Terminal World
Mar 2010 · Hachette UK
4.1star
37 reviewsreport
Ebook
512
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About this ebook
Spearpoint, the last human city, is an atmosphere-piercing spire of vast size. Clinging to its skin are the zones, a series of semi-autonomous city-states, each of which enjoys a different - and rigidly enforced - level of technology. Horsetown is pre-industrial; in Neon Heights they have television and electric trains ...
Following an infiltration mission that went tragically wrong, Quillon has been living incognito, working as a pathologist in the district morgue. But when a near-dead angel drops onto his dissecting table, Quillon's world is wrenched apart one more time, for the angel is a winged posthuman from Spearpoint's Celestial Levels - and with the dying body comes bad news.
If Quillon is to save his life, he must leave his home and journey into the cold and hostile lands beyond Spearpoint's base, starting an exile that will take him further than he could ever imagine. But there is far more at stake than just Quillon's own survival, for the limiting technologies of the zones are determined not by governments or police, but by the very nature of reality - and reality itself is showing worrying signs of instability ...
Following an infiltration mission that went tragically wrong, Quillon has been living incognito, working as a pathologist in the district morgue. But when a near-dead angel drops onto his dissecting table, Quillon's world is wrenched apart one more time, for the angel is a winged posthuman from Spearpoint's Celestial Levels - and with the dying body comes bad news.
If Quillon is to save his life, he must leave his home and journey into the cold and hostile lands beyond Spearpoint's base, starting an exile that will take him further than he could ever imagine. But there is far more at stake than just Quillon's own survival, for the limiting technologies of the zones are determined not by governments or police, but by the very nature of reality - and reality itself is showing worrying signs of instability ...
Ratings and reviews
4.1
37 reviews
A Google user
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June 4, 2012
Definitely least liked book by him for me. Some great ideas (carnivorgs ..) But marrying all those ideas didnt work for me. I wanna divorce :-)
Mark Smith
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May 18, 2013
For a writer that has written some truly awesome SciFi, I'm amazed at how bad this is. I gave up about 1/4 of the way through.
1 person found this review helpful
A Google user
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October 22, 2012
This novel makes a strong contrast to AR's regular approach to story-telling. Extended expositions are normally laborious but rewarding when describing of the relevant universe and while it is the norm in other novels, Terminal World turns this model on its head. The action starts from the first chapter and the pace and revelation of new detail within this foreign universe draws you in. That being said, the irrational elements and inconsistencies of the setting and the presence of the zones is rather confusing. The questions which are normally left unanswered in AR novels are intriguing but those left to fester at the end of this novel are so specific to the universe that an epilogue would have been welcome. While I do commend AR on his foray in to a new genre, I look forward to the next novel that returns him to his master-genre of science based space opera.
About the author
Alastair Reynolds was born in Barry, South Wales, in 1966. He studied at Newcastle and St Andrews Universities and has a Ph.D. in astronomy. He stopped working as an astrophysicist for the European Space Agency to become a full-time writer. REVELATION SPACE and PUSHING ICE were shortlisted for the ARTHUR C. CLARKE AWARD; REVELATION SPACE, ABSOLUTION GAP, DIAMOND DOGS and CENTURY RAIN were shortlisted for the BRITISH SCIENCE FICTION AWARD and CHASM CITY won the BRITISH SCIENCE FICTION AWARD. You can learn more by visiting www.alastairreynolds.com.
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