Slow Bullets

Author:  Alastair Reynolds

First Publication:  June 2015

Publisher:  Tachyon Publications

Source:  NetGalley

Cover Artist:  Thomas Canty

Challenge:
42 Challenge 2015

The author is one of my favorites of the “new space opera” movement.  His “Revelation Space” series is a favorite of many readers.  Which reminds me that I need to get back to reading it.  So far, I have only read the first book.  I have read a few of Reynolds’ short stories that were very good.  “Slow Bullets” is a novella published by Tachyon Press.  At 192 pages, it is more the length of many of the science fiction books I read in the seventies.  The novella is one of my favorite story lengths.  It has more meat to it than the short story but is not overly padded to reach the massive length of many of today’s novels. 

“Slow Bullets” features Scur from the “Revelation Space” series.  She is a soldier at the end of the war when she is captured by a sadistic enemy, injected with a slow bullet, and left to die.  The slow bullet was created as a futuristic dog tag that can be destroyed and kill the soldier.  Her enemy puts it on a path to slowly make its way to her brain and painfully kill her.  Scur wakes up on a spaceship and that is when this adventure begins.  Her tormentor is also on the ship which helps set the stage for the conflict.

Reynolds’ tells the story from Scur’s point of view.  The reader is not sure if she is a reliable narrator or not.  While not as good as “Great Wall of Mars” it is still a very good story.


Highly recommended.

"Merlin's Gun" by Alastair Reynolds

First Publication:  Asimov's Science Fiction, May 2000

Cover Artist:  Mark Garlick

After I read this story, I discovered that two other stories take place before it.  "Merlin's Gun" is the last (to date) story in the short fiction series "Merlin".

I previously read one novel ("Revelation Space") and two short stories ("Scales" and "Great Wall of Mars") by Reynolds.  All three provided me with an enjoyable reading experience.

1. In this story, Reynolds revisits the classic "weapon that can destroy the universe" theme that has appeared in numerous science fiction stories.  He develops some interesting twists on the idea.  Reynolds does a good job with the two main characters but the story fell short for me.  This is a case where I wish he had fleshed it out into a novella.  I was disappointed not to find out more at the end.

A decent story but not up to the level of his other work.

Blue Remembered Earth by Alastair Reynolds

From Amazon:

One hundred and fifty years from now, Africa has become the world’s dominant technological and economic power. Crime, war, disease and poverty have been eliminated. The Moon and Mars are settled, and colonies stretch all the way out to the edge of the solar system. And Ocular, the largest scientific instrument in history, is about to make an epochal discovery…

Geoffrey Akinya wants only one thing: to be left in peace, so that he can continue his long-running studies into the elephants of the Amboseli basin. But Geoffrey’s family, who control the vast Akinya business empire, has other plans for him. After the death of his grandmother Eunice—the erstwhile space explorer and entrepreneur—something awkward has come to light on the Moon, so Geoffrey is dispatched there to ensure the family name remains untarnished. But the secrets Eunice died with are about to be revealed—secrets that could change everything...or tear this near utopia apart.

My first Reynolds story was "Great Wall of Mars".  It was a great short story.  I followed it up with "Revelation Space" and it was a fascinating first novel.  So when Reynolds released the first book in a new trilogy ("Poseidon's Children) this year I thought I would follow this one as it was published.  Did it hold up to his previous work?  Yes and no.

The ideas are right up there with the other stories.  The individual scenes on the moon and beyond are amazing.  Unfortunately I was disappointed with the  segments that took place in Africa.  I realize they were important to Geoffrey's character but I thought Reynolds dedicated to this part of the story.    My favorite scenes were the ones on the moon with his sister.  The culture that he develops there is very interesting.

If that was the only drawback I would have liked this story more.  Unfortunately the main, driving plot was pedestrian and disappointed me.  I expected better from Reynolds.    Arthur C. Clarke is one of his inspirations and I have found some of his books to be more of a travel log than a novel.  This suffers from some of the same shortcomings.  Hopefully books two and three will have a better plot.

If you prefer idea driven books, i would recommend this one to you.  If you like plot driven books, I would take a pass on this and pick up one of his other titles.

"Scales" by Alastair Reynolds

It is hard to believe that Reynolds started having his stories published in 1990.  I still think of him as a newer writer.  "Scales" first appeared in 2009 as part of the Guardian Books Podcast.  It was reprinted in Lightspeed Magazine's May 2011 issue.


This is the first military fiction written by Reynolds that I remember.  When I finished it I thought of similar themes from Robert Heinlein's "Starship Troopers" and Joe Haldeman's "The Forever War".  Somehow Reynolds was able to fit many big ideas including humanity at war with an alien race, the evolution of humanity, the life of a soldier, and it all happened in a short story.  Usually Reynolds receives credit for his novels but I think he is a master of the short form.  This stand alone story deserves to be recognized.  I plan on checking out more of his short fiction.  This is the second of his short stories I have read and both were very good.


Highly recommended.  Not enough room to develop the characterization but the ideas and plot carry it at this short length.

Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds

New Space Opera has been an exciting development for me.  Although many quality science fiction books have appeared in recent years, the field went through a time where the stories were internally focused.  Philip K. Dick was one of the pioneers of this type of science fiction.  Read his “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?”.  The story is very tightly focused.  It is one of my favorite novels.  But, like most things in life, a steady diet of that type of fiction tends to overload my senses.  I like to switch between the Philip K. Dick novels and the galactic adventures that dominated the field for many years.  Some of my favorite early reading fiction experiences was the Lensman series by E. E. “Doc” Smith.  Another was the classic multi-author serial “Cosmos”.  Many of the old school space operas were not exactly high quality literature.  But they did generate a level of excitement that George Lucas tapped in to when he filmed “Star Wars”.  In response to the lack of epic stories, a new British invasion arrived.  The New Space Opera movement was born. 

I consider this the centerpiece of the new space opera sub-genre.  Alastair Reynolds created a memorable novel with his first book.  Reynolds included more ideas in this book than many authors put in a whole series.  If I had to compare “Revelation Space” to existing fiction works I would say it is a mix of the grand epic of “Dune” with the wild imagination of H. P. Lovecraft.  My only complaint is with the length.  Being a fan of the shorter novels (practically novellas) of the past, I sometimes need to take a break when reading the massive novels of modern science fiction and fantasy.  “Revelation Space” held my interest when I was reading but I tended to drift to other novels once I put it down.  “Dune” was one of the rare novels that kept pulling me back in despite the amount of pages I still had to read.  “Revelation Space” is a well written first novel that I would recommend to fans of new space opera.  I can’t wait to read the future books in this series. 

I am taking a break from this series to read one of his standalone novels (“House of Suns”).  After that I plan on returning to this universe to check out “Chasm City”.  If you want to sample this universe at a shorter length, try his “Great Wall of Mars”. 

"Great Wall of Mars"

This year, I plan on reading many of the authors I have not tried yet. First on my list is Alastair Reynolds. Adam, at Visions of Paradise, recommended Galactic North. The first story I read was "Great Wall of Mars".


I was very impressed with Reynolds. It did not take me long to get into the story. The background is filled in and was easy to pick up. Humanity has divided into 3 groups. The humans, the Demarchists (who use implants to create an "instant" democracy) and the Conjoiners(similar to Star Trek's Borg). Neil Clavain is sent on a peace mission to the Conjoiners base within the Great Wall. The Great Wall is an interesting concept. It is the only thing that is protecting the Conjoiners on Mars. Neil's brother ambushes his brother's ship and makes it look like the Conjoiners did it. Neil makes it to the base and meets up with his former captor, the Conjoiner Galiana. Neil's interaction with Galiana and the young Felka is the backbone of this story.

An excellent story that definitely made me a fan of Reynolds. I will be looking for his other works.