Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Astronomer Reynolds's two far-future space exploration novellas, set in his Revelation Space universe (Chasm City, etc.), confirm his mastery of noir SF. Antihero Richard Swift of "Diamond Dogs" joins Mephistophelian Roland Childe's expedition to scale the Blood Spire on the planet Golgotha. As they climb, they must solve increasingly intricate mathematical puzzles, replacing limbs and mental processes with cybernetic constructs as the Spire changes the rules of its lethal game. Naqi Okpik of "Turquoise Days" loses her sister Mina to the sentient ocean of the planet Turquoise. Naqi abandons her humanity, uniting with the ocean to find Mina and save their world from destruction. Spire and ocean are both artifacts of Revelation Space's alien Pattern Jugglers, who form a living gestalt interstellar entity that in these brilliantly executed parables represents the vehicle for humanity's choice between self-immolation and evolution and the author's postulated solution to the riddle of Faustian man. Reynolds's allegory: if humans embrace science and technology so fervently that body and soul sacrifice themselves to overweening greed, humans will eventually perish in bitter suicide; instead, abandon selfish individuality, immerse the soul in the warm sea of homecoming where minds meet and meld into oneness, and survive, changed forever. Agent, Robert Kirby of Peters, Fraser and Dunlop (U.K.). (Jan. 4) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
In "Diamond Dogs," Richard Swift lets nothing distract him from his intention to explore the enigmatic structure known as the Blood Spire, located on the presumably lifeless planet Golgotha, while "Turquoise Days" tells the story of researcher Naqi Okpik's struggle to preserve the existence of the planet Turquoise's indigenous, aquatic Pattern Jugglers. Returning to the world of his Revelation space trilogy, Reynolds illuminates more of his vividly conceived universe and explores the individuals and groups that bring those worlds to life. A good choice for large libraries' sf collections. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Reynolds's ambitious, stunningly detailed Revelation Space trilogy (Revelation Space, paperback, etc.) seethes with post-human Demarchists, Ultras and Conjoiners, and alien Shrouders, Pattern Jugglers and Inhibitors. Here, two novellas share the grand setting but not characters or plot. In "Diamond Dogs," explorer Roland Childe draws in a team to explore an alien artifact on planet Golgotha, among them obsessive cybernetics expert, Dr. Trintignant, scholar Richard Swift and Richard's ex-wife Celeste (he had his memories of her erased), who's had her math abilities enhanced by the alien Pattern Jugglers. The artifact, a huge building called the Blood Spire, is a puzzle-palace with a succession of rooms, each opening only when a particular problem has been solved. Wrong answers are, however, punished by dismemberment or death. Those members of the team who survive are forced to allow Dr. Trintignant to transform them into cyborgs as they progress deeper and deeper into the building, toward--what? In "Turquoise Days," the seas of planet Turquoise contain Pattern Jugglers, aggregations of microscopic life-forms that contain copies of the memories of every intelligent creature that ever swam in the ocean. The Jugglers can also impress, temporarily or permanently, the mindset of one being upon another. Researcher Naqi Okpik, whose sister Mina vanished in the ocean and whose mind is still preserved there, must defend the Jugglers against the crew of a vast light-hugger starship who want to use the Jugglers to create an army of religious-warrior fanatics--and a renegade crewman who'd rather kill the Jugglers and all the minds they contain rather than allow the fanatics to succeed. "Dogs" is certainly the stronger, though both tales are noteworthy; readers familiar with Reynolds will find intriguing sidebars, while those unacquainted should try the novels first. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
