Redemption Ark (Revelation Space #3) ★★★★☆

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Title: Redemption Ark
Series: Revelation Space #3
Author: Alastair Reynolds
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 708
Format: Digital Edition

Synopsis:

The Inhibitors have arrived in force in the area of the planet Resurgam. It is up to 2 former pirate Ultras to get the 200,000 people scattered about Resurgam shuttled to the only vessel in near space that can hold them all. Said ship is fully engulfed by the melding plague which consumed its Captain, who now IS as much the ship as he is himself.

The Conjoiners have been aware of the threat of the Inhibitors for several centuries and have been working on a “quiet” inertialess drive that will allow them, and only them, to run away and hopefully escape notice from the Inhibitors. One man decides that isn't right and goes after the cache of weapons on board the Ultras ship orbiting Resurgam. The main set of Conjoiners set off in pursuit of this man to get the weapons for themselves and to stop him from informing the rest of humanity, which would cause widespread panic.

The Inhibitors take apart several moons and a planet to create a weapon to make the system's sun into a flamethrower. Resurgam is destroyed and only a couple thousand people make it off the planet. The renegade Conjoiner figures that the Inhibitors were supposed to be shepherds, not butchers and that with the wear and tear of the billions of years that their programming has slipped.

And some storyline about an independent freighter captain who gets involved in it all.

My Thoughts:

I enjoyed this while I was reading this but as soon as I was done it promptly left my mind. Part of it was the storyline with the Ultras, from the first book. They came across as pansies for whatever reason.

The whole Conjoiner and Inhibitor storylines was interesting to read, but once again, as soon as the book was done, so was I. It didn't grab me. It didn't leave me bored by any means, but it just didn't force me on.

Definitely the weakest of the Revelation Space series so far. Still was a good book, mind you. Just not as engaging as the previous two. Nor is it an auspicious start to the year...

★★★★☆

• Chasm City (Book 2)
• Revelation Space (Book 1)