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justiceofkalr's review
4.0
Excellent book that combines 1950's noir detective fiction with a space opera. Weird combination that works surprisingly well. My only complaint and the reason that there's not a fifth star is that I wanted just a little bit more resolution from the 50's plotline. I'm fine with a bit of ambiguity, but there's just so much left unresolved there.
livia_r's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
cdeane61's review
3.0
I liked the premise, and the sci-fi portion is great, but the language seemed to be stuck in the 1950s not in only the "time travel" portion of the story, but also in the future scenes.
The dialogue and situations seemed stilted to me and did flow naturally.
Don't think I've read any other of his books, so may need to get a second read in to really tell if I like him or not.
The dialogue and situations seemed stilted to me and did flow naturally.
Don't think I've read any other of his books, so may need to get a second read in to really tell if I like him or not.
aileend's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
4.0
thisotherbookaccount's review against another edition
2.0
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There are broadly speaking three types of science fiction writers: the kind who writes about humanity through the lens of technology; the kind who writes about lasers and spaceships; the kind who just wants an excuse to write about technology. Alastair Reynolds, a former Research Astronomer, is the last two combined. He forgoes story, pacing and character in favour of scientific info-dumps and operatic space adventures.
Century Rain isn’t all about parallel universes, spaceships and wormholes, even though there are plenty of those to go around. There are two threads here: one, set in 1959, follows the investigation of a woman who dies under unusual circumstances; the other is set in the far future, where an archaeologist has to travel to an alternate Earth to retrieve a top secret item that could change the course of humanity.
It all sounds intriguing on paper, but Century Rain is also about 30% too long. If I can skip a few pages and still follow the story, then it is in need of some heavy editing. Once the stories merge, Reynolds immediately fails to juggle all the balls in the air. Instead, he falls back on what he’s most comfortable with: info-dumps about wormholes, spacetime and nano bots. His characters, too, are cardboard cutouts devoid of personalities, complete with stilted dialogues that feel transcribed, word for word, from overheard conversations. There’s even an unnecessary, unconvincing romantic subplot that serves no single narrative purpose — @lesliewwrites would be pleased.
For a book that features space battles its final act, it’s oddly free of excitement and intrigue. Every other page is devoted to clumsy world-building exposition, grinding the already sluggish story down to a halt. There’s a nugget of a good story here, but it’s buried beneath layers of technical jargons, bad characters and serviceable writing that neither awes nor inspires.
There are broadly speaking three types of science fiction writers: the kind who writes about humanity through the lens of technology; the kind who writes about lasers and spaceships; the kind who just wants an excuse to write about technology. Alastair Reynolds, a former Research Astronomer, is the last two combined. He forgoes story, pacing and character in favour of scientific info-dumps and operatic space adventures.
Century Rain isn’t all about parallel universes, spaceships and wormholes, even though there are plenty of those to go around. There are two threads here: one, set in 1959, follows the investigation of a woman who dies under unusual circumstances; the other is set in the far future, where an archaeologist has to travel to an alternate Earth to retrieve a top secret item that could change the course of humanity.
It all sounds intriguing on paper, but Century Rain is also about 30% too long. If I can skip a few pages and still follow the story, then it is in need of some heavy editing. Once the stories merge, Reynolds immediately fails to juggle all the balls in the air. Instead, he falls back on what he’s most comfortable with: info-dumps about wormholes, spacetime and nano bots. His characters, too, are cardboard cutouts devoid of personalities, complete with stilted dialogues that feel transcribed, word for word, from overheard conversations. There’s even an unnecessary, unconvincing romantic subplot that serves no single narrative purpose — @lesliewwrites would be pleased.
For a book that features space battles its final act, it’s oddly free of excitement and intrigue. Every other page is devoted to clumsy world-building exposition, grinding the already sluggish story down to a halt. There’s a nugget of a good story here, but it’s buried beneath layers of technical jargons, bad characters and serviceable writing that neither awes nor inspires.
djhobby's review
1.0
2.2 out of 10 stars.
I liked the beginning of the book, but at some point after the travel to E2 it became laborious. Somehow in route Auger went from a clueless of the situation archeologist, to an astrophysicists capable of explaining to Floyd alien science she had no idea of earlier.
I really loved House of Suns by Reynolds and will try some of his other works in the future, but this one just struck me wrong.
I liked the beginning of the book, but at some point after the travel to E2 it became laborious. Somehow in route Auger went from a clueless of the situation archeologist, to an astrophysicists capable of explaining to Floyd alien science she had no idea of earlier.
I really loved House of Suns by Reynolds and will try some of his other works in the future, but this one just struck me wrong.
blevins's review against another edition
4.0
Great epic time travel, alternate history, space opera science fiction novel. Really cool. I've bought a few other Reynolds books but couldn't get into them--this one I did and am glad for it.
dan_at's review against another edition
4.0
4/5 stars
Awesome!
besides the love story, which was far fetched, it was awesome. I wished there was a part 2 to explore the world further.
Awesome!
besides the love story, which was far fetched, it was awesome. I wished there was a part 2 to explore the world further.
paulataua's review
4.0
It is a story with two threads. One takes place in a Paris of 1959. ‘A’ Paris rather than ‘The’ Paris because in this version of Paris the Second World war truncated in 1940. Someone here is building a device that endangers the whole universe. The second thread takes place well into the future where archaeologist Verity Auger, an expert on the old city, is maneuvered into traveling through a wormhole to retrieve some vital information. It’s hard sci-fi, but Reynolds, as always, manages to make it accessible to the reader as he welds a detective tale with a romantic element to action packed science fiction . What’s more is that he manages to do it well. I needed patience to keep going until the real story started to become clear but actually came to enjoy the novel more and more as it developed. I have to say, however, I did feel it was that it was a little overlong and the action part nearing the end went on far too long. Certainly worth the time, though.
zolama's review
3.0
This was alright, but definitely one of Reynold's best, I think. The dialogues were kind of awkward, occasionally, and too focused on exposition. A lot of the early threads also didn't really get a satisfying conclusion. Overall, I liked the Paris stuff a lot more than the space stuff, mostly because the latter felt like it dragged and rushed at the same time and because it followed action-film tropes more than it did Reynold's usual sci-fi fare.
Anyway, century rain is a decent alt-history novel with good mystery and sci-fi elements that struggles to stick the landing.
Anyway, century rain is a decent alt-history novel with good mystery and sci-fi elements that struggles to stick the landing.