In my previous post, I gave my thoughts on Revelation Space. Given that I particularly enjoyed Reynolds’ first novel, I dove in to his second work named Chasm City. This next installment places us back in to the Revelation Space universe. It’s a stand alone novel, following the perspective of Tanner Mirabel, a war hardened sniper turned mercenary vowed to avenge the death of his employer.
Challenging the reader in a beautifully constructed series of iterations, we soon find out that Tanner is not all he thinks he is and more importantly who he is. We track Tanner from Sky’s Edge, his war torn backwater home, to the now similarly scarred world of Yellowstone. Once revered for being a beautiful culmination of cultural and technological marvels, Chasm City now lies as a twisted and contorted shell of its prior self, made horrific by the alien Melding Plague.
Reynolds’ approach to mixing the environment with the characters is great. We’re soon figuring out how much of an impact of the Melding Plague had, and all the mysteries involved with it. We’re also never far from tiny hints of history we’ve been introduced to in Revelation Space. But more importantly the characters, from all sects of man, and all levels of society are all entwined expertly.
It must be noted that the time frame involved across the Revelation Space universe is roughly a 300 year period spanning from 2427 to 2727 across all five novels. Much like Asimov’s efforts with his Foundation series, there’s some inconsistencies. But in truth, they are easily dimmed by the quality of detail Alastair produces. I’ve done some background reading in to these things, but I can safely say unless you are a super snob of details, it shouldn’t worry you too much. They aren’t glaring as far as I am concerned.
Over all Chasm City was great. We were given a wonderful story of revenge that spans the stars, the dark and twisted past of Chasm City, a life inside a complex mind, and a slash of humanity that’s figuring itself out after a brutal alien plague.
Next up: Redemption Ark, the third installment.