Eons ago, a sun in a faraway solar system exploded, scouring its planets with a deadly purifying blaze. That inferno wiped out the alien Amarantins of Resurgam, a barren world now populated by human archaeologists intent on learning more about this highly advanced culture. Sylveste is one of the lead scientists on Resurgam: an arrogant, imperious man, he carries with him an adulterated AI version of his famous father, as well as a dark secret from his encounter into the mysterious Shroud. Meanwhile, a mysterious benefactor hires the assassin Khouri to kill Sylveste. Khouri joins the crew of the four-kilometer-long lighthugger Nostalgia for Infinity, led by a computer-virus-infected captain but controlled by the strong-willed (if cold-hearted) Volyova. Soon, the paths of Sylveste, Khouri, and Volyova cross--and they discover why it is that humanity is the only remaining intelligent species left in the galaxy.
Reynolds is superb at the hard science in Revelation Space. For example, he is very careful about establishing the timelines for his various characters to take into account the effect of time dilation and near-light-speed travel. And in one virtuoso section, Reynolds explains the unusual nature of the Amartins' written language: because the Amartins' eyes resemble those of birds, Reynolds explains, their language is written as "stereoscopic ideopicts," not as the flat and linear script more familiar to us. While it is somewhat implausible that humans could figure out such a complex and alien language (though perhaps they can--I'm no expert), Reynolds repeated efforts to flesh out such details makes his universe seem real, deep, and interesting.
Revelation Space isn't just about the details, though: Reynolds also makes sure that the reader receives a steady diet of cool ideas. Without spoiling too much of the plot, here's just a brief list of the neat ideas Reynolds casually lays out before us: ancient alien artifacts; decrepit virus-infested spaceships; the Shrouds, mysterious bubbles in space hidden behind powerful gravity shields; the Pattern Jugglers, ocean intelligences that cover entire planets; the cache weapons, some weak enough to destroy a starship, others powerful enough to trigger black holes; four-kilometer-long battering rams; and a moon-sized hostile machine intelligence surrounding a planet-sized super-computer. Reynolds is hugely inventive--and not shy about showing off his imagination.
He's also a decent writer, unlike many of his hard-science-fiction predecessors. Reynolds writes surprisingly good dialogue, true to character and mostly free of purely expository exchanges. Of course, this being hard science fiction, almost everybody talks in a clipped, macho military style: there's more posturing than personality in this novel. But Reynolds makes you forget about the thinness of his characters with a fast-paced narrative where every chapter ends with a mini-cliffhanger, and the plot is so complex and enthralling--full of betrayals, secrets, and twists--that it captures your attention from start to end.
Reynolds also has a knack for the motif (a rarity among science-fiction writers), though his are minor and mostly stylistic in scope. Nevertheless, it both surprises and pleases when Reynolds pays off on an idea that he's only been hinting at throughout the book (his treatment of heat dust, for example), and the concluding paragraph resonates nicely with earlier reflections on the Amartins' tragic dream of flight. These motifs are small touches, not large themes, yet they knit together this uncommonly large novel.
About the only things Revelation Space lacks are well-developed characters and, a fortiori, an emotional payoff. To its credit, it never attempts to pass itself off as a Great Novel. As a popcorn adventure, though, this one is a blockbuster.
Copyright © 2003 Steven Wu 