Revenger by Alastair Reynolds

Revenger (Revenger, #1)

by Alastair Reynolds

The galaxy has seen great empires rise and fall. Planets have shattered and been remade. Amongst the ruins of alien civilisations, building our own from the rubble, humanity still thrives.

And there are vast fortunes to be made, if you know where to find them . . .

Captain Rackamore and his crew do. It's their business to find the tiny, enigmatic worlds which have been hidden away, booby-trapped, surrounded with layers of protection - and to crack them open for the ancient relics and barely-remembered technologies inside. But while they ply their risky trade with integrity, not everyone is so scrupulous.

Adrana and Fura Ness are the newest members of Rackamore's crew, signed on to save their family from bankruptcy. Only Rackamore has enemies, and there might be more waiting for them in space than adventure and fortune: the fabled and feared Bosa Sennen in particular.

Revenger is a science fiction adventure story set in the rubble of our solar system in the dark, distant future - a tale of space pirates, buried treasure and phantom weapons, of unspeakable hazards and single-minded heroism . . . and of vengeance . . .

Reviewed by Jordon on

3 of 5 stars

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Review originally posted at Simply Adrift.

  • I was very excited to read Revenger because I had heard a lot of good things about it from people that I have similar reading tastes with.
  • I was expecting a sci-fi read with a bit of romance. This book was not that. It was so much better. It was also a lot edgier.

What I liked

  • This story of Revenger had a lot going on, so much happened and it felt like I got exactly what I wanted from it. A beginning, a middle, and an end.
  • There was no romance in this story but that doesn't mean there weren't relationships. I loved the relationship dynamic between Arafura & Prozor and also Arafura's robot Paladin. Paladin was an unlikely addition that worms his way into the story.
  • Arafura changed and grew throughout the story. It was a drastic change but also a justified change.

What I didn't like

  • I felt like I wanted more of a resolution with some things, like the story isn't quite complete, yet it is because there is nothing let to tell. There were a few loose ends that I wasn't happy with, I wanted more of a resolution to them.
  • The world of Revenger was so in-depth and vast, all of the slang words took a while for me to wrap my head around. But so did the technology and the baubles. I still don't really understand how baubles work, why they open and close, how a person becomes a reader of them and knows when they're going to open etc. I felt like it was never explained, but then I also felt like had it had an explanation then it wouldn't have made sense. Sometimes not knowing just makes more sense.
  • The ending was a bit cliche, it wasn't too much of a surprise for me so I wasn't too blown away.

Always,
Jordon

This review was originally posted on Simply Adrift

Last modified on

Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 6 May, 2017: Finished reading
  • 6 May, 2017: Reviewed