The Prefect is fifth book in the Alastair
Reynolds’ Revelation Space saga. I am sad to say that I have not read
any of the Revelation Space novels and this is my first Alastair
Reynolds book. The reason I used this as a starting point is that it
predates the events in Revelation Space and is a stand alone novel. In
essence, it is a good place to begin and a way to get an introduction
into this universe.
The Prefect takes place in a huge space station known as the Glitter Band. It contains thousands of orbital habitats that surround the planet Yellowstone in the Epsilon Eridani system. The Perfects main job is to protect the citizens voting rights and against election fraud. Each band can decide how they want live, no matter how diverse or strange, but they must allow each citizen the right to vote and this right is protected by the Prefects. The Prefects are only allowed to carry whip-hounds which are electronic whips that are used primarily as a defensive weapon. If they want to use offensive weapons then the entire Glitter Band must vote on it .
The majority of story follows Prefect Tom Dreyfus. Prefect Dreyfus is the no nonsense detective who is driven to uncover a nefarious plot that is being waged against the Glitter Band. The story starts off with the destruction of a habitat named Ruskin-Sartorious. At first, the Ultras are blamed. The Ultras are a society that lives outside the Glitter Bland and are people who have melded with technology in very strange and perverse ways. There is constant tension between the Ultras and the Glitter Bland. Prefect Dreyfus uncovers clues that first lead him to believe that Ultras were responsible but as with every good story it is not always as it seems. Because this is a crime story and one clue builds onto another, I hesitate to give away more of the plot as I do not want to spoil it.
What I liked: The ideas explored in this novel are fascinating and at times mind blowing. For example, there is debate running through the novel to decide if an electronic copy of person is actual person or not. The Prefects can bring back dead citizen if there were a surviving digital back up known as beta-level invocations and these back ups can provide testimony as to what happened. There several passages between Prefect Dreyfus and a beta-level Delphine that thoroughly explore this idea and provide some food for thought.
The characters are also the strong point in this novel. Besides Prefect Dreyfus, there are strange and interesting character littered throughout the story. For example, Jane Aumonier, who is the Supreme Prefect, was previously attacked by a villain known as the Clockmaker. The Clockmaker attached a robot to the back of her neck that will not allow her sleep or allow people to come within a certain distance of her without killing her. The Clockmaker also plays an important part in this story much to everyone’s fear.
What I didn’t like: There is entire side story involving Prefect Thalia Ng updating the voting rights software inside several of the Glitter Bands habitats. She gets trapped when everything goes haywire and needs to find a way out. This part of story tends to drag and I found myself reading fast to get back to the main part of the story.
Last word: Alastair Reynolds successfully weaves a complex crime drama and Sci-Fi in thoroughly exciting adventure that also will give you new ideas to chew on. This may have my first Alastair Reynolds novel but it sure won’t be my last.
The Prefect takes place in a huge space station known as the Glitter Band. It contains thousands of orbital habitats that surround the planet Yellowstone in the Epsilon Eridani system. The Perfects main job is to protect the citizens voting rights and against election fraud. Each band can decide how they want live, no matter how diverse or strange, but they must allow each citizen the right to vote and this right is protected by the Prefects. The Prefects are only allowed to carry whip-hounds which are electronic whips that are used primarily as a defensive weapon. If they want to use offensive weapons then the entire Glitter Band must vote on it .
The majority of story follows Prefect Tom Dreyfus. Prefect Dreyfus is the no nonsense detective who is driven to uncover a nefarious plot that is being waged against the Glitter Band. The story starts off with the destruction of a habitat named Ruskin-Sartorious. At first, the Ultras are blamed. The Ultras are a society that lives outside the Glitter Bland and are people who have melded with technology in very strange and perverse ways. There is constant tension between the Ultras and the Glitter Bland. Prefect Dreyfus uncovers clues that first lead him to believe that Ultras were responsible but as with every good story it is not always as it seems. Because this is a crime story and one clue builds onto another, I hesitate to give away more of the plot as I do not want to spoil it.
What I liked: The ideas explored in this novel are fascinating and at times mind blowing. For example, there is debate running through the novel to decide if an electronic copy of person is actual person or not. The Prefects can bring back dead citizen if there were a surviving digital back up known as beta-level invocations and these back ups can provide testimony as to what happened. There several passages between Prefect Dreyfus and a beta-level Delphine that thoroughly explore this idea and provide some food for thought.
The characters are also the strong point in this novel. Besides Prefect Dreyfus, there are strange and interesting character littered throughout the story. For example, Jane Aumonier, who is the Supreme Prefect, was previously attacked by a villain known as the Clockmaker. The Clockmaker attached a robot to the back of her neck that will not allow her sleep or allow people to come within a certain distance of her without killing her. The Clockmaker also plays an important part in this story much to everyone’s fear.
What I didn’t like: There is entire side story involving Prefect Thalia Ng updating the voting rights software inside several of the Glitter Bands habitats. She gets trapped when everything goes haywire and needs to find a way out. This part of story tends to drag and I found myself reading fast to get back to the main part of the story.
Last word: Alastair Reynolds successfully weaves a complex crime drama and Sci-Fi in thoroughly exciting adventure that also will give you new ideas to chew on. This may have my first Alastair Reynolds novel but it sure won’t be my last.
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