ABSOLUTION GAP, Revelation Space 3 by Alastair Reynolds

Narrated by John Lee

We’ll Always Have CHASM CITY

This is book three in the main arc of the Revelation Space series which has some very high points. This is the low water mark. I found the frequent shift in focus from Galactic civilization genocide to a Procession of Cathedrals to be distracting and just not interesting. Yes I listened to the whole book but, no, I cannot begin to tell you what the significance of the cathedrals marching off a cliff has to do with anything. That whole story arc seemed to be there just to pad the time out to a respectable duration. Some scenes are interesting, although right now I cannot call them to mind, the overall distaste for the book has obscured my memory. Some characters, like Clavaine, carry over from the previous book and provide some continuity to the familiar. One new character, Scorpio is the most engaging and the easiest to identify with and he is not even human! The rest of the cast and crews of the various spaceships and cathedrals are interchangeable, and completely disposable. I just can’t be made to care about any of them. Their motives are so foreign, so alien, that their major and minor crises have no emotional impact. The climax of this novel seems so trivial compared to the galatic level crisis of the rest of the series that I kept wondering when the big thing would start to happen. It never did. This capstone of the Revelation Space series is a big disappointment. Gone is the ingenious interplay between human factions that was so prevalent in REDEMPTION ARK. Lost is the rush of grand ideas that fuel CHASM CITY. I hope that Alastair Reynolds can redeem himself in the next book THE PREFECT. If not, we’ll always have CHASM CITY.

Living up to the standards set by the novel itself John Lees phones in this performance. His voice seems to have no excitement, no emotion. The first few lines delivered by some characters are given in the accent of one of the other characters, as if he had lost track of the story. I can hardly blame him, since the book lost me long before the end. I am not sure that even John Lee at his best could have elevated this novel from the doldrums. 

REDEMPTION ARK, Revelation Space 2 by Alastair Reynolds

Narrated by John Lee

Fermi Paradox as SF Fable

This is book two in the main sequence of the Revelation Space series. I found that I was much more engaged with the story and characters in this novel compared to my level of interest in REVELATION SPACE. Many of the story elements that were introduced in the first book are given meaning here. This is grand scale Space Opera, on a level with Olaf Stapledon and Stephen Baxter. Humanity is starting to branch into political factions that resemble different species. In many ways Reynolds reminds me of Larry Niven, especially in the way he throws out big ideas. It is a book full of ideas and that is its strong suit. This was a fun book to listen to, and even though the situations had nothing to do with reality, I found myself reveling along with the author; rooting him on to see what he would come up with next.

I have heard it said that Reynolds was trying to tell a meaningful story without resorting to the usual worn out Science Fiction trappings such as Faster than Light travel, and tractor beams. In this he is not entirely successful.  His slower than light ships do require certain plot constraints that FTL stories neatly avoid. The time-scales for the story are necessarily lifetimes long. To do this he must, of course, include longevity and hibernation technology to insure his characters live long enough to see the end. There is a nice use of Time Travel that becomes a critical plot element. Of course steller evolution plays a big part in Revelation Space, as indeed the very idea of evolution of intelligent life. This is so central to the story that if you are not already familiar with the Fermi Paradox you will be by the end of this book. So it seems that Reynolds has traded one SF trope for another. All just tools in the story teller’s kit.

John Lee is again the narrator for Reynolds. To my ear Lee is much more in sync with the text in this book than in the previous novel. I do think that here he had better characters to work with, and his voice is as soothing as ever. His voice is so sonorous that at times I found myself tuning the story out and listening to John Lee almost as I would listen to music. And that is a danger for this book, for, like all the Alastair Reynolds books I have encountered so far, it does require an attentive listener. This book is much better than REVELATION SPACE but does ot reach the level of excellence of CHASM CITY.

REVELATION SPACE, Revelation Space 1 by Alastair Reynolds

Narrated by John Lee

Gadget Fiction

Extensive Compendium Technological Marvels

This is book one in the main sequence of the Revelation Space series. Based on listener recommendations I postponed listening until after first hearing CHASM CITY. And it was a good thing I did or I would have never gotten around to Chasm City. This book has many of the same elements, many of the same political machinations, the same level of fantastic technology, but none of the spark of genius, none of the psychological surprises of Chasm City that make it so fantastic. Sure there are glimpses of what Reynolds is capable of but, on its own, this book does not inspire. What this book does offer is an extensive compendium of advanced technological marvels. It hearkens me back to some of the Science Fiction of old where the gadget was the thing. I would compare this to Herman Melville’s MOBY DICK. But before you think this is a glowing recommendation, please read on. My assessment of Moby Dick is this: It is an exciting 70 page revenge novella imbedded in a tedious 400 page Maritime encyclopedia. Revelation space is a seventy megabyte (70 MB) short story encased in a one gigabyte (1GB) speculative fiction catalog of ideas. It has the scant characterization one would expect from a short story, and also like a short story, has great ideas that make it worthwhile. One thing I can say in its defense: This book, like any Hard Science Fiction stripped of story and characters, is still a fascinating exploration into scientific speculation, while Epic Fantasy stripped of the same is just so much double double toil and trouble. All in all it is a interesting book, but more for the ideas than for the characterization or for the story.

John Lee, who is much better reading Chasm City, is here less engaging. His smooth voice never seems to impart any sense of urgency to the experience, and this book does need some inspired help. He does have a wonderful sonorous voice that is never tiring, so he makes it pleasant to plod through the litany of technological wonders hour after hour. My chief complaint for him is that some of his women sound more masculine than his men. Maybe I am being too critical of the novel REVELATION SPACE because I see enough potential here to hear the series out to the end, and Chasm City shows how good this series can be. I guess that I am just a sucker for a gadget story. 

CHASM CITY by Alastair Reynolds

Narrated by John Lee
A Revelation Space novel. Not on the main sequence

Death is Back On the Menu

It has been years since I have come across a new work of hard Science Fiction that was as satisfying as CHASM CITY. This novel is chock full of scientific concepts that are used in ingenious ways; and what is more, the characterization is well fleshed out. First Alistair Reynolds creates a whole new culture set on a far away colony world then he introduces aberrations in technology that have altered humanity. There are no good guys here. This is a tale told of the seedy underworld of society. After learning a little about how the world works Reynolds starts revealing the back story of the protagonist. And everything is not as it seems; in fact everything is far stranger, and psychologically devious, than I could have imagined.  I listened to this novel twice in-a-row because I wanted to track the convoluted story with the map in my head from the first go-round. Reynolds has written a story that rewards the careful listener.

John Lee has a great voice for this book. His slight English accent fits since the author is also English. I realized about half-way through that the dialog, which is quite gritty in some scenes, is smoothed by the dulcet tones of John Lee. Some of the characters could have benefited from a more sarcastic delivery, such as that of Todd McLaren in ALTERED CARBON, but now I would not want top trade John Lee for anyone. He has become the voice of Revelation Space for me. Lee is adept at multiple voices, given each character their own particular accent, immediately recognizable, and enunciated. This is an overall great audiobook, ripe for repeat soundings. 

HEIR OF NOVRON, Riyria Revelations 3, by Michael J. Sullivan

Narrated by Tim Gerard Reynolds

Wrapped up in a Nice Blue Ribbon

As promised this series drives toward the conclusion weaving up loose ends as it goes. The action is operatic at times and concerns deadly magic spells, magic swords, the fall of kingdoms and the annihilation of whole races. I like the characters very much and Sullivan gives them many witty things to say. The court intrigue is really well done. The scene where Nesssus comes to Hardian’s rescue against a bevy of Royal dandies is worth rewinding to listen to again. I found it to be an engaging story. The fact that I knew it was going to have a nice tidy ending kept me guessing what that ending would be. I only guessed about half of it. Over all it was an enjoyable listening experience. One observation, and this is not a criticism, is that the light hearted banter of the characters never allow this to reach epic status, but by its very light hearted nature is entertaining none the less.

Tim Gerard Reynolds has become the voice of Royce and Hadrian for me. And his other characterizations are also very well done. There are several major female characters. He is able to make his voice handle the fairer voices most superbly, never becoming awkward or shrill. He is very good in this series. 

THE LAND ACROSS by Gene Wolfe

Narrated by Jeff Woodman

A Sound Decision. Wolfe’s 30^th Novel.

He that hunts the Devil need pack a long spear

For those whose sole exposure to the literary world is through Audible, it may seem incredulous that Gene Wolfe is a highly regarded writer. After all, at the time of this writing (January, 2014) he only has five titles on Audible.com. Before 2010 none of his books were available as audiobooks. I am grateful to Audible for bringing his four-volume THE BOOK OF THE NEW SUN into the realm of the spoken word. Now it seems that audiobooks are gaining in popularity because Macmillan, the publishers of THE LAND ACROSS, made the sound decision to release Wolfe’s latest offering as an audiobook. This is a fine production. The material is well suited to the audio medium: It is told in a chronological fashion, and there are several interesting characters who benefit from having their dialog delivered by a great narrator. The producers of this audiobook made some deliberate and consistent decisions that add to the experience: They have chosen to make contractions out of many of the “did not,” “have not,” “would not” combinations throughout the text. And they chose a fantastic narrator who really understands the material. I would love to hear all of his other books made into audiobooks.

This was my first attempt at “Total Immersion” reading; that is, reading the book while simultaneously listening to the same material. Sure I have listened to several books that I had already read in print, but never before made the attempt to make my first exposure to a new book be both by reading and listening at the same time. I can say that my comprehension was very high. Perhaps it is because of the prerequisite of having a quiet place in which to be alone to read and listen. Perhaps it was due to having the material input into my mind via two different sensory media simultaneously. Perhaps I was just able to connect with Gene Wolfe in a profound manner in this novel. But whatever the cause, this was a fine novel reading experience. I recommend this method for those who may not be so inclined. I am looking for the next such experience even now.

The novel is closely akin to several Wolfe’s more recent novels. It is clearly written, involves a likeable protagonist thrown into situations that would rock a normal person, but one that his hero takes in stride. You never know when, or if, the novel will take an odd supernatural turn. So you are looking for ghosts around every corner. Wolfe’s earlier books were more obtuse; fascinatingly difficult to decipher, but is seems that Wolfe has mellowed with age. His recent string of excellent novels shows a kindler, gentler Gene Wolfe. Here is my take on the book: it is written from the perspective of a writer of travel books, relating his account of a trip to the most inaccessible country in Europe. As soon as he crosses the border he is placed into situations that could be very traumatic to you or me, but which the travel book writer views completely objectively, almost from a 3^rd person perspective. This sense of calm objectivity gives the story a dream-like quality. No matter how fantastic or unbelievable his life becomes the protagonist never blinks an eye. Just as a dream where even the most unrealistic situations seem oh so real, our mild mannered travelogue guy stumbles into one Walter Mitty adventure after another (the James Thurber and not the recent movie version) and yet still remains an accessible everyman. No superheroes here, just super storytelling.

Jeff Woodman is really wonderful narrating this book. He has a mastery of the Eastern European accents used for several of the characters. I many cases Woodman’s inflection made the meaning of a passage more clear than I could have done was I reading it on my own. Wolfe writes the dialog superbly. By the way, his dialog is always superb, for those not familiar with his work. And in this novel, set in an unnamed, and imaginary, eastern European country, the characters are written with an awkward sense of English syntax that is difficult to follow smoothly without sub vocalizing. With Jeff Woodman reading the book into my ear as I was reading the text I could feel my brain first stumble over a piece of dialog, which is delivered by a character in this eastern European dialect, as I read slightly ahead of the narrator. Then, while still pondering the dialect, Jeff Woodman’s voice caught up with my eyes and instantly made the passage seem clear and natural. Example at the 6:50:17 time mark: “No I. I know where it is.” This happened time and again during the reading and listening to this book. So, I can honestly say that the narration of Jeff Woodman made this a better book that it would have been for me had I been reading alone.

Alastair Reynolds

This is a name I will be investigating in the near future. I have been burned before when looking for the next great SF writer but this seems like a strong possibility. He writes hard Space Opera style Science Fiction. And his books are highly reviewed on Audible.