What do you think?
Rate this book
Halcyon Years
A superb new noir/science fiction fusion from the 'mastersinger of space opera' (The Times) and the creator of the beloved Revelation Space universe, strap in for a gripping murder mystery.
Yuri Gagarin is a private investigator, who picks up small cases from his local community, runs into trouble with the local police, and generally ekes out a living as best he can. He's aboard the Halcyon - a starship, hurtling through space, carrying thousands of passengers with thousands more sleeping the journey away.
Only his usual investigative work - catching cheating spouses, and small time con artists - is about to take a turn. He's hired by a mysterious woman called Ruby Red to look into a death in one of Halcyon's most elite families . . . and then warned off the case again by a second mysterious woman called Ruby Blue. Caught between the two, he's about to be embroiled in a murder mystery in which - at any moment - he could be the latest victim.
Gripping, fast-paced fun this is a classic noir mystery with a science fiction twist, which will keep you guessing, and on the edge of your seat, to the end.
A fresh new masterpiece, from the master of science fiction.
Yuri Gagarin is a private investigator, who picks up small cases from his local community, runs into trouble with the local police, and generally ekes out a living as best he can. He's aboard the Halcyon - a starship, hurtling through space, carrying thousands of passengers with thousands more sleeping the journey away.
Only his usual investigative work - catching cheating spouses, and small time con artists - is about to take a turn. He's hired by a mysterious woman called Ruby Red to look into a death in one of Halcyon's most elite families . . . and then warned off the case again by a second mysterious woman called Ruby Blue. Caught between the two, he's about to be embroiled in a murder mystery in which - at any moment - he could be the latest victim.
Gripping, fast-paced fun this is a classic noir mystery with a science fiction twist, which will keep you guessing, and on the edge of your seat, to the end.
A fresh new masterpiece, from the master of science fiction.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published October 30, 2025
114 people are currently reading
1754 people want to read
About the author
Alastair Reynolds
314 books9,350 followersI'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.
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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews
December 19, 2025
Truly entertaining.
Yuri, the first cosmonaut, works as a 40's noir detective. Such a sweet premise. I'm reminded of other great SF that pulls similar conceits be it Hitler as a Noir detective or the inestimable Dark City premise, but who cares, right? It's FUN.
Especially when it takes off with generational starship stuff, bringing Yuri right back into space, continuing a wicked mystery plot, this novel takes us so many great places.
Truly entertaining. :)
Yuri, the first cosmonaut, works as a 40's noir detective. Such a sweet premise. I'm reminded of other great SF that pulls similar conceits be it Hitler as a Noir detective or the inestimable Dark City premise, but who cares, right? It's FUN.
Especially when it takes off with generational starship stuff, bringing Yuri right back into space, continuing a wicked mystery plot, this novel takes us so many great places.
Truly entertaining. :)
November 30, 2025
Legit one of the best books I've read all year! It may be the best book I've read all year, but I haven't gone to look at my list.
I love a mystery set on a space station, spaceship, or space settlement. This gave me a generation ship and a very interesting main character. I would say here, but I don't want to spoil the joy of actually finding out the neat fact of his identity. It is only one of several very cool things that happen or are revealed, but it's a big one and I loved it. I enjoyed every character offered in this book, even the awful ones. I found the tension played well, and I really did not want to put this down. I've only had time to read before bed lately, but I thought about this book during the day in anticipation of getting back to it again. Simply, I was very invested in the story. I loved that. Top-tier mystery that I could have gone another hundred pages with. If a sequel happens, I will be thrilled to read it.
Recommended. Highly.
I love a mystery set on a space station, spaceship, or space settlement. This gave me a generation ship and a very interesting main character. I would say here, but I don't want to spoil the joy of actually finding out the neat fact of his identity. It is only one of several very cool things that happen or are revealed, but it's a big one and I loved it. I enjoyed every character offered in this book, even the awful ones. I found the tension played well, and I really did not want to put this down. I've only had time to read before bed lately, but I thought about this book during the day in anticipation of getting back to it again. Simply, I was very invested in the story. I loved that. Top-tier mystery that I could have gone another hundred pages with. If a sequel happens, I will be thrilled to read it.
Recommended. Highly.
November 19, 2025
I love Alastair Reynolds but he has a bad habit of acting like he doesn’t have any regular readers. That way he’s free to repeat all the same plots and twists, by pretending every reader is reading their very first Reynolds book. Unfortunately I’ve read a lot of them, and this one felt like I’ve already read it five times before.
October 13, 2025
Twisty murder mystery with all the beats of a classic noir, but where our private eye was also the first man in space, and the setting is a starship a very long way from Earth.
This was a very enjoyable read for me. I had a lot of questions as I read, and they were all well-answered, raising its own questions too. The pacing was good, there's a steady build of tension, information and drama. The characters were interesting and well-drawn, each with a clear motivation, however wrong-headed in some cases. I even had some sympathy with the 'bad guys', which is an achievement in itself. If you're a little cynical like me, you may well find the same.
Recommended for a quick but thoughtful standalone read!
This review is based upon a complimentary advance reading copy provided by the publisher.
This was a very enjoyable read for me. I had a lot of questions as I read, and they were all well-answered, raising its own questions too. The pacing was good, there's a steady build of tension, information and drama. The characters were interesting and well-drawn, each with a clear motivation, however wrong-headed in some cases. I even had some sympathy with the 'bad guys', which is an achievement in itself. If you're a little cynical like me, you may well find the same.
Recommended for a quick but thoughtful standalone read!
This review is based upon a complimentary advance reading copy provided by the publisher.
January 18, 2026
Halcyon Years by Alastair Reynolds is a hardbroiled crime mystery aboard a generational spaceship named Halcyon. This is a standalone novel by Reynolds showcasing his usual flair for creatively interesting stories. This scifi novel tells a story with an unfolding set of mysteries ever escalating to a satisfying conclusion. Reynolds doesn’t drag the story out or show any reluctance to reveal the answers to questions posed at the start. This book begins its reveals early on, maintaining the pace with an escalating set of mysteries and taut worldbuilding. It’s a novel that will keep you entertained from start to finish.
The story begins with private investigator Yuri Gagarin, a resurrected cosmonaut and first man in space, hundreds of years in the future. Yuri is approached by Ruby Blue to investigate the accidental death of one of Halcyon’s elite, and promptly warned off the case by Ruby Red. Along the way this small-time private eye uncovers the mysteries of Halcyon itself, with help from his friend and conspiracy theorist , Milvus, and a robot named Sputnik. Yuri meets with a host of unsavory denizens on the ship, gets beat up, thrown into a lake, and delves into the reaches of the massive ship he’d never imagined seeing, leading to truths about himself and the true nature of Halcyon itself.
Halcyon Years has all the trappings of a classic noir thriller seeped in the worldbuilding and exploration of a science fiction story only Alastair Reynolds could write. The world is contained to the generational ship, Halcyon, but Reynolds manages to pack plenty of interesting details about the society and concepts within this giant ship, often igniting the reader’s imagination. His characters fit the stereotypes found in a classic noir with just enough of a scifi coating to keep things interesting.
Reynolds continues to write fascinating science fiction and Halcyon Years is no exception. It’s a murder mystery set on a generational starship with unfolding mysteries never imagined, what more could a reader ask for?
The story begins with private investigator Yuri Gagarin, a resurrected cosmonaut and first man in space, hundreds of years in the future. Yuri is approached by Ruby Blue to investigate the accidental death of one of Halcyon’s elite, and promptly warned off the case by Ruby Red. Along the way this small-time private eye uncovers the mysteries of Halcyon itself, with help from his friend and conspiracy theorist , Milvus, and a robot named Sputnik. Yuri meets with a host of unsavory denizens on the ship, gets beat up, thrown into a lake, and delves into the reaches of the massive ship he’d never imagined seeing, leading to truths about himself and the true nature of Halcyon itself.
Halcyon Years has all the trappings of a classic noir thriller seeped in the worldbuilding and exploration of a science fiction story only Alastair Reynolds could write. The world is contained to the generational ship, Halcyon, but Reynolds manages to pack plenty of interesting details about the society and concepts within this giant ship, often igniting the reader’s imagination. His characters fit the stereotypes found in a classic noir with just enough of a scifi coating to keep things interesting.
Reynolds continues to write fascinating science fiction and Halcyon Years is no exception. It’s a murder mystery set on a generational starship with unfolding mysteries never imagined, what more could a reader ask for?
November 1, 2025
A reliably good read from Alastair Reynolds. Twenty years after Century Rain (lowkey one of my favourites of his), he’s dabbling in noir again, although the mean streets this man must go down are on a generation ship in the depths of space. There are dames, hats, cars, femme fatales and the hero repeatedly gets banged on the head, but for all the noir trappings the final reveal and outcome could only be science fiction. Consistently one of our best homegrown SF authors.
Want to read
January 3, 2026This one got a good review from Lisa Tuttle at the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/books/202...
Excerpt:
"Yuri Gagarin, the Russian cosmonaut who was the first man in space, is reborn as a private eye on board the starship Halcyon as it draws nearer to the end of a centuries-long journey. ... Onboard life is modelled on classic crime noir from the 1940s: men in hats, cigarettes and whisky, with no futuristic tech beyond some clunky, glitching robots. As he doggedly pursues the truth about the seemingly unconnected deaths of two teenagers from the most powerful families on the ship, Yuri gradually learns about himself. There’s a conspiracy that goes back generations in this clever, entertaining blend of crime and space opera."
To be published in US Jan 27, 2026. Check back.
Excerpt:
"Yuri Gagarin, the Russian cosmonaut who was the first man in space, is reborn as a private eye on board the starship Halcyon as it draws nearer to the end of a centuries-long journey. ... Onboard life is modelled on classic crime noir from the 1940s: men in hats, cigarettes and whisky, with no futuristic tech beyond some clunky, glitching robots. As he doggedly pursues the truth about the seemingly unconnected deaths of two teenagers from the most powerful families on the ship, Yuri gradually learns about himself. There’s a conspiracy that goes back generations in this clever, entertaining blend of crime and space opera."
To be published in US Jan 27, 2026. Check back.
October 26, 2025
Alastair Reynolds is one of the greats of British science fiction. From his Revelation Space series of space operas and the related Prefect Dreyfus crime novels set in the same universe, to his equally epic Poseidon’s Children series. More recently Reynolds has combined classic swashbuckling pirate tropes with space adventure in his Revenger series. A similar genre mash is at play in his latest stand alone science fiction novel Halcyon Years – a heady mixture of noir detective and generation ship stories with a little bit of history thrown in.
Halcyon Years opens with gumshoe Yuri Gagarin trying and failing to capture evidence of a tryst in a seedy bar and ending up getting a beating for his trouble. Enter seemingly femme fatale Ruby Red. She wants him to investigate the deaths of two children of the wealthiest families in Halcyon. Before long there is another death which Gagarin has been arrested for and things only get more complicated from there including being warned off the case by Ruby Red’s sister Ruby Blue.
But this is also a generation ship story. Halcyon itself is a 50km long generation ship, hundreds of years on a voyage to repopulate on a planet orbiting a nearby star. The population of Halcyon is living in a kind of 1960s world – with cars and telephones, wealthy families and corruption. Gagarin himself is essentially a reboot of the original Russian Cosmonaut. He is known as a Jack-in-the-Box as he is part of a process to randomly bring people out of hibernation into the general population.
As with all great noir fiction, nothing is what it seems initially. The further Gaagrin investigates the more he starts to find that the truth is much much more complex than he could have imagined starting out. Luckily along the way he gathers a group of friends and helpers including homeless conspiracy nut Milvus, a robot who he called Sputnik and a disgraced policeman called Lemmy Litz.
Alastair Reynolds is one of the masters of big idea science fiction and some of the ideas at the centre of Halcyon Years are as big as they come. But these ideas come wrapped neatly in an engaging, trope-aware noir thriller with a surprisingly delightful cast of characters. So that when things start to get really weird, and they do, readers are likely to be well and truly along for the ride.
Halcyon Years opens with gumshoe Yuri Gagarin trying and failing to capture evidence of a tryst in a seedy bar and ending up getting a beating for his trouble. Enter seemingly femme fatale Ruby Red. She wants him to investigate the deaths of two children of the wealthiest families in Halcyon. Before long there is another death which Gagarin has been arrested for and things only get more complicated from there including being warned off the case by Ruby Red’s sister Ruby Blue.
But this is also a generation ship story. Halcyon itself is a 50km long generation ship, hundreds of years on a voyage to repopulate on a planet orbiting a nearby star. The population of Halcyon is living in a kind of 1960s world – with cars and telephones, wealthy families and corruption. Gagarin himself is essentially a reboot of the original Russian Cosmonaut. He is known as a Jack-in-the-Box as he is part of a process to randomly bring people out of hibernation into the general population.
As with all great noir fiction, nothing is what it seems initially. The further Gaagrin investigates the more he starts to find that the truth is much much more complex than he could have imagined starting out. Luckily along the way he gathers a group of friends and helpers including homeless conspiracy nut Milvus, a robot who he called Sputnik and a disgraced policeman called Lemmy Litz.
Alastair Reynolds is one of the masters of big idea science fiction and some of the ideas at the centre of Halcyon Years are as big as they come. But these ideas come wrapped neatly in an engaging, trope-aware noir thriller with a surprisingly delightful cast of characters. So that when things start to get really weird, and they do, readers are likely to be well and truly along for the ride.
December 8, 2025
An average read, but with a big epic reveal that doesn't entirely undo the mundane lead in. It didn't help that there were two dimensional characters, with some genuinely dire dialogue - the very opposite of what should be making a story noir or a strong hardboiled mystery.
It was OK, but it all feels like it has been done better before and for £25 (hardback, new) it’s well below what I expect from a leading SF writer in the modern era.
It was OK, but it all feels like it has been done better before and for £25 (hardback, new) it’s well below what I expect from a leading SF writer in the modern era.
November 18, 2025
A generation ship story, where people know they're in a generation ship on their way to a star system, but the everyday technology is out of the 1980s. And the protagonist private detective is Yuri Gagarin. Yes, Gagarin the Soviet cosmonaut. Wait, what's going on here?
Reynolds's latest space opera is a classic noir style detective story with some unusual SF-nal elements. I imagine he had a lot of fun writing it, and there's a lot of quippy humor in the banter between the detective and his associates.
It's also a sort of locked room mystery. Everything is happening inside the 54 kilometer long cylindrical ship, we're on track to the star system, no need to worry. There's nothing to see outside the ship.
I did not find this story as compelling as most of Reynolds's chewy space operas. I enjoyed his Prefect Dreyfus books more, also, which are a bit similar in that they deal with law enforcement in space.
Still, fans of Reynolds will be happy to see a new standalone novel with this unusual take on the mean streets of detective noir.
Reynolds's latest space opera is a classic noir style detective story with some unusual SF-nal elements. I imagine he had a lot of fun writing it, and there's a lot of quippy humor in the banter between the detective and his associates.
It's also a sort of locked room mystery. Everything is happening inside the 54 kilometer long cylindrical ship, we're on track to the star system, no need to worry. There's nothing to see outside the ship.
I did not find this story as compelling as most of Reynolds's chewy space operas. I enjoyed his Prefect Dreyfus books more, also, which are a bit similar in that they deal with law enforcement in space.
Still, fans of Reynolds will be happy to see a new standalone novel with this unusual take on the mean streets of detective noir.
November 12, 2025
How about a 1920s-era noir mystery, set on a spaceship in the far future, with famed cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin as our protagonist/detective? That’s a very specific request, but wish granted!
I admit to not having a great deal of experience with hard-boiled detective fiction, but when I do I prefer it to be unusual. Having enjoyed Alastair Reynolds’ space fiction in the past, this seemed to be an excellent fit for me.
First of all, if you are familiar, this is unlike anything the author has written before. It’s not exactly told in a noir-voiceover narrative, but Yuri is very Russian in tone: pragmatic and cynical, with the driest sense of humour possible. I enjoyed this relatively rough, out-of-time protagonist very much, and he’s a great entry point into the action.
Secondly, if you think a Prohibition-Era spaceship run by two crime families on its way to a distant star for colonisation is weird… well it is, but trust the author. Everything is explained in due course, and while we’re thrown in at the deep end, Yuri is exploring just what the heck is going on as much as the reader. When he gets frustrated at how irrational his world can be - specifically the two Hot Dames both arriving in his unkempt office asking for help - it’s understandable!
I think this is what endeared the book to me as a whole. It’s smart sci-fi, so filled with ideas in a truly original ‘universe’ while keeping its space-suited boots grounded throughout. Everyone in this world is just doing their best to get along in these circumstances. There’s the rich fat-cats, the poor working-joes and everyone inbetween. Corrupt cops are just part of the game, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re bad people. What the news says, what’s societally acceptable, is all just part of a web of misinformation and survival mechanics.
The science itself is, as expected from such an writer, top-notch. It’s never overwhelming, because Yuri is no egghead and needs to understand what’s going on too, but everything makes sense in context. The technobabble is kept to a minimum because that’s not what the story is about. We don’t worry too much about how the world is made except when it’s relevant to what we’re doing - in this case, solving a very multi-layered mystery, which has more stakes than it might at first seem.
I realized how invested I’d become in Yuri’s story when a loveable character dies (no spoilers, but this is a crime novel!). I felt his sadness, becoming truly locked in to finding the culprit and reason behind the murder. Also, as Yuri finds out more about just why he might be there at all, I had his publicity picture in my head from Wikipedia: a fairly handsome Russian cosmonaut from the mid-20th century, suddenly thrust into a world where he’s underestimated, but his skills are still needed. The sheer nuttiness of including a Real Historical Person in such a book is again explained, but just seems to fit the story delightfully.
A fine futuristic mystery that keeps you guessing throughout, while retaining an admirable sense of humanity. Enjoyed and recommended.
I was kindly sent an early copy of this book by the publisher, but the above opinions are entirely my own.
I admit to not having a great deal of experience with hard-boiled detective fiction, but when I do I prefer it to be unusual. Having enjoyed Alastair Reynolds’ space fiction in the past, this seemed to be an excellent fit for me.
First of all, if you are familiar, this is unlike anything the author has written before. It’s not exactly told in a noir-voiceover narrative, but Yuri is very Russian in tone: pragmatic and cynical, with the driest sense of humour possible. I enjoyed this relatively rough, out-of-time protagonist very much, and he’s a great entry point into the action.
Secondly, if you think a Prohibition-Era spaceship run by two crime families on its way to a distant star for colonisation is weird… well it is, but trust the author. Everything is explained in due course, and while we’re thrown in at the deep end, Yuri is exploring just what the heck is going on as much as the reader. When he gets frustrated at how irrational his world can be - specifically the two Hot Dames both arriving in his unkempt office asking for help - it’s understandable!
I think this is what endeared the book to me as a whole. It’s smart sci-fi, so filled with ideas in a truly original ‘universe’ while keeping its space-suited boots grounded throughout. Everyone in this world is just doing their best to get along in these circumstances. There’s the rich fat-cats, the poor working-joes and everyone inbetween. Corrupt cops are just part of the game, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re bad people. What the news says, what’s societally acceptable, is all just part of a web of misinformation and survival mechanics.
The science itself is, as expected from such an writer, top-notch. It’s never overwhelming, because Yuri is no egghead and needs to understand what’s going on too, but everything makes sense in context. The technobabble is kept to a minimum because that’s not what the story is about. We don’t worry too much about how the world is made except when it’s relevant to what we’re doing - in this case, solving a very multi-layered mystery, which has more stakes than it might at first seem.
I realized how invested I’d become in Yuri’s story when a loveable character dies (no spoilers, but this is a crime novel!). I felt his sadness, becoming truly locked in to finding the culprit and reason behind the murder. Also, as Yuri finds out more about just why he might be there at all, I had his publicity picture in my head from Wikipedia: a fairly handsome Russian cosmonaut from the mid-20th century, suddenly thrust into a world where he’s underestimated, but his skills are still needed. The sheer nuttiness of including a Real Historical Person in such a book is again explained, but just seems to fit the story delightfully.
A fine futuristic mystery that keeps you guessing throughout, while retaining an admirable sense of humanity. Enjoyed and recommended.
I was kindly sent an early copy of this book by the publisher, but the above opinions are entirely my own.
November 29, 2025
I admit I am a big AR fan and I was looking forward to reading, or rather listening, to Halcyon Years. The main character here is The Yuri Gargarin, resurected from the frozen remains that have been loaded onto the generation ship Halycon on its way to a faraway colony. Unfortunately, since the beginning of the Ukraine war I am not a big fan of russian characters or dialect, and thus I was dismayed during the first chapter of the book. Another reason for this was the noir-style of the culture, and a technology level reminiscient of the 1980s (having just done away with rotary dials in phones). But I tried to keep an open mind and trusted the author, and it really payed off. Soon, Halycon Years revealed itself to be a page turner, a sci-fi noir thriller that still checked all my boxes for Reynolds-typical hard(ish) sci fi with big ideas. Whats more, everything made sense to me in the end, all threads come together and questions are answered, leaving me with the feeling of having experienced a tight-packed and well rounded adventure.
January 18, 2026
5/5 stars ✨
An engaging journey through space as the main character begins to scratch the surface of a multigenerational mystery.
While the plot did drag at certain parts, I was enraptured with the mystery all the way through. A fun and funny story with a great message. Life truly is what you make it.
An engaging journey through space as the main character begins to scratch the surface of a multigenerational mystery.
While the plot did drag at certain parts, I was enraptured with the mystery all the way through. A fun and funny story with a great message. Life truly is what you make it.
January 9, 2026
Rock solid sci-fi noir from Reynolds that feels, at times, like a slightly fluffy riff on Century Rain, one of his earlier works. Plenty of snaky mysteries are answered satisfyingly, if not spectacularly, and it's a generally good time for those in the mood for space 1940s.
January 18, 2026
Really interesting blend of Generation Ship SF and hard boiled detective noir and all the tropes that go with each blending them together in an entertaining story. A delicate balancing act of genre blending that doesn’t stray too far into either one, walking a fine and interesting line.
January 12, 2026
Fun. Does tread some tired noir stereotypes but that what makes it noir. The mystery is interesting, the bad guys are kinda uninteresting. Reminds me of a film called Aniara.
November 1, 2025
A pleasing voyage of mystery
An engaging detective story that really ramps up to an epic conclusion. Highly recommended.
Great characters. Intriguing plot, that epic conclusion and a nice handy length
An engaging detective story that really ramps up to an epic conclusion. Highly recommended.
Great characters. Intriguing plot, that epic conclusion and a nice handy length
November 22, 2025
A formulaic detective noir set in a sci-fi setting with too much emphasis on the former for my tastes.
It was far from bad, but nothing piqued my interest. The writing was good enough that I stuck with it through the tedious first half. As more of the sci-fi elements came to the fore and the mystery aspects evolved, it became more enjoyable, but not enough to bump this to a 3.
It was far from bad, but nothing piqued my interest. The writing was good enough that I stuck with it through the tedious first half. As more of the sci-fi elements came to the fore and the mystery aspects evolved, it became more enjoyable, but not enough to bump this to a 3.
November 26, 2025
“It seems you're a dependable man”. How to review the many delights of this novel without spoiling the reveals? We certainly begin in familiar territory with a private dick approached by a suspiciously well-informed, cigarette-smoking beauty to investigate a dodgy murder. Meetings are held, chess-playing street hustlers are quizzed and we seem to be in a land of pen and paper and old style telephones. Except the dick’s name is “Yuri Gagarin”, he’s dropping the word “the” a lot to indicate he actually is Russian and the beauty soon gives him a robot he christens “Sputnik”. Before you know it we’re travelling at 99% of the speed of light. Just the latest Alastair Reynolds extravaganza, in fact.
This is a flat-out paen to friendship in the face of nerve-shredding odds and the last scene is the most emotional thing Reynolds has ever written, the novel building to an all-out friendship-fest. “Halcyon Years” (a title our unlucky descendants may well one day call our era) has been published in the year of the UN climate summit COP30 and I read it during the very week that summit did nothing to reduce the use of the fossil fuels which are heating up the planet. “Years” features nightmare fuel – and a barrelful of lies – of an altogether different order and is arguably sentimental and naïve in its ultimate conclusions (“anger had flared, but not become an unquenchable conflagration”) but nonetheless as a message of comfort in trying times this is a cultural gift. An idea-filled SF novel with noir-trimmings, some boffo set-pieces, a wall that would give George R. R. Martin the heebie-jeebies and a writer who can big up the power of friendship without it coming across as twee or saccharine. I got to the end of “Halcyon Years” and Yuri’s “Poyekhali!” (shades of the last line of Iain Banks’ “The Crow Road”) and thought “Yeah, I’ll help!” which is quite a writerly achievement for a relatively short standalone novel. It’s also more evidence that Bad Wolf need to hire the Wales-based Reynolds to write for “Doctor Who”. The tsunami of ideas, heart-on-sleeve humanism and romanticism of “Halcyon Years” and, well, everything about it would fit right into the Russell T. Davies mode of “Who”. Indeed Sputnik appears to have walked straight out of the recent “The Robot Revolution” episode. Reynolds’ “Doctor Who” novel “Harvest Of Time” was a superb read but “Halcyon Years” just makes me more irritated that he hasn't been contracted to write for the series proper.
The growing respect between ‘tec Yuri and on the skids Lemmy is really nice to see develop but it is the characterisation of Yuri himself which is the standout. A genuinely good-hearted man, ripped out of his comfort zone but proving to be the best of humanity it’s bracing to read a novel in 2025 that reminds us of great Russians and a proud moment in Russian history. While Yuri and Lemmy encounter some bumps in the road on the way to a beautiful friendship, the widow Vedette trusts them right from the word go. Some authorial control going on here too as in other hands Vedette would be a dead cert love interest but here she’s far too busy taking to the controls of a…machine…, getting handy with weaponry and in the final scenes providing some rather useful funding. As for Sputnik, I was strongly reminded of “Rogue One”’s K-2SO so there’s some easy motion capture work here for Alan Tudyk if “Years” ever gets picked up by a streamer…or Bad Wolf. These relationships are the beating heart of the novel and although I didn’t entirely buy what the fiendish DelRosso and Urry families have been doing to maintain “the Undertaking” accompanying this quartet as they pull on some very consequential threads is an immensely enjoyable ride. Plus the “Clemency” mystery (“Juliana saw Clemency outside”) is just delicious.
Will this novel survive a re-read once you know the reveals? I believe so, mainly because the mysteries are an added bonus. This is all about the humanity. This is a novel for readers who like ideas and want a reminder of what people can achieve when they cut the crap. So yet another success from the reliable Mr Reynolds. Misanthropes need not apply. “I will always love you, and I will always be yours, Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin”.
This is a flat-out paen to friendship in the face of nerve-shredding odds and the last scene is the most emotional thing Reynolds has ever written, the novel building to an all-out friendship-fest. “Halcyon Years” (a title our unlucky descendants may well one day call our era) has been published in the year of the UN climate summit COP30 and I read it during the very week that summit did nothing to reduce the use of the fossil fuels which are heating up the planet. “Years” features nightmare fuel – and a barrelful of lies – of an altogether different order and is arguably sentimental and naïve in its ultimate conclusions (“anger had flared, but not become an unquenchable conflagration”) but nonetheless as a message of comfort in trying times this is a cultural gift. An idea-filled SF novel with noir-trimmings, some boffo set-pieces, a wall that would give George R. R. Martin the heebie-jeebies and a writer who can big up the power of friendship without it coming across as twee or saccharine. I got to the end of “Halcyon Years” and Yuri’s “Poyekhali!” (shades of the last line of Iain Banks’ “The Crow Road”) and thought “Yeah, I’ll help!” which is quite a writerly achievement for a relatively short standalone novel. It’s also more evidence that Bad Wolf need to hire the Wales-based Reynolds to write for “Doctor Who”. The tsunami of ideas, heart-on-sleeve humanism and romanticism of “Halcyon Years” and, well, everything about it would fit right into the Russell T. Davies mode of “Who”. Indeed Sputnik appears to have walked straight out of the recent “The Robot Revolution” episode. Reynolds’ “Doctor Who” novel “Harvest Of Time” was a superb read but “Halcyon Years” just makes me more irritated that he hasn't been contracted to write for the series proper.
The growing respect between ‘tec Yuri and on the skids Lemmy is really nice to see develop but it is the characterisation of Yuri himself which is the standout. A genuinely good-hearted man, ripped out of his comfort zone but proving to be the best of humanity it’s bracing to read a novel in 2025 that reminds us of great Russians and a proud moment in Russian history. While Yuri and Lemmy encounter some bumps in the road on the way to a beautiful friendship, the widow Vedette trusts them right from the word go. Some authorial control going on here too as in other hands Vedette would be a dead cert love interest but here she’s far too busy taking to the controls of a…machine…, getting handy with weaponry and in the final scenes providing some rather useful funding. As for Sputnik, I was strongly reminded of “Rogue One”’s K-2SO so there’s some easy motion capture work here for Alan Tudyk if “Years” ever gets picked up by a streamer…or Bad Wolf. These relationships are the beating heart of the novel and although I didn’t entirely buy what the fiendish DelRosso and Urry families have been doing to maintain “the Undertaking” accompanying this quartet as they pull on some very consequential threads is an immensely enjoyable ride. Plus the “Clemency” mystery (“Juliana saw Clemency outside”) is just delicious.
Will this novel survive a re-read once you know the reveals? I believe so, mainly because the mysteries are an added bonus. This is all about the humanity. This is a novel for readers who like ideas and want a reminder of what people can achieve when they cut the crap. So yet another success from the reliable Mr Reynolds. Misanthropes need not apply. “I will always love you, and I will always be yours, Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin”.
October 25, 2025
The cover’s got this one right.
Halcyon Years is a new noir/science fiction fusion from the author perhaps best known for his books set in the beloved Revelation Space universe.
The first scenes are straight out of classics like The Maltese Falcon. Yuri Gagarin is a private investigator, mainly (badly) dealing with catching cheating spouses and small-time con artists. He regularly has run-ins with the local police, who regard Yuri with some suspicion.
The science fiction element is that this all happens on the Halcyon - a starship, hurtling through space, carrying thousands of passengers, with thousands more sleeping the journey away.
It’s the ultimate in locked room mysteries. Where else can criminals escape to?
Yuri's hired by a mysterious woman called Ruby Red to look into a death in one of Halcyon's most elite families, the Urry and the DelRosso. It’s an offer he can’t refuse if he’s to pay his debts, even when he’s warned off the case again by a second mysterious woman called Ruby Blue. Caught between the two, he's about to be embroiled in a murder mystery in which - at any moment - he could be the latest victim.
He is given a General Systems Servitor to help him with his enquiries, a robot which he names ‘Sputnik’. The only issue is that the robot has been unused for so long that it’s long-term memory is faulty - remind me to update my laptop at some point – which makes Sputnik’s use variable.
Yuri himself is seen as a little bit of a spare part, as he is a ‘Jack’ – a person who has been unfrozen from the cryogenic store known as ‘Sleepy Hollow’ early, added to the spaceship’s living population to broaden the gene pool and so avoid the closed population system from regressing and stagnating over the length of the journey which has taken hundreds of years so far and with more to follow before the ship arrives at its proposed destination, Vanderdecken’s Star.
Yuri is seemingly reassembled from cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, with many of Gagarin’s memories and feelings. As a result, Yuri is generally seen as an outsider who doesn’t belong, He lives sparsely with a rather ramshackle detective agency, at which he initially seems rather bad at. His halting speech does him little favours either. I thought of him as a rather dishevelled space-age Colombo, whose seemingly innocuous questioning actually leads to something more astute.
Along the way we see feuding families, murder, and an element to the plot that hints that all of this may be due to something science-fictional. (Why else would you write such a book?)
Up to this point the story is a murder mystery that wouldn’t seem too out of place as a typical detective story. The thing that changes this is that there’s a major plot development about three-quarters of the way in – a huge, great, bold plot-changer, but based an idea that is firmly science-fictional; the rest of the book deals with this event.
I think that much of your overall enjoyment of the book will hinge on this rather important plot element. I thought that it was clever, if a little incredulous, although even if you feel that it doesn’t quite work for you, there’s enough to enjoy along the way to that point. It may be a case of enjoying the journey, if not the final destination. There’s a lot more to this story than that particular point. As the plot evolves and becomes more complicated, Reynolds also includes ruminations on such weighty matters as life, death, AI intelligence and the importance of identity. He even manages to touch on elements that I think Isaac Asimov and Philip K Dick would be pleased with, although I’m not going to give details here.
In summary, Halcyon Years is a gripping, fast-paced novel that has a lot of fun with literary and genre tropes. This is a classic noir mystery with a science fiction twist, which may keep you guessing, and on the edge of your seat, to the end. Quite enjoyable.
Halcyon Years is a new noir/science fiction fusion from the author perhaps best known for his books set in the beloved Revelation Space universe.
The first scenes are straight out of classics like The Maltese Falcon. Yuri Gagarin is a private investigator, mainly (badly) dealing with catching cheating spouses and small-time con artists. He regularly has run-ins with the local police, who regard Yuri with some suspicion.
The science fiction element is that this all happens on the Halcyon - a starship, hurtling through space, carrying thousands of passengers, with thousands more sleeping the journey away.
It’s the ultimate in locked room mysteries. Where else can criminals escape to?
Yuri's hired by a mysterious woman called Ruby Red to look into a death in one of Halcyon's most elite families, the Urry and the DelRosso. It’s an offer he can’t refuse if he’s to pay his debts, even when he’s warned off the case again by a second mysterious woman called Ruby Blue. Caught between the two, he's about to be embroiled in a murder mystery in which - at any moment - he could be the latest victim.
He is given a General Systems Servitor to help him with his enquiries, a robot which he names ‘Sputnik’. The only issue is that the robot has been unused for so long that it’s long-term memory is faulty - remind me to update my laptop at some point – which makes Sputnik’s use variable.
Yuri himself is seen as a little bit of a spare part, as he is a ‘Jack’ – a person who has been unfrozen from the cryogenic store known as ‘Sleepy Hollow’ early, added to the spaceship’s living population to broaden the gene pool and so avoid the closed population system from regressing and stagnating over the length of the journey which has taken hundreds of years so far and with more to follow before the ship arrives at its proposed destination, Vanderdecken’s Star.
Yuri is seemingly reassembled from cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, with many of Gagarin’s memories and feelings. As a result, Yuri is generally seen as an outsider who doesn’t belong, He lives sparsely with a rather ramshackle detective agency, at which he initially seems rather bad at. His halting speech does him little favours either. I thought of him as a rather dishevelled space-age Colombo, whose seemingly innocuous questioning actually leads to something more astute.
Along the way we see feuding families, murder, and an element to the plot that hints that all of this may be due to something science-fictional. (Why else would you write such a book?)
Up to this point the story is a murder mystery that wouldn’t seem too out of place as a typical detective story. The thing that changes this is that there’s a major plot development about three-quarters of the way in – a huge, great, bold plot-changer, but based an idea that is firmly science-fictional; the rest of the book deals with this event.
I think that much of your overall enjoyment of the book will hinge on this rather important plot element. I thought that it was clever, if a little incredulous, although even if you feel that it doesn’t quite work for you, there’s enough to enjoy along the way to that point. It may be a case of enjoying the journey, if not the final destination. There’s a lot more to this story than that particular point. As the plot evolves and becomes more complicated, Reynolds also includes ruminations on such weighty matters as life, death, AI intelligence and the importance of identity. He even manages to touch on elements that I think Isaac Asimov and Philip K Dick would be pleased with, although I’m not going to give details here.
In summary, Halcyon Years is a gripping, fast-paced novel that has a lot of fun with literary and genre tropes. This is a classic noir mystery with a science fiction twist, which may keep you guessing, and on the edge of your seat, to the end. Quite enjoyable.
December 5, 2025
Thanks to NetGalley for the free ARC.
I have to admit, there was a point about a hundred pages in where I wasn't sure if Halcyon Years was going to be a good read, or just an extended gimmick. The classic noir pastiche was absolutely on point - it's almost parody, but in a very loving way. That carried me nicely through the first seventy or so pages of this book, but Halcyon Years also includes a very obvious Romeo and Juliet reference in the form of two feuding houses and a pair of murdered star-crossed lovers, Randall and Julianna. I was wondering whether the story would play out in too predictable a way to be enjoyable, as I didn't think the setting change to a colony ship moving through space was really enough to make the Romeo and Juliet story feel new. But oh, how wrong I was!
I have always loved Reynolds' novels, and this one did not let me down. Aside from that wobbly moment at around page one hundred, this book absolutely held me in a chokehold. It turns what you think is going to happen, what you think is real, on its head again and again, delivering twist after twist in a way that never manages to feel contrived. Everything is built up until the pay-off makes you go "Oh, of course!" The mystery of what's going on with the spaceship is so absolutely fascinating that I don't even want to breathe a hint of it in this review in case I spoil someone. All I'll say is that I was so eager to find out what was going on that after really getting into the story, I read about 200-ish pages in one day because I was so gripped. The worldbuilding and sci-fi elements of this story are absolutely first-class and so well thought out, but Reynolds doesn't neglect to give this story a beating human heart in the form of Yuri and his relationship with both his own past and the other characters around him. He's interesting and relatable and yet fundamentally Good and Brave, and every time you think this is it for him, he somehow manages to pull it out of the bag.
This is a fantastic fusion of sci-fi and noir and mystery, and it had me turning pages long after I should have been getting on with other things, which is one of the best compliments anyone can give a book. Reynolds is a master of making sci-fi both inventive and gripping to read, and aside from one slow point near the beginning, this latest does not disappoint.
I have to admit, there was a point about a hundred pages in where I wasn't sure if Halcyon Years was going to be a good read, or just an extended gimmick. The classic noir pastiche was absolutely on point - it's almost parody, but in a very loving way. That carried me nicely through the first seventy or so pages of this book, but Halcyon Years also includes a very obvious Romeo and Juliet reference in the form of two feuding houses and a pair of murdered star-crossed lovers, Randall and Julianna. I was wondering whether the story would play out in too predictable a way to be enjoyable, as I didn't think the setting change to a colony ship moving through space was really enough to make the Romeo and Juliet story feel new. But oh, how wrong I was!
I have always loved Reynolds' novels, and this one did not let me down. Aside from that wobbly moment at around page one hundred, this book absolutely held me in a chokehold. It turns what you think is going to happen, what you think is real, on its head again and again, delivering twist after twist in a way that never manages to feel contrived. Everything is built up until the pay-off makes you go "Oh, of course!" The mystery of what's going on with the spaceship is so absolutely fascinating that I don't even want to breathe a hint of it in this review in case I spoil someone. All I'll say is that I was so eager to find out what was going on that after really getting into the story, I read about 200-ish pages in one day because I was so gripped. The worldbuilding and sci-fi elements of this story are absolutely first-class and so well thought out, but Reynolds doesn't neglect to give this story a beating human heart in the form of Yuri and his relationship with both his own past and the other characters around him. He's interesting and relatable and yet fundamentally Good and Brave, and every time you think this is it for him, he somehow manages to pull it out of the bag.
This is a fantastic fusion of sci-fi and noir and mystery, and it had me turning pages long after I should have been getting on with other things, which is one of the best compliments anyone can give a book. Reynolds is a master of making sci-fi both inventive and gripping to read, and aside from one slow point near the beginning, this latest does not disappoint.
November 9, 2025
A beautifully crafted "meta-noir" narrative, starring Yuri Gagarin (or... something close) in the vast expanse of space, between the stars. A spaceship-ark heads toward a planet for colonisation, a couple of murders to investigate, some revelations as to what is really happening, and a change in the status quo. End of story.
Pleasant enough to read, but it gives the impression of something we've encountered time and again, and the twist that eventually emerges... feels like something we've seen time and again.
From Non-stop by Brian Aldiss to Tau Zero by Paul Anderson, science fiction has produced a fair share of works along these lines, and the ever-lovable Alastair brings nothing particularly new to the genre. Even the noir atmosphere has already been introduced by himself in the genre.
Had this book been published fifty years ago, it would have been an explosive revelation for the genre, a publishing event, something to be discussed for the next 10-20 years. Today, it is merely another well-written iteration.
* * * * *
Ένα όμορφο «meta-noir» αφήγημα, με πρωταγωνιστή τον Γιούρι Γκαγκάριν (ή… περίπου) στο αχανές διάστημα ανάμεσα στα αστέρια. Ένα διαστημόπλοιο-κιβωτός οδεύει προς ένα πλανήτη για αποικισμό, κάποιοι φόνοι προς διερεύνηση, μερικές αποκαλύψεις για το τι πραγματικά συμβαίνει και η αλλαγή status quo. End of story.
Ευχάριστο στην ανάγνωση, αλλά δίνει την εντύπωση ότι το έχουμε διαβάσει ξανά και ξανά και το twist που έρχεται κάποια στιγμή… δίνει την εντύπωση ότι το έχουμε διαβάσει ξανά και ξανά.
Από το Non-stop του Brian Aldiss μέχρι το Tau Zero του Paul Anderson η επιστημονική φαντασία έχει παράξει αρκετά έργα σε αυτό το μοτίβο και ο πάντα αγαπημένος Alastair δεν κομίζει κάτι καινό στο είδος. Ακόμη και την νουάρ ατμόσφαιρα, την έχει ξαναεισαγάγει ο ίδιος στο είδος.
Το ίδιο βιβλίο 50 χρόνια πριν θα ήταν μια εκρηκτική αποκάλυψη για το είδος, ένα εκδοτικό γεγονός, κάτι για να συζητιέται τα επόμενα 10-20 χρόνια. Σήμερα είναι απλώς άλλη μια καλογραμμένη εκδοχή.
Pleasant enough to read, but it gives the impression of something we've encountered time and again, and the twist that eventually emerges... feels like something we've seen time and again.
From Non-stop by Brian Aldiss to Tau Zero by Paul Anderson, science fiction has produced a fair share of works along these lines, and the ever-lovable Alastair brings nothing particularly new to the genre. Even the noir atmosphere has already been introduced by himself in the genre.
Had this book been published fifty years ago, it would have been an explosive revelation for the genre, a publishing event, something to be discussed for the next 10-20 years. Today, it is merely another well-written iteration.
* * * * *
Ένα όμορφο «meta-noir» αφήγημα, με πρωταγωνιστή τον Γιούρι Γκαγκάριν (ή… περίπου) στο αχανές διάστημα ανάμεσα στα αστέρια. Ένα διαστημόπλοιο-κιβωτός οδεύει προς ένα πλανήτη για αποικισμό, κάποιοι φόνοι προς διερεύνηση, μερικές αποκαλύψεις για το τι πραγματικά συμβαίνει και η αλλαγή status quo. End of story.
Ευχάριστο στην ανάγνωση, αλλά δίνει την εντύπωση ότι το έχουμε διαβάσει ξανά και ξανά και το twist που έρχεται κάποια στιγμή… δίνει την εντύπωση ότι το έχουμε διαβάσει ξανά και ξανά.
Από το Non-stop του Brian Aldiss μέχρι το Tau Zero του Paul Anderson η επιστημονική φαντασία έχει παράξει αρκετά έργα σε αυτό το μοτίβο και ο πάντα αγαπημένος Alastair δεν κομίζει κάτι καινό στο είδος. Ακόμη και την νουάρ ατμόσφαιρα, την έχει ξαναεισαγάγει ο ίδιος στο είδος.
Το ίδιο βιβλίο 50 χρόνια πριν θα ήταν μια εκρηκτική αποκάλυψη για το είδος, ένα εκδοτικό γεγονός, κάτι για να συζητιέται τα επόμενα 10-20 χρόνια. Σήμερα είναι απλώς άλλη μια καλογραμμένη εκδοχή.
November 29, 2025
A generally enjoyable and compelling read. The characters were likeable, if a little clichéd in places, there's more humour than in previous books by the author (which I certainly enjoyed), and I was keen to find out what was happening up to the end, even if the ending was a little bit twee.
I was concerned that the whole people-living-in-a-big-cylinder-with-a-mystery-about-what's-outside genre might draw comparisons with the Silo trilogy & TV show (among others); but despite some similarities, it's sufficiently different to avoid retreading the same ground.
What somewhat spoilt the enjoyment for me were two massive plot holes:
SPOILERS:
I was concerned that the whole people-living-in-a-big-cylinder-with-a-mystery-about-what's-outside genre might draw comparisons with the Silo trilogy & TV show (among others); but despite some similarities, it's sufficiently different to avoid retreading the same ground.
What somewhat spoilt the enjoyment for me were two massive plot holes:
SPOILERS:
December 8, 2025
Yuri Gagarin: Private Eye. It's an attention-grabbing opening, and yet feels a little odd from Alastair Reynolds - king of hard sci-fi. But Reynolds has been experimenting of late, and Halcyon Years is clearly another tick on the bucket list, write a pulpy PI thriller. Obviously Yuri Gagarin as the PI, with the requisite Russian accent (articles dropped), is begging a sci-fi question, as does the relatively quick reveal that he is plying his trade in a weirdly fifties-like city that is on what appears to be a generation ship, flying through the galaxy heading for a new home for its passengers. The textual adventure and mystery is distracting enough to let all the other big questions about this scenario drift in the background: why is the technology stuck in the fifties, why doesn't anyone know how to fly the ship but they know they're on a ship, why Yuri Gagarin (this is explained quite quickly, apparently his body was frozen on death and brought along as one of a bunch ancient dead bodies to be resurrected on the destination planet - though anyone who knows anything about how Yuri died would smell a rat). On top of all of this, Yuri picks up a big robot sidekick, so for all the big questions, there is just the presence of Yuri Gagarin, first man in space, PI and his robot sidekick. That's enough to be getting on with.
Halcyon Years, as you might imagine from the synopsis above, is a fun bit of throwaway genre play. Reynolds can't quite shake his hard sci-fi roots, though, and the nature of this book is a big twist which is mildly underwhelming because the reality of the ship, and your identification with the characters affected by the twist are very much muted due to the artificiality of its pulpy setting. Nevertheless, borrowing space-going submarines from Ken MacLeod extends the fun feel of the book, and I'd probably be more enthusiastic if I didn't have a problem with dodgy Russian accents in print.
Halcyon Years, as you might imagine from the synopsis above, is a fun bit of throwaway genre play. Reynolds can't quite shake his hard sci-fi roots, though, and the nature of this book is a big twist which is mildly underwhelming because the reality of the ship, and your identification with the characters affected by the twist are very much muted due to the artificiality of its pulpy setting. Nevertheless, borrowing space-going submarines from Ken MacLeod extends the fun feel of the book, and I'd probably be more enthusiastic if I didn't have a problem with dodgy Russian accents in print.
October 26, 2025
A love letter to classic noir wrapped in the shimmer of science fiction, Halcyon Years fuses crime mystery and space opera with effortless cool. From the moment the glamorous client steps into our detective’s office, her face half veiled and her motives even more so, Reynolds leans into the tropes with reverence and reinvention - the lone gumshoe, the dangerous truth, the case that goes deeper than it should - all refracted through the glow of distant stars.
Yuri Gagarin is a fascinating lens. Once a heroic cosmonaut, now a relic out of time, revived after centuries into a world that has moved on without him. Through his quiet alienation and grit, Reynolds explores what it means to be displaced not just in space, but in meaning - the loneliness of survival, the struggle to matter. Around him orbits a colourful ensemble of sidekicks and villains - an ex-cop, a widow, a robot, and families with wealth and rot in equal measure. All sketching a portrait of class divides, societal decay and the thin line between progress and corruption.
There’s mystery in every corner of Halcyon from whispered conspiracies to earth shaking shocks that twist the story’s course. The tension simmers beautifully, a slow burn of intrigue that never quite loses its grip. If anything, I wished the climax had matched the build up. The ending arrives with quiet inevitability rather than the explosive crescendo the story deserves.
Halcyon Years stands as another testament to Reynolds’ ability to push beyond the bounds of conventional science fiction - a moody, intelligent space noir that contemplates the cost of time, memory and redemption against the infinite backdrop of the stars.
My thanks to Gollancz for the arc
Yuri Gagarin is a fascinating lens. Once a heroic cosmonaut, now a relic out of time, revived after centuries into a world that has moved on without him. Through his quiet alienation and grit, Reynolds explores what it means to be displaced not just in space, but in meaning - the loneliness of survival, the struggle to matter. Around him orbits a colourful ensemble of sidekicks and villains - an ex-cop, a widow, a robot, and families with wealth and rot in equal measure. All sketching a portrait of class divides, societal decay and the thin line between progress and corruption.
There’s mystery in every corner of Halcyon from whispered conspiracies to earth shaking shocks that twist the story’s course. The tension simmers beautifully, a slow burn of intrigue that never quite loses its grip. If anything, I wished the climax had matched the build up. The ending arrives with quiet inevitability rather than the explosive crescendo the story deserves.
Halcyon Years stands as another testament to Reynolds’ ability to push beyond the bounds of conventional science fiction - a moody, intelligent space noir that contemplates the cost of time, memory and redemption against the infinite backdrop of the stars.
My thanks to Gollancz for the arc
December 3, 2025
6.5/10
This definitely falls into the same category of Reynolds’ books as Century Rain and Terminal World, with worldbuilding that shoehorns a retro aesthetic into a high-concept, far-future science fiction setting. In this case, it’s an early 20th century noir detective story, but set on a generation ship. The society aboard the ship has about 1950’s level technology, with cars and telephones, but paper record-keeping. Tobacco smoke, whiskey fumes, and light jazz suffuse every scene, even as the story unfolds aboard an advanced relativistic starship. There are some tortured plot contrivances that explain this juxtaposition that seem back-constructed to give Reynolds an excuse to play with his favorite toys. Speaking of Reynolds’ favorite toys, this book has all of them. Detective mystery plot ✅ Relativistic, but still sub-light interstellar travel ✅ Charming anthropomorphic androids ✅ Characters that are a fusion of two separate people, combining their traits and personalities ✅ Characters that split into multiple cloned aspects and append color words to their names to differentiate ✅
Overall, this story retreads a lot of well-worn territory for Reynolds. It didn’t blow my mind with new ideas like his previous books have, and the beginning dragged. However, about halfway through, the action picked up and it was fairly exciting and enjoyable after that. Not one of his best, and I probably wouldn’t recommend it except to the most avid Reynolds fan, but I’m not mad I read it.
This definitely falls into the same category of Reynolds’ books as Century Rain and Terminal World, with worldbuilding that shoehorns a retro aesthetic into a high-concept, far-future science fiction setting. In this case, it’s an early 20th century noir detective story, but set on a generation ship. The society aboard the ship has about 1950’s level technology, with cars and telephones, but paper record-keeping. Tobacco smoke, whiskey fumes, and light jazz suffuse every scene, even as the story unfolds aboard an advanced relativistic starship. There are some tortured plot contrivances that explain this juxtaposition that seem back-constructed to give Reynolds an excuse to play with his favorite toys. Speaking of Reynolds’ favorite toys, this book has all of them. Detective mystery plot ✅ Relativistic, but still sub-light interstellar travel ✅ Charming anthropomorphic androids ✅ Characters that are a fusion of two separate people, combining their traits and personalities ✅ Characters that split into multiple cloned aspects and append color words to their names to differentiate ✅
Overall, this story retreads a lot of well-worn territory for Reynolds. It didn’t blow my mind with new ideas like his previous books have, and the beginning dragged. However, about halfway through, the action picked up and it was fairly exciting and enjoyable after that. Not one of his best, and I probably wouldn’t recommend it except to the most avid Reynolds fan, but I’m not mad I read it.
November 14, 2025
Yuri’s hired by a mysterious woman called Ruby Red to look into a death and warned off the case again by a second mysterious woman called Ruby Blue says blurb.
But in mine he's hired by Ruby Blue. At least he is given a card with the name Ruby Blue.Call me she says. Later he's picked up by her and given some more info and a mysterious card.
"I am not Ruby Blue, I am her sister Ruby Red, I must ask you to cease with this inestigation"
Halcyon is a generation ship on a voyage to a planet orbiting a nearby star. The population of Halcyon is living in a kind of weird old style world – with fancy cars and telephones, wealthy families and corruption, cigarettes and scotch. Of course, are not all PI's broke and drinkers in these books?
Yuri Gagarin himself is known as a Jack-in-the-Box as he is part of a process to randomly bring people out of hibernation into the general population.
It's a very strange way to run a generation ship on the way to a new planet. The rich have vast wooded lands, gardens, pasture. The poor live in slums.
But by 13% I was able to figure out the twist. THen he gets the use of a robot which asks a few questions maybe he should have asked himself. And comments on what Ruby red actually seemed to be.
Kind of obvious really. But I won't spoil it. Not much of a twist really and I didn't like the book so much. It was just ok...
But in mine he's hired by Ruby Blue. At least he is given a card with the name Ruby Blue.Call me she says. Later he's picked up by her and given some more info and a mysterious card.
"I am not Ruby Blue, I am her sister Ruby Red, I must ask you to cease with this inestigation"
Halcyon is a generation ship on a voyage to a planet orbiting a nearby star. The population of Halcyon is living in a kind of weird old style world – with fancy cars and telephones, wealthy families and corruption, cigarettes and scotch. Of course, are not all PI's broke and drinkers in these books?
Yuri Gagarin himself is known as a Jack-in-the-Box as he is part of a process to randomly bring people out of hibernation into the general population.
It's a very strange way to run a generation ship on the way to a new planet. The rich have vast wooded lands, gardens, pasture. The poor live in slums.
But by 13% I was able to figure out the twist. THen he gets the use of a robot which asks a few questions maybe he should have asked himself. And comments on what Ruby red actually seemed to be.
Kind of obvious really. But I won't spoil it. Not much of a twist really and I didn't like the book so much. It was just ok...
November 24, 2025
I really enjoyed Halcyon Years! It's a noir mixed with sci-fi and I loved the mix of the two genres together!
This was also my first Alistair Reynolds book which is a huge surprise as this is my mum's favourite author and she's been trying to make me read his work for years. I'm so happy that I finally did as this is a really fun read!
The characters were great and I especially really liked Yuri. He was a good character and there were many interesting things revealed throughout the story about his past that I enjoyed.
I also loved Sputnik the robot though that's not really a surprise as I always love robot characters!
The mystery itself was really interesting as well as although I did guess what happened early on, I was only partially correct as there was so much more to it especially in the last third where it had some amazing sci-fi reveals!
Overall this was a great book and it certainly won't be the last I read by the author. I definitely recommend checking it out especially if you're interested in a sci-fi/noir read!
This was also my first Alistair Reynolds book which is a huge surprise as this is my mum's favourite author and she's been trying to make me read his work for years. I'm so happy that I finally did as this is a really fun read!
The characters were great and I especially really liked Yuri. He was a good character and there were many interesting things revealed throughout the story about his past that I enjoyed.
I also loved Sputnik the robot though that's not really a surprise as I always love robot characters!
The mystery itself was really interesting as well as although I did guess what happened early on, I was only partially correct as there was so much more to it especially in the last third where it had some amazing sci-fi reveals!
Overall this was a great book and it certainly won't be the last I read by the author. I definitely recommend checking it out especially if you're interested in a sci-fi/noir read!
December 28, 2025
Halcyon is a generation starship, one in which much of society is dominated by two crime families. When two teenagers, one from each of the families, die in what seem to be accidents, private investigator Yuri Gagarin is hired by a mysterious woman named Ruby Blue to determine if they were really accidents. Gagarin, who has been resurrected from the cryogenic vaults and has the memories and personality of the famed cosmonaut, begins to look into it. As does, he discovers something much deeper is going on that simple murders.
Alastair Reynolds, known for his far future space operas, over the past few years has been doing different things. His novel Evesion a few years ago was a marvelous puzzle, and was on my Hugo nominations ballot. Halcyon Years is a noir novel, but one that still has the scope of star-spanning SF. It also has several great characters, including Gagarin.
It'll definitely be on my Hugo nominations ballot for 2025.
Alastair Reynolds, known for his far future space operas, over the past few years has been doing different things. His novel Evesion a few years ago was a marvelous puzzle, and was on my Hugo nominations ballot. Halcyon Years is a noir novel, but one that still has the scope of star-spanning SF. It also has several great characters, including Gagarin.
It'll definitely be on my Hugo nominations ballot for 2025.
November 20, 2025
Having read this so soon after Jack Vance’s brilliant Cadwal Chronicles was probably unfair. Vance’s work overflows with flair, style and depth — qualities this book could certainly have used more of. The Halcyon Years> is solid science-fiction, and there's something to be said about the deliberate, methodically way Reynolds ties up absolutely everything: no loose ends, no dangling explanations. There are interesting ideas and characters, and the plot has its strengths.
But overall, at least for me, it never became truly compelling. It felt too formulaic, way too careful. Still, the world-building is rich enough that it could support further stories — hopefully ones that take more risks. And, thankfully, the protagonist doesn’t spend the book being stupid like Dreyfus in The Prefect (aka Aurora Raising).
But overall, at least for me, it never became truly compelling. It felt too formulaic, way too careful. Still, the world-building is rich enough that it could support further stories — hopefully ones that take more risks. And, thankfully, the protagonist doesn’t spend the book being stupid like Dreyfus in The Prefect (aka Aurora Raising).
Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews