Horror Book Reviews
|
Title: Redemption Ark |
|
Review of Redemption Ark (Revelation Space)
- This stunning sequel to Revelation Space begins late in the twenty-sixth century. The human race has advanced enough to accidentally trigger alien machines designed to detect intelligent life--and destroy it.
Product Description
[ Back to Homepage | Back to Horror Movie Reviews Index ]
HellHorror.com not responsible for reviews/comments and they may be removed at any time.
Submit Comment
Login / Join/Register for a free account
Comments for Redemption Ark
- Posted on 2008-04-23
The second part of a great scifi space opera
Story:
This is a continuation of the story that was begun in revelation space and chasm city. The inhibtiors/wolfs (a machine race that removes any species that it determines has become to advanced.) were awakened by a scientist trying to determine why a advanced alien race had just vanished millions of years ago, in the course of chasing down that information the scientist activated a beacon that alerted the wolfs that a space faring species had emerged and was exploring the galaxy. After several incidents (recounted in Revelation Space)the scientist was killed/absorbed by an ancient computer/planet construct which informed his surviving comrade(through what survived of the scientist) of the incoming threat and its origin. With the intervention of of the scientist his comrade was released back in to space to do what she would with the information. Fast Forward 400 years after the events of Revelation Space and Chasm City. The predicted arrival of the wolfs has occured. Brought to the Resurgam system by the actions of the long ago scientist the wolfs have picked the system as a beach head and the first planet to die is Resurgam. The only thing between the death of 200,000 colonist's and eventually the galaxy is a coming together of the scientists old crew, a ship that holds the tortured soul of its former captin, a few dozen doomsday weapons and a 500 year old soldier that has to chose for the second time if throwing away all that he holds dear is worth saving as much of humanity as he can.
--------
I will say this first. This is a good book, its a great series and you really start to care what happens to the characters and why. I can't wait to read absolution gap and see what happens to clavin,khouri,the Nostalgia for Infinity, Khori and all the rest. Secondly this is a **long** book at near 700 pages its not a light read and it can get a little confusing keeping track of characters until later in the book where it narrows to down to about 3 groups. But if you like space opera/space war those 700 pages will proably fly as some of the why's of the story are answered and some of the story arcs come to a close. The book does stand on its own but I recommend reading the first two books so the backstory makes sense. Would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes scifi, space war and space opera.
m.a.c
Score: 5
- Posted on 2007-12-18
Worthy sequel to Revelation Space and Chasm City
If you're reading this review, you've probably already read Revelation Space and (perhaps) Chasm City. If not, you should look at those two first. If you've read one or both of the prequels, the best way to summarize this book is `more of the same'. This novel has the same strengths and weaknesses as these earlier works. In this story, the civilization destroying race known as the Inhibitors have now awoken from their slumber and are threatening to eradicate humanity from the little niche of the galaxy that they currently occupy. There are multiple story threads that come together as the story develops. Khouri and Triumvir Ilya Volyova, two of the heroes from Revelation Space, are still in the Resurgam system and are following the slow, steady awakening of the Inhibitors. They eventually develop a complex scheme to evacuate the residents of Resurgam before it is destroyed. In a totally separate plot thread, a 400 year old Conjoiner (biomechanically enhanced humans with a hive mentality) named Nevil Clavain has decided to betray the rest of the Conjoiners after he discovers an astonishing secret. These two major threads (and several minor threads) come together in a climactic clash around Resurgam. As several other reviewers allude to, some of the most important plot threads remain unresolved at the end of the story.
The biggest strength of this novel (and the series in general) is the level of detail in the physics that is given. As you read this book you'll learn about relativistic time dilation, gravity, gas dynamics, stellar interiors, and lots more. The Revelation Space universe is also richly developed with an intriguing and imaginative history. As I said above, the weakness of this novel are pretty much the same as the earlier ones. The novel could definitely stand to be edited, there are too many superfluous words that neither add descriptive detail nor advance the plot. Character development is not a strength either. Many of the characters are a mix of ruthless, caring, embittered visionaries. I really didn't understand the motivations of many of the characters at the end, and felt that they were all drawn from the same mold. Finally, the explanation of the purpose of the Inhibitors towards the end of this novel is, in my view, rather lame. Without giving too much away, it isn't clear to me how increased star formation would be a threat to all life in the galaxy. Bottom line -> if you like hard sci-fi with lots of technical detail set in imaginative setting, you'll like this. Be warned though that it is long on words and short of character development (in spite of all the words). Good, if not uniquely outstanding.
Score: 4
- Posted on 2007-09-02
Not Free SF Reader
This takes place in the same universe as Revelation Space, and it turns out to be related. Two political factions, the Demarchists, and the Conjoiners have been fighting a war, and the mind-sharing Conjoiners are winning. Then something scares them, badly.
The action here is wide-scale again, after the one man story of Chasm City.
Clavain, the reluctant Conjoiner, and Skade, one of the new breed, must try and find some amazing super weapons to give them a chane against the entities know as the Wolves that they have discovered.
The Wolves have a job, to exterminate sentient species, and they are very good at it.
This is where some information from Dan Sylveste and his new form, and the ties to Revelation Space come in.
The Ultras from Nostalgia From Infinity also have interests in these weapons.
All characters involved have to decide what to do about the planet Resurgam, which will be the first to face the destructive power of the Wolves.
A story that is not finished until the next book.
Score: 4 - Posted on 2007-08-23
awe-inducing origami-like plot and tech
This is a fabulous follow-up to the Revelation Space series... after only have read the Revelation Space book. The relavence and depth of plot concerning Relevation Space continued through Redemption Ark. The deep plot had more folds than origami, which left me in submissive pleasure in the shadow of the awe-inducing greatness of it all.
High points for characters, plot (of course) and especially tech talk. There seemed to be more tech talk here than in Revelation Space. The plausible-factor of the series soared to a new high. Humans discovering technology beyond them and using that alien technology drew me in again and again.
However, I wouldn't describe Redemption Ark as "gothic" but perhaps a bit gritty... or a non-lateral mental approach to a perfect future. This future is far from utopic, but it's defininetly not "gothic."
Score: 5 - Posted on 2007-06-29
Worthy 3rd Book in 4-Book Series
Mr. Reynolds has done quite a good job with this book: the backdrop of the Conjoiners, the history glimpses between the Earth of today and 500 years of the "future" plus a very realistic portrayal of space combat.
The last 150 pages really flies, full of action and resolution.
What I particularly enjoyed was how this book actually could stand on its own in many ways, and was not the typical "bridge" between an exciting first third of a story and the thrilling conclusion. Very well done and highly recommended.
Score: 5
