Bone Silence

Reynolds can't write endings for the life of him.
Book 2 and 3 are really really bad.

Excellent conclusion of the trilogy, with the various threads satisfactorily wrapped up. Hopefully there will be more tales in this very intriguing universe!

This was a hugely disappointing end to the trilogy. A confused mess of book, with a weirdly messianic bent. I had enjoyed the tale of the Ness sisters in the first too books - the accidental turn to piracy and the high adventure in a fairly unique sci-fi universe. Bone Silence tries to up the stakes and ends up falling flat on its face. This book is bloated and confused and really should have been split in two as it reads as two very distinctive sections. The hints about the cyclicity of the universe are explored in more depth but the end result is underwhelming. The conspiracy to try and hunt down the sisters is also somewhat of a damp squib.

An example of all the components being there but nothing quite meshing together unfortunately.

If you're reading this, I guess you are already familiar with Reynolds' Revenger series. This is amongst my favourites of the universes he has created - I love the slightly archaic feel, and the sense of technologies that are simultaneously far ahead and well behind our own - possibly because it's the most fun. This is the final volume, and let me reassure you, it wraps things up well. No spoilers of course, but character arcs come to satisfactory conclusions, and the ending goes up and on and out with an element of the cosmic scale that he does so well. I believe Reynolds is heading back to Revelation Space next time, but I'd be happy to see more books in this setting.