Pushing Ice

Pushing Ice, my friends, is such an awesome book. If you've never read Alastair Reynolds, this is a great place to start. It's much more of a hard sf story than, say, the Miles Vorkosigan books, but it's worth slogging through the thicker science mumbo-jumbo because the story is thrilling and moves at a good pace. Science fiction fans, give this novel your time!

Pushing Ice is about a group of comet miners in the 2050's, who work the solar system in their ship, Rockhopper. They are out on a job when something unusual happens. One of Saturn's moons--Janus--starts accelerating out of the solar system. Rockhopper is the closest ship to this phenomenon, and Earth sends her crew out to see what they can discover. As the mining crew nears Janus things go terribly wrong, and they are forced to make several hard choices, ultimately landing on Janus for survival. Problem is, Janus is gaining speed. The rescue of Rockhopper's crew becomes all but impossible as they are carried far from Earth, out into interstellar space.

Pushing Ice is excellent science fiction. The characters are wonderful, the settings imaginative and captivating. If I had been sitting while listening to this book I would have been on the edge of my seat for the entire 19 hours.

John Lee narrates, so nothing disappointing there. The ending didn't quite grab me, but 17 of the 19 hours were so awesome that I can live with where things were left. Pushing Ice is a standalone, so you'll have a complete story that will tie up most plot lines. I'd love it if Reynolds came back to these characters and gave them another book.  Pushing Ice gets 4.5 out of 5 stars.

The Prefect

The Prefect, by Alastair Reynolds, is an exciting space opera, with a detective twist.  I highly recommend it to anyone wanting an entertaining sci fi read.

I listened to the book, like I usually do.  John Lee is the narrator, and is well-known among the audiobook crowd.  Personally, he isn't my favorite narrator, but I've grown used to him because he reads so many books I like.  Stevan Pacey, or George Guidall would have been a better choice in my opinion, but no one listens to me.

Thomas Dreyfus is a middle-aged Prefect--a highly skilled lawman, in service to the Glitter Band.  The Glitter Band is made up of ten-thousand habitats that orbit a planet called Yellowstone.  The society that has created this empire is unusual... at least I've never seen their like in sci fi before.  They are a democracy in the strictest sense.  Each citizen is guaranteed a vote.  Groups of citizens get together and vote for different types of government within their own habitats.  One habitat might be a monarchy, the other a totalitarian dictatorship.  All that matter to the prefects is that everyone is given a vote.  This way of governing proves to be a problem once things start happening... prefects need guns, and the citizens vote no.  

Dreyfus is tasked with investigating a mass murder--a habitat that was blown to bits.  As the case unfolds, he discovers that the entire Glitter Band society is in serious jeopardy, from a nearly immortal enemy.   

The Prefect is an exciting thriller, with plenty of twists and intricacy, similar to novels written by Tom Clancy.  Alistair Reynolds is an author I intend to read more of.  The Prefect gets 4 out of 5 stars.