Galactic North

Revelation Space #3.5

by Alastair Reynolds

A fantastic foray back into the world of REVELATION SPACE by Britain's mastersinger of the space opera!

Contents:

1 • Great Wall of Mars • [Revelation Space] • (2000) • novelette by Alastair Reynolds
47 • Glacial • [Revelation Space] • (2001) • novella by Alastair Reynolds
95 • A Spy in Europa • [Revelation Space] • (1997) • shortstory by Alastair Reynolds
117 • Weather • [Revelation Space] • novella by Alastair Reynolds
170 • Dilation Sleep • [Revelation Space] • (1990) • shortstory by Alastair Reynolds
186 • Grafenwelder's Bestiary • [Revelation Space] • novelette by Alastair Reynolds
231 • Nightingale • [Revelation Space] • novella by Alastair Reynolds
299 • Galactic North • [Revelation Space] • (1999) • novelette by Alastair Reynolds
338 • Afterword (Galactic North) • essay by Alastair Reynolds

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Short Stories, Space Opera, Audiobook, Space, Hard Science Fiction

337 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2006

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

[Claudia · Rating 5 out of 5]

(Partially reread 31.05.2021)

Having just read Inhibitor Phase, I wasn't ready to leave Revelation Space universe yet, so I thought I'd better reread some of the stories in this collection.

Great Wall of Mars is the first entry, chronologically speaking, in RS universe, and closely related to Inhibitor Phase. I had forgotten some of the details in it, which now brought some light regarding the relationship between the main character and some other. 5/5

Galactic North is the last in this universe, also down the timeline, set thousands of years into the future, but it has at some point a connection with IP as well, even if it's of no importance to understand the events in the latter. However, it was really great to revisit it again, and I must say, I have enjoyed this one immensly now, not like the previous time. I guess some works are just better at a second reading. 5/5

Weather has no relation to either book in RV series, but it is set in the same universe, and it reveals how Conjoiner drives work in tandem. Just as great as the first time. 5/5

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Great addition to Revelation Space universe.

Even if not all stories are related to the trilogy, they are set in the same universe and bring in some new details related to some of the events and concepts used in the series.

> Great Wall of Mars - the story of Clavain from way back when he became a Conjoiner, set in the events on Mars and also his first encounter with Felka. A beautiful story about honour and betrayal. 5/5

> Glacial - gripping tale about Clavain's mission on Diadem, an Earth-like planet, to investigate the death of the researchers established there. Reynolds definitely has the talent to write also policier-like stories. 5/5

> A Spy in Europa - a mission to pull out something from Europa has an unforseen turn. It's a thriller with horror accents, featuring the Denizens (an engineered sentient species, created by the Demarchists). 5/5

> Weather - reveals a major secret regarding how a lighthugger drive is functioning. Mind blowing. Also, made me wonder what is it about the name Inigo, for both Reynolds and Hamilton to have a character named the same... 5/5

> Dilation Sleep - gives us more details about the Melding Plague and reefersleep. 4/5

> Grafenwalder's Bestiary - a monsters collector finally gets his hands on the ultimate specimen for his collection, which gives him the surprise of his life. 4/5

> Nightingale - the most shocking story of this collection. A parable of war consequences which will give you nightmares Picasso's Guernica brought to life. Yes, Reynolds' worlds are dark but the horror of this story totally shocked me. 10/5 (!)

> Galactic North - brings in some details after the end of Revelation Space trilogy. Not all questions are answered but, at least, fewer remained now. 3/5

Beside the fact that all stories are set in the same universe, they also have something more in common: an utterly unexpected end. Mr. Reynolds knows damn sure how to glue the readers to his writings.

One recommendation: read the trilogy (Revelation Space, Redemption Ark and Absolution Gap) before starting this collection. Otherwise the stories may be perceived as too abrupt.

[Carlo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another collection of decidedly enjoyable hard SF novellas and short stories, loosely fitting together in the wider Reynolds' Revelation Space universe. Would recommend to all fans of the genre.
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Un'altra raccolta di romanzi brevi e racconti di fantascienza “hard” decisamente godibili, che si incastrano sommariamente del più ampio universo della Rivelazione di Reynolds. Lo consiglio a tutti gli appassionati del genere.

[Stuart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Galactic North: Reynolds excels at shorter lengths
Originally posted at Fantasy Literature
Having read all the full-length novels in Alastair Reynolds’ REVELATION SPACE series, I knew I’d eventually get to his shorter works set in the same dark and complex universe. The main novels are Revelation Space, Redemption Ark, Chasm City, Absolution Gap, and The Prefect. Reynolds has produced a detailed future history, inspired by works such as Bruce Sterling’s Schismatrix, Larry Niven’s KNOWN SPACE, and Iain M. Banks’ CULTURE novels, and the stories in Galactic North (2006) fill in important details and serve as memorable tales of post-humans in a cold and inhospitable universe.

When I read Reynolds‘ full-length works last year, one of my biggest complaints was that they were overlong, turgidly-paced, and heavy on exposition. Those problems are largely absent from this collection — these stories are action-packed, dense, and effective. They revolve around morally-complex, highly-augmented mercenaries, hive-mind humans, conflicted ships captains, ruthless pirates, and scientists, and often pack a nasty punch at the end — this is not a forgiving galaxy for humans of any kind. But when you get used it, it really draws you in. Now that I understand the chronology and scale of his universe better, I appreciate the events of the novels more. As with all Alastair Reynolds’ audiobooks, the stories are narrated well by John Lee, whose dignified British delivery is a good fit for his work.

Reynolds’ milieu is fully developed. Mankind has colonized many worlds in our part of the galaxy, but has not developed FTL technology, so star travel is frequently done while in hibernation (“reefer sleep”), and the level of cybernetic technology has split humanity into a number of sub-groups, including Demarchists (moderately-augmented humans that practice real-time democracy via neural implants), Ultras (highly-augmented cyborg humans), and Conjoiners (mentally-linked humans with hive-mind traits). Humanity has also encountered the remains of many dead alien civilizations, illustrating Fermi’s Paradox of why we have not been contacted by other alien species despite the billions of potentially-habitable worlds in the universe. The stories are ordered in a rough chronology ranging from 2,205 CE in “Great Wall of Mars” to 40,000 CE at the end of “Galactic North.” These are the stories in the collection:

Great Wall of Mars

This is the earliest story in Reynold’s future chronology, the pivotal story of Nevil Clavain, a prominent figure in the main REVELATION SPACE series, and Galiana, the founder of the Conjoiner movement. It’s a tense tale of the fight between Coalitionists, Demarchists, and a rebel group led by Galiana holed up on Mars. The Earth forces have the rebels pinned down in their fortified construct (the “Great Wall”) which extends deep underground. Clavain and Galiana are ostensibly enemies, but events conspire to force them together, and a young girl with severe brain damage plays a surprising role. The first-hand description of the Conjoiners’ collective consciousness is fascinating, and the story is action-packed and gripping.

Glacial

This takes place shortly after the previous story, as Clavain and Galiana arrive on an ice planet named Diadem, where they discover an abandoned Earth colony in which the colonists have all died after apparently going insane. They find one survivor who has jury-rigged a form of cryo-stasis, and revive him enough to question what happened. His story sounds fairly plausible, but Clavain has a nagging suspicion some details don’t add up. This is a fairly typical SF setup — the abandoned colony, mysterious deaths, and a suspicious survivor. But to Reynolds’ credit, he adds in some interesting alien biology about ice-worms, and the resolution of the mystery was a surprise to me.

A Spy in Europa

This is a short but intense story of an undercover agent who goes to a city situated under the ice sheet covering Europa. He is embroiled in the power struggle between the Demarchists (controlling Europa) and the Gilgamesh Isis (who control Ganymede and Callisto). He undergoes dramatic surgical alteration to be equipped with gills to survive in the freezing waters under the ice, and sets out to discover crucial secrets that will aid his side and undermine the Demarchists, but encounters some unexpected beings instead, who seem to be allies at first…

Weather

This is one of the best stories of the collection. It’s about Inigo, the shipmaster of the Ultra ship Petronel, which is attacked by pirates while transporting colonists in cryosleep. By a stroke of improbable cosmic luck, the pirate threat is eliminated and they find a lone Conjoiner woman being held prisoner. She has a name that is completely incomprehensible to baseline humans, but since it’s origin is from the gas cloud formations of Jupiter, he calls her “Weather.“

Inigo tries to establish a friendship with Weather though she is technically a prisoner, but the Captain distrusts her deeply as a Conjoiner due to events in his own past. But when the Petronel is pursued by a sinister stealth ship and needs to escape, they discover that the Conjoiner drive is damaged and no baseline humans or Ultras have the ability to repair it. It’s an ingenious aspect of Reynolds’ universe — the Conjoiners have mastered near-lightspeed travel and have shared it with other human groups, but refuse to reveal the secrets of its working. The slightest tampering will result in the entire engine going supernova and destroying the ship and everything nearby. All of a sudden, the Conjoiner woman’s cooperation is the only thing that can save them…

Dilation Sleep

This is apparently the first story written by Reynolds in his REVELATION SPACE universe. It’s a shorter tale of a man who wakes from cryosleep aboard a ship that is fleeing the Melding Plague that has overrun Yellowstone (these events are covered in greater detail in Chasm City). He did not remove the neural implants that make him vulnerable to the plague, but did make a digital copy of his wife, whose simulation tells him he needs to operate on one of the other passengers immediately. I thought this was one of weaker stories, which may reflect it being one of the earliest written.

Grafenwalder’s Bestiary

This is a dark and baroque tale of wealthy and decadent collectors of rare and freakish creatures in Chasm City. Grafenwalder is the most renowned collector, and he deeply covets something that will impress his little circle. Initially he manages to acquire a live adult-sized hamadryad (a creature also featured in Chasm City), but later gets whiff of something even more rare and valuable — a living specimen of a genetically-engineered human-fish hybrid first created on Europa many years back. He gets a DNA sample from his dealer which seems legitimate, and arranges the purchase. When he gets his prized specimen he can’t wait to show it off to his closest rival, with unexpected results…

Nightingale

This is a novella-length story of a group of mercenaries sent to track down a criminal accused of war crimes. An team of mercenaries is gathered (one of Reynolds’ favorite themes), the usual assemblage of highly-augmented Ultras and baseline humans. They get wind that their target, Colonel Brandon Jax, may be hiding out on an abandoned hospital ship called Nightingale. During the war on Sky’s Edge, this ship was in charge of healing soldiers on both sides of the conflict, but since the war ended it has been left untended.

However, when they arrive on the ship, it seems to be functioning more than should be the case for a derelict. Before you can say “Aliens or The Expanse,” it’s time to explore the ship’s innards. The team find increasingly strange activities aboard the ship, and when they encounter the AI intelligence running the ship, they’re in for a very nasty surprise…

Galactic North

This is another highlight of the collection, a wide-ranging novella that spans many centuries and covers many epochs of Reynolds’ future history, starting in 2,303 but ending far in the future around 40,000, covering some of the climactic events mentioned in Absolution Gap, the final book of the main REVELATION SPACE trilogy. At the end of that book, we learn of a new threat to the galaxy innocuously named Greenflies, but there are few details. In fact I found it quite frustrating for this to be introduced at the end of a massive trilogy (around 2,000 pages in total) along with several other mysterious alien presences and not enough explanation. Well, “Galactic North” explains what the Greenflies are and how they came to threaten the galaxy.

The story centers on Captain Irravel Veda, who is ambushed by pirates when making an unplanned stop for repairs. She is guarding two types of valuable cargo — 20,000 colonists in cryosleep, and terraforming Von Neumann machines called Greenflies. They fall under the control of the sadistic hyperpig Run Seven (yeah, don’t ask). He manages to pry the security codes via torture and trickery and flees with the cargo (why do badguys always leave their enemies alive, one might wonder?). What follows is a cat-and-mouse chase through time and space as Irravel pursues the pirates to get revenge.

Meantime, the Greenfly machines have malfunctioned and are dismantling every star system they encounter to build artificial habitats complete with plant-life (hence their name). Sounds great, except they destroy everything in their paths and don’t make exceptions for sentient beings or civilizations. It’s a particularly Reynolds-type of implacable disaster. Despite all the might of various space-faring civilizations, there isn’t much that even ancient races like the Nest Builders or Inhibitors can do but flee to the far reaches of the universe. There are some overlaps with Absolution Gap, but I’d be lying if I said there was total closure in this story.

[David Sven · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I'm still working through the audio of Redemption Ark I thought I might check out some of the Rev Space short stories he published earlier in this collection.

I'm glad I decided to read these in publication order because there is some crossover between the stories as well as the the two shorts in Diamond Dogs Turquoise Days. I was able to appreciate cameo appearances from characters who were written earlier which would otherwise just appeared random.

I think this is an excellent collection for fans of the Revelation Space series. Some of the shorts serve as origin stories for characters in the main series. Others just concentrate on one concept from the series and add a bit of extra detail.

Reynolds demonstrates he can write in the short story format, never trying to do too much and always adding his signature twist - which usually involves his characters revealing that they are someone totally different to who you thought they were. He does it a lot but he still gets me every time.

A must read for fans and it's 4 stars overall


Dilation Sleep
Off to a good start. This isn't the first book in the collection but I'm going in publication order.
The story is set on a star ship carrying 900 refugees escaping the melding plague on Yellowstone. Travelling at near light speed, passengers and crew are all placed in reefer sleep until the ship's surgeon is woken by the computerized sub persona to handle an emergency. What's weirder than being the only person out of 900 awake? When you're alone with something else awake with you.
This one has a very nice twist in the end. 4/5 stars

A Spy in Europa
An assassin/covert operative of the Gilgamesh Isis faction is sent deep into Demarchy territory to retrieve a package from a sleeper agent. Things go according to plan. The question is, what and whose plan?
Murder and mayhem ensue from the Hanging cities above Europa's surface to the Oceans below Europa's kilometre thick Ice. 3/5 stars

Galactic North
Pirates ambush an Ultra Lighthugger and steal some of its cargo of cryogenically frozen sleepers. What ensues is a space chase that spans 40000 years of future history. Not bad for a short story. A tale of betrayal, revenge, and obsession against the backdrop of humanity's struggle for survival. The story also includes Remontoire who enters the main series in Redemption Ark. 3.5/5 stars

The Great Wall of Mars
This covers the backstory of Nevil Clavain's defection to the Conjoiners. We are introduced to Galiana, Felka, Sandra Voi (Great Grandmother to the Sandra Voi in Redemption Ark) and we see Remontoire again. Of course we also learn what the Great Wall of Mars is and it was generally cool to learn more of the history hinted at in Redemption Ark. Also cool were the robotic killer worms.
And have you ever wondered how you might survive 5000 gees of deceleration? Easy. Just install a few machines in your head and 'If you allow it, there’s time for them to establish a structural web across your brain. We’ll flood the cabin with foam. We’ll all die temporarily, but there won’t be any damage they can’t fix...
Sign me up! 4/5 stars

Glacial
Clavain, Galiana and Felka explore the century old ruins of a human outpost on an Ice planet. As they investigate to uncover the mystery behind the bizarre deaths of the colonists they discover the planet is not quite as dead as they first thought. 3.5/5 stars

Weather
It's Ultra vs Ultra as the Lighthugger Petronel is stalked by pirates. Space battles, unrequited love and a startling revelation about the Conjoiner drives that you won't find in the main series. 4/5 stars

Graffenwalder's Bestiary
Graffenwalder is a collector of rare and hideous species of animals...and maybe things that are more human than animal. But he's not the only one around Yellowstone with a fascination for the bizzare. Graffenwalder has competition in one Ursula Goodglass and when a specimen that has been Graffenwalder's lifelong obsession comes on the market he jumps at the chance to gain the ultimate kudos.
But as all we Rev Space readers know...Beware of Ultra's bearing gifts.
4/5 stars

Nightingale
A team of mercenaries is assembled to take in a war criminal hiding out in a ghost spaceship. Sometimes to catch a monster, you have to become a monster.
4/5 stars

[Ivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

[Karl · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Galactic North" by Alastair Reynolds is a selection of 8 short stories set in Reynolds' "Revelation Space" universe. All of the stories are good.

[7jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This year (2021) I decided to read all books in the Revelation Space universe – in chronological order (though the newest one, Inhibitor Phase, is not within the reach of this reading project, since I don’t have it in right book-size (for me) yet, but I don’t really mind).
1.1.2021 - 16.11.2021 was my reading time.
I think I talked about trying to attempt this reading order with Cecily here, if I remember right. Now that I have done it, I’ll review the books in order of *when* I started to read them – and this one here, a collection of short stories/novellas, both starts and ends the timeline as it is now, and so I have read the book gradually, where each story is timewise.

Spoilers may have spoilers for things anywhere on the ‘verse timeline.

To start with: humanity has now, many centuries on from now, spread beyond out solar system with technology that has its benefits and risks. People fight for and against going beyond our intelligences’ limits (of course); try to live their lives, and try to igmore the number of extinct alien civilisations that humans keep increasingly finding remains of – which may point to them that humanity might be next to go extinct if they’re not prepared and smart enough…

Humans accept or reject add-in technologies and levels of individuality vs. group-mind-sharing differently. Some reject it completely, some accept only to a certain point (fe. body but no mind-changers), some go all the way. The latter take the longest time to be accepted in any way by others.
(Love the name of one group, the Demarchists XD )

First four stories happen before the oldest-in-time full novel, ”The Prefect” AKA ”Aurora Rising”:
--”Great Wall Of Mars”: where one last attempt to negotiate with a nest of Conjoiners is made, beyond a man-made wall that is falling apart, and is a safe place no more. Here the human groups’ opinions are shown the first time, plus some characters appear the first time in ’verse timeline. I took to liking Nevil Clavain right away, but couldn’t help but sigh at the death of Ms.Voi, which didn’t come completely as a surprise. By the way, her surname means either “butter” or “ah, oh, ouch, alas, woe” in Finnish (I think the latter would fit the best). But her death does not mean that’s the last time we hear her name. Beautiful imagery in the story, and the Conjoiners made such a clever getaway in the end – so the story goes on…
--“Glacial”: Nevil Clavain tries to figure out the mystery of the deaths at planet Diadem’s American science colony, and the mystery of two bodies separate from others. The worms in the ice are a clue (and they are the first ‘alien’ thing we meet, timeline-wise). We get to witness Filka’s mental development, though her innocence does not keep her out of being close to danger. The way worms are alleged to develop is not confirmed, but who knows? Finding the truth about the mystery was done quite cleverly.
--“A Spy In Europa”: on the Europa Demarchy a Gilgamesh Isis spy arrives to contact a sleeper agent, Cholok, with something to offer… here we meet a form of humanity mixed with something alien and familiar: the Denizens, who have grand plans to take over at least some Demarchy areas, with a little help from the late Cholok. Slightly surprising turn at the end.
--”Weather”: on a destroyed pirate ship a Conjoiner woman is found and rescued; unexpected benefits from doing things occur, and a secret is revealed. Two examples of love: the impossible-to-reach one between two levels of humanity, and a message kept in memories, to be delivered if the receiver is ever met by a Conjoiner. Quite sweet and moving.

From here, the stories appear in-between, then bookending the ‘verse:
--”Dilation Sleep”: Uri Sagdev has to wake during starflight to deal with a problem, helped by an imago of his wife, Katia, whose real version has had to stay behind. But who seems to haunt the ship, a shadow following him? ...Sagdev is an ex-Sylveste Institute worker (who we will learn more about later in the ‘verse), now part of the crew taking about 900 refugees fleeing the Melding Plague, first mentioned timeline-wise in the “Diamong Dogs” novella, on their way to Jupiter. There’s a twist or three to the story before it ends…
--”Grafenwalder’s Bestiary”: in which a bestiary collector’s deepest obsession to find a rare Denizen (as seen on “A Spy In Europa”) gets himself into an unusual situation due to a competition with another bestiary keeper. Here we find also a nod to the “Chasm City” book through some other beasts in his collection (the snakelike hamadryad, and he also has a human-pig and a psychotic dolphin in his collection). The third one is one from “Diamond Dogs” novella, the polite but strange character, Dr Trintignant, who helps the other collector to achieve her revenge. Some horror moments but simple and entertaining too. And you might feel cheery that Grafenwalder gets what he deserves: a good punishment for his greed and his part in the suffering of the Denizens when they were created some centuries ago.
--”Nightingale”: in which three ex-soldiers are hired to retrieve a war criminal from a dormant hospital ship, but the job is less easy than one might think… The war at Sky’s Edge has finally ended, and Mr Martinez has been obsessively hunting down the guilty. The way these ex-soldiers bicker might tell you the newly-hatched peace is still a bit unstable, but what happens on the ship will fix some of that in any war-survivor. The ship has slowly drifted back close enough to be noticed by some; the delicate nature of the ship’s gamma-level mind has made it vulnerable to madness if left without work, but that is not the only way the ship can go mad. This story shows again the author’s occasional tendency for horror moments, which one should expect to happen in his stories. What ship has in mind for a war memorial is quite shocking – but luckily she’s a bit of a perfectionist, so her original, stranger memorial idea is finally scrapped – I’m glad that there’s no visuals to be seen, even if the reader’s mind can make some. Scifi horror, for sure.
--”Galactic North”: in which Captain Irrarvel Veda learns over the years that her prioritising the safety of her passengers, when dealing with pirates has long-lasting and damaging results for all humanity, but hope lasts eternally… This story goes from 2303 to somewhere around 40,000 AD, and so it can easily bookend the whole timeline of the ‘verse. The exchange with the pirate-pig that starts the emergence of the Greenfly is not really shown, only told of way afterwards. We can see here how Remotoire from the Revelation Space trilogy part came to dislike pigs so much. The people she meets or chases, the worlds that she visits, the ways she become so long-lived (being cloned) and changes her mindscape (getting close to the Pattern Jugglers on one planet) and the way she tries to mend her mistakes by helping humanity makes me want to read more about her life than is here.
We reach the ends of the ‘verse here (at least how far into the future the years roll so far).

At the afterword the author talks about his influencers and idea-givers; how some of the ideas came from his first two (never published) books (ideas like locations, terminology, characters…); and a bit on how some stories came to be. He does say that keeping facts right as the series expands is hard work, but I have to say, having now read what I could of the series so far, that very very few things were such as to exist as facts in only few books, and turn out to be otherwise in all others, so he’s done a good job in this.

Of course there will be more books to be written into it - and I will read them - but just reading this series through with the existing ones was very enjoyable and worked well, even though I sometimes shuddered at the thickness of some books haha. The story flowed from book to book pretty smoothly, with some becoming firm favorites.

[Jan Bednarczuk · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't get enough of the Revelation Space universe. I just can't. This future history feels almost as real and detailed and nuanced to me at this point as real history does.

I've already read most of the novels in this series, and with some trepidation moved on to this collection of short stories. So many authors who excel in longer forms do poorly with short stories, and vice versa.

I needn't have worried. Reynolds is, if anything, even more skilled at the short story format; perhaps because it forces him to rein in his tendency towards wordiness that affects some of the novels.

I'm not sure how well this collection would work for someone new to this universe. Possibly it would be fine. But some of the delight for me was in seeing stories filled in for what had been only bits and pieces of incidental plots or characters in the other books.

This is now my second favorite book in the series, following only Chasm City for sheer enjoyment. Highly recommended.

[Neal Asher · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just finished Galactic North the other day, and am now looking forward to reading The Prefect. It’s nice to be once again reminded why I enjoyed reading his Revelation Space series. A few of the stories in here I’d read before (was The Great Wall of Mars in Interzone?) but I still enjoyed them second time around. The story Galactic North seemed a bit disjointed, but I still enjoyed the big space and huge breadths of time. All of it: huge Gothic spaceships, weapons like dangerous beasts lurching in cathedral caches, borge-like ultras, nano-plagues and … more stuff with Conjoiners in it, please, Alastair!

[Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm supremely happy to know that Reynolds as a short story writer is just as good as Reynolds as a novelist. Some of the stories were unabashedly nostalgic for me, but others, such as the last one, Galactic North, really bit deep into my subconscious and wouldn't let go. I wanted more and more of that one, but there were a few others that even verged on the mythical. I'm thinking of a certain medical ship, not to mention a fascination of worms.

Strangely enough, I got a lot out of the afterward, as well, when he explained his debts to other writers, and I think no less of him for adding such a long list. I suppose I'd do the same, in his shoes. But then again, I see no fear that he took too much from them, or made anything else less than stellar.
I'm very impressed and I enjoyed every story.

[Michael Finocchiaro · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of eight or nine stories set in the Revelation Space universe. I'd suggest that they are important to read after Chasm City and Redemption Ark, because of the background they give on Clavain. However, I was a little confused by the last story that seems to depend on the narrative of Inhibitor Phase that I am currently reading. Great ideas here and an easy read.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good mixed bag, but the 1999 story Galactic North is fascinating as it is the map of most of the stories from Revelation Space. Weather is the best of the bunch.

Great Wall of Mars (2000) - 4.5 star
Great stuff. Fast pacing, good characters, short but wonderful early days of Revelation Space

Glacial (2001) - 4.5 star
Wonderful continuation of Clavain and Galiana, this time on an ice world, with a murder mystery. Truly great stuff.

A Spy in Europa (1997) - 3.5 star
A short but interesting spy story, with a nice twist at the end.

Weather (2006) - 5 star
Wonderful, poignant, and a terrific insight into Conjoiner minds and engines. All superbly written!

Dilation Sleep (1990) - 3.5 star
Single concept story. Not bad, but not surprising. First story of the Melding Plague

Grafenwalder's Bestiary (2006) - 3.5 star
Some nice twists, good pacing, not too much dialogue diarrhoea.

Nightingale (2006) - 1 star
Blah blah infinite dialogue, repeated. A very short story made horrifically long and dull. Pages and pages of idiots arguing over which way to go in a "hedge-maze", etc. Worst-ever piece of work by Reynolds.

Galactic North (1999) - 4 star
I grand, sweeping vision of the entire Revelation Space series. It's very episodic, but nicely realised in the subsequent books and stories.

Still, nothing here compares to Reynold's finest work: Turquoise Days (2002)

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

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent collection, solid all around, with some fascinating early history of the transhuman factions in the Revelation Space universe. Reynolds is every bit as masterful at crafting shorter works as full length novels, weaving incredibly engaging story lines against the backdrop of a fascinating universe populated with enigmatic trans human factions. His gritty, often dark, vision of the future is wrapped in just enough hard science and amazing inventiveness, and told with a sharp edged prose, that makes it all feel so concrete. To me, this is the brilliance of Reynolds as an author and what makes him one of the brightest stars of science fiction today, and it is captured perfectly in this collection.

The afterword is also quite interesting, with Reynolds noting a number of specific sources of inspiration for some of his SF concepts as well as his general approach, including Larry Niven, John Varley, Bruce Sterling, Michael Swanwick and a whole host of others.

Great Wall of Mars 4/5
Glacial 5/5
A Spy in Europa 4/5
Weather 5/5
Dilation Sleep 3/5
Grafenwalder's Bestiary 5/5
Nightingale 5/5
Galactic North 5/5

[Peter Tillman · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Galactic North" is a glorious Technicolor update of "Pirates of the Asteroids." The ramliner Hirondelle, loaded with 20,000 colonists in reefersleep, is boarded by a band of desperados led by Capt. Run Seven ("... you can call me Seven"). Capt. Irravel Veda has been neuromodified to feel she's the mother to her 20,000 frozen passengers....

Reynolds gives new meaning to the old wet-navy cliche' "a stern chase is a long chase" in this gorgeously silly space-opera. Snippets:

"Why are you so interested in our weapons?" the Nestbuilder asked. "We are not aware of any wars within the chordate phylum at this epoch."

"It's a personal matter," Irravel said...

The Slug made the Nestbuilder fold its armoured, spindly limbs across its mouthparts, a gesture of displeased huffiness.

"You chordates," it said. "You're all the same."

[later] "Even if it was your fault, Veda, you did it wth the best of intentions. So you fucked up slightly. We all make mistakes."

"Destroying whole solar systems is just a fuck-up?"

"Hey, accidents happen..."

I love this stuff -- can you tell? A/A+ ; my favorite Reynolds story. Reprints: http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cg...

2023 reread: still first-rate, but more scattered than I recalled. Dropped to 4 stars. My copy is in Dozois #17.

[John Folk-Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Galactic North by Alastair Reynolds is a key book of short stories for understanding many aspects of the Revelation Space universe. The novels and stories within that universe follow human settlement of many star systems over several centuries. In the course of this future history, humans adapt in many ways, especially through the use of cybernetic implants and nanotechnology. Among those adaptative societies are the Conjoiners, a networked community of human minds, that is at war with other human groups, especially the Demarchists and the Ultras. The eight stories of Galactic North provide important details about these groups, especially the Conjoiners. I’m especially interested in them because their unique form of collective consciousness raises so many ideas about communication and human relationships.

.....

Reynolds is meticulous with the chronology of his future history, setting most of the novels and stories between 2200 and 2858, but the early history extends back a billion years and forward as far as 40,000 CE. Galactic North begins with the novella, “The Great Wall of Mars,” which takes place around 2200, when humans have settled several planets and moons of the solar system. War has been ongoing between the Conjoiners and a Coalition for Neural Purity that includes a faction known as the Demarchists. Sandra Voi, a Demarchist leader, joins Nevil Clavain on a diplomatic expedition from Deimos, a moon of Mars, to the surface of the planet to negotiate with Galiana, one of the founders of the Conjoiners.

The city or nest of the Conjoiners consists of a series of levels extending deep under the surface of Mars and constructed within a massive and once-living wall. The wall was an alternative to planet-wide terraforming and allowed the development of an earth-like atmosphere within a small area that gradually expanded as the wall grew outward to a width of two thousand kilometers. It entrapped its own weather system and within its boundaries numerous small domes were constructed, all connected by a series of tunnels. During the war, the wall was hit by a viral weapon that damaged its inner structures, so it stopped growing and was gradually failing. The Conjoiners built their nest in a small area within the wall, and Galiana not only reveals the full structure of its many levels to Clavain, she also, under pretext of healing a head wound, introduces the nano-scale machines, or medechines, into his bloodstream that begin to grow throughout the neural structure of his brain. He is not completely transformed but changes enough so that he can begin to perceive the structures of the Conjoiner world that are invisible to normal humans.

So through his eyes, we see the complex weaving of connections throughout the structure of the nest that enable the Conjoiners to commune with each other in a state they call Transenlightenment. While most humans abhor Conjoiners as freakish hive mind robots, they are nothing of the sort. As Galiana explains, they are not clones but individuals whose memories and experiences are joined through their neural connections to enable them to achieve a special state of consciousness. They are like a network of nodes that can exist apart from each other but are at their peak when in the proximity of their nest.

.........

Reynolds is always precise about the science, real or imagined, that underlies his worlds, yet never loses touch with the emotional reality of his characters. The stories in Galactic North illustrate his range and sensibility with a murder mystery, a tense spy thriller, a kind of horror story, and the incredible projection of his Revelation Space history 40,000 years into the future. For me, it’s not only the human depth of “Weather” but also the insights into the Conjoiner networked minds of “The Great Wall of Mars” as well as the powerful themes of consciousness and communication that keep bringing me back to this great collection.

Read the full review at SciFi Mind.

[Siobhan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Galactic North is a collection of short stories from Alastair Reynolds, all set in the Revelation Space universe. I have not read the main series, but I have read the odd short story here and there, which gave me some understanding. Although this collection can be read without any prior knowledge, it is best read after the series for full enjoyment.

Great Wall of Mars was a two-star rating. It’s a story that had me curious, and I believe I would have enjoyed it more if I’d read the Revelation Space series. As it was, I was interested in seeing how the story would come together but I would have liked a wee bit more detail. In truth, this two-star rating is a rounded-down rating.

Glacial was a three-star rating. This story follows on well from Great Wall of Mars, allowing us to see more of the characters we were introduced to in the first story. Although I saw how things would develop with this one, it kept me curious throughout. Not quite a full three-star rating, but close enough for me to round the rating up.

A Spy in Europa was a two-star rating. It’s another story that had me curious, yet I feel I would have enjoyed it more if I understood the universe better. There was a lot of information dumping to help me understand, but it threw me from the story a bit. Nevertheless, this one did have me curious to see how it would come together. Although interesting, it didn’t hook me in the way I had hoped.

Weather was a three-star rating. This is another story that was clearly set in the Revelation Space series, but I found this one much easier to follow. Although I saw certain details coming, the story kept me gripped throughout.

Dilation Sleep was a two-star rating. This is another story set in the Revelation Space series that is easy to follow without having read 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 was disappointed when it played out as expected.

Grafenwalder's Bestiary was a three-star rating. This was another story that works well without knowledge of the Revelation Space series, but there were certain details that will be enhanced with complete knowledge. There were certain details of the story that I worked out, but it was still a lot of fun. A little bit more development in certain areas would have made this a four-star rating, but it was still a strong three-star read.

Nightingale was a three-star rating. This was another story that works fine without any prior knowledge of the Revelation Space series and was easy to follow without prior knowledge of the universe. It’s a story that was a bit slow at first, but, once it got going, I was hooked. Although there were a few four-star moments in this one, it wasn’t quite enough to round my rating up.

Galactic North was a two-star rating. I believe this story would be most enjoyed by those that have followed the entire Revelation Space series. As it was, I found it interesting, but it didn’t wow me. It was a collection of moments across a large timescale, and I kept waiting to feel the deep connection. Sadly, I never felt that connection – I just felt curiosity about the universe.

All in all, I find Alastair Reynolds to be hit and miss with his short stories, and these stories were not my favourite. There were some enjoyable moments, but not enough to make any of the stories stand out.

[Efka · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not a fan of short stories, but this collection proves two points: a) Alastair Reynolds knows what he's doing and boy can he write them, and b) I enjoyed them perhaps more than the original Revelation Space series. Great collection!

[Baffi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great Wall of Mars provides more background for Nevil Clavain, his dealings with Galiana, Felka and the Conjoiners and how he became one himself as well as some early Revelation Space universe history. A great story about war, diplomacy and betrayal. (5 stars)

Glacial also features Clavain and partly deals with his attempts to adjust to being a Conjoiner. But it's first and foremost a Whodunit mystery and a pretty good one at that. The 'icy' atmosphere of a planet approaching an ice age adds to the bleak and solitary mood. (4.5 stars)

A Spy in Europa combines elements of classic spy/assassin thrillers à la John le Carré with a science fiction setting and a pinch of horror and does so very effectively. (5 stars)

Weather
(4 stars)

Dilation Sleep was first published in 1990 (according to Wikipedia), 10 years before "Revelation Space", Reynolds' debut novel - and it shows. Dealing with the isolation of deeps space travel, it starts off quite atmospheric, but ends abruptly and confusing. (2.5 stars)

Grafenwalder’s Bestiary
(4.5 stars)

Nightingale
(4 stars)

Galactic North
(I'll wait until I've read "Absolution Gap" to tackle this one.)

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's just nobody like Alastair. I've had this on my shelf for a while, and I was worried that I might have forgotten crucial finer details from the Revelation Space trilogy and Chasm City in the post-interim, but I just trusted the process and got immersed in the Ultras and Conjoiners and Demarchists and my mind boggled all over again at the possibilities of the far future's centuries-long traveling and free-exchange of identities across flesh, machinery, plagues and space. The afterword with references to Reynolds' influences is a generous footnote to this collection, and his spellcraft is such that he's a writer I'll always return to.

[Bee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reynolds writes short stories as naturally as he does long and engaging space opera. And especially because all these stories fit in the Revelation Space universe, they add a lot of depth to the stories that we know and love. Each story in this series adds something to a thread that was left dangling during the main sequence of books.

[Lucas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Glad I read this but the variability on the enjoyment of the stories was a bit high, overall liked more than the Diamond Dogs/Turquoise Days novellas, think the eponymous Galactic North story was a bit overhyped from what I had heard online. Overall still a big fan of Reynolds in general but yeah this isn't going to capstone the whole series in a way that it's a must read.

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not ✨technically✨done with this collection of scifi short stories. But I’m reading the Revelation Space universe in story order so I probably won’t get back to the last two stories for some months. (Book clubs and ARCs oh my.)

I was obsessed with these stories. Not sure if you need to be familiar with the Revelation Space universe to get as much out of them, but I found them riveting.

I read them after Revelation Space #1 (and then decided to read the whole damn catalogue) but before Chasm City. I don’t normally go for short stories and I was absolutely glued to the page.

[Lars Dradrach · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mixed bag of sweets.

Reynolds returns to the Revelation Space Universe with a collection of 8 more or less stand alone stories.

5 Stars - The great wall of mars & Weather - Reynolds at his best, strong stories and strong characters you care about.

4 Stars - Glacial - A murder mystery with the conjoiners

3 Stars - Nightingale - A strong story but a little to much horror and Doctor Moreau, not a style that fits Reynolds

3 Stars - Dilation Sleep

3 Stars - Galactic North - A century spanning epoch with a lot of ideas, but also a little incoherent.

2 Stars - A Spy in Europe & Grafenwalder’s Bestiary - 2 slightly related stories in the horror genre again.

[Tango · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved each of these eight short stories set in the world of Revelation Space and roughly organized in chronological order from 2200 AD to 40,000 AD. A couple of the stories, most especially Grafenwalder's Bestiary, could stand alone, but this collection will be most appreciated by those who already know the major players and events of Reynold's signature universe. There is a sort of unifying theme to these stories that extends beyond the RS setting; most show some aspect of retribution. This isn't slash and burn vengeance; it is more the creepy, sometimes horrifying, and always satisfying comeuppance for someone (or many people) who have perpetuated a great evil on innocents.

Thumbnails:

1. Great Wall of Mars: The beginning of the "family" of Clavain, Galiana, and Felka - often referenced in Redemption Ark, but not detailed in the novels. This story leads directly into the next, Glacial.
2. Glacial: My favorite RS protagonist, Clavain, as sci-fi amateur detective solves a murder mystery.
3. A Spy in Europa: Early Demarchist tale of bio-engineering gone badly wrong. This story is tied to another short in this book, Grafenwalder's Bestiary.
4. Weather: This is an ultra/conjoiner tale that is a bit of an exception to the Retribution Theme in the collection. The characters in this story have some reason to be looking for vengeance, but sidestep their opportunities. This is a sweeter story than the others in the collection, but the ending is powerful because it explains the mystery of the conjoiner engines.
5. Dilation Sleep: An ultra tale (written before Reynolds used "ultra" to describe the people of the many neural implants) of an early attempt to escape the Melding Plague.
6. Grafenwalder's Bestiary: Very creepy and VERY satisfying story about a Demarchist man who lets his ego override his ethics.
7. Nightingale: Twilight Zone-worthy story of a hospital spaceship gone badly off the rails. (Unlike the first Star Trek series where computers with conflicting precepts always explode or implode, Reynolds' machines always find way creepier means of conflict resolution!)
8. Galactic North: Great backstory for the intriguing conjoiner, Remontoire, and a 40,000 year projection of the Greenfly Invasion referenced in Absolution Gap.

In addition to the stories, you get a nice afterward from the author. Nothing like finding out an author you've come to love, also loves the other authors you love!

If you know your way around in Revelation Space, you will love these stories. They fill in gaps in the giant canvass that Reynolds has been working on and they are each wonderfully, eerily entertaining.

[Kostas · Rating 4 out of 5]

7.5/10

In his career as a science fiction author, Alastair Reynolds has written many great stories and adventures - from novels, to novellas and short-stories - and managing through all these to create also and one of the best universes in the field. But, with the completion of the novels of the Revelation Space universe, it left behind a desire for something more.
Galactic North comes to change that, collecting eight stories in this beloved universe; eight adventures that takes us deep into known and unknown places, and bringing us against with characters that can easily make you to love them - even through their evil deeds.

Great Wall of Mars
The first story opens this collection with Nevil Clavain, one of the main characters in the Revelation Space universe, as we follow him on a mission that will send him deep into the Great Wall of Mars - and the heart of Galiana's operations - trying to find a solution as to stop another war between the Conjoiners and the Coalition. But when, after an unexpected event, he’s betrayed by someone who he trusted the most during the negotiations for their treaty, he will find himself in a great adventure, and a decision that may change his life forever.

Set long before the main trilogy, the story explores one of Nevil Clavain’s first missions, and the beginning of his relationship with Galiana who put him in amongst the nets of the Conjoiners, with Reynolds making a fast, but otherwise strong adventure, managing to give - through his amazing style - an even greater depth to this awesome character.
Also, the story features some of the most deadly worms in the universe, showing thus how great influenced Frank Herbert had in the science fiction field, but adding always his own incredible ideas.

Glacial
Another story with Nevil Clavain following him, some years after the events of the Great Wall of Mars, in an adventure with Galiana on the remote Diadem: an ice planet, as they embark on a mission, seeking the long-missing American scientist Martin Setterholm and his colleagues who had been sent almost a century ago to explore it. However, when they reach the planet Diadem, they will begin to discover that something bad has happened on the American base, and when the only survivor turns out to be hiding something dark deep inside him, he and Galiana will be faced with a mystery that may lead them even to their deaths.

Unlike the previous story, Glacial is a mystery/crime story with the protagonists finding themselves this time in an adventure that will soon become much more personal.
Although it is certainly not as strong as the previous one, Reynolds manages through his writing to build beautifully the case around the missing American scientists, as well the relationship between Nevil and Galiana, putting thus a little more depth to their past than before, and making them even more beloved through their adventures.

A Spy in Europe
The third story of the collection focuses on Marius Vargovic, an agent of Gilgamesh Isis: a force that vies against Demarcy for the dominance of the system around Jupiter. However, when they receive a message from Cholok, a woman who has infiltrated into the heart of Europe - one of Jupiter’s moons controlled by Demarcy - claiming to have something that could, if used properly, bring the destruction to their enemies, Vargovic will be sent to find her and make a deal with her. But, when this mission proves to be more difficult than he thought, he will find himself deep into a great adventure that will bring him amongst some unnatural beings, whom their only desire, is their long-prolonged freedom; something that they’ll not hesitate even to kill to get it.

This is perhaps one of the darkest and cruellest stories of this collection as, interchanging through many flashbacks - making it thus even more complex - Reynolds takes us deep into a plot, but also into a betrayal, that will make even the most the ruthless skills of the protagonist seem impotent against his enemies.
Certainly, not an easy story, but nevertheless sets strongly the setting between these two forces and their plots for power.

Weather
This novella focuses on the adventures of Inigo, an Ultra, and the captain of Petronel as, after an inevitable attack from a pirate ship - that somehow they managed to defeat against all odds, even with heavy losses - discover in its wreckage a young Conjoiner, their lives will change forever.
Bringing her aboard their ship against the captain’s orders, Inigo will begin to see something different beyond her peculiarities that he never felt again, but soon, her threatening abilities, that can so easily lead them to their destruction, will bring a great turmoil amidst the crew of the Petronel. However, when something unexpected occurs along the way, putting their fate into her hands, they will be faced with their greatest challenge; something that, for Inigo, may cost him and the most.

This particular story is a little different than the rest as Reynolds, using perfectly the first person, manages through a space adventure to make a wonderful love story, putting Inigo’s beliefs - and feelings - into a constant turmoil against his captain's abhorrence for the Conjoiners. It is a story that, in the end, manages to touch even the deepest parts of your heart and make you feel the protagonist’s feelings, showing thus Reynolds’ great talent as he manages to make something so different from his usual adventures - and he does wonderfully.

Dilation Sleep
The next story follows Uri, aboard the starship Wild Pallas, as he and his crewmembers are trying to escape the planet Yellowstone and the effects of the Melding Plague, seeking for a better future. But, when Uri awakes during their long journey, lost amongst dreams, he will begin to discover that something has gone completely wrong - something that can threaten the ship, and even and their own existence.

This story was one of the very first he managed to publish and start his great career. It is a quite a short story, but with a big twist as Reynolds puts the protagonist, through this space adventure, into a world of dreams that are so real that you cannot distinguish them from the reality.
Surely not the best story of the collection, as it still shows his first steps as a writer, but it's quick, imaginative and mysterious enough to hold your interest.

Grafenwalder's Bestiary
Set two hundred years after A Spy in Europa, this story focuses on Grafenwalder, a collector of rare and unnatural creatures, seeking for the only thing he never had: to capture one of the legendary Denizen monsters. However, despite his cruel and selfish ways, when a mysterious broker sends him a message, claiming to have that he so much desires - and which will make him one of the most famous collectors of the Circle - he will find himself unsuspected amongst a scheme, bringing him against into a deadly threat - and into a forgotten past - that may well cost him something more than his own life.

Building through this ruthless protagonist, Reynolds explores in this story the dealings - and the backstabs - of the small society of the Circle's richly collectors, but managing also, through his ideas, to create and some of the most amazing monsters of the universe, and showing us thus that revenge, is always best served cold.

Nightingale
The second biggest novella in the collection follows Dexia, a former soldier on the planet Sky's Edge, and a team of specialists as they’re recruited by Tomas Martinez - a well-known soldier seeking to persecute the war criminals - to find and return to justice Colonel Jax whose said to be aboard Nightingale: a ship that was supposedly destroyed long ago. But, as they'll get to the ship, and will start looking for Colonel Jax, they will soon discover something terrible; something that will put them into a great adventure for their survival, and against a horrendous truth.

With a, relatively, simple storyline Reynolds manages here to make a powerful, suspenseful, and very enjoyable adventure - showing how much he has improved over the years - as he manages to build wonderfully the mystery around the ship Nightingale, and managing also, with great mastery, to offer in the end and many doses of horror. Definitely one of the top, and one of my personal favorites of the collection.

Galactic North
The titular, and last story follows Captain Irravel, on her first interstellar trip, and Markarian as, when their ship Hirondelle gets damaged and are forced to land on a comet of an uninhabited system to repair it, they will be faced with an attack by pirates. But, when this attack proves to be more fierce than they expected, endangering not only themselves, but also and their twenty thousand passengers, and the pirates - through their threatening ways - get in their hands their most dangerous weapon, which has the ability to terraform even entire planets, they will find themselves in an adventure through the centuries, and in a future that may well bring the extinction of the human kind.

Coming at the end of the collection, Reynolds brings us to one of his most ambitious stories, taking us into a distant, unknown future that all seems to be on the brink of destruction. Although written before the main trilogy, the story extends much farther than the novels, with Reynolds exploring also the race of the Nestbuilders - linking them thus directly to the books - as well and the future of mankind as he takes us in another great adventure throughout the universe; a story that manages, once again, to put you in thoughts for what the future may hold.

Overall, Galactic North is a collection with a wide variety of stories, with Reynolds showing his imagination - and his influences - through his career as an author, but without failing to make again and some incredible adventures that takes us throughout the Revelation Space universe.


- Ελληνική κριτική.

[reactorr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lasciate ogni speranza voi che viaggiate nel futuro

Io sono un appassionato di fantascienza, non un esperto, ma tra film, videogiochi e libri ho maturato una certa abitudine a confrontarmi con i trope del genere, tanto che poco o nulla mi sorprende ancora (nel contesto della space opera), eppure non ho mai letto una fantascienza così riconoscibile e allo stesso tempo così nuova da sentirmi così appagato e soddisfatto.

Due parole di contesto: Galactic North è una raccolta di racconti ambientati nello stesso universo, conosciuto per via della serie Rivelazione. Le storie di questa raccolta sono "nello sfondo" dei principali avventimenti raccontati nei romanzi, ma introducono in maniera eccellente gli elementi distintivi dell'universo, e citando qua e là avvenimenti e riferimenti dei romanzi (che non ho ancora letto). Per di più forniscono una "prospettiva storica" utile a capire razze, la cronologia e l'evoluzione dell'universo, e a quanto pare anche le backstories di alcuni personaggi. Da sottolineare che probabilmente qualche accenno può essere considerato "spoiler" per i più sensibili (io stesso ho trovato riferimenti familiari a "La città del cratere", un altro ottimo romanzo che consiglio), anche se ho letto che il traduttore della serie lo ha definito come un ottimo punto per iniziare.

Io le ho trovate tutte ben narrate, intriganti e molto varie. Reynolds spazia fra diversi generi di storie, fra diversi tipi di personaggi, ambientazioni e tempi (dal 2200 al 2600 circa).

"Le grandi mura di Marte" 4**** Il primo racconto è quello più vicino ai giorni nostri, ci son riferimenti a confilitti, scismi evolutivi e fazioni che si spartiscono il sistema solare. È la storia di una ribellione e di una fuga, un primo approccio alla deviazione evolutiva dei Conjoiner.

"Glaciale" 5***** È in continuità con il primo racconto, e racconta dell'esplorazione di un pianeta alieno. A tratti ansiogeno, a tratti personale e introspettivo. Il pianeta richiama l'atmosfera di "The Thing", e il mistero è sufficientemente affascinante da destare la curiosità.

"Una spia in Europa" 3*** Spy story ambientata nei mari di Europa, non particolarmente intrigante ma interessante a livello immaginifico (per le tecnologie e le razze presentate). Una nota dolente è la "chiusura" del racconto, troppo affrettata.

"Brezza" 5***** Uno dei racconti che più mi ha colpito. Una storia che introduce gli Ultra, una particolare deviazione evolutiva dell'uomo nel bel mezzo di una battaglia fra navi spaziali. Nonostante il finale sia un po' scontato, l'ho adorato, soprattutto per i personaggi.

"Sonno dilatato" 3*** Questo è carino, un po' alla Shymalan, forse è il racconto che mi è piaciuto di meno. L'idea è buona ma francamente non mi ha convinto molto l'esecuzione. Da notare che si tratta di uno dei primissimi racconti dell'autore, datato 1990, ben prima della nascita ufficiale dell'universo Rivelazione.

"Il bestiario di Grafenwalder" 5***** Questo racconto tocca argomenti più sociologici, l'ambiente è altolocato e i personaggi sono tutti ricchi collezionisti. Questo ha un duplice fascino dato dallo stile di vita di questi personaggi e il lato puramente tecnologico e biologico. Interessante come la visione pessimista di Reynolds dipinga l'umanità tra 500 anni non molto diversa da quella che conosciamo oggi, nonostante significativi passi tecnologici, l'uomo è rimasto sostanzialmente lo stesso.

"Nightingale" 5***** Una storia horror degna di un adattamento cinematografico, ambientata in una nave spaziale abbandonata, racconta di un team di soldati alla ricerca di un criminale di guerra creduto in stasi. Cupo, ansiogeno, brillante per le idee e veramente disturbante per le visioni suggerite.

"Galactic North" 5***** È la storia più vecchia del mondo. Tradimenti e infiniti inseguimenti. È onestamente molto strano come racconto, spazia per lunghi tempi, è molto cupo e un po' triste. È la visione futurista di Reynolds a condizionare la storia di questo racconto, che indirettamente coinvolge l'intero universo da lui creato. Una pillola difficile da digerire.

In chiusura, non posso che consigliare questa raccolta, tra le migliori che ho letto di hard sci-fi, sia per godibilità, anche a livello di prosa (seppur non sia il punto forte), ma soprattutto per quanto sia vario nelle storie, convincente e affascinante. Non mi sorprenderebbe, e lo dico con tristezza, se il futuro assomiglierà a quello immaginato da lui. 4,5

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again, Alastair Reynolds demonstrates that he works better in long forms than in short forms, although this collection is hardly a wash, and only suffers in direct comparison with his novels. Opening with the one-two punch of "Great Wall of Mars" and "Glacial," Reynolds helps to fill in some of the early history of his Revelation Space universe, with both stories focusing on the exploits of Nevil Clavain. "A Spy in Europa" suffers by comparison; despite providing back-story surrounding the mysterious race known as the Denizens, its herky-jerky story arc is ultimately jarring and (perhaps deliberately?) unsettling. "Weather," on the other hand, is a perfect short story, one which not only gives insight into the nature of Reynolds' "Conjoiner drives," but begs for a follow-up. Although "Dilation Sleep" employs a fascinating premise, its ending is too predictable to be as effective as it might have been. On the other hand, "Grafenwalder's Bestiary" is chock full of surprising twists and turns and holds the reader's attention at seat-edge from beginning to end. The two concluding tales, "Nightingale" and "Galactic North" are both plagued by overly-intricate plots. The former tries, with only partial success, to make a statement about the horrors of war by employing grotesque imagery. The latter is an episodic jumble in which the impetus and momentum slowly leak away as the story progresses, and it is hard to understand why Reynolds chose it -- easily the weakest story in this collection -- as his title piece.

Overall, the stronger and weaker stories balance each other sufficiently, and it is only the title tale which falls entirely flat. Fans of Reynolds' Revelation Space universe will, of course, find this essential reading, despite its minor flaws. The uninitiated may be better served by starting elsewhere -- such as "Revelation Space" itself, which is where it all began.

[Richard Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think that there are still a couple of novellas out there in the Revelation Space universe that I haven't read yet, but now I have pretty much done it, having read the three main novels, plus Chasm City, plus this collection of stories. I have enjoyed the trip, but I felt that these stories didn't quite live up to the standards of the big novels. There is something about the vastness of this universe that requires a six hundred page book to do it justice. The last story of the this collection, Galactic North, provides the details about what happens next after humans defeat the Inhibitors, but there was already enough information about the Greenflies in Absolution Gap, so that I didn't feel that the additional information here was truly essential. I might have liked this collection better if I had waited six months or a year after finishing Absolution Gap to read it, but the tease from reviewers that Galactic North would fill in important missing information made me jump on it sooner. To anyone else who is a fan of of this universe and who is making their way through the books, my strong recommendation is to stretch the times between books. This series is better savored than binged.

[Andre · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alastair Reynolds has an imagination that spans a universe. An excellent collection of his, perhaps lesser known, short fiction.
Whether it's detective, espionage or plain horror. He effortlessly weaves it into the fabric of space and hard scifi. Especially the nightmarish Nightingale deserves a special mention. Can somebody PLEASE make this into a movie or at least an episode of 'Black Mirror'?
Not to be missed...

[Mac · Rating 5 out of 5]

Buy.

Excellent series of small novellas that stretch over the time and space that is Revelation Space. The mini series starts off with a tale on the origins of Clavain who is the single most interesting character that Reynolds has ever created.