Diamond Dogs, Turquoise Days is two novellas joined together by a tenuous link set in the Revelation Space universe.
The novellas are well-written and a quick read, as you might expect from Alastair Reynolds. The first one, Diamond Dogs, is about an expedition to explore an ancient Mayan Ruin. Oh wait, no, an alien monolith, apparently designed and built to challenge humans by the means of mathematical puzzles. What's interesting about this story is that while it is a typical horror piece, the true horror is in the psychology of the expedition leader.
Turquoise Days explores the Pattern Jugglers and what they are. It is a much weaker piece than Diamond Dogs, but nevertheless does explore an interesting application of the Pattern Juggler by political entities. The characters are a lot weaker, but I'm glad to see Reynolds at least attempting to write his way around what is his traditional weakness.
As quick reads, this novel isn't quite worth the $6 Kindle price in the store, but is definitely worth checking out of the library or reading a borrowed copy. Or perhaps if you have a short domestic flight it would be perfect reading.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment