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Absolution Gap (Gollancz S.F.) (Hardcover)

by Alastair Reynolds (Author)
3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 565 pages
  • Publisher: Gollancz (27 Nov 2003)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0575074345
  • ISBN-13: 978-0575074347
  • Product Dimensions: 25.2 x 17.6 x 5.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 353,768 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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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. For the devout this increasing frequency is 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



Product Description

A further awe-inspiring leap into the darkly imagined future of REVELATION SPACE. With his first novel Reynolds laid the foundations of a galaxy-spanning future for mankind; with each novel he takes us further into that galaxy, revealing another aspect of a future that has few boundaries. Look further into the dark heart of mankind: awe-inspiring doomsday weapons, vicious AIs, cities overwhelmed by plagues that twist and meld man and machine: the further we go into this future, the more it is revealed to be the creation of a uniquely talented writer who is making a massive impact on world SF.
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Customer Reviews

42 Reviews
5 star:
 (8)
4 star:
 (14)
3 star:
 (11)
2 star:
 (6)
1 star:
 (3)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.4 out of 5 stars (42 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Too Much Deus Ex Machina, 6 Jan 2004
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.

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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Holy Disappointing Ending Batman!, 10 Jan 2004
By J. FERNANDEZ "homeward bound" (Seoul, South Korea) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
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.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Rushed and ragged, 15 Jan 2004
By Rafe01 "rafe01" (London, UK) - See all my reviews
I like many other reviewers looked forward to the latest of the stories set in Revelation Space.

Without, hopefully, spoiling it for others I will say if you are looking for something in the mould of Chasm City you are going to be less disappointed than if you were looking for the final chapter of Revelation Space/Redemption Ark.
The key characters in the latter books hardly get a mention. On the plus side the central story is unwound in a similar manner to the second book and these sections are as enjoyable as his other work.
Its a shame the Inhibitors are dealt with in such an off-hand manner in this book; almost as if references to them and some of the other related characters were grafted onto the central story which could have been written without reference to characters we already had met. I think perhaps the book would have been better if it hadn't tried to tie the loose ends up in such an offhand way but had just stood alone.

I can only assume that either

(a) Alastair was getting fed up with the universe he created and wanted to get an already contracted book out of the way so he could move on
...or....
(b) Publishers don't apply the strict rules to sucessful authors that they do to new ones (look at the page glut of later Asimov works vs early ones ;-) and in their rush to get our money they relax some standards.

Either way... I wish this had been two books of the same high standard as the previous ones. I did enjoy it but unlike other readers I won't be pre-ordering his next book and will probably wait for the paperback.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Part of the Inhibitor trilogy
Seen the mixed reviews, but for me, I really enjoyed this conclusion to the Inhibitor trilogy
Published 1 month ago by Dr. Stephen Culshaw

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolution Gap
Another great story in this series still reading it can't wait to find out how it all pans out
Published 5 months ago by Mark Pezzotta

4.0 out of 5 stars absolution gap
Can be read on its own, or in connection with the series "Revelation space, chasm city, redemption ark"
Further developing the journey through space and time, fighting... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Jobst P. Tilrem

4.0 out of 5 stars Stop reading 50 pages from the end
Having been hooked by Revelation Space and Redemption Ark, I was really fired up for this final(?) chapter in the series. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Darth Pies

3.0 out of 5 stars Flashes of brilliance... but not enough of them
Having read Diamond Dogs, Turquoise Days (which I loved), this, the second Alaistair Reynolds novel I've read, proved a major disappointment. Read more
Published on 6 Sep 2007 by Grev

3.0 out of 5 stars This should have been the third in a quadrilogy
Firstly let me say that I did enjoy this book, but it really doesn't feel like the finale to such an epic series of events. Read more
Published on 25 Jun 2007 by G. C. Bowen

1.0 out of 5 stars A massive cop-out
While the previous books in the series were an ejoyable read, this one falls flat on two counts. Firstly, as mentioned above, everything of real interest happens off-page. Read more
Published on 26 Jan 2007 by Anton

2.0 out of 5 stars You can see the joins
I think that's the best way to describe it - there are some great ideas here but the story lacks polish in some places. Read more
Published on 17 Dec 2005 by rcheetham4

5.0 out of 5 stars Still a bloody good read
I've been reading the sometimes scathing reviews of this book with a bit of disappointment. Obviously not many people ( those who thought that Al Reynolds finished this series... Read more
Published on 13 Aug 2005 by David Nelson

1.0 out of 5 stars The last Reynolds you'll read
An exciting book with the most limp ending I've encountered in contemporary SF. Multiple plots build to a crescendo then deflate simultaneously in the worst possible way -... Read more
Published on 15 Jul 2005 by Alan Young

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