A review: Permafrost

Permafrost

by Alastair Reynolds

ASIN : B07HF26D1H

Alistair Reynolds continues his run of form with this fantastic novella, Permafrost. One of the things I love most about Reynold’s Revelation Space series is how the stories flip between different times. For me this is one of the biggest and best parts of weaving a space opera, and it’s in abundance in Permafrost. I’m still in two minds about whether I enjoy first person writing though, I’m definitely more of a fan of third person. However, first person worked well here. Novellas, by their very nature are short, which means the character building is fast and the stories are fast paced too. I really enjoyed that aspect of Permafrost.

Given that the story is based on the effects of climate change, as well as time travel, I was concerned it would be over the top, but it actually describes brilliantly and concisely the effects of climate change and how they form the bedrock for the story. Then Reynolds moves on and concentrates on the story.

The climax is a page turner (or button clicker if you read on a kindle like I do) and moves very quickly - which I loved. Without wishing to give too much away, I did feel that defeating the evil (or maybe not so evil) machines was a bit too easy, but this didn’t detract from the climax.

If you’ve never read Alistair Reynolds before, then this would be an excellent place to start!

There’s a new Revelation Space novel out later this year and in preparation I’m rereading Absolution Gap. I’ve already read the first two paragraphs, one of my most memorable scenes from Revelation Space, and I am very, very, excited!

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