Shadow Captain

Meh

A worthy successor to Revenger! Continuing the tale of alien artifacts, space pirates and a well-developed far-future solar system, layered on top of a mystery underpinning it all.

I've read most of Alistair Reynolds' books, but this series is not up to his usual standard. Doesn't do it for me.

The Revenger series is a fun slightly more YA take on SciFi from Alastair Reynolds. We follow the Ness sisters - both of whom are sensitive to using bones as a way of long distance communication across space. Shadow Captain follows on closely from the first book, with the sisters reunited and now in command of the Revenger, the feared pirate ship. This brings its own problems - this vessel is very recognizable and public enemy number one. They need to resupply and somehow clear the name of the vessel they are on...

This is fun space opera. The science is not as hard as Alastair Reynolds better known Revelation Space universe, the characters are more in the YA vein of young adults, but there are still some very adult themes dealt with so this cannot be called a true YA book either. Mostly this is just fun, taking the best parts from all styles.

There are plenty of interesting twists and turns, some fascinating universe building along with references to more typical cyberpunk style futurism. The whole concept of Baubles is fascinating too - a truly intriguing history that is hinted at. I am intrigued to find out where the next book takes us

Revenger was one of my favourite Alastair Reynolds books, and I'm glad it is extending to a series. This follows very much in the same vein, although it does dial back a bit on the horror elements, and the POV character has switched to Adrana, the other Ness sister. What is still there is the sense of swashbuckling adventure in an old ancient galaxy, full of secrets and dangers. The universe building is great, and this could end up rivalling the Revelation Space series as my favourite of Reynolds' fictional worlds.

The book does suffer a bit from middle volume syndrome - the mystery of the quoins revealed at the end of the last book is slightly expanded on, but no more than that, and the most exciting thing in the final third of this one is the set up for where the next book is (I presume) going. But to be fair, it's an awesome idea that pushes all of my buttons. Roll on volume three, I want it NOW!

(and maybe while you're waiting you could ponder on exactly who the Shadow Captain is? I can think of at least three options....)