Revelation Space
Sep 29th, 2009
Revelation Space is the first of (so far) five Sci-Fi books by Alastair Reynolds that take place in the same universe, but only book one (Revelation Space) and book three (Redemption Ark) are about the same people. Reynolds have also written several other Sci-Fi books in other variations of a future universe. Reynolds has a Ph.D. in astrophysics, and his books clearly reflects his knowledge of physics as there is very little bullshit science in them. A few stretches, sure, but a lot less than what is common in Sci-Fi. As I am a physicist myself, I greatly enjoy this change from the common techno-babble 
The Revelation Space universe is a fascinating one. Human nature is still much the same, but humanity has split into different branches depending on how much technology they put into their bodies. Regardless, they all have the capability to regenerate and thus live for centuries while also backing up their consciousness into so-called alpha, beta and gamma simulations depending on how advanced and similar to the original they are. Humans have also discovered many ancient alien ruins on other planets, but no aliens. Something has systematically been keeping intelligent life from becoming too advanced. In the first book you will discover the disturbing reason why there is no intelligent life to be found in our galaxy besides ourselves.
I have so far read the first book and also the third book which deal with this pruning force of the universe. I am currently reading the fifth book, “The Prefect”, and have the second one , “Chasm City”, next on my list. (No, they’re not chronological in that sense, except from one and three.) If you enjoy Sci-Fi, you cannot afford to miss out on these books. They’re about as good as Sci-Fi gets. Reynolds himself has bagged a book deal recently, and will continue to produce books for the coming years. I’ll be looking forward to every single one of them!