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Chasm City (Gollancz S.F.) (Paperback)

by Alastair Reynolds (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (50 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 528 pages
  • Publisher: Gollancz; New edition edition (10 Jan 2002)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0575073659
  • ISBN-13: 978-0575073654
  • Product Dimensions: 17.2 x 12.4 x 5 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 139,378 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

In Chasm City, Alastair Reynolds revisits the noir universe of his debut SF blockbuster Revelation Space with a suspenseful, convoluted pursuit story. Its dizzying reversals and games of disguise are reminiscent of Iain M Banks at his trickiest.

The main narrative stars trained killer Tanner Mirabel, a man hell-bent on revenge, who stalks his enemy Reivich from the world Sky's Edge across a 15-year interstellar gap to the gaudy, poisoned melting pot of Chasm City. Flashbacks reveal the violent events and worse repercussions that so badly twisted Mirabel and others. Virus-induced dreams provide a third story line from inside the head of legendary traitor-messiah Sky Haussmann, who long ago shaped the original colonisation of Sky's Edge and whose real story never got into the history books.

Chasm City's complications include spectacular space-elevator sabotage, faulty antimatter drives, hidden aliens, mystery drugs, exotic bio-modification, tailored disease, high-tech weaponry, a new and deadlier form of bungee-jumping, and that traditional SF symptom of decadence: organised hunts with human prey. Violent death is never far off, but our protagonist has deeper worries in that his own motives and memories, even his identity, don't seem to add up quite as they should ...

After many chases, captures and escapes, these tangled plot strands are satisfyingly resolved. Masks are stripped away, and webs of lies exposed. Revelations range from the origin of the dread Melding Plague (which once nightmarishly merged Chasm City's people, machines and buildings) to the reason for an irrational fear of alcoves. An enjoyably tense, tortuous SF thriller. --David Langford --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.



Product Description

Tanner Mirabel was a security specialist who never made a mistake - until the day a woman in his care was blown away by Argent Reivich, a vengeful young postmortal. Tanner's pursuit of Reivich takes him across light-years of space to Chasm City, the domed human settlement on the otherwise inhospitable planet of Yellowstone. But Chasm City is not what it was. The one-time high-tech utopia has become a Gothic nightmare: a nanotechnological virus has corrupted the city's inhabitants as thoroughly as it has the buildings and machines. Before the chase is done, Tanner will have to confront truths which reach back centuries, towards deep space and an atrocity history barely remembers.
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Customer Reviews

50 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (50 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars New hard-SF master has arrived., 7 Aug 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Chasm City (Gollancz S.F.) (Paperback)
Alastair Reynolds has written another fantastic novel in "Chasm City" - it's just like "Revelation Space," except better, its hard-edged science fiction with great characters, we get the vastness of space, inner and outer. Alastair Reynolds is indeed a brilliant writer. I found it gripping, very clever, with wonderful descriptions that create a strong visual dimension as you read the story. Alastair's imagination really stretches you.

Every time I thought the story had crested, some new twist and turn kept occurring. Throughout this 524-page novel, the various story lines kept coming together, there was obviously so much more of the plot to unravel. Two-thirds into the story and I just couldn't put the book down. I just stayed up till 2 a.m. to finish "Chasm City," eagerly turning each page, drawn to each word like a caterpillar crossing a blade of grass, to see what new part of the story would be revealed.

I can't sleep as I'm still reeling from this magnificent book. Wow, what a feeling! Even after having read Alastair's first debut novel "Revelation Space," I was completely unprepared for the many wonders within "Chasm City." Parts of this novel reminded me of "The Fountains of Paradise" by Arthur C. Clarke, "Perdido Street Station" by China Mieville and "Metal Fatigue" by Sean Williams.

Tanner Mirabel was a security specialist who never made a mistake......until the day a women in his care was blown away during an attack by a vengeful young postmortal named Argent Reivich.

Tanner's pursuit of Reivich takes him away from his homeworld, across light-years of space, to Chasm City, the domed human settlement on the otherwise inhospitable planet Yellowstone. But Chasm City isn't what it used to be: the one-time high-tech utopia has become a dark, Gothic nightmare, victim of a nanotechnological virus, which has corrupted the city's inhabitants as thoroughly as it has, has the buildings. Now the city is a place of steam-driven machines, shadowy factions and deadly new games.

With only his wits to help him - not to mention the odd piece of heavy firepower - Tanner narrows the distance between himself and Reivich.

But before the chase is done, Tanner will have to confront disturbing truths, which reach back centuries, towards deep space, and an atrocity history barely remembers.

I rate this book highly, and recommend it to all science fiction fans. I cannot remember how long it has been since I discovered a new voice such as Alastair, a new writer whose vision is not only new but also exciting. Alastair Reynolds is one such writer. Beg, borrow or steal it; but read Chasm City!

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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Is that a hole in the plot? No a Chasm, 2 Dec 2004
By Steve "---steve---" (Littlehampton) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   
This review is from: Chasm City (Gollancz S.F.) (Paperback)
.
This book is set over a much shorter timescale than his first book (Revelation Space) and the story is much tighter and more pleasurable to read for it.
There are three interesting storylines that converge toward the end, but I must say that I thought the 'twist' was obvious from the middle of the book.
The universe this book is set in is the same as Revelation Space, although in a slightly different period and there are plenty of references to the first book to help place this story. However, this is an entirely independent story from Revelation Space.
Chasm city is a horror - it's buildings, machines and society ruined by the melding plague. There is an almost Dickensian feel about the poor, Mulch dwellers and the upper class Canopy society. Chasm City is quite well described and has many interesting features.
However, the characters are too shallow. We never really know what motivates most of them. Tanner Mirabel is supposed to be a professional soldier/mercenary but his professional detachment goes out the window as he vows to avenge his boss's assassination, travelling across space for 15 years in suspended animation to track down the killer, Reivich. The motley crew he links up with variously want to mislead him, kidnap him or/and kill him, but all end up going off together to confront the big baddy near the end on Tanners side. For the most part, it is not clear why they each have a change of heart.
There are other oddities as well - mutant pigs who pop up now and again to save Tanner, then are never mentioned again. The Mixmasters scan his body for physiological changes and injuries and spot his retinal modifications but miss his poisonous fangs and his missing arm. Still, no one's perfect. I also lost count of how many times Tanner Mirabel was captured by someone, or lost consciousness.
The other storylines suffer similarly. One is the earlier story of Tanner and the other is the complex tale of Sky Haussman. Not sure what turned Sky into a psycho - was it the lights failing as a boy, his father dying of his injuries or was he just predisposed to instant psychosis? We don't know.
I'm afraid this all sounds a bit negative, BUT actually I was thoroughly gripped by this book. Try to glide over the plot holes and lapses in logic and it's basically a good yarn.

If you liked Revelation Space, you'll like this. If you didn't like revelation Space, it's still worth giving this one a go.

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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, 29 Mar 2005
I read this straight after reading Revelation Space and whilst it's not essential to have read Rev.Space first I think it helped me to get into the story as both books are set in the same "universe".
There are plenty of twists and turns and the writing style (some in 1st person, the rest in the 3rd person) is refreshing.
An excellent read.
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4.0 out of 5 stars Is that a hole in the plot? No a Chasm
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This book is set over a much shorter timescale than his first book (Revelation Space) and the story is much tighter and more pleasurable to read for it. Read more
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