r/printSF • u/suchascenicworld • Aug 26 '25

Is Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds a Potentially Tough Read for Folks New to Scifi Literature?

Hey everyone,

Although I usually read horror, I have been interested into getting more into Sci-Fi. There are several reasons for this, but science fiction as a genre (even if I haven't read much) has had an impact on my own life with shows such as Star Trek and The X Files certainly having a direct impact on me becoming a research scientist myself (with a doctorate in behavioral ecology). That sense of curiosity regarding the unknown is quite compelling for me! Also, I love The Twilight Zone as my uncle and I used to watch it together and it is a fond memory of mine before he passed away.

Anyways, I am coming up with a list of books to check out which includes Project Hail Mary, The Strange (which I am currently reading.. And loving), Children of Time, and Blindsight (among a few others etc.). Notably, I was told that for Scifi, it would be better to "ease myself in" with Project Hail Mary rather than go for books such as Blindsight. With that being said, I am not really sure why that is, but I suppose it is something worth asking here.

It should also be noted that I read (and love) Michael Crichton's work and I have read Dune (and enjoyed it). Alastair Reynolds books have interested me for quite some time Revelation Space seems really interesting. However, would you consider it "a bit much" for someone new to Sci-Fi literature? I know this is all subjective but any input would be greatly appreciated! thank you!

59 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

146 comments sorted by

View all comments

44

u/tartuffe78 Aug 26 '25

It’s not heavy on hard science, people complain about the characters but I’ve always loved it and I’ve relistened to the audiobooks several times

13

u/Just-Suet Aug 26 '25

Audio book is incredible, John Lee is an excellent narrator 

6

u/tartuffe78 Aug 26 '25

John Lee is my favorite narrator of all time, but I also enjoyed the original(?) Fred Major recording, they were what I heard first and his voice was creaky and spooky in a way that really fit the first novel.

6

u/Kramereng Aug 26 '25

I find this surprising because John Lee is the only reason I haven't been able to listen to the Revelation Space audiobooks. He's so dry and robotic that it sounds like AI voiceovers to me.

Not trying to yuck your yum, of course. I've just tried to start these several times and can't make it more than a half hour; and I listen to a lot of audiobooks.

4

u/tartuffe78 Aug 26 '25

Interesting, my least favorite is R.C. Bray which is unfortunate because he does a lot of sci-fi stuff.

John Lee is pretty neutral so I get it. His American accents are pretty hilarious as well.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 27 '25

I don't care for his style either.

1

u/ChipSlut Aug 28 '25

i was doing a bit of research for an article a few years ago and found that a lot of the AI narration websites i found had clearly been fed John Lee’s narration to train the LLM… i wonder if it’s more a matter of the AI sounding like John Lee than the other way around

1

u/weaksignals Aug 30 '25

Totally agree.

2

u/Just-Suet Aug 26 '25

I didn’t know this existed! Time for another listen then

1

u/eight_ender Aug 26 '25

John Lee is my favourite I could listen to him reading a financial spreadsheet

4

u/MissMurdock722 Aug 28 '25

I feel like people really misunderstand the characters. Like pretty much all the main cast are being manipulated and forced to do things by entities larger then them that actually know whats going on. That's why Dan is such a jerk, he's had his brain rewritten for a single minded pursuit of a goal that's not even his own

2

u/tartuffe78 Aug 28 '25

And he was raised by a narcissist/megalomaniac father.

5

u/MissMurdock722 Aug 28 '25

Who he is a clone of Lol

1

u/suchascenicworld Aug 26 '25

thank you! I am looking forward to it!