Cover for Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds

Nine hundred thousand years ago, something annihilated the Amarantin civilization just as it was on the verge of discovering space flight. Now one scientist, Dan Sylveste, will stop at nothing to solve the Amarantin riddle before ancient history repeats itself. With no other resources at his disposal, Sylveste forges a dangerous alliance with the cyborg crew of the starship Nostalgia for Infinity. But as he closes in on the secret, a killer closes in on him. Because the Amarantin were destroyed for a reason—and if that reason is uncovered, the universe—and reality itself—could be irrevocably altered...

Poor characterization and even poorer dialogue (honestly, don’t give me the names of the characters and by their dialogue I probably wouldn’t be able to tell them apart), uneven pacing, gimmicky writing (e.g., frequently creating artificial tension by withholding information from the reader for no good reason)… and a brilliant concept.

I have a like/detest relationship with this book. I nearly didn’t finish it, but once the plotlines converge and we start rushing to the end, it becomes compelling enough to plow through.

But only barely.