Halcyon Years by Alastair Reynolds

[a_cubed]

I've always liked Al Reynolds' books, although I can often only read them when not in a depressed state. For quite a while I got far behind on his writing because of that. I've only read the first of his Revenger series (YA steampunk in space) as that didn't really speak to me. His latest novel last year was Halcyon Years, which I just finished. It was fairly enjoyable but not I think one of his best. The main reason is that it seems rather like a mish-mash of things he's done before without much of a new idea. There is one hiding there, but while it's the BIG REVEAL most of the way through, it's not unexpected for anyone who knows his work.


Take the following elements he's deal with before:

• Generation Starship (Chasm City)
• Uncertain Personal Identity (Chasm City, and others)
• Isolated Society (Pushing Ice, Chasm City)
• Detective in Space, Small Cases with Big Consequences (Century Rain, Prefect Dreyfuss Emergencies)



So, enjoyable, but a bit repetitive, perhaps if you've read all/most of his previous work.

When he was a guest at our local con he was in the middle of the Poseidon's Children series. In that, he did a slight variation on one of the main ideas from House of Suns, one of my favourites of his books. When I mentioned this he said it hadn't been deliberate, and when it was pointed out by his agent or editor (I forget which) it was too late in the process to re-write that aspect of the book. I'm not sure how much he was aware of re-treading ground this time around.