Slow Bullets

Slow Bullets- Short Novel- A woman named Scur wakes up in a capsule aboard a broken gigantic interstellar ship with a thousand other passengers, some of which she had last been fighting on the other side of a huge all consuming religious war, similar to the Middle East crisis that has been going on for centuries here. Before long, everyone is awake and old grudges begin to rise, but there are more important questions. Why were they put on this transport, and why is it now orbiting a dead world? Where are they and where is the human civilization they once fought for? Alistair Reynolds, master of what I call Space Opera Noir, hands us one puzzle after another in a rich and enjoyable space yarn. Continuing in the tradition of his Revelation Space stories and his fantastic stand-alone works, Slow Bullets is a view of a disturbing future and what people will do to survive and see that humanity survives as well.

Brilliant, as usual. Reynolds' work always makes me feel at home in the cold depths of space and time.

My sole complaint is that Slow Bullets is too short. There might be the germ of a novel in this novella, although I am also anticipating Poseidon's Wake. This short book contains more invention, humanity and emotion than most full length novels. Fir anyone who has not discovered how great a writer Reynolds is, Slow Bullets is a fine introduction.

At the end of the war but before Scur can get back to her side she is attacked and tortured by an enemy soldier. She is rescued as she is passing out from blood loss and wakes up out of hibernation on a ship mostly packed with soldiers on their way to war crimes trials. The problem with this is the ship is failing and they are not where they should be. Hard decisions need to be made by the people that woke from cold sleep on their continued survival. No knowledge of any of his previous work was needed to understand what was going on and it certainly has me wanting to read more of his stuff.

I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher.

Alastair Reynolds has easily become one of those authors that I've taken an interest in, ever since I read Revelation Space last year. That was a novel that I like quite a bit, even though many parts of it were above my comprehension level. So even though I enjoyed it overall, I became leery of reading more.

Then I saw that this was coming out, a short novel with an interesting premise: a soldier dealing with the aftermath of a war that's just had a ceasefire and not everyone's been told. I was quickly engaged with Scur and her story, and better yet, I understood what was happening! This was some seriously cool space opera as it should be.

I like my science fiction to be heavy on the fiction, with a dash of the science. Or even more than a dash if it's told in such a way that I can follow it. That's what this was, and I would definitely grab up more stories/novels occurring in Scur's universe.

Slow Bullets is novella length and while it does tell a story it could be setting the stage for something more. It is told from Scur’s point of view and moves forward at a very brisk pace. The story line is well developed, the back-story easy to understand and the tension builds as the story progresses. Reynolds started his career writing short stories so he is a master at making the most of every word. That is evident in Slow Bullets.

Slow Bullets is a easy read by a master story teller. It could be the start of something else or it could be a stand-alone. There were hints that made me think there might be more to come. They did leave questions that were not answered.

A novella that is as impactful as a much longer piece Reynols creates a far future that is dystopian in nature but offers a glimmer of hope for a possible bright new beginning for mankind.It does this at the same time that it puts paid to the old saying that "revenge is a dish that is best served cold. As always he is inventive in the tech he uses to paint his vision

Alastair Reynolds is one of my favorite authors today. He writes the kind of science fiction I like - galaxy spanning space operas, weird and strange characters, grand in scope and scale. Really, the sense of wonder kind of stuff that I grew up with and so desperately crave in my reading today. He's one of several British writers doing this kind of stuff today, the others being Peter F. Hamilton, Stephen Baxter, and the dearly departed Iain M. Banks.

I first discovered Reynolds at Torcon in 2003 (good grief, was it THAT long ago?) when I saw the book covers for the Revelation Space series and decided I wanted to read them. They are complex, dark novels full of all the wonderful things that drew me into the field when I was a kid. I read the four books in the Revelation Space series, then stopped. I have no idea why.

Then Slow Bullets came along. The book is labeled a "short novel", but it's really a novella, and the form suits the story very well. Slow Bullets is a fast paced, action packed read, which at this point in the year was something that I desperately needed as I had a large (well, for me, anyway) number of books to get through before I started my Hugo reading, and this was one book that has been high on my want-to-read list since I heard about it at Loncon last year.

Scur is a soldier who was conscripted into the military against her will. There has been an interplanetary war going on, but a cease fire has been declared. Scur is captured by Orvin, a war criminal from the other side, who tortures her and inserts a modified slow bullet into her, which is supposed to travel through her body and eventually kill her. Scur vows that not only will this not happen, but that she will track her tormentor down and exact her revenge. She grabs a surgical instrument and begins to cut herself open to remove the slow bullet......

...only to wake up on a damaged and disabled space ship, the Caprice, orbiting a planet. She encounters a crew member, Prad, and makes an uneasy truce with him. Together, as the remaining people on the ship - comprising crew members, civilians and ordinary military, and soldiers who had "committed acts against the laws of war", called Dregs. The ship was headed for a planet called Tottori, where the passengers were to be processed. The ship was damaged en route, and all the people on board are waking up from hibernation as the ship begins to repair itself and get back to working order. However, something has gone wrong, seriously wrong - doesn't it always, in stories like this? - and Prad doesn't know where or when they are. As the people wake up there is conflict and fighting. Scur and Prad manage to calm every one down, impose a semblance of order, and put a structure of, for lack of a better term, government in place. While addressing the assembled masses, Scur notices a disturbing thing. Orvin is on board.

Slow Bullets is a story on multiple levels. First and foremost, it is an adventure in a space ship about people who have nothing in common coming together to arrive at a common goal and survive their plight. Second, it is Scur's story in the context of the adventure. It is clear that the story is being told in the form of a sort of diary, so that Scur, or the people coming after her, can remember what happened here. Third, it is a study of a small, enclosed society dealing with unforeseen problems and issues that will be with them for the rest of their lives. Oh, it's also a story of revenge, but that's almost not important here in the long run, as the revenge is just a part of the overall story of how the passengers deal with their plight.

The title comes from the device that is implanted into every soldier that really isn't a bullet. It is a small, computer like device that carries information about the soldier. This is an interesting concept that in the context of a full novel would be explored more fully, and I do wish there was more time for it. The soldiers are also driven by The Book, which is contains the creed by which they live (at least it seems that way to me). While not expressly stated, The Book can be thought of as any of the religious texts society is familiar with in modern times, whether it be the Bible, the Koran, or any other. It is something that is very important to them and in fact is important to the story line of the novella.

As I previously stated, the book is a fast paced, action packed read, but it is also tightly written with no filler whatsoever. The fact that it takes place almost entirely within a spaceship contributes to that, I think - well, that, and the fact that it is novella length. It's certainly a much easier and accessible read than other books I've read by Reynolds, and yet it seems to fit nicely into the rest of Reynolds' work. If you're into space opera, and are interested in trying Alastair Reynolds, this would be a good place to start. It will ease you in to his work. For those of you who are fans of Reynolds, you won't want to miss this. It's a terrific story, and should be on many awards short lists next year. Enjoy.

Fantastic little piece of space noir. It's not often a short novella will congruously go places the reader could not even guess in the first few pages, but this story does so flawlessly. As always, Reynolds writes excellent female protagonists, who get to have identities not at all anchored to their gender.

a modern master of sci fi reynolds never disappoints

I've enjoyed most of Alastair Reynolds novels and this novella was no exception. A really interesting take on the 'post apocalyptic 'rebuilding of society' that takes place in the far future.

Amazing stuff from the master of hard sf! A little too short though, some great ideas that really deserved to be delved into further. Still a great story!

Slow Bullets by Alastair Reynolds is a fantastic little slice of what one of my favourite authors is all about. This easy read novella touches on many of the areas that make Reynolds such a great writer.

Reynolds does a better than average job conveying a sense of desperation while also maintaining a survivalist conflict. He also explores themes of isolation, loyalty, justice and humanity. I am sure that fans of Reynolds wouldn’t wait for a recommendation to read this book, but if you happen to be a first time Reynolds reader, I recommend you to try “Slow Bullets” first. It’ll give you the same feeling of reading a grand Alastair Reynolds novel, but with the added benefit of completing it in a very short time.

Reynolds is always a big draw when a new book is released. Some can find him verbose. However, the payoff is usually a story that is tightly plotted and well thought out. This novella, slightly less than 200 pages packs a lot into its sparse page count: mysterious situation, memorable villains and aliens. Get this book!