Uptown Oracle Reads… Elysium Fire

Ten thousand habitats orbit Yellowstone, forming a near-perfect democratic human paradise. But even utopia needs police. For the Glitter Band the police are the prefects of Panopoly. Prefect Tom Dreyfus has a new emergency on his hands. Across the habitats people are dying suddenly and randomly, victims of a bizarre and unprecedented malfunction of their neural implants. No clues are being left behind as to the cause of their deaths… As panic rises, a charismatic figure is sowing insurrection, convincing a small but growing number of habitats to break away from the Glitter Band and form their own independent colonies.

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Elysium Fire
Alastair Reynolds

So when I went into this book I was not expecting or ready for a long and in depth sci-fi book. I also didn’t realise that this was actually the second book in a series. Luckily, Reynolds is an amazing writer and he managed to pull me right into the glitter band and filled in most of the gaps about the first installment. Although I will be reading the first book at some point. Also, I feel like I start off a lot of my reviews saying it’s a second book? Is it just me that has this issue?

I’ve previously read Reynolds book Revenger and I was not disappointed with Reynolds writing at all. He truly is a master of the sci-fi genre. It probably helps that he used to be a space scientist, but he works wonders on describing the different planets and space throughout his books. Because it’s a second book, I did have to pick up on quite a few snippets to understand how this universe worked a bit more than I would have, but because this book is so in depth it wasn’t an issue at all.

The book contains multiple plots that were wonderfully interwoven into one story. I loved how in depth the characters were, and we got a good understanding of the antagonist as well. Each person seemed to have their own backstory, motivations and thought processes when acting.

The only issues I had was that it occasionally felt a bit slow on the pacing side. Especially as the plot twist isn’t that much of a twist for the reader, it’s more of a shock to Dreyfus and co. Nearing the end of the book I was wanting a little bit more of a pick up in pace, which I did eventually get. But it did take it’s time.

Positives

+ Amazing world building

+ In depth characters and story arcs

+ Intriguing plot premise

Negatives

– Predictable plot twist

– May have been a bit too long with slow paced parts

I received Elysium Fire by Alastair Reynolds from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an unbiased and honest review