Day 319: Revelation Space

I'm not finished reading yet, but I think I'm far enough to give a solid recommendation for this series. If you're a hardcore sci-fi fan, this is most likely right up your alley. The sheer scope and scale presented in this novel is insane. There are spacecraft the size of cities, biological supercomputers that span across whole planets, ancient aliens, and crazy sci-fi concepts galore. It felt like every other page was able to blow my mind with some new concept that I'd never even considered before. Every plotline is densely interconnected, weaving in and around each other and the other concepts presented in intricate, and very satisfying ways. This definitely tops my list for space odyssey stories.

The only complaint some might have it that its too much of what's good at. There's so much going on and so many unique concepts to keep track of that it becomes a struggle to keep up at times. Nursing a new understanding of a weird sci-fi alien technology while simultaneously trying to remember the names and developments of several different characters can be overwhelming. If you like being overwhelmed, then it's perfect. If not, it could come off as a confusing mess. Personally I loved it, but I can see how it would be really off-putting.

One thing I found interesting about this series as a takeaway was that it is possible to pull of adding more and more and more concepts on top of one another. I was a little concerned that I was getting too far into the weeds writing Oneiromancer but this gives me hope that there's an audience out there who might enjoy getting a little lost. My stories certainly don't go as far as 'Revelation Space' but there is a lot to keep track of at times. I think I can take a lot of cues about the best ways to introduce complex concepts from this story.

I highly recommend giving this one a shot if you've ever wondered just how far fiction can go in terms of scale.

Thank you for reading,

Benjamin Hawley