Alastair Reynolds usually writes big, bulky science-fiction epics: all three of his Revelation Space novels have been wrist-breakers. Diamond Dogs, Turquoise Days is thus something of an anomaly: two thin novellas, stuck together into a standalone book, but set in the same universe as his previous novels.

In the first novella, "Diamond Dogs," six disreputable explorers travel to an alien world that contains the Blood Spire, a heavily fortified tower with a mysterious chamber at the top. The Blood Spire is one of science fiction's most interesting phallic symbols (and it really is a phallic symbol--the physical descriptions of the tower could hardly be more obvious). Borrowing from such hoary traditions as Dungeons & Dragons and the quickly forgotten film Cube, Reynolds constructs a tower in which explorers must progress room by room from the floor to the prize at the top. Each room contains a puzzle, generally a mathematical one; the right answer opens the door to the next room, while the wrong answer causes a horrific punishment, generally involving amputation of some limb(s).

The Blood Spire is a very interesting concept, despite its artificial and even formalistic elements. Although Reynolds does spend a few pages going over mathematical puzzles, for the most part he is content to let his characters solve the puzzles behind the scenes. As a result, what drives the novella are the characters themselves, including the Juggler-touched Celestine and the polite but monstrous Doctor Trintignant. The most interesting relationship in the novella, however, is the obsessive competition between the narrator and Childe Roland, who funded the expedition to the Blood Spire. Their obsession takes them far beyond the scope of reason, causing them to warp their bodies--and with it, their minds--in their all-consuming desire to conquer the Spire.

The other major character in the novella, of course, is the Spire itself, which displays disturbing hints of being alive and aware. Like the hideous overmind of Harlan Ellison's classic story, "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream," the Spire seems to delight in torturing the explorers, swiftly changing the rules of the game on them before wreaking untold pain. Reynolds does an excellent job describing the oppressive dread accompanying each room: will this answer open the next door, or will it unleash a storm of blades that will eviscerate us?

The conclusion of the novella settles the character side of the story, but it leaves the mystery of the Spire frustratingly incomplete. Fortunately, a brief, oblique hint to a possible explanation of the Spire can be found in the next novella, "Turquoise Days," which is set on one of the fascinating planets inhabited (or perhaps composed solely of) the Pattern Jugglers.

As readers familiar with Reynolds's universe know, the Pattern Jugglers are world-covering ocean intelligences that absorb the minds of any beings who swim in their organic seas. "Turquoise Days" depicts the operations of a scientific community stranded on a Pattern Juggler world after their lighthugger malfunctions. They manage well enough alone, choosing to maintain isolation rather than deal with the pesky outside universe.

Unfortunately, "Turquoise Days" gives short shrift to the mysterious Pattern Jugglers; the story deals frustratingly with humans instead. More damagingly, the story seems a motley collection of disparate elements: the protagonist's dead sister, an ancient dictator, a rebel group. The novella ends up feeling disjointed and somewhat distant. Things aren't helped by an ending that is, to say the least, anti-climactic: a disappointing change for an author who ended one of his previous novels by ramming a four-kilometer spaceship into a planet-sized alien intelligence.

"Diamond Dogs" is clearly the superior story. While even that novella fails to live up to the quality of Reynolds's novels, the discrepancy is more likely due to the difference in formats than anything else. Fans of Reynolds will enjoy this brief collection.

[Note that some knowledge of the Revelation Space universe is a prerequisite.]

Copyright © 2003 Steven Wu