Product Description

Dr Dan Sylveste, an archaeologist who has for years been fascinated with the long-dead alien race the Amarantin, is about to discover something that could change the course of mankind. But before he can act on anything his wife is killed and he is captured when a coup sweeps across the planet Resurgam. Meanwhile, an astonishing ship bearing a crew of militaristic cyborgs and a kidnapped Gunnery Officer is bearing down on Resurgam, crossing light years of space to enlist Sylvestes help to save their metamorphosing Captain. Only Sylveste, or, more accurately, the software programme containing his fathers knowledge that he carries in his mind, can save the Captain. None of them can anticipate the cataclysm that will result when they meet, a cataclysm that will sweep through space and could determine the ultimate fate of humanity.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13596 in Books
• Published on: 2001-05-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 560 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Alastair Reynolds's first novel is "hard" SF on an epic scale, crammed with technological marvels and immensities. Its events take place over a relatively short period, but have roots a billion years old--when the Dawn War ravaged our galaxy.

Sylveste is the only man ever to return alive and sane from a Shroud, an enclave in space protected by awesome gravity-warping defences: "a folding a billion times less severe should have required more energy than was stored in the entire rest-mass of the galaxy." Now an intuition he doesn't understand makes him explore the dead world Resurgam, whose birdlike natives long ago tripped some booby-trap that made their own sun erupt in a deadly flare.

Meanwhile, the vast, decaying lightship Nostalgia for Infinity is coming for Sylveste, whose dead father (in AI simulation) could perhaps help the Captain, frozen near absolute zero yet still suffering monstrous transformation by nanotech plague. Most of Infinity's tiny crew have hidden agendas--Khouri the reluctant contract-assassin believes she must kill Sylveste to save humanity--and there are two bodiless stowaways, one no longer human and one never human. Shocking truths emerge from bluff, betrayal and ingenious lies.

The trail leads to a neutron star where an orbiting alien construct has defences to challenge the Infinity's planet-wrecking superweapons.

At the heart of this artefact, the final revelations detonate--most satisfyingly. Dense with information and incident, this longish novel has no surplus fat and seems almost too short. A sparkling SF debut. --David Langford

Amazon.co.uk Review
Alastair Reynolds's first novel is "hard" SF on an epic scale, crammed with technological marvels and immensities. Its events take place over a relatively short period, but have roots a billion years old--when the Dawn War ravaged our galaxy.

Sylveste is the only man ever to return alive and sane from a Shroud, an enclave in space protected by awesome gravity-warping defences: "a folding a billion times less severe should have required more energy than was stored in the entire rest-mass of the galaxy". Now an intuition he doesn't understand makes him explore the dead world Resurgam, whose birdlike natives long ago tripped some booby-trap that made their own sun erupt in a deadly flare.

Meanwhile the vast, decaying lightship Nostalgia for Infinity is coming for Sylveste, whose dead father (in AI simulation) could perhaps help the Captain, frozen near absolute zero yet still suffering monstrous transformation by nanotech plague. Most of Infinity's tiny crew have hidden agendas--Khouri the reluctant contract-assassin believes she must kill Sylveste to save humanity--and there are two bodiless stowaways, one no longer human and one never human. Shocking truths emerge from bluff, betrayal and ingenious lies.

The trail leads to a neutron star where an orbiting alien construct has defences to challenge the Infinity's planet-wrecking superweapons.

At the heart of this artefact, the final revelations detonate--most satisfyingly. Dense with information and incident, this longish novel has no surplus fat and seems almost too short. A sparkling SF debut. --David Langford

Synopsis
Dr Dan Sylveste, an archaeologist who has for years been fascinated with the long-dead alien race the Amarantin, is about to discover something that could change the course of mankind. But before he can act on anything his wife is killed and he is captured when a coup sweeps across the planet Resurgam. Meanwhile, an astonishing ship bearing a crew of militaristic cyborgs and a kidnapped Gunnery Officer is bearing down on Resurgam, crossing light years of space to enlist Sylvestes help to save their metamorphosing Captain. Only Sylveste, or, more accurately, the software programme containing his fathers knowledge that he carries in his mind, can save the Captain. None of them can anticipate the cataclysm that will result when they meet, a cataclysm that will sweep through space and could determine the ultimate fate of humanity.

Customer Reviews

A spectular, imaginative universe. Quite a good novel, too.
Reynolds's strength is the depth and imagination of his universe which is simultaneously very strange and quite plausible. The problem is that the story can't possibly pump all the background information to you fast enough, so it ends up exposed through rather artificial means. (As a number of revelations, haha.) The plot is intricate and fascinating, but not entirely compelling as a *story*. (For example, I felt like many of the characters started out with insurmountable odds to beat and things got steadily worse from there. There wasn't the tension of having a slim chance, just the dismal resignation or bleak desperation of having no chance.) Nevertheless, I'm now hooked on the background and will certainly read more of his books; I just hope they will find more engaging stories to tell in the universe.

Brilliant
Most of these reviews seem pretty long so I'll keep it brief.
An excellent book, lots of interesting ideas constantly weaved through it, Reynolds clearly has the love and of science and sense of how cool science can be that a sci-fi writer really needs to make maths and science cool.
Can sometimes be a little slow but usually makes up for it very quickly.
Likable characters of standard sci-fi fare but much better realized and more polished than usual.
Brilliant ending that tackles big issues and takes your breath away with its sheer magnitude.
Not a book for the faint heated, it demands a lot from you but is still accessible for technophobes and math haters and will give big rewards to those willing to make an effort.
Don't be scared give it a go, any minor flaws it may have will be overwhelmed by its beauty as a whole, like an impressionist painting, its about the big picture.

Class of its own. (Iain M Banks an exception)
I picked up a copy of Absolution Gap in a charity shop and it spent around 6 months languishing on the shelf while I read what I thought were better books.

Once opened though I spent the first 3 hours reading the next on Amazon buying all his other works. This and others pure class.

The only other author I get as excited about when a new book is on the way is Iain M Banks (Sci-fi and others). If you like this try his as well.