.

The author should right a sequel.

Good Sci-Fi fix for the audiobook junky

I came across this book while I was in withdraw after the conclusion of another series I had just completed. I am usually disappointed with the non-series books because of lack of character development but this book was alright. It basically stuck to one story line and I found myself hating a few of the characters, so mission accomplished on the characters. It also had plenty of the "what if's" regarding technology advancements and even when the story started dealing with time travel (or time displacement), it didn't break the rules (you know what I'm talking about).

The one thing that was a bit annoying was the lack of a pause or break from the narrator between scene changes in the book. I had to rewind the book a few times when several years passed in what seemed like one sentence. "Just take a breath!"

Good filler book, you won't be disappointed.

Not hard sci-fi

worried about hydrogen combusting in vacuum. radiation from fusion. nanotech magic. this is not hard sci-fi this is someone using the label.

definitely a skip.

Standard Sci-Fi, that channels A.C. Clarke

Pretty standard Sci-Fi, enough reality to relate though it seems to channel quite a few Clarke books I have read. I was hoping for a little more. The book does have a great pace though is a bit predictable. It does setup a sequel and would make a good movie though.

Typical Alastair, plus one of his better endings.

This is perhaps my favorite Alastair Reynolds novel. I enjoy the immensity of of space and time in his work, and I think this one tops all.

Classic Reynolds Story - Did Not Disappoint

Would you consider the audio edition of Pushing Ice to be better than the print version?

After I listened to the audiobook I discovered that I had a hard copy buried beneath some previously read books. In most cases I'd be mad about spending the money when I already had a copy of the book in a different format. In this case I was not. The performance added a substantial amount to the story.

What other book might you compare Pushing Ice to and why?

I know Reynold's primarily through his Revelation Space universe (which was simply amazing). Reynold's style definitely comes through in this stand alone piece. Readers of this book may find the Manifold trilogy (Manifold: Space, Manifold: Time, Manifold: Origin) by Stephen Baxter to be very similar in scope and style.

Have you listened to any of John Lee’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have not listened to John Lee's performances, save for this one. He did an excellent job. His accents were believable, but did not detract from the story or break my suspension of belief.

Pushing Ice moved me

If you could sum up Pushing Ice in three words, what would they be?

Survival Success Mystery

What did you like best about this story?

The ending and how futile it felt but with the sense of a grand accomplishment and achievement that you never really got to see.

What does John Lee bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

A wonderful depth of character and personality. The lead characters are female and i was really impressed that John was able to make them sound feminine and not like high pitched pressies. He did a wonderful job of relaying the mood of the story through his tone and giving a level of reverence to the story that just made it a really amazing listen.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

OMG YES!!!

Any additional comments?

This is a story that covers a very rarely talked about idea that readers i have read try and stay away from. It really hit home for me because i was so entrenched in the story by the end that i was crying while listening. The hopelessness and futility was incredible, but that knowing of the accomplishment and what was started was a wonderful counterpoint.

Stick With It

This is an extremely well written story, but it does have more than a few slow bits. Having said that, if you stick with the story it is a fairly rewarding tale of not only first contact, but what kind of issues such contact might imply. Well worth the read.

A lovely first colony in the stars story

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The story needs less about the grudge between the 2 leading female characters and more on all the other difficulties they had to over come living on a mechanical moon-ship and later rebuilding it on the wall of the alien structure.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

I would like to see a sequel.

What does John Lee bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

It kept me in a good pace with the story. But as always I wish there would be at least one female reader to read for the female characters' voice. It always strike me a bit strange to listen to the opposite gender try to sound like the other gender in a book.

Was Pushing Ice worth the listening time?

It has a very unique scenario to other alien encounter stories. The thoughts on why the disguised moon was built that it being a lure to attract different intelligent beings across the vase universe to travel to a central structure, a region in the universe so that they could mingle and interact is intriguing.

Any additional comments?

Please consider hiring a 2nd reader always for books which have lots of dialogs between opposite gender leading characters.

Excellent narrator

This book was a pleasure to listen to. The narrator did an excellent job with the many different characters. The book was so well written that it brought the settings and characters to life. I felt an emotional response to certain characters, which is a sign of a very good writer. I like many genres, but I don't often enjoy stories about aliens and other worlds unless the the story is compelling and well written. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, although the ending left just a little to be desired. On the whole it was a great listen and I recommend this book.