Chris

I'm a bit torn on this one. On one hand I enjoyed it - the action was nicely paced and there are some interesting sci-fi concepts to be found. As mentioned elsewhere on this site, Mr. Reynolds presents an intriguing (and unsettling) solution to the Fermi Paradox which has piqued my interest for book 2, which I'll probably read...

But on the other hand, the characters are 2-dimensional and the dialogue is stunted and rather heavy on exposition. It also falls for that weird sci-fi trope where characters call each other by their surname. Who does that in real life?!

It never gets unbearable though and I enjoyed the book regardless. Alastair Reynolds is no Iain M Banks or even Peter F Hamilton. But he scratches a sci-fi itch, if that is what you're after.