Chasm City might be my favourite scifi book I've read. As a standalone story, it's super compelling (soldier chases his love's murderer across space and time on a quest for vengeance!) and the futuretech depictions are just so detailed and crunchy and neat.
I haven't been back to Reynolds' work for a while, but Chasm City and The Prefect are VERY high up on list of my favorite books. I need to read Inhibitor Phase, but his series books are lower for me than his standalone books.
@@mattrobson3603 I've only read the trilogy, and it's good, but I have issues with it. I really should read Chasm City. And I've also got House of Suns very high on my TBR (just based on the synopsis and how higly others rate it).
@@Mentat1231 I loved House of Suns as well. I don't know if what you didn't like about the RS trilogy is the same stuff I disliked (but if you thought the Irravel Veda bookend for the last book wasn't good, and the ending was extremely rushed, and supposedly important elements were given almost no time or explanation...we're probably on at least a bit of the same page.) Maybe Inhibitor Phase hits a lot of what I didn't care for and retroactively makes the other books better, I don't know. I do know that Chasm City and House of Suns both do a better job of creating a big, interesting universe, putting characters in it, and then unfolding a plot in a fashion that mostly zips along and - possibly most importantly - comes to a solid ending.
man I swear you literally have the best taste in sci-fi. From Dune and 3BP to Blindsight and Children of Time, and now my boy Alastair? This is why I take your opinion to heart on just about everything. fantastic work
I could never fully appreciate sci-fi stories with FTL. When I discovered Revelation Space I was stunned such stories even existed. Alistair Reynolds opened me up to the domain of hard sci-fi and I am eternally grateful.
Imagination that game is too full of BS on the screen to tell a story properly, it lacks anything but a million shits to relation to. Read some books Cyber_childz, write some of your own, with the pathways you've taken in FTL playthroughs make them in fan fics. Games to packed with management and crap to actually let you experience the story telling part. It's too reallocate resources for this campaign, or built this and mine this. I don't carew w here's the travel part?? That rock I don't care is it a story , no get it the F away from me. I hate games like that, it's NO game at all and it's literally become over zealous or too RTS and management crap and not enough gameplay game. (TM) Hate that game too. Five seconds of game for 20 minutes of understanding and reading for ONE item F U devs. Jolly Wangcore plays that and it can't be good for him, look at him he plays shitty Half Life mods for a LIVING in his spare time just to have any semblance of fun as a Twitch Streamer. Sad really, go play Halo with sum buds you'll feel better Jolly. And as for you commentor, go play some video games and not that crap. You are restricting yourself too much. Did you have a Court Judge for a father and a Priestess mother? Just go the F outside and go the E store and pick up Deep Rock Galactic for crying out loud and have some fucking fun for once GAMES are NOT JOBS that is for the corpos, game deving is having half the fun in the original idea and making it better for more people. I can tell you Halo 3 and Bungie Days were FAR better than any shit 343 has farted out. Never mind Destiny being better than Halo 5, and Fortnite beating out ANY Royale game in the market, AND the best anticheat and still fun as long as you have your own fun in it. LOZ TOTK is the Fortnite of Dark Souls. That is a video game. Gun V 1 that is a game. Minecraft, is a video game. KOTOR II (Content Restoration Mod) and SWOTOR, Jedi Fallen Order is a game. I am saying those are fun and you can make stories in them. FTL is there to make you wish you had a better game to play, think Hagan Daes and Blue Bunny. Resource management is not fun, punking it up in Cyberpunk 2020 but with some friends in the modern era would be better than the awful 1980s and their era of "Asbestos" and crap tech and minimal understanding in medicine and biotechnology. Gray Goo, they just had that in place of "Nano machines" "Clones" for MJ plants, back in the day they called them "Cuttings". Don't make me laugh young one. Go have some fun and experience what a real video game can be an can do for you. If I played FTL I'd be wondering the whole time when do I get out of the tutorial and into the real meat and potatoes of the game. Nope, it's all one big tutorial on how to troll people. Look, Inventory management is not a game either but there is more to Fallout 4 than just bad NPC programming (Preston) Settlement building (shacks and shanties b/c who cares) "every time you add a mod on console it makes game more unstable" and then on PC people lie and say they have a trillion or X amount, absolutely unrealistically and proud of their effing lies to a console gamer that's "Amazingly stupid" and a total fabrication. You want to kill yourself slaving over nothing or do you want to have fun and be frustrated for normal reasons? Clothes, do you want your ass raised up more, or do you want to be able to walk without stilts? Functionality and agency. Comfortable or realistic? Realistically Asimov's Perfect Man will just get the rest of us killed while he doesn't effing care bout nothing but the "one" they might love as most SCp spin offs are from there. Mr. Perfect doesn't have empathy. Pathetic what a tin can. Tin Man. All byte but none of the bark. Gunna have a baby with Mr. Tin Man, no sperm. Build more of the perfect devils, fine destroy humanity and replace them with literal cheap mock imitations. You will never have the real thing after that ever again You are losing something truly unique for "cybernetic Immortality as Asimov's Perfect Man. Not truly human all the way but with none of the draw back better than human ever but somehow still a monster. What's an alcoholic drink without the kick of the alcohol and the lasting effects? (Bioshock Infinite's Burial At Sea part 1 had the best video game whiskey, it lasts. a WHILE) Synthetic alcohol, you lose it weakness and deliver in place sobriety of drinking one glass of water no matter how much you drink of the synth alch and you get sober. What is perfect without the Imperfections to make them perfect in the first place. Games wearing the clothes of a sheep are not fun. What are emotions without the illogical nature of feeling and consequence, guilt? Those are real and FTL is just a term for Faster Than Light travel we can't stand, we will be turned to goo. That is also very real. Red Dead 2 is MORE realistic, and realism like say GTA 5 or CoD is more fake in terms of realism. Think Uncanny Vally. Metal Gear is the best of the two areas. Metal Gear 5 TPP and from Snake Eater, Sons of the Patriots to Ground Zeros goes even further in that department.
Many OG sci-fi stories: -Go to space -Get fucking folded lol Actually a part of what made the Mass Effect series of games so interesting. Especially ME1. It's a familiar story for old sci fi fans but it was nice to see it in a participatory medium.
glad to see you covering Revelation Space and hopefully more in the series. This series was a big inspiration to me to get more and more I to Sci-Fi in general and are some very fun but thought out set of books. Chasm City is definitely a good companion book for the series and also has a couple of nice nods to the main four books of the series as well.
I'm so excited that you're doing Alistair Reynolds! He is one of my favorite sci-fi authors! His stories are so weird and different. I've never read an author quite like him.
Most people don't realize this, but Alastair Reynolds is like the Tolkien of science fiction, not because of he shaped a whole genre, but because some of his stories has some subtle religion themes imbeded on it, some stories of him, like Beyond the Aquila Rift are filled to the brim with christian symbolism, and not presented in a bad light. Also, heavy Mass Effect vibes with his stories!
Alastair Reynolds is great. His short story "Beyond the Aquila Rift” was my favorite episode so far in the first three seasons of "Love, Death, & Robots."
Reynolds revelation series definitely is a defining piece of art. After that it took some time to appreciate other works by his hand. I didn't know there was a new episode out. Online shopping also bloks out a lot if you do not specifically look for it.
So good to see some love for Alastair Reynolds! I hope he gets more recognition and maybe screen adaptations (so far all we have is a couple of shorts from Love Death and Robots).
@@unixux Actually, Beyond the Aquila Rift is almost perfect, it isn't identical to the original story, but actually complement the original one without stray away from the source material. You should definetely watch, and theres also Zima Blue too.
I love the entire Revelation Space universe, it has so many vast concepts and situations...but I have to say that is pretty bleak sometimes, and most characters are relentless. This is not bad, it's just something that I find quite characteristic from this universe. I can recommend The Prefect and Turquoise Days, Diamond Dogs, they are both set in the same universe and they are quite cool as well (and of course Chasm City...).
I love the Revelation Space books and Alastair Reynolds is one of my favorite SF authors. He recently wrote a stand alone, Eversion, which is amazing. I also like his gothic slant on science fiction. His short stories are also fantastic. More please.
Would definitely want to hear more about the series. I have read all of them and look forward to your thoughts and impressions. I am wanting to reread them now!
Glad you got around to this awesome series. I think a proper chronological readthrough should place Chasm City in line before Revelation Space, even though it was published later. It expands on a lot of the history as well as smaller characters and plot points that pop up in future books.
Yeeeeess! I've been hoping you'd cover these for ages I'm psyched to see them get the love they deserve! Alistairs books were my first leaps into reading scifi, he has a massive library ranging from series to short stories and I look forward to you diving in deeper :D
oh my god. alastair reynolds is my number 1 favorite sci fi author. the freaking world building this man writes is staggeringly beautiful, fascinating and terrifying. i can not stress enough how much i want everyone to read every one of his books! just subbed and thrilled to see u cover reynolds!!!
Great that you're covering Alistar Reynolds. He is my absolute favorite sci-fi author, I love his style and the universe he created. I first got into him because worked at the European Space Agency, like I did. That's why his books read so "logically" as you put it, because its based in the astrophysics he is a specialist in. Anyway, this was a great vid, I wasn't aware that he'd released the next book, so thanks for the heads up! Please cover more of Alistair's work, there are so many great stories: A deep breakdown of the Inhibitor story would be amazing, The Prefect, Century Rain and House of Suns are all great stand alone stories too. I always imagined that his universe would translate really well to a gritty big screen space opera. What do you think? Great vid, keep 'em coming!
I'd love for you to do some videos about the Culture novels by Iain M Banks. There are so many different concepts in them that at times they can get quite dizzying.... and then there is The Algebraist, a standalone novel set in a different fictional universe, thatmight have spawned a sequel if only the author had lived longer...
I know nothing about these books you keep doing but I watch all your sci fi uploads because you do a phenomenal job covering them while being interesting. You are the reason I’ve started listening to three body problem on audible ! Great job
What I like best about your channel is that I've read many of the books you cover (but never read the Dune series!) and when reading them over the years, always only had my own mental model for the stories. Now getting your breakdowns and insights is a huge treat. Please consider Cixing Liu's "The Supernova Era" sometime (it's a comparatively light read). Thanks Quinn!
What did you think of Terminal World and the Revenger series? It's a bit more fantastical than his other stories but that's also what makes em fun imo ;) I still think either of them would be sick for a TTRPG with some tweaking.
I’m making my way through all the books you’ve spoken about, so far I got the Lilith’s brood series and Children of time down. I know a lot about the three body problem from watching many summary videos but still intend to read it. Right now I’m listening to this book, as well as the Hyperion cantos. Your recommendations are absolutely incredible! You’ve become my method of finding new stories to get into. My next venture will be the books you’ve written, I’m so excited! You have 100% become my favorite RU-vidr currently
Me two love his work except the one with the uplifted elephants, I couldn’t get into it, might give it another go though, just coz he’s such a good writer!
I've listened to all the full-length novels in this series, as well as most of the short stories set in the same universe. He really is a terrific writer. I can't get enough of his work.
I have only read Revelation Space and ChasmCity so I had to pause when you said “it turns out the inhibitors…” I look forward to finishing this video in a few months when I get to the rest of the series
Ooh, Revelation Space, how exciting! I've read everything written by Reynolds, he's an amazing author, a trailblazer in his genre. The Revelation Space universe is one of my favorite sci-fi universes.
> A trailblazer is a person who is paving the way in their particular field for future generations. I must, so very much disagree. These novels simply do not sound interesting in the slightest. They just sound like taking what others have written before and changing it slightly. Hardly "trailblazing" worthy acclaim.
@@Zeithri You haven't read the novels, have you? He's not paving any paths in the general sci-fi category, but rather his sort of bleak, eerie, noir-like genre of a haunted space. Yeah, maybe "trailblazing" is a bit much. He definitely rehashes ideas of the Greats before him. I grew up on Revelation Space so there's a nostalgia component to my opinion. But I've never read anything like this works since. There are scenes and images from the novels that have just stuck with me. I've read a fair amount of contemporary sci-fi and Reynolds is up there in my top 5. (Only counting his works nearer the 2000s. His more recent stuff has started choking on page quotas and woke.)
i think trailblazing is a fair description, shame about the 3rd book, but whatever, the first 2 are original and deserve whatever praise people wanna put on them.
In very glad I discovered your channel Quinn. Your videos on the Cixin LIU helped me tie up one of my stories that I turned into a video series called The War Being The Stars. I’d love to get your input since you are also a fan of Lovecraft. All the best.
This is one of my favorite series! So glad to see you covering it! Edit (because I commented before even watching through the whole video) - This is a great analysis! Something I think is good to know about the book Chasm City is that although it is standalone plot-wise, it ties in to many of the characters and situations in the broader series as well. It was an amazing experience the first time I reread Revelation Space after reading Chasm City, and understood how much of it was connected. Also, I'd love to see more videos about the series from your channel! Especially about the Melding Plague (my favorite concept) or inertia suppression (one of the scenes involving that has a special place in my heart as the most viscerally terrifying thing I've ever read!)
Holy crap I've been waiting for you to cover Revelation Space for years! Don't forget to cover the book Chasm City! It may not seem like part of the main series, but it has a lot of critical information about the melding plague.
Please do more videos on the Revelation Space universe. It’s one of my favorite sci-fi universes of all time. Lots of good videos could come from exploring it.
I am so happy to find this video. Alastair Reynolds is my favorite living author. Yes I would like to hear more of your ideas about this amazing series of books. In fact, I have lost my copy of Redemption Ark. In honer of this video I am going to buy a new copy from Amazon and I will use your link to do it.
the Revelation Space series is a work of art in my opinion, and Chasm City is probably my most beloved stand alone scifi novel. Chasm City would also be a fantastic setting for an RPG video game.
So happy to see you started covering Revelation Space. Myself and others have been suggesting it for a little while now thank you for covering this great series. RS is on par with Dune.
Probably one of my favorite side stories was the Armoury on nostalgia for infinity. Nothing like a hold full of ancient sentient weapons most of which no one understands how they work or what they do.
oooo i like the idea of the nano tech city. There are so many cool concepts in these novels you cover that we never rly see in popular sci fi/movies/tv
Thanks Quinn! My book buddy passed away this last year so I lost a major source of reliable book referrals & now you have my to read list packed again & for that you have my gratitude. ✌🏽🖖🏼👍🏽
I’ve read none of these books but have been hooked on your channel this past week and have ordered a few of the books you have discussed. If they’re anything close to as captivating as your summaries of them are I’m in for a treat 🥳
So glad you're diving into books by Alastair Reynolds. He creates such an amazing setting for his stories. Absolution Gap is one of my all time favorites, next to the Remembrance of Earth's Past
Love your channel. I'm a avid reader like you. Always have been but now that im retired i read 10 to 12 hours a day as i generally have all the free time i want. Sci-fi and horror are my favorites, but i also read alot of science books. You suggestions on books are excellent. The three body problem is probably the best Sci-fi series ever. Anyway thank you so much ,you sir are a treasure.
Im in a similar situation and I agree with your assessment of Mr Quinn 🤠 as a treasure. He has brought me so much pleasure since I discovered his Channel. His insights are always illuminating and I never fail to be impressed by the care, attention and sheer hard work that goes into each video. We sre lucky to have him.
I just subcribed wow too bad i dint find you earlier, your narration is so immersive, wish you narrated all those series like audiobooks. I really enjoying this, thanks for the effort in bringing this type of Syfy content 👌
FINALLY! Some Alastair Reynolds, he is the BEST! Also, if you are interested, theres actually two adaptations of some of the short stories from Alastair Reynolds that you can watch right now, on Netflix, theres the anthology series Love, Death and Robots, in the First season you will find two eps, Zima Blue and Beyond the Aquila Rift, i highly recomend for this two eps alone, altough the first season of the anthology is really good.
Thank you SO much for providing the Affiliate link! I've been buying books based on your reviews and LOVING them! So I'll definitely be using that link!
Thanks again Quinn for introducing me to new sci-fi. I have just ordered Revelaiton Space. I don't think you're getting enough credit for promoting decent sci-fi that doesn't get enough coverage. Got a week off next week, so will be looking forward to getting into this.
2:55 As I understood this, Melding Plague just attacked nanotechnology. So both biology and machinery, and even old-style electronics were still safe. The problem was, however, that many people had nanotech implants, and also quite much of civilisation-relevant systems (such as homes in most advanced cities) were heavily dependant on nanotechnology. So when this failed, people were screwed, in many cases quite literally.
Magnificent...... One of the best...one of my favorites.... Thank you....this is my 1st message to any you tuber...impressive your quality and content... Plus a published author...I hope for more..
