The latest Alastair Reynolds – it’s been out for only 6 months or so, since it refers to an article in Scientific American in mid-2005 (about suspended animation being a closer reality than scifi readers might think). Once again, fantastic.

Much closer to home, this time, in that it starts in the 2050s and goes from there. It spans a huge amount of time, and it is most definitely science fiction, but still – at least the Earth is real and known, in this story, unlike the Revelation Space quartet. The characters are not as alien, the tech not as incomprehensible. It is true space opera: the gamut of human experiences, emotions, treacheries and heroism. All done in a style that still leaves me amazed at the sheer finesse of his writing, the exquisite way he manages to introduces new ideas and issues and not make it feel like a lurch in the plot. The man is a master. I am simply hanging out for the next book, and I have no idea when it might get coming out… or – terrifying thought – if there even will be one. Horrible thought!!

Another Alastair Reynolds book, completely (well, mostly, I think… hmmm… now that I think about it…) unrelated to the Absolution Gap et al universe. Once again, parallel stories happening, but only two, and they joined up much more quickly than in his other novels. It was also less techy that the others, probably because it isn’t set so far into the future – only (!) the 23rd century (again, mostly…). The characters were exceptionally well-drawn, as expected; I have to say that Reynolds doesn’t exactly give his characters an easy time of it, as a general rule. I really like the way Reynolds writes: he seems essentially to assume that he is describing a real place and time, and he’s just reminding the reader of stuff they already ought to know. Clever. His descriptions are unintrusive, which is highly commendable – like I said, it’s not like he’s trying to ram this new world down your throat.

Exceptionally highly recommended.