Published by Orbit on January 16, 2024

Blending the genres of crime story, thriller, and science fiction, Machine Vendetta is the third novel to feature Tom Dreyfus, a prefect employed by the Panoply, enforcers of the Common Articles (something like a federal constitution) that bind the artificial habitats orbiting the planet Yellowstone. Habitats make and enforce their own laws, although nearly every public policy decision is decided by ballot. The Panoply protects an overriding interest in democracy by maintaining polling computers and assuring that habitats don’t interfere with the right of their citizens to vote. In other words, you won’t hear much about stolen elections in the Glitter Band.

The Dreyfus novels are set in Alastair Reynolds’ impressive Revelation Space universe. The criminals that most concern Dreyfus are two rogue Artificial Intelligences, Aurora and the Clockmaker. Aurora was once a human, although she no longer has any regard for people of flesh-and-blood. In an earlier novel, Dreyfus made a secret alliance with Aurora, giving her access to Panoply’s computer systems, so that she could wage a war against the Clockmaker. He has lived with guilt ever since.

Difficult moral choices make for compelling fiction. Dreyfus’ choice comes back to haunt him in Machine Vendetta when it seems that the balance of terror he orchestrated can no longer be maintained. When he confides his secret to another prefect, she faces a moral dilemma when deciding whether to rat him out, as duty requires.

Apart from adversarial AIs, the criminal of immediate concern is a Panoply officer who used the weapons on his ship to destroy part of a habitat, apparently seeking vengeance for the habitat’s historical mistreatment of hyperpigs — genetically altered pigs who have taken humanoid form. Racial bias in Reynolds’ future have been replaced by bias against hyperpigs, Haters gotta hate, they just need to find some justification for hating anyone who seems different. In any event, the habitat fought back and the officer died in the ensuing battle. But was the motivation for that crime something other than it appears to be?

Another Panoply officer, Ingvar Tench, is thought to have committed suicide by entering a habitat that harbors a strong anti-Panoply sentiment without taking appropriate precautions. Ingvar’s daughter Hafdis wants to join Panoply after learning of her mother’s death. Her existence comes as a surprise to Dreyfus and everyone else at Panoply. Perhaps she also is not what she appears to be.

The two strangely behaving officers are linked in a way that Dreyfus must discern to solve his bigger problem. Tench was investigating something important to the ongoing war between Aurora and the Clockmaker. Dreyfus needs to learn what she discovered to prevent one AI from gaining an advantage over the other. The story is filled with self-sacrifice as Panoply officers put duty ahead of safety to protect the Glitter Band and its democratic values.

Reynolds is always creative, but his novels balance clever imaginings of the future with stories that are fundamentally about people. They explore what it means to be a human (even if the human is a pig) and illustrate behaviors and choices that make people better humans. Themes of sacrifice and courage are common to science fiction, but few modern writers incorporate them into storylines as skillfully as Reynolds. Combined with a thoughtful yet action-filled plot, Machine Vendetta brings this series to a fitting end. It is is one of the most enjoyable novels sf fans are likely to encounter this year.

RECOMMENDED

This is the third book in a sci fi thriller series. As someone who enjoys mysteries I was most intrigued by those aspects of the plots.

This author's strength is in his ability to write epic worlds. So I always feel that his talent is lost on this intimate mystery series. Instead the series focuses more on the characters who are not as fleshed out and well rounded as I would like. The story itself is good, but leans into a lot of familiar plot twists and common tropes.

I would primarily recommend this story to readers who love the sci fi mystery subgenre.

Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

Prefect Dreyfus works for the Panoply that polices the ten thousand disparate city-states orbiting the planet Yellowstone. The latest, a tale of Machine Vendetta (paper from Orbit), starts with a murder. Ingvar Tench had been lured to a blockaded station and her death might have been thought a sort of suicide. She isn’t the only one whose cutter was hacked. The system has had two AI’s fighting and a group thinks they have a way to trap the entities. Unfortunately, according to Alastair Reynolds, they don’t leaving the whole system at great risk. Caught in the middle are Dreyfus, his recovering wife and Ingvar Tench’s daughter. Lots of fun, and probably up for some award.

I really like the universe that Alastair Reynolds creates in the space opera "Machine Vendetta": A massive swarm of over 10,000 independent orbital habitats, a fleet of far flung post-human spacefarers, an elite team of agents protecting the voting rights of the local citizens in a colonized solar system, and just to keep things interesting, a couple of god-like AI's that do not share empathy with humanity. Although this is the third book in the Prefect Dreyfus series, and I had not read the previous books, I found "Machine Vendetta" to be perfectly readable, understandable, and highly enjoyable. Now I really look forward to reading the previous books in this series. This series is just too good to miss.

As with the the other Alastair Reynolds space opera novels I have read, this was quite entertaining and was just what I needed. As fan of the Culture novels by Iain M. Banks, I really appreciated the aspect of sophisticated agents using high technology, intelligence, and courage to "do the right thing". Likewise, the prefects in Reynolds' series reminded me quite a bit of E. E. "Doc" Smith's Lensmen. The action, technology, character development, and scope of "Machine Vendetta" really worked for me.

I unhesitatingly recommend this book for Science Fiction fans.

I thank Alastair Reynolds and Orbit Books for kindly providing a temporary electronic review copy of this work.

hanks to Netgalley for this ARC.

I guess the first thing to note is that this book is set in a broad and encompassing universe that Alistair Reynolds has created. The universe has depth and weight and you feel the tension that exists amongst the groups. You could read the book as a standalone, but a lot of the characters overlap from previous stories, so you'd be better advised to go in sequence.

The book is good, engrossing, without really capturing my excitement. I wanted to know how the story would play out, and it was interesting, but didn't rush me through with anticipation. I do tend to find that these books are slightly more technical than emotional.

I would recommend the book to people who enjoy the science in science fiction and really enjoy a detailed and rich future world.

Alastair Reynolds has produced a fine, fast-paced thriller in Machine Vendetta, the third, and apparently final novel in the Prefect Dreyfus Emergencies series. The series, set in the Revelation Space universe, specifically the Glitter Band of ten thousand habitats orbiting Yellowstone, began in 2007 with The Prefect, now called Aurora Rising. We had to wait until 2018 for Elysium Fire, and both form the background for the clash of rogue AIs that is central to Machine Vendetta. Now to be truthful, after all the years since I read the previous two novels, I didn’t remember much at all about them before plunging into Machine Vendetta. That turned out not to be a problem, since gradually all the background I needed was filled in, especially given the fact that the story begins in the midst of multiple crises that make the basic facts crystal clear from the opening.

There is big trouble in the Glitter Band, the ten thousand habitats of which are patrolled by a force of only a thousand prefects of the Panoply. A prefect who happens to be a hyperpig (an uplifted pig functioning alongside humans) has apparently betrayed his office and staged a suicide attack on one habitat. Another habitat, run by mendicants as a refuge for the ill, has just been the victim of a terrorist bombing. Now a third, investigated by Prefect Ingvar Tench, has broken out in a civil war. Tench had no intention of arriving at this habitat, but her navigation and communication systems have been surreptitiously taken over, redirecting her from her original target to this violent and dangerous place.

Meanwhile Prefect Tom Dreyfus, while visiting his recovering wife at a rehabilitation habitat, is suddenly confronted by the voice of Aurora, the rogue AI that has been plaguing the Glitter Band for years but which had gone into hiding for a while. And she speaks to him by taking over the implants in his ailing wife. She tells him that another rogue AI, known as the Clockmaker, Aurora’s fierce enemy, is trying to capture her so that he can control the Yellowstone system without opposition. Tough times indeed. Dreyfus, Jane Aumonier, the senior officer of the Panoply, Thalia Ng and other prefects have to unravel multiple mysteries to understand the depth of betrayal and AI infiltration they are facing. Dreyfus and Ng start working on clues that bring out vital facts about Aurora’s origins that might give them and Panoply a fighting chance at surviving her onslaught against them.
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The story unfolds as a combination of police procedural and exciting space adventure. Reynolds has perfected a clipped style of moving stories forward at a fast pace, but that also means that characterization comes through more through action than introspection. The prefects are, after all, people devoted to their duties, even at the expense of much private life. Yet Reynolds makes every action Dreyfus and the others take flow from the people they are so that we get a rich sense of what they’re like.
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Machine Vendetta is a sharply drawn and finely told mystery, and my only concern is that, according to one statement of Reynolds, it could be his last, not only in the Prefect Dreyfus series but also in the Revelation Space universe. I hope I got that wrong, or, if not, that Reynolds will return to his most fascinating and complex creation of the Glitter Band, the planet Yellowstone, Chasm City, the Conjoiners and so many more worlds and peoples.

Reynolds takes us back to Glitterband as we join our favorite prefects, Dreyfus, Tal, and Sparver. This book did not disappoint as a possible conclusion to the series.

The story introduces us to a new prefect, Tench, and her continuing investigation of Catopsis. Reynolds has a way of making dynamic characters that you connect with and capture your attention. Tench is another one of these.

This series is a great combination of hard sci-fi and a mystery detective novel. Without trying to give too much away this book captures your attention from the start and you have to question your trust of everyone.

Thank you NetGalley and Orbit for the eARC.

Id like to thank orbit and netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest book.

Reynolds again doesn't disappoint and proves while he is a master of the sci Fi genre and an author I always look forward to. Great character and world building, great story line and more I can't put into a short review. Highly recommend this book

A fascinating return to the Aurora series and the universe of Revelation Space. Reynolds continues to ongoing fight against Aurora and the Clockmaker, first started in Aurora. So many elements of the Epsilon Eridani system with the Panopy with the Demarchy government are shown in the story. Senior Prefect Tom Dreyfus blooms in this third novel, concluding his development within the Panopy and other characters. It many ways the book both concludes the work started in Aurora and also opens a new possible storyline. Fans will greatly enjoy viewing outcome of AI beings battling it out with humanity hanging in the balance.

The third and perhaps final edition of the Prefect Dryfus Emergency Series.

The series takes place in the Glitter Band - Ten thousand city-states orbiting planet Yellowstone. The Panoply is a small but mighty police and peacekeeping organization of which Tom Dreyfus is a high ranking officer.

In the third in the series Dreyfus has multiple emergencies on his hands including neural implants melting, attacks and two potentially war starting events involving his own colleagues. What is happening and why? Dreyfus works the scenes like a seasoned police officer and we do our best to keep up and play along!

Reynolds has the science fiction magic that allows him to create whole universes and even make a potentially ridiculous situation, such as a planet of babified adults seem real. The characters are all fully realized and it is great fun to catch up with some of the long standing themes, beings and storylines. How Alastair Reynolds creates not only a galaxy but a complex and multi prong plot that satisfies completely is beyond me! This is a fabulous book and highly recommended. I dare say you could read it as a stand alone it is so easily managed but the full experience is all three (Aurora Rising, Elysium Fire). #MachineVendetta #AlastairReynolds
#Orbit

Prematurely writing this review because I started it on Netgalley without realizing that it is the 3rd book of a series. The world building is so well done I actually didn't feel too lost. I am dying to know what happens but I think I've already read a major spoiler for the series and I don't want to risk running into more! Better go back to book 1 first!

Another great Prefect Dreyfus book!
I read the first, Aurora Rising, last year or the year before. I didn't know there more. Luckily, this one easily follows from the first.
Good stuff, and interesting to see how the Aurora/Clockmaker plotline wrapped up.

I wasn’t getting into the story, I think in part due to the heavy expositional dialogue and expositional writing style. I couldn’t quite pin what it was. I stopped after chapter 3 (7%). Feels like a three to four star read for heavy sci-fi fans with not-much in the way of crossover potential.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit for the ARC.

Machine Vendetta by Alistair Reynolds(Prefect Dreyfus Emergencies #3)- A new prefect arrives at one of the thousand habitats in the Glitter Band to do her regular maintenance, when she finds the habitat seemingly deserted, then she is shot. Prefect Tom Dreyfus is on his way and along with him his once archenemy Aurora, who has formed an uneasy alliance with him to each other’s benefit. But can Dreyfus trust her. Meanwhile something treacherous is happening again, and it will take all their knowledge and power to find the culprit and save the day. Excellent story. Thank you NetGalley for this ARC

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Orbit Books for an advanced copy of this hard science fiction story/ police procedural set in the far future about a group of diverse city states that orbit one planet, and the threat to their continued existence.

What I think appeals to me most about science fiction as a genre is that there is no shortage of stories or imagination. One can have ships move at hyperspace or travel wormholes, treating space like World War II fighters, or have lumbering near light transports taking years to get to their location. Conspiracy filled stories of androids, aliens, other humans, or crystal worlds, living dinosaurs, and hyperpigs as shown in this story. As long as the writing is real, and makes the people mean something, one can write about anything. Alastair Reynolds has been writing about his idea of the future for quite some time. A mix of hard science with space opera, big ideas, and again characters that readers want to know more about. Machine Vendetta is the third book in the Prefect Dreyfus Emergency series featuring a officer of the law for a system of floating city states that orbit the planet Yellowstone, and the enemy that wants to destroy everything including Tom Dreyfus.

The Panoply is a space constabulary that tries to keep order over the vast number of floating cities that orbit the planet of Yellowstone. The Panoply is small in number, and at this time low in popularity due to the actions of one agent in an attack on a floating city that lead to many deaths. Ingvar Tench is one of the Panoply's best agents, one known for dedication and devotion to her job, until Tench decides to visit floating city that has been cut off for years, leading to her death. Tench was a good agent, but very private, and the discovery of a daughter leads many to wonder what other secrets Tench was keeping, and if these secrets became too much to keep, with suicide the only way out. Tom Dreyfus is sure that Tench's death was no suicide, but something far worse. And when an old enemy approaches Tom with news that something is going on, something that is powerful Dreyfus begins to investigate, and things start to go very wrong.

This book has so much going on it is very hard to summerize. I would say that it is similar to and Ed McBain 87th Precinct novel, with a cast of police agents investigating a serious of what look like random crimes, and finding that they are all the same. The writing is very assured. These characters seem real and lived in, with lives outside their jobs, different ways of approaching problems, and each other. Also Judge Dredd like, in that these are slightly more militaristic police units, but with an appreciation of the law, unlike the Judges. The tech and the world are quite good, with genetically altered creatures like hyperpigs and lemurs, and well Ultras that are more human than human. There is a bit of sadness in the book. Tom Dreyfus is tired of being a cop, wants to be with his wife, who is not well, and is tired of watching his comrades die, and also that the Panoply he loves so much, is not the organization he thought it was. That others see it more as a problem, than any kind of solution.

A science fiction with a lot of big ideas, great science, and a lot of human moments. People helping each other, trying to be better, lots of betrayal, and love for comrades, wives and friends who have paid the ultimate price. Being the third book, there might be a little time to get caught up. I recommend reading all three books, this is some outstanding science fiction by a really great writer.

MACHINE VENDETTA is an enormously engrossing Hard SF Space Opera, third in Alastair Reynolds' PREFECT DREYFUS EMERGENCY (which Series includes the also exceptional AURORA RISING and ELYSIUM FIRE). Although set far, far into the future, in an era of faster-than-light travel and extensive human (and hyperpig) Colonization of Interstellar Space, the concerns on which it focuses are very apropos to our present day. Rogue Artificial Intelligence; genetic engineering; cloning; post-humanism; hubristic families; found (or orchestrated) family; all of these themes are essentially and magnificently interwoven, and always, always, the overweening theme is Doing the Right Thing.

Release January 2024.