This was a rare DNF for me. I love Alastair Reynolds and just really struggled to get into this book. I may try to return to it another time since Reynolds generally is an enjoyable read and I hope that it will pick up if I can just get far enough. The characters are likeable enough but not much seems to happen, at least in the first quarter or so of the book, and especially not for the genre.

I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

4.2 strs

I am grateful to the publisher Orbit Books for sending me an advanced copy of this book for review.

I have read many works of Alastair Reynolds in the past; Revelation Space being one of my favorite sci-fi series of all time. However, this book still managed to surprise me with the approach that the author took, because its different from everything else I’ve read from Reynolds. I really enjoyed this book, and I think it can be enjoyed whether you go into it knowing nothing at all or go into it knowing the concept and the storytelling structure.

I think the way the story starts has the essence of a classic or it feels like you are reading a historical fiction. The transitions into other storylines or timelines (at first) may seem a bit confusing if you go into the story not knowing anything about what's happening, but once the reveals do come and you understand the big picture it turns into a completely different type of story. I enjoyed this very much. I think this is a hard one for reviewing characters or settings because the setting is ever changing and the characters themselves the limited exposure/knowledge we have of them is crucial to the storytelling itself.

I think this story like this walks the line between mystery and science fiction, and really allows you to go on a journey that can be enjoyed by fans of either genre. As usual, I enjoyed Reynolds’ writing style. It is precise and clean, but still manages to be extremely descriptive. I think his choice of perspective was perfect and that added to the atmosphere of the story and the intrigue that made this book a very fast read.

I enjoyed this story and Alastair Reynolds continues to be my favorite sci-fi author of all time. I would recommend this to people who are fans of techno thrillers and mysteries more so than fans of Reynolds other works which lean towards the space opera um genre.

An intriguing Sci Fi mystery with a few plot twists and witty dialogue. The pace was slow and some of the narratives did not add value but as a whole, a decent story.

ARC was provided by Orbit Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Pub Date: August 2, 2022.

Eversion by Alastair Reynolds is the story of a doctor tasked with keeping his crew alive on an exploratory mission. Be it in the1800s aboard a ship, in the 1900s aboard a blimp, or a future ship deep in space. But it’s truly only one journey, one ship, and one crew. Dr. Silas Coade has to figure out how to save his crew, and what exactly is happening to them before it’s too late.

That’s all I’m going to say on this book. I promise you, anything more than that will be a spoiler and while I know some of us don’t mind them, others do and for this I don’t want to spoil anyone! Silas is attempting to save his crew and yet somehow something is causing them to travel? Move? Experience? The same trip in different iterations, different times.

The book itself is definitely one I would class as an adventure novel. You don’t want to come here for the characters or some deep message, instead you’re here for the plot and the unfolding action. And it’s very, very good. My favorite thing by though was the character of Ada. She’s the foil to Silas. From the beginning I hated her, and by the end I loved her. I loved her as an individual and her role in the story. I wish we could have gotten even more time or a wider crew but on that same hand I feel perhaps the story was perfect as tightly sewn together as it was.

A huge recommendation from me. I really enjoyed this and ate this, I was desperate to know more and the ending definitely pulled at me. 5 out of 5 for me. Pick this up if you enjoy Mr. Reynolds or you want a great space adventure story..

This is science fiction, and from an author I expected science fiction from, but feels a lot more like historical fiction in the beginning. Dr. Coade is a ship's doctor, on an exploration mission along the arctic coast of Norway. Eventually this segment comes to and end, and starts over with some twists. It's difficult to explain anything further without giving too much away, but it's worthwhile to stick with the historical segments to see where this story is going. It does all make sense in the end. Coade is a very likable protagonist, in spite of being a bit of a drug abuser, and the rest of the cast interesting enough. I do dislike how Coade is irresistably drawn to the one woman character, despite her unpleasant behavior, solely due to her beauty. But, what else is new? This is a tidy standalone novel, no cliffhangers or unfinished business in the end.

We follow Dr. SIlas Coade when he's in different expeditions across time as a medical doctor. Somethings keep on repeating and he's the only that can figure out what is happening.

I had two bigger problems with this book. The first one was the writing style, the narration seemed to be kept at a distance from me so that I just didn't feel engaged. I felt like I was reading a technical book describing the events; I just didn't care about what was happening and what was going to happen. The dialogue was extremely stilted and the relationships between the characters just didn't flow because of that. My other problem was the idea of the plot in itself. We kept on going through the same cycle over and over again, and it felt extremely repetitive without new developments to the story nor new information; the pace of the book was extremely slow because of that. And after the first reveal, the story just didn't matter anymore because of how the author presented the situation. But even after this reveal, we still had to keep on going in the same cycle over and over again, even though it didn't matter. It just felt pointless.

The last reveal was really interesting but by then I already didn't care about the book. I think the whole book would've worked much better if it was way shorter.

Thank you Netgalley, author, and publisher for the ARC.

Well this is a hard one to review! I'll be avoiding all plot synopses as they would spoil so much of the premise of the story. We follow Silas through a repeating mystery, very "Groundhog Day" meets time travel? Ish? That's really not the important part though, to be fair. What's important is this story guides the reader through pivotal questions: what is reality? Does it live in our heads? Is it absolute or is there room for interpretation? Do dreams matter?

I really enjoyed this ride. I will say it's very, very slow paced so even though it's a short tale, it take a while to wade through. The dialogue is witty, the premise is intriguing. I liked everything about the story but it wasn't a 'love' for me. Probably because of the slow pacing and (necessary and extremely well done) repetitive nature of the narrative(s). If you are looking for a mystery that explores the human condition with a splash of sci fi, this is a great book to take on.

**Thank you NetGalley and Orbit Books for the eARC**

4.5/5

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Highly recommend it for anyone looking for a sci-fi book that has some really intriguing mysteries. This was my first Reynolds and it won't be my last.

The less you know about this book going in the better. Going in blind is very satisfying, just make sure you have some patience with it as it won't be quite what you expect in the beginning, but things are slowly revealed and it's pretty mind blowing.

This kind of sci-fi is usually criticized for having weak characters but I connected with a number of them here and they're all fairly distinct and have interesting backgrounds. I was definitely invested in them and how they would fare in the challenges that come up throughout the story.

Eversion
Alastair Reynolds
As we have grown to expect from Mr. Reynolds, this is a superlative, highly imaginative science based chronicle. Each iteration of the main character’s point of view shifts and permutates just enough to know that we are disoriented in space/time but not so much as to be cliché. Certainly we are not beyond the Aquilla Rift but who knows where or when we are? Tension rises as mysteries revolve without missing a beat. Ends as satisfactorily as you can’t imagine. Another tour de force.

This book was a highly anticipated release for me and I'm super disappointed to say that it wasn't what I was expecting and missed the mark for me pretty significantly. I ended up throwing in the towel about a third of the way in.

I could see where aspects of this story were going, but it felt like way too much exposition was wasted on certain descriptions that in my opinion weren't strictly needed. Silas was a boring POV character and I wasn't super fond of most of the characters for one reason or another. I also never ending up making it to the far future part, which arguably was the main reason I put this on my TBR in the first place. It was too long for too little payoff, and I didn't feel like I needed to continue to drag my feet if I'm feeling this bored this far into the book.

I just wanted a hook that wasn't there for me. I think I'd be open to trying a more space-exclusive focused Reynolds book, but this one just wasn't for me.

Thank you very much to NetGalley and Orbit for the ARC!

This book was a fascinating read! I loved the absolute confusion of the beginning and the different ships through time that Silas found himself on. The clarity given further on as to why that was the case was phenomenal. I also thoroughly enjoyed having a writer character through unconventional means (trying not to spoil the story here). The mystery of Eversion sprinkled throughout and the mathematician’s constant work was heartbreaking but necessary. I loved this story and many other sci-fi lovers will love it too! Thank you so much to the publisher for the arc!

Wow! This storyline was fabulous. At first I thought this was a generational thing. Boy was I wrong. I enjoyed each of the journeys Silas went on. Each one telling a different yet the same story. I liked that each one progressed through time and different eras.
All the characters were amazing. I enjoyed Ada, I felt for Dupin and Ramos. I got through this book quickly.
This is my first book by Alastair Reynolds. I will have to try another.
There are so many things I want to say about this book but I don’t want to give anything away.

I really wish I had enjoyed this more because I love space opera books. I didn't end up enjoying this one but I thought it was such an interesting original concept and I feel like a lot of readers of adult science fiction would love this one!

Eversion by Alastair Reynolds
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Alastair Reynold's new standalone novel is a real keeper. At first, I thought it was a homage to Cloud Atlas by way of Dan Simmon's Terror, but after getting much farther along, I've got to say that its title gives it all away. And pleasantly so.

Eversion: not to be confused with inversion, is a fancy way of saying "inside-out". After being grounded in several incarnations of exploration ships, having twisted myself up with the great characterizations, I have to say that I came out of this a bit inside-out, as well.

But then there's the whole question of topology. And that's where things get really interesting.

Solid, or quite more than solid SF here. Reynolds is always one of my top to-go guys for the genre and he's proven himself many times over. I'm reminded of some of his very best short fiction in these pages, a huge-concept piece written adroitly, and in the end, he gives us a great psychological knife-twist.

I totally recommend this for lovers of old-and-new-school exploration fiction. The ice-on-the-boat ambiance totally got me going, as did the slow introduction to the mystery.

“A ship is a dream of whispers, the dead man said.
Whispers and dreams.
So I dreamed.”

I’ve been familiar with Alastair Reynolds through his epic high-tech Revelation Space universe.

Well, this is nothing like that.

This starts more like if “Moby Dick” (but an interesting version of it) had a literary baby with “Groundhog Day” while cheating on Jules Verne — but don’t worry, there will still be science fiction to come, although certainly not as space opera. But you still get to travel through time and space, on sailboats and steamboats and dirigibles and spaceships. The plot is a puzzle and a quest and an adventure, and even if a savvy reader manages to figure out what’s going on before the reveals, it’s still very much worth it and very clever. Nothing is as it seems.

And I loved it.


Alastair Reynolds is a very good writer. There is something crisply precise about his writing, even when stylized along the 19th century lines with a steampunk flavoring and a set of what seem to be alternate realities, all converging into a story that makes sense despite initial touch of confusion. It’s odd and weird and compelling, a story of denial and acceptance, friendship and hard ethical choices. A mind unraveling under pressure, forced to make choices that cause pain no matter how you look at that. Humanity, personhood, self-delusion, the question of what being alive means — all this is touched upon and is unexpectedly poignant.

I loved it. And I’m certainly planning to catch up with Reynolds’ back catalog since he seems to be consistently good.

4.5 stars.

——————

Thanks to NetGalley and Orbit Books for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

TL;DR

Eversion tells the tale of Silas Coade and his many pulp-style adventures. As with any Alistair Reynolds book, there’s more going on than meets the eye. Will Coade and crew ever reach the mysterious Edifice? Highly recommended.

Disclaimer: The publisher provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Any and all opinions that follow are mine alone.

Review: Eversion by Alastair Reynolds

Alistair Reynolds is an author that always puts out quality work. He’s had a long career of steadily releasing novels and the occasional story. Whenever I see a new Alistair Reynolds book, I know I have a good read ahead of me. Though I haven’t read all his books, I’ve enjoyed the many that I have. In particular, the Revelation Space Universe got me hooked on space opera as an adult. Because of Reynolds, I began searching for more space opera from the United Kingdom and came across the likes of British author Peter Hamilton and Scottish author, Iain Banks. Reynolds’ latest, Eversion, continues his tradition of quality yarns that entertain.

Silas Coade is a doctor on an expedition of discovery. The ship he’s on, Demeter, is a wooden sailing vessels headed up north along the fjords to discover a fissure and, beyond it, an Edifice. The reader is introduced to Dr. Coade as he has to drill into one of the crew’s skull. A French trephination tool is secured to his patient’s skull, and he drills. The shipboard surgery is successful, and the crew celebrates Coade’s accomplishment. Coade, however, is not a sailor. This is his first voyage, and he’s not handling well. He supplements his day with an opoid snuff and writing fanciful tales. These tales are of a steam ship on a similar journey. The crew loves hearing them. Coade, however, has hit an impasse and can’t take his story forward. Unfortunately, disaster strikes the expedition. The reader returns to Dr. Coade aboard a steamship, poised to find the fissure down by Antartica. This expedition also meets disaster, and we next meet Silas aboard an airship descending down the fissure into the earth. Bits of the other expeditions resonate with Dr. Coade each time. Some of the crew members act as if there’s more going, but Silas is the other one who begins to notice how events are repeating. With the help of Coronel Ramos and Ada Cossile, Silas begins to understand what’s happening to him.

Eversion is a first person point of view novel that focuses on Dr. Silas Coade’s perspective. Dr. Coade is a ship’s physician on his first voyage. This novel features Reynolds writing multiple versions of the same story but changing the genre each time. He seems to be borrowing heavily from pulp style adventure fiction. Wooden sailing ship, steam ship, air ship, and a Flash Gordon era star ship are the settings of Coade’s adventures. Reynolds nails the feel of each setting and story genre; it’s an excellent display of skill. Even though he’s telling close to the same story, he changes it a little each time to keep the forward momentum going. At no point, does it feel like he’s trodding over the same old ground even though he essentially is. Reynolds finds a way to make what we already know fresh and interesting. I am in awe of what he did here.

Jarring Read

When I read this, I totally forgot that Coade will experience multiple adventures. So, when the first adventure switch happened, it was a bit jarring. Now, this isn’t a bad thing, but it did catch me off guard. I had to go back and look at the description of the book to remind myself what was going on. This came from the fact that I was wrapped up in Coade’s first expedition. Reynolds wrote an excellent ship-side story, and I would have been happy if the whole novel had taken place in that first adventure. I got so wrapped up in it that I forgot what the book was about. The switch from wooden 1800’s era ship to a more modern steam ship was jarring, and I think it’s meant to be jarring. Not only does the scenery change but the method of speaking changes. The genre of the story changes wholly and seamlessly. It’s impressive.

With each new adventure, it’s a little less jarring, but the changes never stop being abrupt and total switches. However, these disruptions didn’t force me out of the book. I kept reading and seeking after what just happened. It makes for interesting pacing of the book, and I’ll be following what other reviewers think of the pacing. I read through this book pretty quickly even though it was a bumpy ride.

Conclusion

Alistair Reynolds Eversion is yet another excellent story told by a master novelist. Coade is a character worth following as he tries to sort out the mystery of his adventures. He is supported by an eclectic cast of characters that make each adventure a little bit more interesting. Reynolds switches settings in pulp style stories to deliver an excellent novel. As a writer, the craft in this book floored me. As a reader, the story kept me glued to the page. Highly recommended.

Eversion by Alastair Reynolds is available from Orbit Books on August 2nd, 2022.

First published in Great Britain in 2022; published by Orbit on August 2, 2022

During the early chapters of Eversion, I wondered whether Alastair Reynolds had departed from his career as a science fiction writer to tell a seafaring adventure story. By the midpoint, it becomes clear that the novel is not what it seems. By the last quarter, a surprising reveal brings science fiction to the forefront of the story. Kudos to Reynolds for his masterful misdirection.

The story in Eversion is told by Silas Coade. Silas has been hired as ship’s surgeon to serve on the Demeter. The ship is sailing near the coast of Norway, following a map to a structure that characters dub the Edifice. The Demeter is a sizable vessel, carrying a hundred crew members, although only few characters are significant to the story. The ship’s captain is Van Vught; the man who arranged and funded the expedition is Topolsky. Dupin is a scientist and Ramos is in charge of security. Countess Cossile is a snarky linguist/journalist who makes it her mission to annoy Silas and everyone else with her self-assured belief in her intellectual superiority. She is particularly critical of the science fiction potboiler that Silas is writing.

A character dies early in Eversion and reappears in a later chapter, no worse for the death. Other characters do not seem to notice. I thought perhaps I had lost my place in the novel and was rereading unremembered pages before the death, or that I was mistaking one character for another. But then a mast that toppled is back in its place and only one character remembers that it fell. Still later in the book, the Demeter has become a different kind of vessel and the location of the Edifice has changed. In each version of the story, the characters encounter a wrecked ship called the Europa and become angry with Topolsky for not revealing his knowledge of the vessel. Silas and Ramos eventually recall different parts of the stories that have come before, as if the memories were of dreams.

The novel’s title refers to turning a sphere inside out. Dupin is a bit obsessed with the idea of eversion. The title is apt, as the story turns itself inside out before it reaches a conclusion. As the reader grasps for hidden truths, it becomes apparent that the truth is known to Cossile, who insists that it is also known to Silas, if only he would face it. “The truth is a raw nerve” and Silas flinches and retreats whenever he touches it. But what is the truth that Silas refuses to accept? Perhaps he has been gripped by madness. Perhaps the truth will make him descend into madness, again and again. Reynolds plants clues to the truth here and there, bits of the story that don’t seem to matter until they do. The plot is both a journey toward truth and a reminder that it is difficult to accept discomforting truths about ourselves.

Reynolds builds a moral dilemma into the story, the old question of whether killing one person to save more than one other person is morally justified. Does the equation change if the killing can be accomplished with kindness? Does it change if the killer is a doctor who has sworn to do no harm? Some of the novel’s dramatic tension arises from the characters’ disagreement about how to answer that question.

The moral issue adds another layer of depth to a complex story of courage and sacrifice. Reynolds even adds an offbeat love story to the mix. Eversion is my mid-year favorite science fiction novel of 2022. I suspect it will still be my favorite at year’s end.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

2 out of 5 stars (2 / 5) Since starting Bookstagram, I have ventured out of my comfort zone and read a few space operas. They’re mind boggling and fascinating! I’ve had 2 faves; A Sleep in a Sea of Stars (by Paolini, Eragon author) and The Last Watch by JS Dewes. Both I hold in high regards for the excitement and adventure they provide. So when Orbit had this one, I grabbed it hoping for another fav.

Look at that cover, doesn’t it scream “space opera”? It oddly was not. The majority of the book was NOT in space. Sigh. While I still tried to give it a chance, it just wasn’t for me. The type of writing made me slow down my reading to grasp the story. There was a lot of what I deemed to be unnecessary dialogue which dragged on more than I liked.

Ultimately, it just didn’t grab me. The “big reveal” felt anticlimactic and while it answered my many questions, it still didn’t give me the space opera vibes early enough to satiate my craving.

When we first meet Doctor Silas Coade, he is a doctor on a sailing ship off the coast of Norway who spends his spare time penning a fantasy novel that he regales the crew with after dinner. We meet his illustrious shipmates as the journey continues, which include Milady Cossile, a woman who infuriates him with her criticism of his stories as well as intrigues him with her intellect and Coronel Ramos who while dismissed by his employer as a brute with little intellect converses with the doctor as a friend and confidant sometimes speaking of his family and past which includes fighting at the Alamo. The cast of characters, including various other positions of midshipmen, cartographer, captain, master, etc., follow along with Silas on a journey that appears to move through time and setting while continuing to the same objective. I felt like each change of setting should have been a bit jarring, but instead I found the continuation of the journey to tie it all together smoothly.

Silas awakes as if from dreams to find himself still on his journey just in a new setting and apparently further along in their crew’s goal. It had a bit of a repetitious bent as he awakes in each setting, but the story quickly moves into a new phase rather than repeat anything other than slight adjustments to the history of their journey so far. I enjoyed the various journeys in a variety of ship styles through the cold waters of Norway, to the South of Cape Horn, Antarctica and beyond. The characters were diverse as well as consistent between time jumps. Through it all, Silas remains committed to keeping his crew safe and healthy.

At times I found this book to feel like a cross between Master and Commander, Sea of Tranquility and both Stuart Turton novels. LOL. It truly had a little bit of everything in it.

Thank you to Netgalley and Orbit Books for the free copy provided for an honest review.

While this was a sci-fi novel, it was still mind bending. Set across space and time (Wibbly wobbly timey whimey) it's an adventerous mystery wrapped up in a solid sci-fi story. A must read for anyone who enjoys speculative fiction and alternate history