Dilation Sleep

by Alastair Reynolds

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories

22 pages, ebook

First published September 1, 1990

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

[Siobhan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dilation Sleep is a short story set in the Revelation Space series, but it works perfectly fine without any prior knowledge of the main series. Although this one was easy to follow, I failed to connect with this one. It was obvious where things were heading, and I disappointed when it played out as expected. Sure, it kept me turning the pages; however, I wanted more.

All in all, not the best example of the author’s work.

[Declan Ellis · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the first story of the Revelation Space universe - it's the genesis of an incredible series. It also exhibits how far Reynolds has come from here.

[Kynan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another "just after the fall of Yellowstone" story, this time following a ship of refugees from Yellowstone, fleeing the Melding Plague. It's slightly similar to Monkey Suit in terms of plot elements, but plays out from a very different angle.

The story takes place aboard a ramliner/lighthugger fleeing Yellowstone with a bunch of the super-rich, reefersleeping their way out of trouble. This ship, the Wild Pallas, is not crewed/owned by Ultras, but seems to be (self-?)owned by some kind of "Macro" human-cybernetic conglomerate and is crewed by a further bunch of plague-refugee volunteers, all temporarily employed and insta-skilled on the requisite knowledge to crew a ramliner via temporary (flight-duration) eidetics.
Uri Andrei Sagdev is a "mainbrain technician", recently for the Sylveste Institute (post-80) and now part of the "mainbrain" of the Wild Pallas. His particular set of skills include ship's surgeon, and he's been revived to deal with a plague-infection in one of the sleepers.

This is a fun little story that touches on a bunch of Revelation Space "background", with just a smattering of local plot - think of it as intricate wallpaper that devolves to a non-intrusive shimmer when you're not concentrating on it, but yields almost infinite detail if you attack it with a loupe!
I enjoyed it, although I did see where the sneaky twist in the tail was going to flick.

I read this as part 13 of the Revelation Space series, (mostly) as per http://charliesbookshelf.blogspot.com...

[5t4n5 Dot Com · Rating 5 out of 5]

So we continue with the same theme from Monkey Suit , in that we're on an lighthugger running away from Yellowstone and the Melding Plague.

This enjoyable little short introduces us to the real science of time dilation, wherein the nearer one gets to the speed of light, the faster time passes in the outside universe in relation to those on the space ship.

And if we take this idea and put those on the space ship in reefer-sleep, where their bodies and brains are taken down into hibernation state -- so hardly ageing at all -- and then send them close to light speed for a few years, decades can pass in the outside universe while these people age a few weeks or months: thus being known as dilation sleep.

Then if we look at the situation that is occurring on Yellowstone and consider that rich refugees can afford to pay Ultras to go on a trip around the galaxy in dilation sleep for a few years while hopefully everything back home gets sorted out, and that is where we are in this book.

Except that one of the crew has been awakened by the ship because something has gone wrong and needs fixing.

Good stuff.

Available in the collection, Galactic North .

And the next book is Chasm City , which most definitely isn't a short: more like a whole trilogy under one cover.

[Esteban Vega · Rating 4 out of 5]

This and Diamond Dogs are at the top of the short novels and novelettes.

The effects of the Melding Plague are devastating. And the twist is well thought.

Where do I apply for a "Starship Heuristic Resource" position?

[Dustin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kind of boring, and a bit meandering to me personally. My least favorite in this collection thus far.

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very short story, but had all the little elements I love in science fiction. This reminded me of one of my favorite sci-fi authors A. Bertram Chandler. I figured out the ending just seconds before it was revealed, not because it was obvious, but because of what happened. If you sci-fi or are a fan of Chandler, this is a must read.