Reynolds's previous protagonists started out fully absorbed in the exoticisms of the future setting and his previous Revelation Space works have several interlinked story threads, not necessarily contemporaneous. Century Rain also departs substantially from Reynolds's previous works, both in having a protagonist who is much closer to the perspective of our real world (in fact he is from a version of our past), serving as a proxy for the reader in confronting the unfamiliarity of the advanced science fiction aspects and in having a much more linear storytelling process. Ĭentury Rain takes place in a future universe independent of the Revelation Space universe and has different rules, such as faster-than-light travel being possible through a system of portals similar to wormholes. The tetralogy consisting of Revelation Space, Redemption Ark, Absolution Gap, and Inhibitor Phase deals with humanity coming to the attention of the Inhibitors and the resultant war between them.
Fermi's paradox is explained as resulting from the activities of an inorganic alien race referred to by its victims as the Inhibitors, which exterminates sentient races if they proceed above a certain level of technology. In this universe, extraterrestrial sentience exists but is elusive, and interstellar travel is primarily undertaken by a class of vessel called a lighthugger which only approaches the speed of light ( faster than light travel is possible, but it is so dangerous that no race uses it).
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The Revelation Space series includes six novels, seven novellas, and six short stories set over a span of several centuries, spanning approximately AD 2205 to 40 000, although the novels are all set in a 300-year period spanning from 2427 to 2727. While a great deal of science fiction reflects either very optimistic or dystopian visions of the human future, Reynolds's future worlds are notable in that human societies have not departed to either positive or negative extremes, but instead are similar to those of today in terms of moral ambiguity and a mixture of cruelty and decency, corruption and opportunity, despite their technology being dramatically advanced.
Often the protagonists from one work belong to a group that is regarded with suspicion or enmity by the protagonists of another work. Although most characters appear in more than one novel, the works set within this future timeline rarely have the same protagonists twice. Most of Reynolds's novels contain multiple storylines that originally appear to be completely unrelated, but merge later in the story.įive of his novels and several of his short stories take place within one consistent future universe, usually now called the Revelation Space universe after the first novel published in it, although it was originally developed in short stories for several years before the first novel. Reynolds has said he prefers to keep the science in his books to what he personally believes will be possible, and he does not believe faster-than-light travel will ever be possible, but that he adopts science he believes will be impossible when it is necessary for the story.
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His works are hard science fiction, typically in the sub-genres of space opera and noir, and reflect his professional expertise with physics and astronomy, included by extrapolating future technologies in terms that are consistent, for the most part, with current science. As of 2011 he has published over forty shorter works and nine novels. This ended in 1995 when his story "Byrd Land Six" was published, which he says marked the beginning of a more serious phase of writing. He then started spending much of his writing time on a first novel, which eventually turned into Revelation Space, while the few short stories he submitted from 1991–1995 were rejected. In 1991 Reynolds graduated and moved from Scotland to the Netherlands to work at ESA. Reynolds wrote his first four published science fiction short stories while still a graduate student, in 1989–1991 they appeared in 1990–1992, his first sale being to Interzone. He returned to Wales in 2008 and lives near Cardiff. There, he worked for the European Space Research and Technology Centre (part of the European Space Agency) until 2004 when he left to pursue writing full-time. In 1991, he moved to Noordwijk in the Netherlands where he met his wife Josette (who is from France). Afterwards, he earned a PhD in astrophysics from the University of St Andrews. He spent his early years in Cornwall, moved back to Wales before going to Newcastle University, where he studied physics and astronomy. He specialises in hard science fiction and space opera. Former research astronomer with the European Space AgencyĪlastair Preston Reynolds (born 13 March 1966) is a British science fiction author.
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