Century Rain

by Alastair Reynolds, John Lee (Narrator)

Археолог Верити Ожье ведет раскопки на Земле, обезлюдевшей триста лет назад в результате катастрофы под названием Нанокост. Когда экспедиция терпит крах, Верити, чтобы избежать судебного преследования и реабилитироваться, соглашается выполнить тайную миссию. По созданной инопланетянами «червоточине» в пространстве-времени она отправляется в середину двадцатого века — забрать документы исключительной важности, которые другой агент из будущего перед своей гибелью подготовил для передачи именно ей.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Space Opera, Audiobook, Mystery, Time Travel, Alternate History

Audiobook

First published November 25, 2004

About the author

I'm Al, I used to be a space scientist, and now I'm a writer, although for a time the two careers ran in parallel. I started off publishing short stories in the British SF magazine Interzone in the early 90s, then eventually branched into novels. I write about a novel a year and try to write a few short stories as well. Some of my books and stories are set in a consistent future named after Revelation Space, the first novel, but I've done a lot of other things as well and I like to keep things fresh between books.

I was born in Wales, but raised in Cornwall, and then spent time in the north of England and Scotland. I moved to the Netherlands to continue my science career and stayed there for a very long time, before eventually returning to Wales.

In my spare time I am a very keen runner, and I also enjoying hill-walking, birdwatching, horse-riding, guitar and model-making. I also dabble with paints now and then. I met my wife in the Netherlands through a mutual interest in climbing and we married back in Wales. We live surrounded by hills, woods and wildlife, and not too much excitement.

Reviews

[Mario the lone bookwolf · Rating 4 out of 5]

If one can´t avoid the nanocaust, try at least fixing the problem with the help of time travel.

Now that´s a completely different Reynolds novel than one is used to, no extremely far future with unbelievable highly developed tech, but instead with 2 relatively close futures, or even presents, or pasts, clashing together in a classical thriller crime style plot that is suspenseful until the end.

Reynolds´single novels are something for true hardcore fans, because standalone novels have the problem of being trickier to write for authors than already established series in which they just have to return to and the readers already know and love. So, it´s more difficult for the average reader without foreknowledge to get in, the writer has to invest much more time in dangerous expositions and, well, in the case of the complex and sophisticated style Reynolds excels at, it´s just something for real hard sci-fi fans. But, on the other hand, it´s also a bit easier to follow with just 2 parallel storylines, so I am not really sure where to go with my reading suggestions, maybe average hard sci-fans who don´t want the complexity of a series that needs time to get in? Tricky.

However, it´s a tour de force of everything that makes the genre so great, tropes en masse, action, classic detective style maybe as an homage to Asimov, technologies, etc. sigh, heart, what else can one wish for?

I wish Reynolds would have expanded a bit more towards the very close and very far future in the Revelation Space series itself, just as Hamilton did with his universes, because it would be amazing to see what comes before and after, how extremely detailed and fascinating the explanations and worldbuilding might be.

Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...

[Cecily · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW! What a cracking - but crazy - read. I'm still reeling from it. It doesn't get muddled or daft and yet it has everything... really... everything: time travel, spies, archaeology, cyborgs, a love triangle, wars, wormholes, virtual reality, a quest, death and sacrifice, murder mystery (with all the usual clichés lovingly included), nanotech, code-breaking, genocide, bodysnatching/ swapping, bootleg music, ecological disaster, white-knuckle chases, wraith-like horror characters, alternative history, secret passages, ethics of immortality, terraforming, some steampunk, a nod to Casablanca and an even bigger nod to The Truman Show, and the weirdest biological weapon I've ever heard of! It even has some strong and significant female characters, which is not exactly the norm in sci-fi.

SETTING & PLOT

It is primarily a detective drama in a noirish sci-fi setting. Whereas all the other Reynolds' I've read have three threads of story, this has only two: Paris in 1959 and Paris in 2266. The difference between the two versions of the city were enhanced because I read this before and after Mieville's "The City & The City" (http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...), which is also a noirish detective thriller, featuring archaeologists and set in two versions of a city, albeit a very different sort of separation.

Floyd is an impoverished private eye in 1959, whose excitement at the prospect of a case echoes my own feelings about the book: he "felt a weird sense of vertigo: a combination of fear and thrill that he knew he would not be able to resist. It would pull him deeper and it would do what it would with him." Similarly, there's a character who doesn't want to be a detective, but gets sucked in - just like the reader.

One thread starts off as a slightly odd murder investigation; the other is a slightly odd quest to retrieve historical artifacts (though the most important artefacts turn out to be a rather bigger concept). As with any good thriller, what seem like trivial asides often turn out to be important later.

WRITING STYLE

As usual, Reynolds' story is told in a very visual way: at times it is almost like watching a film: the chases, the wraiths, and especially a nail-biting scene where someone is looking for a vital bit of paper that is not quite hidden (will they find it or not?).

There are a couple of places where the exposition of backstory and science is explained in a slightly heavy-handed way (and a couple of the baddies are not much of a surprise), but those are trivial issues when there is so much good stuff crammed in barely 500 pages.

THEMES

When you climb off the walls from the relentless excitement, this raises many profound issues:

* How do we know what is "real" and what is simulated - and does it matter? Who decides? Do simulants have the same rights and feelings as "real" people? How would you cope if you thought you yourself weren't real?

* If you could be immortal, or virtually so, would you want to be, and to what lengths would you go?

* If you could have the (appearance of) whatever you wanted, whenever you wanted, would you tire of it? What if you could even conjure things we can't imagine: "colours were unfamiliar (and heart-wrenchingly beautiful) , but she could hear them, fell them, smell them"?

Four more
* Every archaeologist's dream must be to travel back in time to see and experience things first hand. But the risks - ethical, practical, psychological - are high. "As much as she longed for all the time in the world to explore it, she did not want to become its prisoner."

* What are the ethics and etiquette of taking over someone else's body?! Once there, would you evict a friendly usurper if it meant they would die? What if they wanted to do something altruistic, but which imperilled you body: "My body was mine to throw away... [but] you just don't do that with someone else's."

* If the Nazis had failed to invade France so that Enigma codes were not cracked, how much later would the computer revolution have happened, and with what consequences?

* What are the dangers of digital (over physical) storage? Or maybe the past has nothing to teach us, so we can we live in the present and not worry about the past?


MISCELLANEOUS QUOTES

* "New patterns would begin to emerge from the doughy grey of unstructured cloud... But right now the clouds were bickering. The patterns formed and decayed at an accelerated rate, with lightning of a kind of emphatic punctuation to the dialogue. The clouds fissioned and merged, as if negotiating age-old treaties and alliances."

* "Charm was what he excelled at. If anyone sensed his underlying shallowness, they usually mistook it for well-hidden great depth of character, like misinterpreting a radar bounce."

* On the dangers of studying maths too deeply (Reynolds was a physicist before turning to writing): "she had studied mathematics so furiously that after an evening manipulating complex bracketed equations, simplifying forms and extracting common terms, her brain had actually started to apply the same rules to spoken language, as if a sentence could be bracketed and simplified like some quadratic formula for radioisotope decay."

* "like an electric shock without the pain... a sharp inquisitional light... it lasted an eternity and an instant."

* "The trains waited with snorting impatience, pushing quills of white steam up towards the roof... Its red tail light spilled blood on to the polished surfaces of the rails."


No technology is omnipotent even if, to quote Arthur C Clarke, it is sufficiently advanced to be indistinguishable from magic: "In the presence of a wizard, she wanted miracles, not excuses." With this book, I felt the story was being told by a wizard with words; no excuses were necessary. WOW!

[☘Misericordia☘ ⚡ϟ⚡⛈⚡☁ ❇️❤❣ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Q:
“Are you Asimov-compliant?”
“No,” the robot said, with a sting of indignation. (c)
Q:
“I didn’t come all this way for nothing,... I’m not going to let a little space-time difficulty spoil my day.” (c) Atta girl.
Q:
“But at least you cared. At least you were ready to do something.”
“This little mess... is all because of people who were ready to do something. People like me, who always know when they’re right and everyone else is wrong. Maybe what we need is a few less of us.” (c)

So, Furies it is. That brought our world down.
The back-and-forth is way too jarring.

Q:
... virtual reality, radical genetic engineering, neural reshaping and the digital manipulation of data. We rejected all that. (c)
Q:
At three in the morning, he eased her into the bed, pulled the covers over her and walked out into the rain, leaving her alone in the room where she had grown up. (c)
Q:
“One thing I’ve never got straight,” Custine said. “Are we musicians supplementing our income with a little detective work on the side, or is it the other way round?” (c)
Q:
“They’re back and forth across the river like it’s going out of fashion. Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?” (c)
Q:
Charm was what he excelled at. If anyone sensed his underlying shallowness, they usually mistook it for well-hidden great depth of character, like misinterpreting a radar bounce. (c)
Q:
“You’ve heard of Securities,” Molinella said. “Welcome to Contingencies—our older, rather more secretive and manipulative brother.”
“It doesn’t exist.”
“That’s precisely the idea.” (c)
Q:
... there was a gulf of understanding here that could never be explained, only experienced. (c)
Q:
“It gets us all in the end... Growing up...” (c)
Q:
“There’s an old saying amongst students of gravity: matter tells space-time how to bend; space-time tells matter how to move.”
“It’s suddenly a lot clearer.”
“The point is that everything we see is embedded in space-time. You can think of it as a kind of rubbery fluid, like half-set jelly. And since everything has a mass of some kind, everything distorts that fluid to one degree or another, stretching and compressing it. That distortion is what we experience as gravity. The Earth’s mass pulls space-time in around it, and the distortion in space-time around the Earth makes things fall towards the planet, or orbit around it if they have the right speed.”
“Like Newton’s apple?”
“You’re hanging in there, Floyd. That’s good. Now let’s move up a notch. The Sun pulls its own blanket of space-time around it, and that tells the Earth and all the other planets how to move around the Sun.”
“And the Sun?”
“Follows a path in space-time dictated by the gravitational distortion of the entire galaxy.”
“And the galaxy? No, don’t answer that. I get the picture.”
“You get half the picture,” Auger said. “What we’ve talked about so far is a permanent bending of space-time around a massive object. But there are other ways to bend space-time. Imagine two stars swinging around each other, like waltzers. You got that?”
“Sure. I’m admiring the view as we speak.”
“Make those stars super-massive and super-dense. Make them whip around each other like dervishes, spiralling in towards an eventual collision. Now you’ve got yourself a pretty fierce source of gravity waves. They’re sending out a ripple, like a steady note from a musical instrument.” (c)
Q:
Do you have nonlethal weapons?”
“I have weapons that may be deployed in both nonlethal and lethal modes,” the robot said proudly. (c)
Q:
“I hope whoever you’re bringing back is already in the loop.”
“I think it’s fair to say he’s pretty fucking out of the loop. Remember that detective I mentioned?” (c)
Q:
shit, man, you don’t know a wormhole from your butthole.”
“No, but I can learn.” (c)
Q:
So call us screaming hypocrites, and see if we care. (c)
Q:
Are you going to elaborate, or do I have to turn on the charm?”
“Not the charm, Floyd. I’m not sure I could take it.” (c)
Q:
“If it’s any consolation, Floyd, it’ll be quick and spectacular.” (c)
Q:
... —the briefing had never envisaged that things could go this splendidly, abjectly wrong— ...(c)
Q:
“Who’s running this jalopy, and are they the good guys?” (c)
Q:
Whenever you walk these streets… know that I’ll also be walking them. (c)
Q:
We can only hope that when that happens, wiser minds than ours will intervene from outside to assist the world towards its destiny. (c)
Q:
“That’s the way the universe works, honeybunch. Better get used to it, because it’s going to be around for a good few Hubble times.” (c)

Oh, the miracles of the wonderful errant head:
Q:
when he moved his body, his head seemed momentarily reluctant to follow, as if anchored to a particular point in space and time. (c)

[J.L. Sutton · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Enjoy it, kid. Enjoy feeling that you can make a difference.' Floyd flashed him a smile. 'It won't last forever."



In Alastair Reynolds' Century Rain, Earth is uninhabitable due to what is called the Nanocaust. It is 300 years in the future and something strange is discovered at the end of a wormhole, a 20th century version of Earth. What is the purpose of this Earth and the alternate timeline it has been set upon? This novel feels part hard science fiction and part noir detective fiction. It is an interesting concept that is well executed and engaging.

[Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This might become one of my favorite Alastair Reynolds novels. Why? Because he manages to turn one hell of a tale out of a kitchen sink worth of ideas. Great characters, from an ex-jazz musician/gumshoe from an alternate-timeline 1959, to a complex archeologist 300 years in the future sifting through the remains of a nanotech-eaten Earth, to wormholes, body-snatching, one hellofacool mystery, with murder, Casablanca vibes, and a nail-biting space battle that reminded me of Iain M. Banks and Neal Asher in a huge way. Or, if I'm being literal to a fault, it reminded me of Alastair Reynolds at his best. :)

There's so much I could say about this book, but let me boil it down to the basics.

This particular Earth is caught in amber. Caught in a pre-nuclear, pre-computer state. And it is being kept that way. Was kept that way for 300 years until the future factions (heavy nanotech or purist humans) unlocked frozen Earth. Roll with this, Reynolds explains it all a lot better than me. :)

Enter in the conflicting factions to this lesser-tech Earth and follow the Noir gumshoe across Paris, murders, awesome alternate Earth worldbuilding, and fantastic characterizations.

Any one of these elements are noteworthy and a cool read, but Reynolds went all-out ambitious and tied EVERYTHING together in a huge way and I loved it. :) Really perfect for mystery lovers AND hardcore missile/laser beam fanatics. Oh, and horror fans, too. Creepy undead children. :) And didn't I mention body-hopping?

lol, I had too much fun with this.

[William · Rating 1 out of 5]

First 40% was different and fun, very good.

My advice: Read the first 40% and then stop when "they leave". Pretend it was a novella and ends well.

Rest of the book was boring, long-winded verbal diarrhea, insulting. 250 pages too long. It's like those 1/2 hour documentaries on Discovery Channel that have been stretched to an hour, to fill space and add more advertising, repeating the same words and footage again and again. Crap.

NOTE: Please, please also read these Reynolds masterpieces:
Turquoise Days, a novella, and short stories Enloa, Weather, and Zima Blue. Surely his finest works, along with House of Suns.

[Apatt · Rating 4 out of 5]

“That’s the problem, you see. I mean, time travel is definitely involved here, but not in quite the way you’re thinking.”

Time travel—but not as we know it—is the strongest, most imaginative and most remarkable aspect of Century Rain. The other Alastair Reynolds books I have read are all set in the far future*, a future so far flung practically nothing is recognizable except some human characters. Century Rain is quite atypical for Reynolds, it has two plot strands, one ostensibly set in 1959 and the other in 2266.

In 1959 Floyd, a private detective, is hired to investigate an apparent suicide which Floyd‘s client believes to be murder most foul. The investigation uncovers some very strange facts about the dead girl. In 2266, an archeologist, Verity Auger, is tasked by her superior to travel to what appears to be Paris 1959 to recover documents left by the dead girl. She soon discovers that all life on planet Earth of 1959 is in danger from a mysterious conspiracy.

The 2266 setting is familiar Reynolds territory with weird technology and more AIs than you can shake a stick at. However, the 1959 plot line is a showcase for Reynold’s versatility, it reads mostly like noir or hardboiled crime fiction, as exemplified by the likes of Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett, that is until the super strong creepy kids with horrific black teeth show up in pursuit of our heroes. I much prefer the 1959 parts of the book, it is a fun, almost old school, romp**. However, fans of Reynolds’ space opera need not worry, the spaceships, posthumans, robots and weird nanotechnology are all in place. No alien makes an appearance up but they graciously left behind some artificial wormholes and mind boggling BDOs.

Reynolds always makes an effort to develop his characters and he does a better job of it than most sci-fi authors. The main characters of Century Rain are likable, complex and believable. As usual with Reynolds, there is a little romance, bantering humour, and some pathos. These humanizing elements are always welcome (in moderation) in sci-fi . My only complaint is that the 1959 setting is mostly abandoned in the second half of the book after the two plot strands combined. The space chase and launching of smart missiles are fairly standard space opera shenanigans and pale in comparison to the first half of the book. Though a special mention must be made for the “snake robot marked with the crossed-out "A" that meant it was most definitely not Asimov-compliant”.

Century Rain is not top tier Alastair Reynolds but it is by no means a disappointment. It is very imaginative, nicely written and well paced. I would have liked more adventures in the 50s and less space battles but maybe that's just me.
____________________

* Except Doctor Who: Harvest of Time which is set in the 70s, but although it is a wonderful Whovian romp, it is not a “proper” Reynolds novel.

** Though I have to say once the action moves from Paris to Berlin I feared the wurst (͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

____________________
Fun / Interesting quotes:
“I’m a private detective. If I don’t get clouted on the head at least once a week, I’m not doing my job properly.”

This is almost Jeevesian:
“What she’s saying,” Tunguska interjected, adopting a conciliatory tone, “is that there are some things you might be reasonably expected to have a useful opinion on…and some things you might be reasonably expected not to have a useful opinion on.”
“I see,” Floyd said tersely.
“And I’m afraid the matter of hyperweb navigation falls resoundingly into the latter category”.

Does this sound topical to you?
“The Fascists got what they deserved,” Floyd said.
“My husband lived long enough to see those monsters come to come to power. He saw through their lies and promises, but he also knew that they spoke to something nasty and squalid in the human spirit. Something in all of us. We want to hate those who are not like us. All we need is an excuse, a whisper in the ear.”

This doesn’t sound like much but it almost isn’t a metaphor, as Verity Auger’s artificially implanted linguistic skills begins to deteriorate.
“My German’s a bit rusty this morning. That didn’t help.”

This is a great potted history of computers:
“The Germans developed high-altitude rockets to bomb London. Within a couple of decades, the same technology would put people on the Moon. The Americans developed atomic bombs that were used to flatten Japanese cities in a single strike. Within a couple of decades, those bombs had become powerful enough to wipe out humanity many times over, in less time than it takes you to make breakfast. Then there were the computers. You’ve seen the Enigma machines. They played a significant role in wartime cryptography. But the allies played a significant role in wartime cryptography. But the allies built bigger, faster machines to crack the Enigma messages. Those machines filled entire rooms and drank enough power to light up an office block. But they became smaller and faster: much smaller and much faster. They shrank down to the point where you could barely see them. Valves became transistors, transistors became integrated circuits, integrated circuits became microprocessors and microprocessors became quantum optic processors…and still it snowballed. Within a few decades, there was no aspect of living that hadn’t been touched by computers. They were everywhere, so ubiquitous that you almost didn’t notice them any more. They were in our homes, in our animals, in our money, even in our bodies. And even that was just the beginning.”

[Karl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perhaps Four and one half stars over all, "Century Rain" is a hard science adventure mixed with an old-style murder mystery.

[Claudia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Al Reynolds is an unpredictable writer. This time, instead of his usual dark hard sci-fi, he delivered something entirely different.

Set up on two levels, Earth in 2266 and an, let’s say, alternate one in 1959, the novel combines a highly technological post-apocalyptic world (which will never cease to amaze me) with a crime-mystery story and a musician-detective which at first I thought it was a combination between Poirot and Holmes, but later discovered that was inspired by inspector Maigret. There are a lot of clichés used to outline the world of those years but not at all out of place. In fact, the insurmountable differences between the two worlds are the spice of this story.

If you’re a fan of crime&noir literature and a light sci-fi work will sound appealing to you, then grab this one. It will take you on a spectacular journey.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ova knjiga je mis mas svega moguceg. Imamo klsaicnu detektivsku pricu, alternativnu istoriju, putovanje kroz vreme, klasicnu naucnu fantastiku, itd... i sve to smuckano na skoro 700 strana. I moram priznati ovaj buckuris je sasvim dobro uspeo. Nisam to ocekivao :)

Samu pricu necu spominjati sem da kazem da je odlicno napisana. Nema dosadnih momenat, vecina stvari te uhvati nespremne, odnosno pola vremena nagadjas sta ce se desiti... STO JE ODLICNO. Moram da priznam da se u poslednje vreme to ne desava bas cesto. Likovi su isto interesantni, ne previse duboki ali dovoljno razvijeni da te zainteresuju za svoju sudbinu.

Jedini detalj koji mi se nije svideo je kraj knjige. Motivi negativaca su mi nekako suvise nejasni, odnosno znam sta rade ali nisam siguran tolko zasto rade to sto rade.

Sem toga puna preporuka.

[David Sven · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned a new word. Nanocaust. Artificially intelligent nanotech designed to control the weather and reverse global warming stops responding to human commands. More nanotech is designed to combat the rogue elements. They go rogue as well. After eight levels of nanotech are released the micromachines start consuming everything on sea and land for fuel – including us.

This story takes place some 300 years in the future. Nobody lives on Earth. Humanity is divided into two main groups – Threshers and Slashers. The Threshers control access to Earth and live in a network of structures orbiting Earth called the Tanglewood – reminiscent of the RustBelt or Glitterband in the Revelation Space series. The Threshers reject the use of nanotechnology, seeing it as the evil that destroyed their world. Shortly after the Nanocaust all digital data became corrupted before it could be transferred to hard copy, leaving a vacuum in historical knowledge. To regain some of that knowledge teams are sent back to Earth, braving the elements and the Furies – rogue nanotech clusters - to collect and bring back as much of their lost history as possible.

The Slashers on the other hand embrace nanotechnology and use it to enhance themselves physically and intellectually – in that regard they are almost identical to the Conjoiners, also from the Revelation Space series. The Slashers control the rest of the Galaxy. They have also discovered a network of wormhole portals AKA The Hyperweb – left behind by some unknown alien entity, which allows fast travel throughout the galaxy. Also discovered scattered about the Hyperweb are dyson spheres large enough to contain planets. Nobody has been able to find out what exists inside the spheres...until now.

I loved the background and the world-building. It’s a bit derivative of the Revelation Space Universe – but as I loved that world anyway it wasn’t a negative. I was immediately drawn in at the beginning. Unfortunately, the two main characters of the book were a little bland to what I was expecting. The story had a lot of potential being part ‘50s noir private eye, part borderline horror rather ghoulish children and a few interesting plot elements like time travel and alternate history - But there was just too much time spent doing ordinary boring stuff -and the two main characters were rather ordinary I thought. It just didn’t have the same edge I’ve gotten used to from Revelation Space. So the middle felt a little bogged down and the ending a bit rushed.

Still, there were enough cool ideas and concepts to make this an enjoyable read and I’m looking forward to digging into more Reynolds in hope of discovering more of what I like about his writing.


3 stars

[Liviu Szoke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this wonderful book back in 2011, without knowing that Alastair Reynolds will become my favorite SF writer. Think about a noir-alternate universe-postapocaliptic-hard SF novel. Oh, and I forgot about the horrible scary children-fighters who hunt the main character at some point, so this novel takes some horror turnings, as well. If a Romanian publisher will translate this book, I am sure many readers will become very happy (the same like me, of course)!

[Emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

What to say?! This is a truly bonkers book - 500+ pages of wormholes, spaceships, alternate histories, 1950s detective fiction, romance, futuristic science fiction... There is a lot to enjoy in it, and a lot that I did enjoy, but unfortunately my overall impression isn't completely positive. The first two-thirds were good and there was some great, pacily written plot, interesting characters and touches of humour as the portion of the book set in an alternate Paris of 1959 came to its conclusion. After that, when the action and main characters transferred to 24th century space, I'm afraid that it all started to unravel and get too much for me.

Not only do I think it was too much for me, but also rather too much for the author. In trying to cover too much ground what Reynolds has ended up with is a book which feels 200 pages too long and yet a bit unsatisfactory. For me, this is because there are pages upon pages of tiresomely tedious description of a chase through space to try to save the world (well, one of the worlds, and one that isn't really real at that!) it is all wrapped up very quickly with loose ends escaping all over the place! Having spent time earlier in the book convincing the reader of an unlikely romance, Reynolds then contrives to allow the lovers to walk away from each other irreparably without a backward glance. Questions and parts of the plot which have been key - and belaboured as such - earlier on are either forgotten or simply swept away. Just why was the main character chosen to undertake the mission? What were the messages being sent through the wireless set all about?

As those of you who read my reviews know, science fiction - both its content and the style of prose it tends, or perhaps needs, to be framed in - isn't really my thing. This is perhaps the main reason for my rather muted enjoyment of this book and I will confess that there was a particular bit of dialogue just over halfway through that made me pause. One of the characters uttered the words "Don't die on me now, not after all we've been through!" and somewhere in the distance the bell tolled for my enjoyment of this book...

[Michael Finocchiaro · Rating 3 out of 5]

As much as I love Reynolds, I was a bit disappointed with this book. At no point in the book is "Century Rain" mentioned and one could ask why the title wasn't "Silver Rain" instead. One thing that really bothered me was that in the first tunnel scene there is a death for which (and I reread the pages three or four times) no shots are fired. I thought the protagonists were not as compelling as in his other books and was also disappointed with the vague ending because in the other one-shot books of his I have read, House of Suns and Pushing Ice, the endings were far more satisfying. Maybe other folks appreciated this one far more than I did, but I think that it is not nearly as successful in its structure or character arcs than the aforementioned standalone books or the Revelation Space books.

[Brian Clegg · Rating 5 out of 5]

A recent discovery for me that dates back to 2004, this is Alastair Reynolds at his very best. It’s described in places as a space opera, and it certainly has a vast canvas - but in reality it’s a far more sophisticated novel than that pigeonhole suggests. There’s nothing I love more than a book where, after a few chapters I’m still thinking ‘What on (or more accurately off) Earth is going on?’ - and the early parts of Century Rain have this in spades.

The first few chapters alternate between a not-quite-our-Earth 1959 Paris and a future archeological expedition to Paris, which is now uninhabited, covered in ice and infested with deadly nanobots. After a while the two threads come together, but even then, for a long time it’s not clear why things are happening (in a good way).

In the 1959 Paris, a pair of private detectives are trying to solve a murder in what seems to rapidly be becoming a police state. But there is something mysterious about the dead woman they need to uncover. Meanwhile, it the future reality, there are two factions of humans: some have rejected nanotechnology after what happened to Earth, the others embraced it and have become post-human. The leader of the Paris expedition, potentially on trial for losing a young man to the nanobots, is given the option of instead undertaking a dangerous mission, travelling through a form of hyperspace link built by some ancient, unknown civilisation.

Reynolds pulls together several key ideas, all very effective SF, and weaves them into an action adventure with repeated levels of peril for the main characters that even Alistair Maclean might have found over the top - but it certainly keeps the reader turning the pages.

The book is, to be honest, too long. It’s over 500 pages of small print in my paperback and a few sections dragged a little and could have benefited from an edit down. And the key premise that explains the alternative settings is distinctly far-fetched. But that doesn’t stop it from being a brilliant book.

One interesting 'hard science in SF' aspect is that Reynolds makes use of gravity wave detection more than 10 years before it was actually done. The approach taken owes rather too much to the failed early attempts (though arguably the technique that worked in the real world couldn’t have been fitted into the narrative).

Apart from the key human characters, big parts go to Paris and, in an indirect way, the movie Casablanca: if you've not seen it or can’t remember the detail, it’s worth watching the film to pick up on a number of references in the novel. All-in-all an excellent slice of SF.

Before I read it, I was rather pleased that it was standalone - science fiction is so oriented to series that it’s a pleasant surprise these days to get a standalone novel. But I enjoyed this sufficiently that I would have liked a sequel, particularly if it focused on Verity/Cassandra. Interesting stuff.

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

An author who ive been wanting to try for a while now, trying unsuccessfully to get a library copy of “Permafrost”, so Ive ended up, picking this instead, which might be a bit more than I can chew, its fairly weighty at 626 pages AND with small print 😊 so we shall see how we go as me & sci-fi don’t always have a happy ending, skipping off hand in hand to the milky way…..

Well the beginning isn’t a typical sci-fi start at all, no techno overload, no long descriptions about alien worlds or futuristic concepts, we actually have a coupla detectives in Paris, no date is given but I would say it’s fairly modern day at first guess (latterly it refers to the time being 1959)….. then the next chapter we’re defo in the future (latterly timestamped as 2266) & Paris is entombed in ice, as is, it would seem, the rest of the world, for why, we don’t know, but it’s a good start & im liking the characters & the way the story is evolving. I also think the human race now resides on Mars? Jus a wild guess from the dots in the text. A lot is left hanging at the start which you’re slowly filled in about over the ensuing chapters…….

We follow the two stories for the opening part of the book where the timelines, as you might guess, start to converge. I don’t think that’s a huge spoiler, its quite obvious from the get-go plus it tells you this in the book blurb.

The story in the past features a pair of jazz musicians who are detectives in their “day jobs”, as in private dicks rather than the police. From the writing it would appear they much would prefer to make it in the jazz world but their detective work is passable when they can actually find clients & it’s a strange setting for a sci-fi book if im honest but if you follow the names in the stories you quite quickly find the link between the future & the past & it was like for me….. hang on a minute, is that the same xxxx…….??

Whilst in the future our MC’s are involved in antiquities, yes, they’re archaeologists busy trying to uncover the past in the entombed ice of Paris. Its not as straight forward as that, as we’re told about “slashers” along with other races who I would only describe as augmented beings, humans, but genetically altered for all that. It goes into politics along with possible alien concepts & it soon follows the standard sci-fi genre where im busy trying to keep track of what is happening……..

AND then the real game changer came in the text of the next chapter thusly…… Greta escaped from Germany in the 1930s as she was of Jewish descent where things dinny look good at the time and then spent the next 20 years in Paris where there had been a great deal of anti-German feeling after the failed invasion of 1940........ whooooa wait jus a mo back that right up? You what!

So there you have it all in the first 100 pages or so, we’re into alternate realities, time threads, alien technology, augmented humans & a mystery to boot.

I don’t really want to give anymore of the plot away as it’s one to explore/unravel if this is yer kind of thing. For someone who only occasionally “dabbles” in sci-fi this was a very diffo sci-fi novel than I have ever read, it was almost akin to a crime mystery for a majority of the book, a noir style one at that, drawing me in every page, every chapter summit new with a release of info jus when it was needed, yes at times it was a (very) slow burn with not too much action but I would say well worth a read. I would add, that those who enjoy heavy sci-fi n action this might not quite be to yer liking, but for those that enjoy Noir crime mysteries you might very well take to this, as for the most part it’s how it read with a fair splash of Flash Gordon mixed in, 1950’s B&W Saturday morning pictures stylee! Well that’s what some of the little nuances reminded me off.

Well…. That was the review upto around the 350/400 pages mark & you can tell I was for the most part enjoying it despite it's slowness & being a little mundane at times.……

The downside........ Somehow I finished it, but it’s taken me like near a month & for sure I skipped a few nights as I jus couldn’t face it during the final 1/3rd, reading well below my normal rate….

Its the final 1/3rd that was the real issue for me, in fact looking back there is a point in the story where I could have quite happily "parked it" as I have to say come journey’s end I was left totally underwhelmed by it all as it jus ran it’s even paced course through to its conclusion devoid of any real excitement or build-up of tension as we came to the climax, which is the real issue I had with this book after investing a lot of time in it, it jus never changed pace once we got past all the who, why’s & whats…… it’s ok as a read, 2.5 stars rounded upto a 3.

[Gabrielle (Reading Rampage) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paris, noir murder investigation, time-travel, archaeology. Gimme, gimme, gimme!!! I do so love it when a writer takes all my favorite things and puts them into a book I can devour excitedly. A part of me is always a bit frustrated I wasn’t there early enough to write it myself, but what can you do? I opt to simply enjoy the ride.

In 2266, a nano-robot apocalypse has forced humans off their home planet; Verity Auger is an archaeologist who digs up evidence of the past civilisation from an eerily deserted Paris. After one of her research expeditions goes wrong, she is recruited by a secret agency who wants to send her back to Paris. Like way, way back… Her storyline is intertwined with Wendell Lloyd’s, a jazz musician/private detective who works in 1959’s Paris. But then again, it’s not quite the 1959’s Paris we know from our history books… In this slightly off City of Lights, Lloyd investigates what seems at first like a suicide, but the deeper he digs, the more he realizes there is much more to this case than anyone could have anticipated.

It’s impossible to summarize the plot more than this without giving it away, and this book is simply too awesome to spoil. Alastair Reynolds is an astrophysicist, and it shows: the sciency bits are well-written and make sense. But don’t make the mistake of thinking this is dry just because the author is a big nerd: his prose is evocative and lush. I was pleasantly surprised and very excited by the style of “Century Rain”; it’s a real pleasure to read a gorgeously written book that doesn’t underestimate the reader’s intelligence! I could see the story unfold before my eyes and many scenes kept me on the edge of my seat, manically turning the pages. Of course, this book requires patience. No exposition is given about Verity's world until very, very late, so you just have to roll with a few weird words without fully knowing what they mean for quite a while, but that turns out to be part of the perfect pacing! And when the explanations do happen, they are as disturbing as they are familiar - and well worth the wait!

Strong and realistic female characters in sci-fi are not exactly a dime-a-dozen, but here we have Verity. Very intelligent, driven, stubborn – but also too dedicated to her job to find enough time for her marriage or children. Her mind is sharp, but she has a very short fuse and her impulsive reactions have a way of complicating things… I liked her just as much as she annoyed me, which is really perfect. You know early on that her storyline will inevitably cross Lloyd’s, and I couldn’t wait to see how the disillusioned jazz-loving detective would deal with the hot-tempered archaeologist.

This book really impressed me and I can't recommend it enough and not just to sci-fi fans: everyone who loves a good story and great writing needs to get a copy of this genre-bending book! 5 stars and a well-earned spot on my "favorite" shelf!

[Tomislav · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alastair Reynolds is a former research astronomer with the European Space Agency, and now prolific hard-sf/space opera writer, best known for his Revelation Space novels and stories, which I have previously read. Century Rain is a 2004 stand-alone novel, and not set in his Revelation Space universe. I read it in paperback. Ironically, even though his fame rests primarily on the Revelation Space series, I have found his stand-alones to be more enjoyable.

Century Rain is not just a story aside from the Revelation Space sequence, but actually set in a universe with different physical laws. For example, faster than light travel is possible, through a network of wormholes. In many ways the plot is more typical of time travel and alternate history stories than space opera – although Reynolds does return to his space opera comfort zone by the end.

At the opening, there are two main, seemingly disparate, story lines – One set in the Paris of an alternate 1950s, where the 1940 Nazi invasion of France had failed. Wendell Floyd is an ex-patriot American part-time jazz musician and part-time private investigator living in Paris. Floyd takes a job investigating a death that the police have dismissed as an accident. The other setting is on a 23rd century Earth, devastated by the Nanocaust, with the subsequent relocation of humanity to orbit and to Mars. Archaeologist Verity Auger is leading a high-risk dive to the frozen surface of Earth, looking for cultural artifacts in long lost Paris. Note that Auger’s world is a future based on our own history, not Floyd’s. Obviously, since this is one novel, their paths will converge, but to say how would be a concept and plot spoiler.

The relationship between Floyd and Auger is a fascinating one, which grows very slowly through shared peril, and has a noir tone that persisted to the end. As I hinted earlier, this plot moves from alternate history to space opera, with a lot of science fictional concepts in play. In a shorter novel, I would feel Reynolds was attempting too much – but the page count is in the 600s, so there is time for it. Overall, I enjoyed the novel quite a bit, and recommend it.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Imagine how good Alastair Reynolds could be if he learned how to write a decent conclusion. However, the fact is that he writes fascinating, compelling stories, develops interesting, empathetic characters, and immerses you in incredibly detailed universes based on concrete possibility based in science.

And then he abandons them. Every single book of his I have read, including Revelation Space, Redemption Ark, Chasm City and Absolution Gap continues with the plot at a breakneck pace, until the final 15-20 pages. It is then apparent that he has no idea how to wrap up the story, and just throws down some notes as to how he would finish the story and walks away. This was frustrating enough after the Revelation Space trilogy that I swore that I wouldn't read another of his books. However, the stories are so good that I have gone back on that pledge and read two more of his books.

And truth be told he's good enough that I will likely continue to read, no matter how frustrating his inability to close actually is...

This is a five-star sci-fi novel, but I'm taking off one star just because he never learned to properly conclude a story

[Велислав Върбанов · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐

„Вековен дъжд“ е добро съчетание на научна фантастика и детективска история, но не успя да ме развълнува особено и четенето не ми вървеше леко. Все пак, книгата има някои силни моменти, та съм доволен, че я прочетох! Тя притежава две отделни сюжетни линии, които впоследствие се преплитат.

Криминалната история се развива в Париж от 50-те години на 20-ти век, където двамата детективи и джаз музиканти Флойд и Кюстин разследват странната смърт на американската туристка Сюзан... Фантастичната част пък пренася действието в космическото бъдеще, в което археоложката Верити е изпратена на тайнствена и опасна мисия...

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my first Reynolds book. I was very impressed by the idea of this book and the science behind it. While during a few parts I felt like it was a little over my head, he mostly keeps it understandable for all readers. It was a very interesting plot and I enjoyed that it never felt boring even though it's a longer book.

While his idea and concept for the story were great, he lacked in several areas. The characters were fairly flat - which was tolerable in the older sci-fi books but I rather expect more now. I believe the problem lies in that Reynolds knows nothing about Americans.

The two main characters are American but it feels very like he watched, say, Columbo, then wrote his characters from the stereotypes on screen. Our main male character is a very typical gumshoe. And our female is a somewhat abrasive archeologist turned spy. The falling in love bit felt unfounded as well. But back to the American issue - Reynolds appears to not know about America. For example, the Americans call a flashlight a torch, which everyone knows is what Brits say. And he acts as if we have regional accents like in England, which we don't. E.g. -continually has Americans doubting she is from Nebraska because they don't recognize her accent. Well, Reynolds, no one would recognize a Nebraska accent. It's not that distinct at all. So, I felt like someone with the internet at their fingertips could easily find out more about Americans if they were going to write about them.

In all, I enjoyed the story, but only in the way I enjoy the older sci-fi books which tend to have good science but not so great with the character development. I think it's worth reading. I plan to read another book of his to see if it was writing about Americans that tripped him up or if he just has issues with characters.

[Charles · Rating 2 out of 5]

Portal/time travel/space opera/alt-world/detective mystery mashup. (Whew!)

Wordsmithing was good. I laughed several times over the dialog. I dearly wanted at the end for Floyd to tell Auger (the co-protagonists with an unconsummated love), We'll Always Have Paris .

Technically it was well done, the author has always had a firm grasp of the 'science' in science fiction. The 1959 alt-Paris major setting needed a little work. Nobody stepped in dog sh*t deposited in the middle of the sidewalk. The Parisian waiters were civil. Also, the Metro description felt more like the London Tube.

The story suffered from pacing issues in the back-end. The first half was almost leisurely. The second was frenetic, but not in a good way. In addition, it too obviously sets up for future books in the Century Rain universe. Finally, the story ended with several plot lines left hanging at the end in alt-Paris, despite the length of the book. I would have been happy with Floyd and Auger living happily ever after versus the Casablanca-like ending.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars

 This fairly long novel is a true testament to the fact that sometimes the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts. This is an accessible hard science book mixed together with an early detective noir story.

  As for the science it reaches for some very big concepts and contains many intriguing technologies. It however is lite compared to that of the wondrous science from the Revelation Space series.  The world building however, is top notch and the back story of the war between the Threshers and the Slashes told through out this is fabulous.

  The detective noir of an alternate 1950's Paris is good but really only touches on themes of old school mysteries.  Without being political Reynolds paints this alternate Earth minus WWII by choosing not to comment on why the divergence from our history has come to pass.

  Floyd and Auger are one of the best complimenting pairs that I have read about in quite some time. Their relationship grew in a real way and you really felt it as it changed. They had great playful dialogue, deep meaningful actions, and they genuinely ended up caring about each other.  They seemed to both be genuine articles and good, albeit flawed people.

  With all respect intended this book played out to me like a hard science version of a Dan Brown novel. That is probably why I just could not put it down.  Like all great thrillers the reader needs to feel invested in the lives of the characters for them to truly work. That is exactly what Alastair Reynolds has done here, and it made everything else work.  This is a thrill ride filled with chases, shootings, stabbings, freakish child like killers, nano everything, worm holes, spaceships, nukes, and so much more. Reynolds has to me created a future classic science fiction novel that is quite accessible to readers that might be put off by hard science. 

  In case you could not tell by my review, I loved this book. I highly recommend this as a good starting point for those not familiar with Alastair Reynolds or his Revelation Space Series.

[Nicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I reread this with my sister for the first time in about ten years. It’s a book I’ve always thought fondly of; I enjoyed it, as a teen, but my sister adored it. It’s actually the book that got her back into reading after years of not caring for it at all. I enjoyed several of Reynolds’ other books, too, but haven’t read any of them for… actually, far too long. So how did it measure up?

Pretty darn well. The hard SF aspect I enjoyed less than I used to (though I also grasp it better than I used to, I think), but the politics I enjoyed more, and followed a lot better. I was still lamentably slow about a couple of points (let’s just say that close reading is a good idea before you ask the author about something which turns out to be incredibly obvious), but I’m more politically engaged now, so that aspect was more interesting to me than before.

I expected it to be mostly about Verity Auger for me; I remembered her as badass, and I didn’t remember much about Floyd at all. But despite myself, I found myself drawn into both stories, and hooked by the way the two stories converged; at one point I had to go grab my sister and yelp about how badly I needed a happier ending. And while there’s plenty of space for more story, at the end of Century Rain — there’s a whole complex past and present sketched out that Reynolds could play with, not to mention the future of the characters — it’s also a satisfying end, if bittersweet. The characters are ready for a new stage of their lives, while their immediate arcs have come to an end.

And can I still see the world going the way it does in Century Rain — the climate change, the increasingly desperate solutions, the loss of information because digital libraries are so vulnerable? Yes; those aspects remain perfectly relevant. It doesn’t seem to have aged badly, which sometimes hard SF can because of the science and the predictions it makes about the future.

Definitely enjoyed it — and more than I expected to, I think!

Originally posted here.

[Brett · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book started off really, really well. There are two PoV characters, one from an alternate 1959 France, and one from the 23rd century. The buildup was excellent. When I was slightly more than halfway done, I was sure this was at least a 4 star novel.

Unfortunately, as soon as the two protagonists get together the novel loses steam. I didn't find the central relationship credible. Even worse, as the main mysteries of the plot are revealed, it's clear they don't make sense. People (and groups of people) start to act in ways to make more action or to force some kind of melodrama, not in ways that are believable. I hate to say it felt like I was reading a Dan Brown novel (that's just mean) but Century Rain really fizzled for me. By the time I finished it was a relief.

Good SF ideas, great setup, but ultimately a disappointing finish.

[Ira (SF Words of Wonder) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Check out my full, spoiler free, video review HERE.

This novel is a unique mix of science fiction, mystery/detective, great ideas, post nanocaust apocalypse, alternate reality and even a bit of a cheesy love story. The first half of the book was great and completely had me wrapped up in the story. The second half fell a bit short for me, some bad, unrealistic dialog, and an over complicated plot. The end was good though and leaves a lot to think about. My first from Reynolds but it won’t be my last.

[Elenah Jane · Rating 2 out of 5]

A rollercoaster is the only way I can describe it.

I liked the characters and the sci-fi bit and the murder children, but did it need to be that long? Did it need to have romance?

Some parts were unnecessary e.g. saying the big three words 24 hours after meeting someone.

Basically I’m conflicted because I liked it and I didn’t.

[Adrian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've recently become a big fan of Alastair Reynolds, and with good reason! His currently released clutch of Science Fiction stories are inventive, well written, suspenseful, surprisingly close to actual scientific theory and generally really rather good. Despite his great writing style, it's always worth noting that, while many of his stories work as stand alone reads, they really are best when tied into the overarching world, and the explanations of his plethora of inventive new technological macgubbins can seem very stuffy and over-long if your not the type to care about how finely and realistically crafted his work is (I think those in the know call it "hard Sci-Fi", but I don't know if I'm in the know, so I really don't know, y'know?).

Century Rain is a bit different for several reasons. Firstly, it's a complete stand-alone story, with no links or mention of his other works. Secondly, its premise involves flip-flopping (note: not the technical term) between gritty film noire land and slick sci-fi in a move that might sound schizophrenic but actually works really well.

I don't want to give anything away (beyond what's on the blurb at least), but the marrying of these two very distinct worlds and the clashing personalities they contain is done brilliantly, with a deft touch that stops it ever becoming unnatural. The characters are a brilliantly written band of wildly varied people (something Reynolds is a bit of a master at), the story full of intrigue and mystery, and both settings are so well-realised as to be characters in their own right. He never overdoes the technological descriptions, which might upset fans of the awesome ideas the Revelation Space arc is stuffed with, but really improves the atmosphere and feel of the overall read.

Personally, I can't recommend this enough. It's a fantastic, gripping book that is both clever and enjoyable without ever being overwhelming, and a great change of style and pace to other sci-fi and detective stories. First class!

[John Boettcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite three of Reynold's books, even though it is a stand alone book that is in no way connected with his wonderful Revelation Space series.

This book combines two story lines in a quite entertaining way, implementing elements of mystery, crime solving, space and time travel, different worlds, strange characters and creatures, and a great plot. Character development is well above par and while not a character study by any stretch of the imagination, hardly any of Reynolds books are, all plot driven, the book is filled with wonderful characters that you will come to love.

I actually listened to this book on Audible, and the reader did an above average job with the narration. Some are just crap, but the guy who does most of Reynolds's books, especially "House of Suns" is very good.

Definitely in the top three of Alastair's books!!!

[Невена Pascaleva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Отдавна не бях чела толкова добра научна фантастика! Многопластова, многообразна, оригинална, плътна и нямаше нишка, която да остане да виси накрая...както често се случва с научно-фантастичните романи. Брилянтно!