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  • Revelation Space

  • Written by: Alastair Reynolds
  • Narrated by: John Lee
  • Length: 22 hrs and 12 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (161 ratings)

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Revelation Space

Written by: Alastair Reynolds
Narrated by: John Lee
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Publisher's Summary

Nine hundred thousand years ago, something annihilated the Amarantin civilization just as it was on the verge of discovering space flight. Now one scientist, Dan Sylveste, will stop at nothing to solve the Amarantin riddle before ancient history repeats itself.

With no other resources at his disposal, Sylveste forges a dangerous alliance with the cyborg crew of the starship Nostalgia for Infinity. But as he closes in on the secret, a killer closes in on him because the Amarantin were destroyed for a reason. And if that reason is uncovered, the universe - and reality itself - could be irrevocably altered.

©2008 Alastair Reynolds (P)2008 Tantor

What the critics say

"One of the best books of the year." ( Science Fiction Chronicle)
"Ferociously intelligent and imbued with a chilling logic - it may really be like this Out There." (Stephen Baxter, co-author of The Light of Other Days)

What listeners say about Revelation Space

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

It's....alright

So this was a bit more, out there, than I had expected. I had to check a few times to see if I had accidentally jumped into the middle of a book series, there is so much reference to centuries of past history. But that's OK, Game of Thrones does the same thing but much more articulated. This almost feels fantasy sci-fi mix, but not. There are so many variations of human in this world its hard to keep track of. Also I am no author, but it seems in places that should be a chapter break, there isn't, which makes things a bit hard to follow, and there are some huge passages of time between chapters at times. I also didn't care for the narrator. I was looking for something to fill the void left by "The Expanse" and this is not it.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Overly complicated

I think this book is a little overly compacted with too many characters and poor transitions making it cumbersome to follow. Also, quite slow and boring. If it wasn’t for the excellent narration it would be a fail.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Amazingly creative story

loved the story! Alistair Reynolds weaves multiple stories together in an epic conclusion which I didn't see coming. Looking forward to checking out the rest of the series. John Lee tho, it's not a very good narrator. He's hard to understand and follow, and the dialogue he uses often blends multiple characters together, making it hard to picture who is talking.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Deep stuff, Second read was better then first

I like this book but I am not as big on it as some other titles. That's what I thought when I first read this then I got into the universe, it's really incredible storytelling. Already read up to inhibitor phase now reread it cus it make way more sense.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fire the audio engineer.

My speakers are clipping at the beginning of a sentence, and I can't hear the end of the sentence. Gripping story, terrible sound engineering.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

AWESOME scifi story. just get 8 chapters in first!

Start of the book takes a bit of time to understand but once the pieces fall in place, it's gripping. This scifi takes the bleeding edge of current knowledge and takes it to the extreme.

Love this book!

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The Revelation Space universe rocked my world

Alastair Reynolds weaves multiple stories together in this epic sci-fi saga. I can so easily picture the deep, details worlds described by Reynolds. The characters are interesting and complex. The story is gripping and hard to stop listening to. My only wish is that this book gets made into a movie someday! #Audible1

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Read the book

Very interesting story and enjoyed it very much. As others have noted though it’s a bit of a chore to keep everything straight because there is no way to tell that there has been a change in scene until you figure out who’s talking and the narrator doesn’t make clear separate voices to help the process I think reading the book myself would of been a better choice for me.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • AC
  • 2022-04-21

An excellent space opera!

An incredible story full of twists, revelations, and excellent world building, this was an absolute joy to listen too. I found the characters compelling especially as their back stories, motivations and machinations come to light.

Reynolds writes in a way that always leaves the reader/listener pondering, reflecting, and inferring on what has happened, is happening, and could happen. I had so much fun with this book and recommend it to anyone who is looking for a grand space opera.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great story, editing needs work

I agree with a lot of the other reviewers here; this is such a great story, haunting in places and a great slow burn at first, but the editing needs some work. It’s hard to pick when the narrative switches from one character to another. Sometimes it sounds like it occurs in a single sentence.

After a few chapters you can adapt and listen for the change but it’s a little frustrating.

The narrator is solid otherwise though and it really is a killer story.

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