Pirates in Space

I've long been a fan of Alastair Reynolds and am always looking forward to his new books. Happily, Revenger is great. The story is fairly simple, the tale of two sisters - one who is captured by space pirates and the other who sets out to find her.

It's a fun ride with well thought out characters and hints at a much bigger universe which I hope Reynolds will explore again in the future.

If there is one fault, it's the narrator. While she had a good voice, it doesn't quite fit the story and she struggles with some of the male voices

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5 people found this helpful

Excellent book!

This represents a change of tack for this author. The book is set in a universe populated by millions of asteroids which have been developed over eons by other lost alien populations. Humans now have reverted to an almost Victorian era. Tech is available which they can barely maintain but certainly can't manufacture. Spaceships use solar sails to travel and are are crewed by the equivalent of a tea clipper from the 1850's. Throw into the pot a vicious female pirate and an indomitable 17 year old girl hell bent on revenge and you have a gripping, compelling story. It's categorically set up for one or more follow ups. It'd also make a great film, but I suspect the author knows that!

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1 person found this helpful

An adventure of (space) piratey proportions.

A Very different style. Massively fun. More please. I've got the glowy in me now!

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Wild, imaginative and brilliantly told.

A wide grindhouse of Kidnapped!, Treasure Island and Pirates of the Caribbean all through the lens of old school planetary space opera set in the extreme future with a wild idea and memorable character on every page. It brilliantly strays the line between YA and Hard Science with a wonderful rich world centric language and deep history.
Love it.
It's only drawback is that it reads like the first third of a larger novel that got separated for spaces sake. Nonetheless a brilliant read. Highly recommended.
Don't sleep on this.

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Not as gripping as his others

It feels uncomfortable leaving a bad review for an Alistair Reynolds book since I've really enjoyed so many of them. But Revenger simply wasn't as gripping or interesting as the others I've read and listened to. The story line is also a departure from books like Chasm City but the problem for me was the lack of pace or unexpected events. Additionally, this audio production generally plays quieter than my other Audible books do, and when combined with the frequent whispering of the character dialog it meant volume at maximum often still wasn't clear.

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Took a bit of getting use to.

I started this book and stopped after a few chapters. I wasn’t sure what to make of it.
I’ve read a few of Alastair’s books and this was a departure of his normal style.

Gave it another try and once you accept this is not a standard sci fi, it is actually a good story and a compelling listen.
Actually a nice change from the kind of sci-fi that can try and explain technology and lose the narrative and become dated or unbelievable trying to be accurate sci-fi I personally can’t stand, area 51 type stuff.
This is about space pirates and low tech underpinning of space travel. A kind of mad max of sci fi.

Being born in the West Country the characters Hollywood- pirate style accent are pretty annoying. Other than that it’s a good book!

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narrated for children.

couldn't listen for more than an hour, it appears to be a children's book or at least the narration seam aimed at children.

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excellent from start to finish

narration unsurpassed Possibly his best work yet If anyone gets chance to listen to this I cannot recommend highly enough

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1 person found this helpful

On the whole, a good listen

An interesting universe I want to know more about.

Well read and a good collection of different voices from the reader.

An enjoyable listen

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1 person found this helpful

space pirates yaar

it be space pirates. I give yee 20 pieces of 8. yaarrr.. tis the black dot.

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