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The Prefect: Alastair Reynolds
Nov. 5th, 2009 11:56 pmIt's been a while since I've read sci-fi, mainly because I was busy, but also because it's one of the genres that can go very, very badly wrong. I was glad that I read The Prefect.
The protagonist, Field Prefect Tom Dreyfus, is akin to a policeman in Panalopy, which regulates and polices the democratic processes in an entire galaxy, called the Glitter Band. Though the novel starts out with Dreyfus enforcing a lockdown on a disobeying habitat (similar to a planet), he soon begins uncovering another, bigger case: and while it would be spoilers if I said what it is, it causes a declaration of emergency across 10 000 habitats.
It's well written, and considered 'hard' sci-fi, with more of an emphasis on realistic science. There is a constant reminder to the readers that it is in fact an alien time (being set in about 2500) and new technology bombards you from all sides. It is also (thankfully) about humans and how they interact with the people and things around them--the new technology the people from The Prefect have do not cure all their problems: it seems as though it makes its own problems. There's plenty of action, and the narration switches swiftly between different characters, which will keep you up, flipping pages.
All in all, if you like sci-fi or its sister genre fantasy and don't mind its 400 page length, I think you'd enjoy it. The link to the author's website is :www.alastairreynolds.com/index.html
The protagonist, Field Prefect Tom Dreyfus, is akin to a policeman in Panalopy, which regulates and polices the democratic processes in an entire galaxy, called the Glitter Band. Though the novel starts out with Dreyfus enforcing a lockdown on a disobeying habitat (similar to a planet), he soon begins uncovering another, bigger case: and while it would be spoilers if I said what it is, it causes a declaration of emergency across 10 000 habitats.
It's well written, and considered 'hard' sci-fi, with more of an emphasis on realistic science. There is a constant reminder to the readers that it is in fact an alien time (being set in about 2500) and new technology bombards you from all sides. It is also (thankfully) about humans and how they interact with the people and things around them--the new technology the people from The Prefect have do not cure all their problems: it seems as though it makes its own problems. There's plenty of action, and the narration switches swiftly between different characters, which will keep you up, flipping pages.
All in all, if you like sci-fi or its sister genre fantasy and don't mind its 400 page length, I think you'd enjoy it. The link to the author's website is :www.alastairreynolds.com/index.html
