Customer Reviews

Terminal World

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Alastair Reynolds is a novelist that I feel I can buy without considering a review of his work, or even reading the back of the novel. I've read everything he's written to date, and he is a very good author. The only weak work out there I'd finger is Diamond Dogs / Turquoise Days which always struck me as writing that was unsaleable before he hit it big, and was published when they asked him if he had anything else kicking around...

Unfortunately a lot of authors seem to go through this cycle: write junk, get rejected, write something better, get rejected, write something good, get rejected, write something very very good and get it published. They write out their good ideas, with polished novels using skills they learned in breaking through.

Then there is either greed, or laziness, or both. Older ideas get pulled out and dusted off, these will now sell based on strength of name.

This novel I feel falls into this category. It's not terrible, but it is nowhere nearly as interesting as the complicated plotlines and interwoven stories of his other works. This reads as teen science fiction. It doesn't even really have a plot, and what little is there, never resolves itself.

The action scenes are not very interesting, the main character is dull and I can't even really tell you what he is about. Is he a man of action? Not really. A moral man? I guess maybe a bit. He tells you more about things he has done in the past than actually does anything of interest in this novel. So do most characters.

Reynolds breaks out some cliches that should have made editors groan and reject this novel when submitted... Character A mentions some mysterious legend in passing, Character B says whoa please tell me more about this mysterious legend. Character A says: YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT IT. Or, EVERYONE KNOWS THAT IS A MYTH. Or, NOBODY HAS EVER GONE THERE AND COME BACK ALIVE.

This happens over and over again in this novel. Right away, as a reader, I groan... guess we're getting a visit from the mysterious people, or visiting the mysterious location shortly. Seriously, it's worse than George Lucas writing. "I've got a bad feeling about this." Yes indeed.

I could even have forgiven some of this if the story actually resolved. The main character is left hanging. Not that we really care about him. The people he is supposed to help, left hanging. The entire main plot thread is left hanging.

If this is intended as the beginning of a series, I will be very disappointed if it is followed up. It's an uninteresting novel, and a letdown from a very good novelist. Read it only if you are a Reynolds completist, but even so if you are drawn to sophisticated work like Banks and Wolfe and like the Reynolds work that approaches those novelists then you will find this work rather than pleasure.

I have read and own every one of Reynolds' books to date and a large helping of his short stories where I could find reprints. With this book, I was initially hoping for another hard, technical, super-detailed, jaw-dropping "Wow" journey of cosmic imagination; a masterwork of hard science fiction like nobody but Reynolds can write. As I got further into the book (don't worry, no plot spoilers here) at first I became mildly disappointed, because I could tell there wasn't going to be any crazy space battles, lightspeed barrier shattering, or any insane astrophysics hyper-concepts.

However, I realized quickly that Reynolds had chosen instead to write in what some people would call a "Steampunk" style...and that it was working...really well. As I kept reading it grew on me more and more, until I was just as attached to the main character as I was with any of his other novels (which is saying a lot). Century Rain did the same thing; it was a stylistic departure from what we have come to expect from Reynolds - the best hard sci fi there is (See Revelation Space trilogy for transenlightenment).

Having personally struggled with writing myself for a number of years, I can say it's really hard to come up with concepts that work and don't come off as cheesy, and it's even harder to jump your normal ship and swim with the sharks of a different genre than you normally write. Reynolds deserves applause for swimming with the sharks and stomping them all in the face, because this is one killer book - even without the spaceships and Conjoiners. I have read some reviews that say the plot was basic, and I've come across other reviewers saying Reynolds does nothing for character development (which I disagree with). This is one book that smashes that flat on the nose - by the time you get to the end of Terminal World, you'll be sad that there aren't any more books (yet) about the Doctor's adventures after this one. And given that this author made a name for himself redefining hard sci fi, it's a brave move to suddenly throw the gears and come out with something as different as this book.

So, to everyone who knocked this book, I have some gentle words.....go try to write your own five hundred page book, and see how you do. It's easy to criticize but far harder to create.

Hats off to Reynolds for giving us another great book!

As an avid SF-fan and owner of all the previous Reynold's novels I was excited to pick up Terminal World. The set is tempting, the world detailed enough and author's writing strong enough to have all the ingredients for a thrilling story. Unfortunately the plot falls a bit short on its expectations, the story being somewhat familiar to those who've read Banks and Stross. In the middle of nowhere the lead character stumbles upon someone meant for greatness, and becomes slowly aware of this as their journey together progresses. More strange things happen, but they endure. In the end most open questions get answered and reader's curiosity satisfied.

This sort of story can be told in many ways, but in this case it lacks the thrill of Reynold's previous novels. I'm still going to continue reading his works, but this was the first to disappoint somewhat.

This book seems half put together from notes the author had made - it seems rushed and disjointed. The time lines do not flow smoothly and the chapters all have kernels of ideas but do not seem fully fleshed. I kept waiting for the author to bring it all together like he usually does with his plot lines that at 1st seem like they cannot converge coherently. There are hints off brilliance here but the author ultimatley succumbs to what I call the Stephen King problem - he just does not know how to end this book in a way that brings any satisfaction or desire to read any sequel. I have purchased almost everything this man has written and this is the first bad experience. It is so rare that I am writing my 1st ever Amazon review to warn other die-hard A.R. fans this is the exception to A.R. 's brilliance.

Looking over the other reviews, I can see I am not alone in suspecting someone other than Alastair Reynolds wrote this. It is nothing like his usual, fascinating, engrossing stories. The characters were unbearable: insipid, each and every one of them. The main character had the distinction of being the most insipid of all. Usually the characters in his stories are dark, complex and realistic. These were goody-goody to the point of unbelievability. I wanted to give up on the book after I was about 10% in, but there was a hint of some cool plot ahead so I persisted. There was none. His last book, House of Suns, wove unusual consequences of relativity and long-term galactic space travel into a brilliant story effortlessly. So the question is: who really wrote Terminal World?

This is a departure from his previous work, and not in a good way; it looks like it was written by a precocious high schooler. I admit that what started my disappointment was finding that, in contrast to what the teaser implies, there are no posthumans in this book, just people with wings. I'll admit that I don't love steampunk. I've loved Reynolds' other works for being hard SF but still having an element of the gothic about them. This has neither. It seems a slight work, with sloppy plotting, characterization, worldbuilding, and dialogue. It's also bereft of the big ideas that power his other books. I'd certainly give this a miss and wait til Reynolds gets around to putting in the time to write well. On the other hand, if you love airships enough to put up with all of that, you just might want to go along on the extended airship romp that fills the book's second half. If so, please buy my copy; this sort of writing should not be encouraged when someone can do so much better, and I'd like half my money back.

Alistair Reynolds has been a rock star as far as the new generation of science fiction writers, with a whole string of really excellent books to his credit... But this book was a letdown. I slogged through it but it just wasn't very interesting or engaging and didn't feel innovative at all. More like a not-very-good tribute to China Mieville.

Great story. Like every work from Alastair, this novel is very involving and vividly full of details. However, the end comes abruptly and unexpectedly, right in the middle of the final adventure. There is no closure, and most of the questions raised during the novel go unanswered.

I really thought I would find a sequel to this book, so I was kind of shocked when I learned it is a standalone novel. I want to know how everything ends, what happen to Quillon and what was the cause for the zones.

I've read every Reynolds novel (subsequently assigned the genre "Space Opera"). TERMINAL WORLD, however, takes place on old Terra Firma. There is a world of positives here - imagination, inventive plot, wonderful characters. We've seen the zoned Earth idea before but never has it been presented with such detail and panache. Reynold's unique contribution was his realization that changing the laws of nature affected not only mechanical but also biological entities. Few readers, though, were looking for 500 pages without computers or flights of fancy (or spaceships). Neither did they expect folks to get around in dirigibles and fight with crossbows. While catchy, this plot device is in many ways a cop out.

Characters were classic Reynolds. The "angel", Quillon, took center stage, joined by a fine accompanying cast headed by Meroka, his guide, and including a special girl, various Swarm officials and other interesting folks. Like many, I kept waiting for something to happen. Maybe the hapless journeyers would enter a zone allowing electricity but instead we drift toward a denouement of the worst kind.

One character, Ricasso, the Swarm captain, was misused. Here was a renaissance man and budding scientist obsessed with history, the origin of the zones and the nature of the world. He could have provided a foil for answers but the author chooses murky action. Reynolds, having gone this far in the story, could hardly reverse directions so we're left with a lame ending and many questions: What are the origins of the zones, angels and techtomancers? When did the disaster occur? (Considering the presence of the flag of the PRC, one must assume it is the present.) Why did such advanced machinery resemble junk and what is the purpose of the tectomancers? My grade - C+

This is set on a terraformed world, many thousands of years in the future, when the world's history has been largely forgotten. The planet is dominated by a single city, Spearpoint, built on an artificial mountain spiking high into space. The world is divided into shifting "zones" which limit the available technology in a given area. (This is reminiscent of the interstellar zones of Vernor Vinge's "A Fire Upon the Deep".) High up on Spearpoint live the angels, who can fly and who have access to futuristic high technology. Lower down are cities limited to 20th c electricity, lower still limited to steam, lower still to horse power. Wandering the world are the "skullboys", large gangs of drug-crazed killers. An entire civilized culture, the "swarm", live in a moving airship city.

Our hero is a disguised renegade angel, now a doctor, fleeing his former compatriots. A sudden enormous zone shift throws the world into disarray. Our hero struggles first to survive and then to bring aid to the devastated Spearpoint.

Reynolds writes well and the portrayals of the different technological levels are skillfully done, with many clever ideas. However, the novel moves very slowly, particularly in the central sections where there are many minor events but little real plot development. Part of the problem is that our heroes faces many local challenges, but no overarching enemy, so the mood is often more of a travelogue than a conventional adventure. (The skullboys make poor adversaries, because of their disorganized nature.) Things do pick up near the end, and Reynolds provides a reasonably satisfying conclusion.

Overall four stars. There is some good writing and some good ideas, compensating for a slow plot.