How cool is this cover! I do love a good bit of sci-fi and Alastair Reynolds delivers. He has a Ph.D in astronomy and after leaving astrophysics for writing, he has produced a whole bunch of great novels. When you have that kind of background, you can guarantee that the depth of his sci-fi world will be stunning.
Elysium Fire is set in the same world as The Prefect (2007) which has been renamed as Aurora Rising, but this is a stand-alone novel. However if you prefer to have a bit more background then seek this first novel out.
The premise involves Prefect Dreyfus who is part of a sort-of task force which patrols the Glitter Band and its hundred-million citizens. Not everyone is happy with the way the Prefects run things and there are the beginnings of civil unrest among the colonies. Making matters worse, the brain implants that every citizen has, have been malfunctioning seemingly randomly and killing the unlucky victims. The Prefects are in charge of figuring out why this is happening.
This novel is pretty heavy reading, not one you can devour in a night or two. Typical of sci-fi there are a lot of characters to keep track of, as well as names unique to the world which take some remembering. There is plenty of awesome high-tech, gadgety stuff and the overall content makes you think deeply and stays with you once the book has finished.
I enjoyed this novel, it took me a while to get into but I think I just wasn't ready for such a heavy book when I started reading. Alastair Reynolds is a great author and this book has been reviewed very highly since its publication. If you are a sci-fi fan, check out this novel, as well as others by Reynolds. You won't be disappointed.
Thanks to Hachette for my review copy of this book.
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