Galactic North (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "'You realise you might die down there,' said Warren..." (more)
Key Phrases: dilation sleep, chest armour, other worms, Van Ness, Colonel Jax, Melding Plague (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A very worth while collection, with hints of what may be coming in future novels. Dark, vicious science fiction." STARBURST "The UK's pre-eminent hard- sci-fi author of the past decade. Let's hope Reynolds has plenty more mind space to explore." EDGE "The stories are written with real energy. Dark, satirical and frequently dystopian. This is gothic SF with gore as Reynolds ensures his taut narratives grip from the first sentence." -- Jonathan Wright SFX "Dark, gothic and graphic, with tightly composed narratives full of shocks and jaw-dropping moments. Atmosphere and economically-drafted characters are as important as the big ideas." -- Dave Golder BBC FOCUS --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description

Set in the Revelation Space universe-the first short story collection by "one of SF's best and most ambitious novelists." (SFX)

With eight short stories and novellas- including three original to this collection- Galactic North imparts the centuries-spanning events that have produced the dark and turbulent world of Revelation Space.

Centuries from now, the basic right to expand human intelligence-beyond its natural limits-has become a war-worthy cause for the Demarchists and Conjoiners. Only vast lighthugger starships bind these squabbling colonies together, manned by the panicky and paranoid Ultras. And the hyperpigs just try to keep their heads down.

The rich get richer. And everyone tries not to think about the worrying number of extinct alien civilizations turning up on the outer reaches of settled space...because who's to say that humanity won't be next?

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Ace Hardcover; 1st Printing edition (June 5, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0441015131
• ISBN-13: 978-0441015139
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #525,328 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Future in Smaller Doses, April 27, 2008

By	Arthur W. Jordin (Smyrna, GA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Galactic North (2006) is a collection of SF stories set in the Revelation Space universe. It contains eight stories and an Afterword by the author.

Great Wall of Mars is a Conjoiner story about Nevil Clavain and Galiana in the home nest. Glacial relates another Clavain and Galiana tale about a failed outsystem colony. A Spy in Europa recounts a Demarchist tale about an enemy agent who gives his all. Weather describes the rescue of a Conjoiner from a pirate ship and how she returns the favor.

Dilation Sleep tells of a refugee from Yellowstone who operates on a crewmember with the Melding Plague. Grafenwalder's Bestiary features a collector of rare beasts in the Yellowstone Rust Belt. Nightingale is about a mission to retrieve a Sky Edge war criminal from a lost hospital ship. Galactic North takes a ramliner captain on a millennia long pursuit of a pirate ship.

These stories convey various short subjects within the RS milieu. It covers all the several technological/political groups found within the novels, but develops their characteristics in greater detail. Since the novels are packed with strange technologies and politics, this collection makes a great introduction to the longer works. Enjoy!

Highly recommended for Reynolds fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of lightspeed ships, exotic technology and outsystem colonies.

-Arthur W. Jordin

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Short stories set in the Revelation Space universe, June 7, 2007

By	Woofdog (Miami) - See all my reviews

This review may contain spoilers.

This book presupposes some familiarity with the Revelation Space series, as some stories lose a lot of their meaning or significance if you don't understand persons or events referred to. Others depend much less on any familiarity with RS.

Along with the recent publication of The Prefect, Alistair Reynolds has begun publishing in the RS universe again. Stories here include background stories on Nevil Clavain, Felka, and Galiana, stories set in the Sol System, a story set on Yellowstone post-plague, one on Sky'e Edge, and a somewhat bizarre story which finally gives more than a name to Greenfly, (which was tossed into the very end of Absolution Gap with no explanation whatsoever, one of several defects in that title,) though the temporal telescoping in the last story reminds me more of something Poul Anderson might have written.

I wonder if Reynolds himself had decided on the origin of greenfly when Absolution Gap was published; the 4-page epilogue which substituted for actual resolution of that book gives few if any clues...

This is an enjoyable collection, well worth getting!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Sprinkling of Gems, July 28, 2008

By	Avid Reader (Franklin, Tn) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Galactic North (Paperback)

Although Reynolds is best know for his detailed, long and literate space operas, I found this collection of related tales quite satisfying. Think of a series of vignettes stringing into the future with occasional references to the past and that's the nature of this book. Each tale is a complete story in itself although knowing a little background is helpful.

Many of the stories are simply mysteries to be solved; others highlight a new direction for mankind or choices we will one day be forced to make. All of them draw the reader into the action and the characters until, at the end, a sort of surrealistic haze covers the landscape. He has gone beyond words and yet there they are, describing almost unimaginable creatures and events. Yet, after all is said and done, after all the smart matter, new intelligences, nanotech, discovery of the inner secrets of the universe, it is still the human relationship that excites and drives and makes us want to read more.

My Grade: A