The story starts with three seemingly unconnected characters: First, a scientist and archaeologist researching an extinct civilisation on a barren colony world. Secondly, an ex-soldier, current 'Shadowplay assassin' on a once plague-ravaged world. Finally, there is a scientist and member of a ruling Triumvirate on a 'Lighthugger' ship, traveling between the stars. However, if these three characters were truly unrelated, this story would probably be quite short. Instead it turns out that Volyova, on the lighthugger is looking for two things: someone to fill a role on her ship, and for Dan Sylveste, the archaeologist. Khouri, the ex-soldier, is also looking for Sylveste, but for very different reasons.
From the very beginning, this book sets up a lot of unanswered questions, lays open intrigue and strings the plot along the fine line between vagueness and exposition. For a patient reader, there is enough to be going on with at any stage, so that the remaining questions only serve to encourage continued reading. As the plot moves along, some questions are answered, and others are opened. It is a masterful work of plotting.
One of the other wonderful things about this story is the characterisation. None of the characters are totally benevolent, none truly evil. Most are just doing what they can to reach their own personal goal: although most of these goals are at best neutral, and the characters tend to go further than most normal people would in pursuit of these goals. Importantly, the characters are all real enough to evoke emotional responses, which is a strength in any novel.
From reading 'Century Rain' by the same author, it would appear that Alastair Reynolds has two ‘favourite’ themes. One is the Fermi paradox: the galaxy should be teeming with intelligent life, so where is it? The other is nanotechnology, and the question of whether it has potential for good, or if it is simply more trouble than it is worth. This book contains both themes again, integral to the plot, in slightly subtle ways. But the author's views are not rammed home with any kind of force: both are questions that an intelligent reader has the opportunity to think about, to explore as they journey through the plot laid out for them.
Unfortunately, towards the end of the novel, some of the scientific ideas seem a little far-fetched, and the suspension of disbelief becomes more essential, and more difficult, as the plot draws towards its conclusion. While at the beginning, one need only accept things that seem possible, from what we know of science, by the end, readers are asked to accept more radical ideas, completely beyond our current understanding. There is a little in between, but the last section of the book introduces some concepts that are very difficult to think about in any detail without studying the related physics. The last 50 pages or so ask the reader to believe far more than the previous 500, and it makes it slightly less accessible as space opera; lunging a little more towards hard SF.
However, even with the slightly complicated science towards the end, the plot remains accessible, and the characters remain believable. The further you read, the harder it is to stop reading. Revelation Space is an intriguing and suspenseful read that most science fiction readers will enjoy.
