Chasm City (Revelation Space)

Looking back to the completed novel, one is struck by the symmetry of the plot, the story within the story (and at times, the tales of Sky were better than "reality"). Indeed, the structural beauty of the work was almost flawless with the introduction of characters at just the right time, the way new technologies were introduced, the whole religious subtext. This does not mean there are not things to criticize (I could not give a solid *****). These include the murkiness of Chasm City...oddly, the city itself was the worst aspect of the book. I liked all the space voyages, the various planets, etc but the city was definitely lacking. Secondly, the number of characters approaches an overload point, especially with all the hidden disguises. Disguise, whether it is of person, place or intent is of paramount importance here. It is only after a while that the reader has the first inkling of exactly who our her really is (or was). If there were too many characters, at least they were interesting (as always), especially the three women - Sister Amille, Zebra and Chanterelle. And yet, despite all the action and intrigue and mystery, it is Sky that dominates with his actions and cruelty and - like so many others - eventual transformation into something better. All in all, a very satisfying work.

In "Chasm City," Alastair Reynolds has created a unique hybrid of literary types: a space opera with imaginative science, crime noir prose, and quasi-steampunk ambience. It works, not least because he has created one of the more memorable protagonists in recent fiction, an unlikely hero suffering from schizophrenia with a vengeance. A mercenary soldier and professional assassin, Tanner Mirabel hails from Sky's Edge, a far-flung planet whose society is constantly at war. After a couple of thrillingly rendered opening scenes, Mirabel finds himself, sans memory, across the galaxy on the formerly advanced planet of Yellowstone, on the way to its central metropolis. Chasm City had recently been destroyed by a biomechanical plague that had bifurcated its society into two classes: a class of ageless aristocrats living atop the remnants of the city's skyscrapers and clinging to its technological superiority and an underworld of the type one would expect to visit in a novel by China Mieville. Mirabel's amnesia and his endurance contest on Yellowstone are complicated enough for one novel, but Reynolds doesn't stop there. Our hero has flashbacks to his earlier existence on Sky's Edge, working for an eccentric employer, Cahuella, and protecting him against the influential Argent Reivich. Mirabel soon recalls that his mission in Yellowstone is to avenge his employer's death. More inexplicably, he also experiences recollections from centuries earlier, recounting firsthand the creepy, criminal coming-of-age adventures of Sky Haussmann, the messianic founder of the first colony on Sky's Edge. It's fun to watch while Reynolds weaves together these three stories and resolves their myriad mysteries and loose ends. And Mirabel's hardboiled, tough-guy idiom serves to enhance the whodunit mood. Reynolds meticulously peels back the various layers of his onion-plot and unveils each surprise and mystery (and there are many) with imaginatively clever twists--yet each revelation, when it occurs, seems predestined. The only disappointment is the showdown at the finale (and, no, I won't give anything away), which seems both rushed and transparently contrived. Fortunately for us, the first 500 pages are so ingenious that the last dozen pages seem almost beside the point.

If your considering this series, and you should be, read this book first, followed by revelation Space. I did the opposite, and I can tell you RS would have made much more sence if I had read CC first. It is also first timeline-wise. Anyway, fantastic book, my favorite current author. Im off to read diamond dogs next!

Since the other reviews have already said what this book is, I'll tell you what it isn't. This is not a follow-up or a sequel to Revelation Space, but in fact a standalone story with totally different characters set in a time just before the main events of Revelation Space. It is not a prequel though, but this story serves to flesh out the worlds of Yellowstone and Sky's Edge, which were hardly touched upon before, in great detail going back to the war-torn history of Sky's Edge and the events that twisted Chasm City into it's current form.This story follows one man from his perspective, although it appears to drift at times into the memories of others who may or may not be the same person. The characters are very well done and feature depth, although not as much is revealed about the supporting characters in thos story as we don't get to often see from their point of view.While this story does not feature any of the characters from Revelation Space (although I do believe that the unnamed woman Tanner speaks to at the end is Anna Khouri), a few familiar names are mentioned at times, mainly those of the Sylveste family. I would recommend reading Revelation Space first however, as a few mysteries are somewhat solved in this book that could dampen the effect of those in the first book.I thank Reynolds again for his second masterpiece, although I will not be truly satiated until we get a sequel to Revelation Space.