Chasm City ~Alastair Reynolds
–published 2001
–Ace Books, 694 pages
–Winner 2002 British Science Fiction Association Prize
–5/5 stars
Tanner Mirabel is a “security expert”, driven by his own sense of honor to avenge the death of his former boss’ wife at the hands of a man named Argent Reivich. His mission of vengeance carries him to one of the most richly realized and imagination inspiring places ever created in a science fiction novel–Chasm City. Far from being a simple tale of revenge, Alastair Reynold’s award-winning space opera captivates the reader with engaging characters, skillful and exciting world-building, and a deeply layered plot that satisfies on so many levels.
Chasm City was my introduction to the work of noted British science fiction author Alastair Reynolds. I saw his work mentioned on John DeNardo’s Best Of list last year which led me to his review of Chasm City. I was sold. As a stand alone novel set in the same universe as his well-received Revelation Space trilogy, I felt like this was my best bet to sample his work to see if I liked it. I did…I DO!!!
Chasm City is told largely through the eyes of Tanner Mirabel, a man who the reader quickly realizes is a nothing if not a walking mystery. Mirabel lives on Sky’s Edge, a world named for its long dead founder Sky Haussman, a man alternately despised or worshipped, depending on who one talks to. Sky Haussman was a captain on one of the large sleeper vessels sent out long ago to populate this area of space. Just before leaving Sky’s Edge to hunt for Argent Reivich, Mirabel is injected with an indoctrinal virus, an agent used by Haussman devotees to spread their religious zeal. The effect of this virus is that Mirabel’s sleep is plagued by memories of Sky Haussman–memories that seem too detailed to merely be religious propaganda. An early accident adds to Mirabel’s mental trauma, leaving Tanner Mirabel, and the reader, wondering just what all these memories really mean.
The story alternates between Tanner’s pursuit of Reivich, chronological memories of the life of Sky Haussman, and the events that led to the death of Gitta, the wife of Tanner Mirabel’s former boss, Cahuella. In so doing, Reynolds is able to unveil a stunningly detailed world that captures the imagination and won’t let go. This method of storytelling also allows the reader to really get to know the key players in this unfolding drama. Tanner Mirabel is a fascinating study of the psyche and Chasm City is a work of destruction and redemption that elevates the space opera genre to an entirely different level.
Chasm City is an amazing character in its own right. The domed city is constructed around a great fissure from which the city’s energy is generated. Years before, a Melding Plague infected the city’s nano-technology, morphing the structures into sick and twisted dwellings and adversely affecting anyone with implants in their bodies. Chasm City’s stratified society and the inhabitants that Reynold’s populates it with make it one of the most interesting places I have ever encountered in a work of fiction. The mind reels with images as the reader is introduced to the city and its populace through the eyes of Tanner Mirabel.
There is so much going on in this nearly 700 page novel (paperback edition) that it would be impossible to write a decent synopsis without recreating a good deal of the novel itself. Suffice it to say that this is an adventure novel set in a science fiction universe that is diverse and complex without being difficult for the lay reader to access. Alastair Reynolds packs so much into this book without it ever getting away from the main storyline, the threads of which he weaves together with such precision that one cannot help getting lost in the wonder of it all. Chasm City is chock-full of action, adventure, mystery, wonder and discovery. There are twists and turns and revelations that keep the story moving, and when that final page is turned I guarantee that the reader will sit back with the same big sigh of satisfaction that I experienced when I finished it in the wee hours of this morning.
Alastair Reynolds made an impression on me, and I am thrilled that there are several more of his works already out there for me to discover.
Absolutely! Chasm City is an incredibly cool book – I read it earlier this year and loved it. I read Revelation Space first, and while it was good too, I thought Chasm City was a bit better. Anyway, Chasm City is what made me get some more of his books to check out. Good stuff.
This sounds awesome, and a great addition to my various science fiction challenges in the coming year.
Trisha: It will, and come back here soon as I’ll be getting the third annual Sci Fi Experience fired up!
Rusty: I plan on reading the Revelation Space books at some point. I might go with House of Suns next since it is his latest, but I’m not sure.
I have been meaning to read Reynolds. Maybe for the Sci-fi Experience. 🙂
I haven’t read any Reynolds before so I was glad when you told me you were so I might get to hear a review of him. I’m glad you found him so much to your liking. The story sounds good. How would you rate it on a hard Scifi scale. I’ve thought of Reynolds as a hard Scifi guy. His book covers just have that “look” to me.
I’m sure I will have to read one of his novels one day after you gave him such a good review. Maybe a short story to start with during the experience.
Jeff: I personally didn’t consider this story hard sci fi at all. There were brief descriptions of various scientific and genetic things in the story but they weren’t the kind of info dumps that one is tempted to just skim over to “get back to the story”, if that makes any sense. This book is, in my opinion, a really good, layered space opera. I know you enjoyed The Stars My Destination and although they are not largely comparable I made several personal comparisons while I was reading to that book and to some of the journeys undertaken by the main character in Larry Niven’s A World Out of Time. I do believe you would enjoy this one.
I ordered his short story collection, Galactic North, from the library the other day. I read the first story from it for last year’s Out of this World Mini-Challenge. It was one of his earliest Revelation Space stories and was a bit clunky at times, but even with that it was very suspenseful and you could see that this was a writer with real talent. I look forward to dipping into that collection more. Gotta love the library.
Kailana: I certainly enthusiastically recommend him, and this book, for a first forary into Reynold’s work.
Ah. The Library. How we love thee. I’m going to see what Reynolds my library has and see if I can’t try his work during the challenge.
Opps. Not challenge. I mean’t to say experience. 🙂
Jeff: Yes, don’t say the “C” word! 😉
Well my library branch doesn’t have any Reynolds books so I ordered Galactic North from another library. There’s no wait list for it so I should get it in a few days. I did recheck out the Federations anthology though as it has one of his short stories in it so I thought I could start with that as I await Galatic North which I also added onto my Amazon wishlist along with his newer book which the title escapes me at the moment but I know the word sun is in the title.
Jeff: It is House of Suns. I checked it out when it first came out but ended up not reading it. I recently went back and skimmed John DeNardo’s review of it on SF Signal and he really liked it. He didn’t steer me wrong on Chasm City, so I went ahead and had a hold put on it at the library as well. Although I’ve heard the first Revelation Space novel is not as good as Chasm City, the trilogy has gotten a lot of positive buzz and I really would like to check it out sometime as well.
And I want to read a couple of more Heinlein juveniles soon, and read Metatropolis, and read more of the Vanguard series, and on and on and on….The Sci Fi Experience is not going to be long enough! Glad you and I are unofficially starting now!
It’s the cold and grey of December that makes me think of starships and spurs me to read Scifi. I just can’t wait until January. It seems each year I cheat and start reading early.
I’ll see if I can order House of Suns as well.
Chasm City and six other Alastair Reynolds novels have appeared at Audible.com within the last year. I started, but didn’t finish Revelation Space. I keep meaning to get back to it, because I want get involved with some contemporary SF novels. However, I’m having trouble. But I don’t think it’s Reynolds, but modern SF. The most recent SF novels I’ve liked have been Hyperion (1989), Snowcrash (1992), Red Mars (1993), Old Man’s War (2005) and Spin (2005). I don’t know if I’m getting old, or burnt out on SF, but I’m having a lot of trouble finding modern SF novels that thrill me.
Jim: I have read a few things that made it sound like Revelation Space suffers from some of the debut novel issues but that as a whole the trilogy is pretty good. I actually read where a few readers compared some of his later books to Hyperion. If you still have a fondness for space opera I would definitely recommend you give Chasm City a try. And if you haven’t continued on with the Old Man’s War series then you definitely need to read the rest of those.
Jeff: I’m the same way, cold December nights roll in and I’m all about star gazing and science fiction. Makes no logical sense to me but that is the way I’ve always felt, at least as far back as I can remember.