- Paperback: 672 pages
- Publisher: Gollancz; paperback / softback edition (13 May 2004)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0575075570
- ISBN-13: 978-0575075573
- Product Dimensions: 17.8 x 13 x 4.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 313,945 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Absolution Gap
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
With Absolution Gap, Alastair Reynolds completes the star-spanning Inhibitors trilogy in which the previous books were Revelation Space and Redemption Ark. The Inhibitors are a mechanical plague, mindlessly but very resourcefully wiping out space-going civilisations that come to their notice. Their latest target is humanity, which lost a round in Redemption Ark. One small human faction now has stealth weapons and technologies that can almost fight Inhibitor assault to a standstill, but running away still seems the only long-term option.
From the same cryptic source as that supertechnology, filtered through a young girl's mind, comes the urgent message to make an interstellar trek to Hela, barren moon of the gas-giant Haldora. Hela is home to an obsessive religion fuelled partly by mind viruses and partly by the miracle of Haldora. This unpredictable, unbelievable event happens in an eyeblink, but more and more often, a signal of the End Times. Which is why a group of vast mobile cathedrals lumbers forever around Hela, to keep Haldora at the zenith for best observation of its marvels. And on this last circuit, with a madman in command, the greatest cathedral of all plans an impossible short cut over the mysterious, delicate bridge spanning an immense rift in Hela's surface: Absolution Gap.
There's a lot of action with both familiar and enjoyably exotic weapons; there's suffering, deceit, loss and triumph; there's a hideous revenge straight out of Jacobean tragedy, a series of awesome revelations and the last voyage of the lightship Nostalgia for Infinity that was so strangely transformed in Revelation Space. Ultimately, behind the enigma of Haldora, a dreadful choice awaits: whether or not to bargain with powers that may be the answer to the Inhibitors--but may be something worse. Alastair Reynolds makes his huge story compellingly readable, with characters we care about, and gives impressive descriptions of beauty and cataclysm. This is very superior space opera. --David Langford --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Book Description
Take another awe-inspiring leap into the darkly imagined future of REVELATION SPACE, where it is time for Humanity to meet its Unmakers.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Was Reynolds rushing to finish this in time for the holiday shopping season? Completing this book brought back memories of my rush in grad school to conclude a thesis that I was losing interest in and time to complete. If I had blinked quickly I may have missed the Nestbuilders that seemed to be thrown in as a last-minute solution to what could have been a grand trilogy. I would have liked the satisfaction of actually seeing the inhibitors thrashed and ripped out of space (vice reading a synopsis in the epilogue) and of reading a plausible development of the mysterious Nestbuilders/galactic saviors. I knew I was in trouble when I held the last few pages in my fingers and felt cheated at the end to have invested so much time and, afterwards, handed a muddled unsatisfying ending. Too bad the heroes of the story failed to save the ending for the readers. I think we are all being too nice in our reviews because each of us enjoyed the previous books too much to trash the final chapter.
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is my first online review, so will be a little ragged. Having read Revelation Space and Redemption Ark some time ago I was looking forward to Absolution Gap with eager anticipation.
Firstly, the aspect of this novel that I really enjoyed was the emphasis on the characters rather than the narrative. I felt like I was getting to know and feel for the characters better than the previous two novels.
The narrative however seems to have come under attack by one of the Inhibitor's weapons and has suffered severe damage. Reynolds has not capitalised on or expanded the story lines from the previous two installments and has introduced many plot elements that add nothing of value.
Deus Ex Machina is invoked far too liberally.
He is also rather inconsistent with his arbitrary adherence to or violation of the known laws of physics.
Having been rather negative so far I will conclude by saying that I still thoroughly enjoyed the book and would recommend it to any space opera or hard(ish) SF fan.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I really looked forward to this book after reading all of the previous books set in the same fiction. I was dissapointed with this one. I felt the characters were even weaker in this book than any previous novel. The characters not always being Reynolds strength at the best of times. His habit of killing off major characters might help shift the plot along but it does mean he has to reintroduce new major players every book.
The massive twist at the end of the book is so much surprising as looking like he struggled to find a good ending in time to make the publishers deadline.
The weaponary and technology are as impressive as ever definitely Reynolds strenght is in describing these and other scientific factors and making them seem plausible no matter how exotic.
Not a bad book, just not one of his best.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Is that it, then?
Having read other stand alone books by Alastair Reynolds I decided to give the "Inhibitors" trilogy a try. Read more
Published 8 months ago by S. Thomas
Good, but not in the same class as the first two Revelation novels.
Firstly, I must say that the above summary is entirely relative; the first two books are so good that this one seems a little weak both in plot and execution. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Willy Eckerslike
waste of time & energy
just read the first two books and be done with it. don't start reading the third, as this will only spoil the impression of the first two. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Claudi van NL
Left me unsatisfied
Reynolds has created an amazing universe in these books. I love so much of it; the Conjoiners, the Demarchists, Chasm City, the Jugglers, the Melding Plague, and so on. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Wisiwig
Less than 100 pages to go... How is he going to get out of this?!
I recently read and thoroughly enjoyed the previous two Alastair Reynolds' books in this series and was looking forward greatly to reading this one. Read more
Published 23 months ago by S. Horrigan
verbose, badly structured, needs an editor
Reynolds was recommended by a friend whose judgement I usually trust. Absolution Gap is the third of R's novels I've read, and I could barely finish it. Read more
Published 24 months ago by atalanta
Promising story lines end disappointing
Reynolds has a great style of writing but he is poor when it comes to writing a plot.
Published on 1 May 2010 by Maarten
You'll need viral religion to enjoy this
So, Revelation Space was the first book that I saw advertised in the Cinema, and proved to be as awesome as the ad suggested, right up at the top of my all time best reads, sci-fi... Read more
Published on 31 Mar 2010 by The Engineer
Where's the rest of it? I think Reynolds is bored with the series.
As others have said, read Revelation Space and Redemption Ark before this one. The series has been engaging, as a whole, and I've enjoyed it; that is, until I finished this... Read more
Published on 24 Mar 2010 by David Fidler
A fine conclusion to an ambitious trilogy
*Very Mild Spoilers Ahead* A lot of other reviewers seem to fixate on an apparent Deus Ex Machina at the conclusion of this book. Read more
Published on 11 Mar 2010 by Cheese Steak Jimmy
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