Revelation Space

So Revelation Space is a book that establishes the universe in which the similarly titled anthology is set.  I bought a digital copy of the collection which is well worth the asking price (if you can find it anywhere!) - I would guess it contains around a million words (no counting was done to verify this), most of which are worth reading.

The universe is well realised, which isn't surprising considering the breadth of work available in the collection, but it establishes itself with authority, it feels obvious that there is a plan in action and you are welcome to join in despite the obvious lack of a stated direction at the beginning.

The singular style ensures that once you've read and enjoyed the first, you are almost guaranteed to like the subsequent additions.  This also helps when jumping between time zones within the fiction itself as any character vagaries or lack of environmental definition are intentional, and importantly, known to be intentional by all involved.  Trust between author and reader is important in all work, doubly so in science fiction because both parties work together with the express aim of building into an unknown space; more so again in hard sci-fi because everything is set within the realms of current human understanding.  There are no warp engines with which story can be progressed, nor are there magical powers with which the day can be saved.  Any incongruity is a potentially insurmountable hurdle.

The pure 'future,' science is interesting enough, but the applications of current thinking are the most intriguing parts.  The melding (that's a pun, for those who might have read it) of the human and technological is well conceived, especially the use of the animal kingdom.  Other topics such as immortality and epidemic are less well handled, purely because these particular tropes are somewhat tired.  That isn't to say they're not interesting as applied to this universe, more that they take longer to reach virgin territory than, for example, the characterisation of the ships.

The plots within the collection stand alone despite sharing familiar characters and locations.  They are interwoven in interesting and unexpected ways, tending to shy from direct character sequels and taking a much longer term view of the universe than books in other genres.  While this approach is fairly standard for science fiction due to the mind boggling distances and time-spans space encompasses, it is still pleasing enough to see a nod and wink to former books and characters.  They are, however, somewhat blunt.  Instead of writing around interactions the author has chosen to outright include these ties without any allusion or mystery.  This is a bonus if you're not looking to add your own flavour, less so if you don't require everything spelled out.

Loss of humanity or the evolution of humanity is another well worn road that is tackled in particular detail within this compilation.  All the books think about the nature of a humanity capable of self modification with an interesting mix of interpretations in the manifold forms this might take.  This is one of the draws of this series, and I won't say much, except that the outcomes are fairly standard if you have read any genre books in the past - but the characters and characterisations are superb despite the obviousness of their foundations.

There are precious few books that truly innovate, that bring new ideas into the mainstream.  This is not one of those innovators, but what it does show is that tropes handled by less skilled writers are still valid in the hands of the more adept, and this author is most certainly among the adept.

The Revelation Space collection is not a transformative work, it is an excellent evolution of worn ideas.