great book

narrator is good, I don't know why everyone else is so negative. Very well written book, enjoyed thoroughly.

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Epic hard sci-fi

This is one of my favourite books. Reynolds has a real physics background, and his comfort with unthinkable scale and relatavistic distances. The plot is constructed like a steel trap, with massive stakes, and strong, memorable characters. If Christopher Nolan did a pure space opera, it would end up being like this. The characters are all brilliant, ruthless, terrifying competent types, which I love, but others might not. It's hardcore sci-fi though, so it's more like Greg Bear or Greg Egan than Isaac Asimov or Larry Niven.

John Lee does a competent enough job of the narration, but it's clear that he doesn't really understand what he's saying. He has a tendency to make all the characters sound like louche French philosophers drinking Pernod in a Parisian cafe circa 1913, even the Middle Eastern soldier Khouri and Russian engineer Volyova. Also, he uses the American pronunciation of words like process (with a short o) which seemed odd.

I also question the decision for a man to be the narrator. There are more important female than male characters here (Volyova, Khouri, The Madamoiselle, Pascale, Sluka, Sudjic etc.), and on balance I think I'd have preferred an actress.

This kvetching aside, he wasn't distracting or anything, so it's still a worthwhile purchase if the subject matter is your thing.

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Love this author, story arc slow to gain momentum

Complex threads with a real sense of an epic storyscape.

Am starting book 2 now!

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You just need to pay attention

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There are some books that have very simple/predictable plot lines. You can casually listen to these on the move and not miss anything if you get distracted. By contrast Revelation Space requires listening effort, but is worth it. I initially listened too casually and about one and half hours in I had to accept that I did not really know what was going on, so... I started again. I am glad I did.The narration is very good, but you need to pay attention, particularly in the first third of the book, the scenes switch with no warning. In the end I enjoyed this aspect.Interesting story, good science and original.

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not bad, but looses its flow

not bad, but jumps from location to location with the reader barley taking a breath, so throws things and looses the flow

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Brooding Space Opera

The first Alastair Reynolds book I've read/listened too, and I'd have to say I'm very impressed.

Revelation Space doesn't disappoint with plenty of weird twists and whacked-out concepts, it feels far-future.

Reynolds style is not dissimilar to the excellent Peter F Hamilton, though quicker paced. The story does jump about initially and can lead to some confusion, stick with it though, this one is totally worth the investment.

5/5

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Superb drama with many twists

A classic space opera! very detailed and well read. highly recommended! can't wait till the second volume.

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It was worth persisting with...

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It took me a while to get to grips with the narration, but I'd heard so many good things about the book and in the end it was well worth persisting with. Particularly annoying was the habit of starting sentences loudly and tailing off at the end - at what volume do you set your headphones! Sorry, that's more than enough. That said, I found this a complex and ultimately very satisfying story and once I got into it, I was able to keep track of when and with whom the action was taking place. The author's scientific background comes through enough to make the sequences plausible without overloading with too much geeky detail and I just downloaded book 2.

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Give me that old time Space Opera

I had forgotten how much fun Space Opera can be. Even though it was released in 2000 this novel has not really aged at all. BDOs, dead alien civilisations and some hints of the end times for humans...

Narration was good but the narrators attempts at accents for each character got a bit muddled at times.

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a solid scifi series

Thoroughly enjoyable! A nice balance between bright and dark overtones also neither too militaristic neither full of technobabble. I like this.

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